Unedited..

Sidharth sat in his room thinking over his conversation he had with his mother in the morning.

"Puffff", Iravati sighed sitting down on the chair and wiping her sweat with her pallu.

"Ke hua amma. Thak gayi ke?", Sidharth asked

"Hmmm.. Prerna bhi ghar na se, maahre se saara ghar ka kaam akele na hove ib.. kib se bol rahi hoon ki byaah kar le.. thaari lugaai aa jaayegi toh maahre kaam mein haat bata degi...", Iravati said.

"Amma, ghar ke kaam karne ke liye maahre ko byaah karne ki ke zarurat se.. thaara haat batane ke liye main koi naukar rakh deta hoon..", Sidharth suggests.

"Naukar ke thaare ko zindagi bhar pyaar se khaana khilaavegi? Kib tak byaah se bhaagega chhorre.. kuch din mein thaare ko 30 saal ho jaavega.. thaare jiti umar mein thaara baapu do do baalakanu (bachche) kaande pe baitake pura gaon ghoome se.. aur thaane ib tak byaah tak na kiya", Iravati said.

Sidharth chuckled alone.

"Tu ke hass raha se ib? Manne kaunsa chutkula sunaya? Byaah karne bol rahi hoon..", Iravati said.

"Hassu na the ke karu? Thanne toh badi jaldi laage se maahra byaah karane ka.. par amma uske liye chhorri bhi milni chahiye..", Sidharth said.

"Thaare ko uski chinta na karna se.. Sunn chhorre, aaj dopahar khaane ke liye thaare ko ghar aana se.", Iravati said.

"Ke amma. Koi kaam se ke?", He asked

"Kaam koi na.. thaare bapu ke dost ki chhorri, Kalyani aane wali se..", Iravati said.

"Toh ke?", Sidharth asked.

"Ke matlab? Thaare baapu aur uske baapu ne bachchpan mein thaara aur uska roka karwaya tha..", Iravati said.

"Ke? Yeh baat tu manne ab bata rahi se?", Sidharth asked.

"Manne dhyaan na raha. Kalyani ke baapu, thaare baapu ke jaane ke baad dusre gaon chale gaye the. Ib Kalyani apne baapu ke gujar jaane ke baad, wapis gaon laut aayi se. Manne laage se ki thaare ko usse ib byaah kar lena chahiye.. isiliye manne uss chhorri ko kuch din rehne ke liye bula liya se..", Iravati said.

"Amma, hum dono ke baapu ko gaye arsa ho gayo, ib uss roke ka ke matlab. Pata na ki woh chhorri kaise hogi. Ek bin byaahi chhorri ko apne ghar rakhna thik na laage manne.", Sidharth said.

"Kaise hogi ka ke matlab chhorre? Thanne ek shehar ki chhorri ko ghar mein rehne ko diya se, tab thanne yeh baat yaad na aaya ke? Kalyani ko toh phir bhi bachchpan mein dekha se. Sunn chhorre, thaare baapu ne apne dost ko vachan diya tha, aur maahre rehte tu ussi se byaah karega. Phir Kalyani thaare ko bachpan se hi chaahe se..", Iravati said.

"Par amma..", Sidharth was interrupted by her mother's question.

"Tu kisi aur ko chahe se ke?", Iravati asked.

Sidharth froze listening her words. At that moment, all he could remember was Shehnaaz's eyes, her firm yet warm embrace and all the little intimate moments he shared with her.

***
"Rrrr.. dekho main tumhaari shikhaayat laga dungi Sidharth se.", Shehnaaz warned, which made him chuckle.

"Heh? Thakur thaari baat kyu maanega? Tu kaun, uski lugaai laage se ke?", Sidharth smirked.

"Haan.. Hoon main uski lugaai.. ab bol, teri kya problem hai? Lagaau kya tumhaari sikhayat mere pati se? Haan?", She yelled.

"Huh?", Sidharth looked at her with wide eyes in shock who was claiming him as her husband infront of him.

"Aankhein phaad ke dekhna band karo, aur jaldi jaldi bag uttake rakho ghaadi mein. Mera Sidharth baby mera wait kar raha hoga..", she said.

***

A subtle smile lingered on Sidharth's lips reminiscing about their first encounter. He blushed when he was reminded of her soft lips which accidentally brushed with his while he was placing her unconcious figure on the bed. All these were his firsts with any girl and very special to him. He could never imagine doing it with someone again.

"Kis soch mein padh gaya se chhorre? Apni mann ko kaabu mein rakh chhorre aur ib se sirf Kalyani pe dhyaan de.. kyuki sirf Kalyani hi thaari lugaai banegi.. itni sundar, susheel aur sanskari ladki thaare ko na milegi.. pura ghar achche se sambhaalegi..", Iravati declared her decision before going away.

He brushed off his thoughts and went to work when he returned, he met Kalyani who didn't attract him even for a second instead he found himself only staring at Shehnaaz the whole time. It hurt him when she ate spicy food so he went on to sneakily give her halwa before going to work.

He thought about it even while at work.

Aaj tak manne apni amma ka baat ko kabhi mana na kiya se, par aaj manne uska faisla maane mein bahut dikkat ho raha se. Itta sab uss chhorri ke liye jise main sirf do hafton se jaanu.

Maahra aur uska duniya alag se. Kuch hafton mein woh wapis chali jaavegi.

He felt pain upon the thought of her going away. It reminded him of the banter he shared with his sister few days back.

****
"Uske jaane ka itna dhukh ho raha se toh mhaare pe chilaane ki zarurat nahi.", Prerna flared her nostrils in anger.

"Ek minute chhorri.. thaare ko kisne bola ki maahre ko uske jaane ka dhukh ho raha se?", Sidharth asked her narrowing his eyebrows.

"Kisi ke bolne ki ke zarurat se jab thaare muh pe saaf saaf dikh raha se..", Prerna smirked in frustration pointing at his face.

Sidharth's mouth was open awide in shock on her statement.

"Muh band kar lo bhaiyya aur thaare dil ka darwajja bhi.. varna thaare ko bahut takleef hoga..", Prerna said before going into her room.

***

Prerna ne thik kaha tha. Manne apna dil ka darwajja band na kiya aur ib bahut takleef ho raha se. Isse pehle ki yeh takleef aur jyada ho jaaye manne uss chhorri ko yaha se durr bhejna padega.

He thought of ways to send her away and he found himself getting mad when he saw the halwa thrown outside. He had gotten a reason to send her away now.

He was stunned when she agreed to do all the house work instead of choosing to leave. Probably, she would leave when she actually does the work, he thought. But it hurt him the way Kalyani bossed around her. If it wasn't for his decision of sending Shehnaaz away and his mother's decision of wanting him to marry Kalyani, he would have literally kicked Kalyani out of his house like a fly.

Aaahuu.. aaahhuuu.. aahhuu (coughs)

Sidharth was brought out of his chain of thoughts when he starts coughing. He looks around his room, which was filled in smoke. Coughing, he walks out and finds his mother coughing as well.

"Amma yeh dhua kaha se aa raha se?", Sidharth enquired coughing.

"Pata na se chhorre..", Iravati said coughing even badly.

"Ghar ke bahar chalo amma.. jaldi se.. shayad aag laga se..", Sidharth said escorting his mother safely outside the house.

"Amma, manne andar jaana padega, Shehnaaz kidar se dekhna hai..", Sidharth spoke in extreme tension.

"Kalyani.. Sidharth Kalyani kaha se? Jaldi se doondh chorre, varna main uske gharwalo ko ke jawaab dungi? Woh maahre jimme yaha aayi se..", Iravati cried.

"Haan.. Main dekhta hoon amma.", Sidharth said running towards the house.

"Amma yeh dhua ke se?", Kalyani asked. Sidharth turned around to see that Kalyani was already there.

"Chhorri tu itte se.. shukar hai tu thik taak se..", Iravati said.

"Kalyani.. Shehnaaz kidar se?", Sidharth asked.

"Manne na pata. Main toh laterine gayi thi..", Kalyani said

Sidharth went towards rooms to check for Shehnaaz but he couldn't find her there.

"Shehnaaaaz..", He then went searching in other directions with no luck. The smoke was coming from the kitchen, he rushed inside the door coughing and poured a tumbler full of water into the source of smoke, the chulha. He found someone lying on the floor near the door. He bent down and recognised that it was Shehnaaz.

"Shehnaaz.. Shehnaaz.. utt chhorri..", he patted her face before picking her up and exiting from the closest exit door which happened to be the back door.

"Shehnaaz.. utt ja..", he patted her continuously but she didn't move. He realised that she must have inhaled smoke.

"Maaf karde chhorri..", he apologized before performing CPR and giving her mouth to mouth breaths to fill up her lungs with oxygen until she gained consciousness and coughed.

"Tu theek se na chhorri?", He asked holding her face in both his hands.

"Hmm..", She nodded in yes.

"Tu rasoyi mein ke kar rahi thi?", He asked reminding her how Kalyani had ordered her to cook dinner on the chulha.

"Tumne hi toh ghar ka saara kaam karne ka order diya tha. Toh main raat ka khaana bana rahi thi..", Shehnaaz said.

"Khaana banane gayi thi toh itna dhua ke phailaya?", He asked.

"Dhua nahi phailaya, mujhse chula jal nahi raha tha..", Shehnaaz complained.

"Gas ka stove rehte thaare ko chulhe ki kya zarurat padhi?", Sidharth asked.

"Mujhe koi shauk nahi hai chulha jalaane ka. Woh tumhaari honewali lugaai, Kalyani ne hi kaha ki gas khatam ho gaya hai toh chulha use karu.", Shehnaaz spoke with a disgusted face.

Sidharth felt annoyed at her for addressing Kalyani as his would be wife.

"Jitna pucha utna hi jawab de chhorri..", he scolded.

"Maine galat kya kaha? Ooooh, tumhaari honewali biwi ke baare bola toh gussa ho rahe ho?", She asked in annoyed tone.

"Chupp!!", He said squeezing her cheeks between his index finger and thumb.

"Don't touch me!", She yelled pushing his hand away. They had a brief intense and raged staring session which was interrupted by the voice from behind.

"Chhorri, tu thik se?", Iravati asked.

"Haan Aunty..", Shehnaaz replied glancing at Sidharth who left angrily.

"Tu kaha thi aur jab itna dua ho gaya tha toh bahaar ke na aayi?", Iravati inquired.

"Rasoi mein. Rasoi ka darwaza bahar se jam ho gaya tha shayad toh main bahaar nahi aa payi aur behosh ho gayi thi..", Shehnaaz answered glaring at Kalyani.

"Amma, main raat ka khaana bana deti hoon bahut der ho gaya se.", Kalyani interrupted.

"Rehne de chhorri.. main bana deti hoon..", Iravati said and went in.

"Pata nahi kisne darwaza band kar diya tha par jis din pata chalega na uss din uss shaksh ki khair nahi..", Shehnaaz said loudly

________

To be continued ❤️❤️