PAST (continued from previous chapter)

Hee hands shivered holding a gun. It was the first time she was holding a real gun. It was obvious that Salem wouldn't keep a toy gun locked in a drawer. She quickly kept the gun as it is and put the documents back in place.

In the night, he came home from his shoot. She observed him silently as he had his food while watching something on the TV with a bottle of beer by the side.

Salem saw her sitting too quiet. She had not spoken a word which was very unlike her. Even if she was upset with him, she would lecture him on drinking alcohol and smoking.

She saw him go out of the room, probably to smoke more. When he came back, he held a small box infront of her and signed her to open it.

It was a gift for her.

A small set for golden earrings.

"I came across it and thought they'd look good on you." Salem said with a smile.

"I heard you went to clean my office today." Salem said. She looked at him with fear. Did he come to know what she found?

But why was she scared of what she found, instead he should be scared of hiding such a big thing from her.

"I...I went to clean your office room. But while cleaning....I saw a gun there." She said at one go.

"Oh really?" Salem asked with his eyes wide in surprise.

And then his expression changed to a playful one.

"Get up." Hesitantly, she got up from the bed.

"Come closer, babe." She walked a step ahead and stood infront of him but that was not enough for him. He pulled her by her waist and wrapped his arms around her. He looked in her eyes and took her hand in his. He guided her hand through his vest and it went lower and lower.

"What are -..."

"Shh." He silenced her question.

He took her hand a little lower towards his back pocket and stopped. She could feel something there and her eyes widened once she realised what he had - another gun!

He took it out. His hands not shivering holding a gun. He acted so casual, as if it was a daily occurence.

"Safety, my love. These are licensed guns." He laughed seeing her scared reaction.

His gun tracked a strand of hair on face and he pushed it away from her face with the gun. The gun went from her cheeks, her neck to the valley of her chest and stopped on her belly button.

Her breath hitched. She knew he would never pull the trigger but what if...

"Don't worry, my love. I would never shoot you unless..." A dark glint passed in his eyes, "you leave me." He said darkly.

"But I know my love would never think about it. Am I right?" Salem asked with a hint of mischief in his voice to which Pari nodded.

He moved the gun from her navel to her chin and made her look up using the gun. Her eyes and the fear on her face made her look very innocent. He couldn't control himself and captured the plump lips in his own.

"Is it the gun that's making my fiercy kitten soft and obedient?" He asked teasing her.

When she didn't respond, he said, "Kaha na nahi marunga tumhe isse." (I told you I wouldn't hit you with the gun)

"Bharosa nahi karti ho mera?" (Don't you trust me?) He probed.

She nodded and said, "but why...why a gun? What if something happens?"

"Gun is for my safety, our security. There are all kinds of danger lurking out and the worst is many people know we stay here. So, don't worry. These are licensed guns. Okay?" He asked and she nodded.

Few days later, Salem fell severely ill. He had to cancel one of his shoots and come back home. He hated cancelling any of his shoot. He was a pure workaholic who didn't get any happiness if he had to skip work.

Salem was terrible when he was sick. Usually, he would never throw tantrums about food. He would eat what was served. And if it was prepared by Pari, he would love it even more even if it was not great. He had no demands at home and was a very chill guy. But on the days he was unwell, it was hard to get him to wake up to eat. He would only sleep and be cranky than any other sick person she met. But surprisingly, she liked taking care of him. It was the only time he was all hers. She had him all to herself.

It was rare that he fell sick. But even he liked to have Pari's attention to him. She took care of him like a baby, helping him bathe, drying off his body, pestering him to take medicines, feeding him food. Whenever he was sick, she would keep her smart mouth shut and her sarcastic comments to herself. She would behave like an obedient and caring wife. And the moment he got better she would be back with her sassy comments.

Often, he'd lay on her lap and she would love to move her fingers through his dense black her and press kisses on his forehead and pecking his lips.

"I would be the first one who wants to remain sick for life if it meant you being this loving." He said.

"Shut up. Don't say things like these." Pari reprimanded him.

"Why not? Whenever I am sick, that is the only time you take care of him and pamper me." He snuggled closer to her waist.

"Haww! I am loving during other times also but you piss me off. Otherwise I am the best wife ever!" She boasted.

He was extremely sad when he had to go to shoot the next day leaving Pari. But once he was at the shoot, he felt completed and happy to be back at work.

**

A few months passed and the number of guns increased from 2 to 5 in the house. She was still scared when she saw one. She didn't know guns have safety on. She assumed it was like the movies where one fires and the other person is dead. She was often scared of such mishaps happenings. Every time she questioned Salem, he'd manipulate her talking about safety from crazy fans, theives and unknown people.

As the work grew, so did his end of the month crazy parties. He used to return back home at 7 am, completely drunk or hungover. She used to see the crazy party pictures posted in tabloids. He has a good camaraderie with his contemporaries and was invited to all the parties. The tabloid pictures from the party looked glamourous with gorgeous women, money and expensive alcohol surrounding Salem and the male actors.

Pari even asked Wajid and Tiger if he had cheated on her with any women but they strongly denied. She didn't trust the two of them but they swore that they would never lie to her. They respected her enough to not lie.

Once Salem came back from a party around 5 am. His wobbly feet carried him to the couch and he slept on the couch. She went to remove his jacket and shoes. Her hand stuck in the jacket and she found a packet of white powder substance. She immediately threw it away and her thoughts were clouded with fear.

Does he really consume drugs?

The next few days she sneakily observed his every move. She checked the whole house but found no drugs. She had to play another way.
She'd cling to him saying she is feeling unwell and often go to his office upstairs with him.
One day, she pretended to be asleep in the office when she accompanied him and saw him taking keys from the lower drawer and disappearing in the room. After she'd found a gun in the office, she hardly went to clean it. But it looked it she will have to go to one of her 'cleaning sprees' again.

She took the opportunity of going to his room when he went away for a 3 day shooting schedule. She'd keep her things in the office room on purpose, a blanket, pillow, sleeping mask, etc so when Salem was away, she told the guards she wanted to go and get her things back. When she went to the office, she took the keys and entered the room he would disappear into. The room was ordinary. One wouldn't suspect anything seeing the room. There were only two medium sized cupboards and one horizontal dresser in the room. She started with horizontal dresser and in the last drawer found what she was looking - a stash full of drugs.

And she knew what to do with it.

Three days later, she welcomed Salem with a smile and a hug. They chatted a bit and then he excused himself to go the office. An hour later, she saw him at the door of their bedroom, staring at her.

She gulped in fear but his her fear behind her calm facade. He walked towards her while he folded the sleeves of his shirt.

"Did you go to my office in my absence?" Salem asked. The way he said the word 'you' felt like a stab. He got annoyed when she took time to answer.

"I am not a patient man, baby. So, you better answer what I ask. Quickly." Salem said. The room felt colder and the air pinched her arms.

"Yes."

"Did you or did you not mess my stuff?" Yet another question.

Pari looked him dead in the eye and replied, "What do you think?"

Salem smirked, "Don't answer my question with your question. And now is not the right time for you to mess with me. Let's try again, did you mess with my stuff?" He was getting impatient at the lack of proper response.

She looked him in the eye without any fear and replied with a proud "Yes."

Not a moment later, she felt a sharp pain across her cheeks. He backhanded her!

Due to the extreme force, she fell on the bed. He clutched her hair and made her face him, only to slap her again.

"Where? Where did you keep it?" Salem  growled in anger. They were drugs worth lakhs.

The pain on her face morphed into a smirk.

"Playing hard, my love." He brought his face near to hers and whispered, "But I know how to tame you, wife."

The grip on her hair tightened and she felt that he might rip her hair apart. This time, he slapped her like he would have slapped any man. A painful moan escaped her lips as blood trickled down.

"Flush...I flushed it." She voiced out with a smirk.

The moment he heard her answer, she could see his anger rising. He choked her and only when she was close to passing out, he left her. Her answer only agitated him further and she saw it as her little win.

"You deserve it, you bastard." Pari spoke with great difficulty when she received another slap.

"I will deal with you later." Salem said and went out of the room slamming the door very hard.

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12 Nov 2024