To Love Again !!!

Chapter - 55

Beeji sat on the couch looking at the photograph of her late husband. He had been her pillar of strength for the longest time possible and today she needed him to be here with her to sort out the mess that had happened in this house but he wasn't there to help. She was getting tired of the things the rest of her family constantly came short of handling. Simrit had gone too far this time. What she had done today had become a permanent blot on the family name. Beeji was so ashamed of her. Of course relatives had been talking getting a kick out of it some had even come to console her or pass snide remarks. And she could do nothing but listen. They were right. Who wouldn't cast aspersions on a family with a daughter like Simrit? Not that they had spared Amrit. But it wasn't so much Amrit's fault. Despite constant warnings Simrit had refused to listen. Beeji shook her head sadly. Someone knocked on her door but even before she could answer the door opened and Abhay walked in. One look at his face and beeji knew why he was here. She sighed and gestured for him to sit, he came closer but did not sit down.

"Preeti told me you were back," Beeji said unsteadily.

This was the first time Abhay had heard beeji's voice waver. He looked closely. She seemed as if she had cried a little while ago. Maybe he shouldn't push her but he wanted answers and he wasn't sure who else to ask.

"What happened?" he asked her tightly.

"Amrit didn't tell you," beeji replied.

"She was not in the state of mind to tell me anything," Abhay replied tightly. He did not want to be rude but at this point he was past caring.

"What is she doing now?" beeji asked again.

Abhay looked at the older woman she looked haggard too. And he knew she was not at all happy with things as they were right now but he needed answers and not questions. Despite that he complied she was after all an elderly person and Amrit's grandmother.

"Sleeping," Abhay replied trying to sound even, "she was exhausted with all the crying she did," he told her.

"I am sorry Abhay," beeji said quietly, "I really am. If you and Amrit can forgive me I would be grateful. I should have intervened, I should have thrown Simrit out the second she started talking foully but..." she said and paused as if she was blaming herself.

"So why didn't you?" Abhay asked.

"Because I never thought it would escalate to the level it did," beeji said and rose with difficulty from where she sat and slowly walked towards the wall lined with photographs of her gurus and elders. "I should have intervened a long time ago. I should have seen where it would all lead maybe I did but at the time I had other things that needed more attention than Simrit's vanity. With my experience and age I should have made sure she was punished at the right time so we could have prevented what happened today or even what she has become," she said sadly. "I don't know what Amrit told you or if she told you anything about her and Simrit..." beeji said and looked at Abhay for confirmation.

"All she told me was that Simrit was in some way responsible for her broken engagement and that she had always wanted what Amrit had," Abhay said, "but not in so much detail," he told her.

"And you never asked?" beeji asked.

"No, she told me about herself on her own and that is what I wanted," Abhay explained, "for her to open up and trust me. Maybe not to the extent I wanted her to but that is alright," Abhay said.

"I don't know if it is the right thing to do to give you those details but I can tell you how Simrit is," beeji replied, "she had always been a pretty child and Roop indulged her. Since she was very young there was this strange need for her to take everything that belonged to Amrit. She never respected her either. We always thought it was just sibling rivalry between two sisters and then Preeti came along, she was a beautiful baby too. But she was not the same as Simrit. In fact Amrit indulged Preeti a lot. She would give her toys, her things to her but Simrit would want them too. It didn't matter that Preeti was small or that Simrit was old enough to not play with them. She would throw tantrums, cry and fight and Roop and Amardeep gave in every single time so much so she knew she could get away with murder using the right tools to manipulate them. And she did get away with everything. Her selfishness, her false sense of pride, her narcissism increased by dozens as she grew. Amrit always dealt with her with patience and I could see the questions in her eyes. She didn't voice it but she wanted to know why the difference. She was a daughter of this family too and yet the way she and the rest of the kids were treated and the way Simrit was treated was totally different. Nimmi and Nihal egged Simrit on. There was no stopping her for anything. The word 'no' didn't even exist in her dictionary. I warned them and tried to intervene every other time but I had my limits. My late husband was very particular about these things. He always told me to not interfere too much as they had their parents to look after them. I had to keep shut most times. Once he passed away the responsibility of keeping this family together fell on my shoulders and I did what I could," she said helplessly, "I had warned Roop to keep Simrit in check but she didn't listen the result Simrit broke Amrit's engagement," she said and shook her head sadly at the events that were responsible for today's outburst.

Abhay listened. He had wanted to intervene and ask beeji about what had taken place today but it seemed without a background he wouldn't understand. And so he had let her talk. What she was describing sounded familiar. Natasha. Isn't that how he had likened Simrit to her during their first meeting itself? He could now begin to understand why Amrit hated Simrit with such intensity. He already knew she had a hard time forgiving people maybe Simrit had been a cause for that too.

"Do you know when Amrit's engagement had broken?" beeji asked sadly.

Abhay shook his head negatively remembering the conversation he had had with Amrit a few days back when she had told him partially of what had happened.

"Half an hour before she was to be married," beeji said and took in a deep breath.

Every time she thought about it she felt guilty. She blamed herself for what had happened that day. How could she have been blind to what was going on right under her nose? How could she not have foreseen the events? How? How had she not been able to judge the character of the boy they had chosen for Amrit? So when Amrit did not trust her judgment completely she was not at fault. She had suffered the consequences because of beeji's laxity somewhere and beeji hadn't forgiven herself for that till this day. She watched shock register on Abhay's face. And she smiled sadly. He hadn't known. She understood how difficult it must have been for Amrit to talk about it. She hadn't even talked to her or Preeti about that day ever.

"Amrit was to come down to the marriage hall when the groom's parents called and cancelled the engagement," beeji said.

"Why?" Abhay whispered not trusting himself to speak right now.

"Because their son had married another," beeji said with a twist to her lips that seemed as if she had a bad taste in her mouth, "because he had married a more prettier and better girl than Amrit," beeji said, "do you know who he had married?" she asked.

Abhay suddenly knew what beeji was going to say. All the things she had told him about Simrit he knew but he wanted to hear the words.

"Simrit had married Amrit's fiancé," beeji said, "Simrit had married Varun," she said and felt tears run down her cheeks as Abhay looked on.

Beeji had no idea if she had done the right thing in telling him about Varun before Amrit had had that chance but she had to. He wouldn't understand anything otherwise. She just hoped that by telling him the truth she hadn't messed up. But then she had yet to get to know Abhay properly.

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