Maami ki Behen ki Beti ✓

16. Namkeen Cake

"Gale nahi milega?" Dev asked Shiva after he was done meeting the rest of the Pandya family, and Shiva who was restless at the girl who left a minute ago, sighed. "Aaja," Dev hugged Shiva who looked at Dhara, she nodded slightly and Shiva hugged Dev. "Kaisa hai?"

Shiva simply nodded, and walked away. He should have been glad to have his brother home, but his mind was stuck on the girl who had vanished the moment she saw Dev. While Rishita spoke about her tales of their honeymoon visits, Shiva thought about Raavi, who clearly looked disturbed when she met Dev and Rishita. He was counting his heartbeats now, they were really louder than Rishita's excited tone, and he fisted his hands. He really wanted to leave, go find the girl who left, ask her if she was okay but he really had no strength to see her broken again.

He needed some time too. All these days he had been garnering courage and hope for her, and he was tired, the mental exhaustion was too difficult for him to handle. So he stood aside, breathing heavily, angry at himself and at his helplessness. Then he glanced at Rishita and Dev, they were happy, their faces glowing despite the travelling, they looked fresh and they seemed to be on the ninth cloud. And then he remembered Raavi, how depressed she was all these days, how she rarely ate anything, rarely lived, and carried herself with all her strength.

How was this fair?

"Humne sab ke liye kuch na kuch laaya hai," Rishita smiled as she quickly rummaged through her bags.

Shiva could not help Raavi, but he did not want to stay here and watch this stupidity. He turned to leave but Rishita called out to him, "arrey Shiva, tum kaha jaa rahe ho?"

"Woh... Rishita bhabhi..." He stuttered, holding back only because Dhara was eyeing him with a pleading gaze. "Actually, woh main..."

"Tumhare liye bhi kuch laaya hai maine." Rishita said, ecstatically, she really was excited to show them all what she had bought for her new family. "Dekh toh lo..."

"Thodi khushiyan chahiye," Shiva answered, glancing at Dev, "jo aapke shaadi ke baad Somnath se jaa chuki hai. Milegi?"

To that Rishita's happiness wiped clean from her face, and the little smiles that the rest of them carried also vanished. Dev sighed, afraid that he knew what Shiva was hinting about, but he also knew to not tease Shiva's anger more. 

"Shiva," Gautam spoke, stepping forward, and shook his head. "This is not how you speak to your new sister-in-law or your elder brother."

"Toh kya bolu Gaumbi" Shiva approached his brother, something he never did before, "Waha Raavi marr marr ke ji rahi hai. Aan aa jo," Shiva pointed towards Dev, "mazze mein."

"Seedha baat kar na toh," Dev said, not liking his taunting tone. "Bolna, muh pe bol."

"Rewa de," Shiva scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Tu jaa, Goa jaa, London jaa, jaha jaana hai jaa. Tujhe kya farak padta hai, yaha kya ho raha hai. Tune toh wahi kiya jo tujhe karna tha."

Dev held his arm before Shiva could turn to leave, "Kya kiya maine?" He asked, and stopped Dhara and Gautam from interfering before they could speak up. "Is marrying the one I love, wrong?" He asked, Rishita behind him, completely clueless. "Aur maine tum sab se kaha tha, ki main Raavi se shaadi nahi karna chahta. Kaha tha?"

"Kaha tha, but shaadi ke ek dinn pehle." Shiva said, shaking his head. "humne sirf Raavi ko bachane ke liye..."

Dev chuckled, stumping everyone and angered Shiva even more, "Tu aur Raavi ko bachana chahta tha?" He shook his head, mocking Shiva, "you did not speak up because you wanted no part of this wedding, because you have always disliked Raavi since our childhood. In fact, it was you who told me that going forward with this wedding was the best thing to do, Raavi ke liye nahi, but for the sake of this family." Shiva fisted his hands, nose flaring in anger because Dev was not lying, "aur Rishita ke saat jo hua, I had no choice but to marry her. I could not leave her when she ran away from her house."