Enough

2

The following week was the worst week of Abhi's life. Aaliya's wedding had to be suddenly cancelled as Purab refused to even talk to her anymore. Tanu got frustrated by his preoccupation with his family and left the country for a modelling assignment without even saying goodbye. And Daadi had left for Ludhiana with her cousins.

Abhi had never felt more pain than the day he found himself on his knees in front of his grandmother, begging her to stay with him, and she wouldn't listen. Daadi said that she gave up on both him and Aaliya, declaring that it was better to imagine that her second son had died childless than to live with such grandchildren. Abhi tried to explain that it was all a misunderstanding and that he had just been trying to do right by Aaliya, but Daadi was unmoved.

At his wits' end, Abhi even promised to bring back Pragya and try to have a real marriage with her, to forget about Tanu and to settle down just as his Daadi had always wanted. Daadi's sad face had taken on a look of rage then as she snapped "Why? Just to ruin that poor girl's life more? The biggest mistake I ever made was to think that a person as good as her could ever suit my spoiled and selfish grandson!"

After that, Daadi simply turned her back on Abhi. Tauji and his family tried to convince Daadi to remain in Mumbai for their sake, but she answered sharply that they didn't need her and she didn't need anyone. Her cousins silently supported her, and before Abhi could finish wiping the tears from his face, she was gone.

Aakash helped Abhi get back to his feet. "Come sit down, Bhai," he said softly. "We can fix this." He tried to lead Abhi to the sofa, but Abhi pulled away.

Abhi turned to Aaliya, who had been watching the drama from the back of the hall. She had tried at first to help Abhi convince Daadi to say, but she had gone silent when Daadi had glared at her and said, "You haven't managed to be a good sister nor a good friend. It's better if you don't say anything." Now that Daadi was gone, Aaliya was frowning, but her eyes were dry.

"Come upstairs with me, Aaliya. We have to talk," Abhi said. He headed for his room without looking at the rest of his family.

Aaliya followed him with slow steps. Her mind raced as she thought of how to best keep her brother on her side. When they reached his room, she pulled the door closed behind her and started defensively, "Bhai, don't worry about it, Daadi will come back -"

"Sit down," Abhi said, pointing to his bed. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. "Tell me how this all happened."

"Bhai, you already know, I misunderstood that day at the office, I thought it was Pragya but it was actually Bulbul." Aaliya used her best 'hurt little girl' voice; she had learned in childhood that her brother would do anything for her if she could convince him that someone had hurt her.

Abhi was not affected by her tone. Ever since the scene at the end of the sangeet, he had been thinking about how the whole mess had started. And now he wanted answers. "But even so, why did you think she was only after his money? Why couldn't you just talk to Purab about what was going on?"

"I did talk to him, and he just gave me some rubbish about loving her despite himself! What the hell is that, Bhai? Doesn't commitment mean anything to him?" Aaliya leaned forward and tried to take Abhi's hands in hers, but he shifted away from her, his posture stiff with tension.

"So what, you thought you will force him to marry you, no matter what his heart says? How could that ever have made you happy?"