Strangers- Part 8

Hii all thank u so so much for ur comments, I am so happy with it. This may be a small update sorry for that. This episode deals full of Abhi’s confusions.

Seeing her hesitation in revealing herself, abhi got confused as to why she is so constricted to tell her past. But he decided not to force her in this condition.
“You needn’t tell me anything if you don’t want to,” he assured her.
“Surat,” she said after some hesitation.
“Do you have parents?”
She shook her head in the negative.
“Brothers? Sisters?”

She did not answer him indicating that she did not want to discuss this topic further. Although Abhi wanted to know more about her, he decided not to press on. Instead he changed the topic and asked her what she did that day. She seemed relieved that he did not pursue the earlier line of questioning and gave him a detailed account of her day. He smiled at her exuberance. She asked him about his day. He shrugged and said it was pretty much the same – boring. She smiled at that. She finally asked him what was plaguing her mind the whole evening.
“Abhi, why have you taken me on this elaborate outing?” she asked curiously.
“To make up for last night,” he replied and looking deeply into her eyes he said a simple yet heartfelt sorry.
“I’m sorry too,” she said solemnly.
“What for?” he asked puzzled as he settled the bill.
“For not waking you up this morning,” she smiled as they came out of the restaurant.
Shaking his head, he flashed her his most charming smile, gladdening her heart.

By the time they reached home it was 10 o’clock. Feeling exhausted, Pragya promptly went to sleep but Abhi remained awake for a long time after that. He wondered about the new feelings he seemed to be developing for the woman who lay across him in bed. Were they always there or have they suddenly cropped up? What is it that made him want to protect her and her unborn baby? Why did he take the huge step of getting married to a complete stranger, willingly giving up on the bachelorhood he so cherished? Granted that he tried to cover up for a lie he had uttered to his father about a non-existent wife in order to avoid acquiring a real one. But has he not done exactly what he set out to avoid? Has he not acquired a real wife and that too one who is carrying another man’s child? He apparently married her to give her baby an identity apart from trying to cover up his lie. But what does he know about this woman? He knew nothing about her, save her name. Today he tried finding more about her past but she clamped up. Still he did not seem to mind. It did not bother him that he knew next to nothing about her. She could well be a gold digger and the entire suicide attempt could be part of an elaborate plan to trap him. Yet, he knew in his heart that she could not do such a thing, she could not dupe him. What made him trust her so unconditionally? Was it her eyes and the sincerity he saw in them?

And what about her baby? Why did he feel so strongly about it? What was the connection between this baby and him? Yesterday he blasted Pragya for not eating her dinner on time and depriving her baby of nourishment. Today when he saw the ultrasound picture of her baby he felt elated as though he was seeing his own baby. He even went to the mandir to offer prayer for its well-being. Why was he so interested in the welfare of that baby, a baby that wasn’t even his? Was it only the baby he was interested in or was he also interested in its mother? If he was interested in both, was he interested in the mother because of the baby or in the baby because of the mother?

In the past he was against the whole institution of marriage not only because he saw many unhappy and broken marriages around him but also because he did not want a woman in his life. Not that he was against women. After all his mother was also a woman. He respected them, even felt attracted to them. But he felt that women spelt trouble, trouble he can well do without. After all has he not lived 20 years out of his 28 years of existence on this earth without a woman in his life? He has turned out pretty well. So what was the need for a woman in it now? He had despised marriages because they created a dependency on woman.

Does he still feel the same way about marriages now? What about his marriage, in particular? What was he expecting from it? He kept saying that this marriage was a farce that they can break it up anytime they want. But does he really want to break it up? When the time comes for her to leave can he really give her up? Can he give up the baby? Does he even want to? He had no choice here. He had after all promised to let her go. So unless she wants to stay, he is really helpless. Does she want to stay?

She did show a lot of concern for him. All the little things she does for him have not gone unnoticed. She made sure his things were in place although she never made it obvious she was doing these things for him. He knew that she slept after he did. He never covered himself up while sleeping but still every morning he found the comforter pulled over him. So he knew she was the one who covered him up in his sleep. Today she stepped in to defend him against his father’s tirade. She was always careful not to hurt his feelings. But she could be doing all these things out of a sense of gratitude. So how can he be sure she had any feelings for him beyond gratitude? Strangely the dependency that he feared earlier is what he now seems to be willingly accepting, even needing. So has he changed? All these chaotic questions, the answers to which he did not have, kept swimming in his head, giving him a severe headache.

He got up and rummaged through his medicine cabinet to locate an aspirin. Having found one, he popped it in, sloshing it down with a glass of water and drifted into a disturbed sleep.

So this is it. I know this episode is full of Abhi and thoughts. I just want to show what abhi thinks of this situation.
So what do you all think Abhi will fall in love or bear Pragya and her child only as his responsibility because of his promise to his father? do tell me ur views. My college starts on Wednesday. So I will give the next update tomm and it will be on this weekend only. So pls support me and support me like u always do. Love u all sorry now no time to reply u all but u guys are the best. Stay blessesd all and keep smiling