Strangers- Part 5

Pragya Abhishek Mehra soon settled into the role of a homemaker, trying hard to put her turbulent past behind her although she could not completely forget it. Frequently thoughts of the misery, pain, fear, betrayal and anguish that she had gone through assailed her senses and made her want to disappear from the face of this earth. But she knew she owed it to her child to keep herself well. The baby’s existence was not its fault but hers. In a moment of weakness she had given in to the man she had loved and trusted, not realizing then that the man was completely unworthy of that trust. She no longer felt anything for him except bitterness and hate but she cannot and will not punish her baby for her own folly.

Her father-in-law took extra special care of her, ordering Ramu kaka to keep providing her nutritious food at regular intervals. He even tried to banish her from the kitchen but she wouldn’t let him do so, stepping in to help Ramu kaka with the meals. Baba reminded her so much of her own father that she frequently felt like burying her head on his lap and pouring out her woes to him but she knew she cannot to do so. After all she could not confide her deepest sorrows even to her own father when he was around. There was no point revisiting the past, especially when those memories were so excruciatingly painful. So she tried to look forward to the future, a future with her baby. But she could not do this without feeling huge pangs of guilt, for Baba ceaselessly talked about his grandchild. Was it right to let the old man dream about a baby who will leave him soon after its arrival? Obviously not. Her conscience pricked her when the magnitude of their hasty decision slowly sunk in.

While Baba was a simpleton, affable and easily readable, his son was an enigma. She knew he was hardworking and humane. She also knew patience was not his virtue and his impulsive streak seemed to have created more problems for them than he sought to solve. She knew he was a glib talker and can talk his way out of the problems but she was fast realizing that talk alone would not suffice where human emotions were involved. She could see that he was awkward around her, not knowing how to behave. The day before, he had taken her for her monthly check up. Although he made it seem as though he was doing it to please his father she knew that he did care, if not for her at least for the life within her. While thinking about ABhi, Pragya remembered the incident which made her respect Abhi ten folds than she actually does.

The other day, while she was walking through the corridor, she was hit by a bout of nausea. She was rushing to the bathroom in their room when she accidentally collided with Abhi as he entered from the bathroom after bathing. As she cant able to control herself Pragya threw up on him instead.
“ suniye I am so sorry. Please you come with me and clean yourself” . Pragya hurriedly dragged Abhi as she can see the new branded white shirt which he bought so lovingly is fully covered with her vomit.
Her eyes started brimming as she felt bad for irritating him and burdening him more. Before here tears could spill Abhi pulled her and took her to the bathroom. He calmly put her at ease and washed her up first before cleaning himself saying,

“ Pragya, there is no need to panic, this is quite common now be a good girl and clean yourself before you catch cold, and make my chotu suffer”
Pragya admired him and said with guiltiness “ but your new shirt? I ruined it, I am so sorry Abhishek.”

Abhi hit her forehead with his hand and said “ buddhu is the shirt is more important now? I will buy new one now shut your mouth and show me your face”.
He made her lean her face to the wash basin and cleaned her face which contained traces of vomit and cleaned her hands and her saree with not even a semblance of a grimace on his face. She was moved by his act and wondered how an impatient and rough man like him can be so gentle and understanding in some respects.
Even now also thinking about this incident moved her and created more respect towards Abhi.

She knew he cherished his singledom very dearly so she never interfered in his affairs, trying her best to make her presence in their room as inconspicuous as possible. Noticing that his large frame was cramped for space in their bed, she shifted their ‘lakshman rekha’ as she referred to the chain of pillows between them further to her side so that he could stretch himself more comfortably. He had a tendency to work late into the night, glued to his lap top. Although he offered to switch off the light many a times, she assured him that she was not disturbed by it. The truth was she found it difficult to sleep with the lights on but she pretended to be in deep slumber till he finally turned off the lights and went to bed. Every night she silently wished his sleeping form good night, and pulled the comforter over him before going off to sleep. She made herself scarce when he went in for his bath, returning to their room only after he got dressed for she did not want him feeling embarrassed dressing in front of her. She knew that all these little things cannot compensate for his huge lose of freedom as a result of their marriage but she hoped she can someday return that freedom to him.

Her biggest drawback was her inability to take decisions on her own and to be swayed by the decisions taken by others. Was it not her acquiescence to the decision of the man she trusted that entangled her in the trouble she faced? She did not seem to have learnt from her mistakes, for now she has accepted the decision of this well-meaning guy thereby compounding her problems for the future. What she will do when the time comes for her to leave Mehra Mansion she did not know. All she knew was that she cannot just pick up her baby and leave without any qualms. While she herself was indifferent about staying on in Mehra Mansion or leaving it after the birth of her child, she knew that her decision will affect the two men in the house in different ways. While Baba would be heartbroken if she leaves with his ‘grandchild’, his son will be unhappy if she stayed on. She did not want innocent people to pay for her mistakes but she knew she would end up doing just that.

Despite all her confusing and conflicting emotions surrounding the inmates of Mehra Mansion, she tried to remain cheerful and make the best of her time with the two men as long as she was with them. As the days went by, she established an easy camaraderie with Abhi and a respectful yet loving daughterly relationship with his father.

So here it is. So less comments, I know I am boring you all with this story but I just want to say you all it is a very slow pace story. I don’t want to just make it like fast and furious movie with loadz of villains. Here decision is your villain. So keep calm and love this story. Hope you all will love it and see this story in my view. So sorry for boring you all with this story if I am.
Thank u so much for ur love. I am so over whelmed yaa I too will miss you terribly but my circumstances, so sorry saranya akka I cant give u assurance of uploading LCA I sort of not getting good ideas for that story to entertain you all. I don’t want to ruin it. And thank u so much for ur love akka I am also so excited to come to chennai but will miss u and all my lovable friends.

Thank u sugan bhai – I will miss u too bhai u r always a constant support to me.
Abhigya – aww glad u liked it sweet heart

Prathi dii – thank u so much dii I too will miss u u r always my loveable dii yaa will try to write for sure coz m hands wont stay still.. hehe will torture u all with my stories.
Abhigya – thank u so much darlu yaa I will miss u too will write for sure dear glad u liked it a lot hope u like this too sweets waiting for ur comment
Saranya akka – I am too happy akka for cmng Chennai will try to meet u love u akka
Anessa – thank u dear glad u like it a lot hope u like this too do mention ur fav parts
Reshma dii – thank u so so much dii I will miss u loadzz coz u always support me love u dii
Aiza – thank u dear, I think I have gained many good friends here I will surely complete this one as I have almost finished typing this story. Hope u like it

Sethidisha02 – thank u dear..
Hope u all like it pls tell me if I have to change anything or u don’t like this story waiting for ur reviews both positive and negative love u all stay blessed. Sayanora…..