Consider this after one month of Care. It's a continuation of that timeline...
Pallavi Deshmukh groaned in frustration as the sixth customer left without buying anything. She was running out of both energy and patience. It has been months since the shop has seen any influx of new customers and even the old ones were soon getting bored of the stock it seemed. She had always had a creative disagreement with ba.. Mr. Vijay Deshmukh from the time she has taken over.
The new age wanted contemporary styles of saree, they wouldn't be happy with the typical olden days traditional wear. Yet, Mr. Deshmukh was adamant at keeping the 'sanctity' of his designs the same. She had accepted defeat after a lot of struggle (after all, who was she to take any major decision.. she just ran the shop, not own it) and just tried tweaking the designs to the minimal possible extent.
No wonder, the sales were getting affected.
Anyone who is still wondering what is she doing in Deshmukh Saree Emporium even after being kicked out of the Deshmukh Nivas should be made aware that at this juncture Pallavi was still employed in the shop as a manager (not as if the shop ever had any other staff except herself and Krishna) because according to the contract Sharda had insisted, to be made on her behalf, after Mandaar's passing, stated that she couldn't be kicked out of service without a valid reason and had a share of the ownership of the shop.
So, much to Vijay's and Sulochana's utter discontent Pallavi could still legally earn from DSE even as she strongly refused to come back to live with them.
A certain man's legal team, which had more sharks than humans on it, having more clout in the ambiguous Indian Judicial system than the Deshmukh's had brain cells, may have had a hand in making the above matter inescapably clear to the aforementioned duo as well.
But, Pallavi didn't have to know that.
The man did own the shop still.
Sharda, Milind and Nikhil had visited her the very next day after she had been so gracefully thrown out and begged her to come back but to no avail. Pallavi was adamant that she would not return to that place until and unless Vijay and Sulochana personally come to her and apologize.
That being clearly out of question, they had to leave disappointed and Pallavi started living with Krishna as her mother had shifted to her brother's place permanently when his health deteriorated drastically.
She walked or rather it should be said limped towards the counter from her place at the cashiers' to see what new stocks they had gotten last week. Suddenly a sharp pain shot up her lower stomach and she almost doubled over whimpering. Krishna had taken a small tea break so she was alone in the shop. She sat down sloppily on the seat and held her cramping stomach discreetly through the folds of the biscuit orange saree she was donning.
This was that time of the month when she hated being a woman.
She wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed with a book and probably a hot water bag and pray that she gets a good night's sleep, instead of toiling needlessly in a shop which will probably never have any buyers coming.
Suddenly as she had closed her eyes and leaned against the wall behind, she heard a familiar sound of a car zooming to a breaking stop in front of her shop. And for the first time in her life she wished the man coming out of the latest model of the Lamborghini would just f**king leave even though she looked forward to his almost regular visits to her humble working place with an embarrassing eagerness.
But when had God heeded to her wishes...
Here we go again..
"Saree ka Dukaan!!!!"
God! And he just had to be in his most frustratingly cheerful mood today of all days!
In her mental lamentations and ever increasing pain she had missed the fact that Raghav's voice held a note which could easily be termed as pure ecstasy leave alone, cheer. Some other time, she would have sat up and taken notice of how his charcoal eyes sparkled and pearly white teeth flashed in a twenty four carat smile which could put, even the Sun itself to shame with it's sheer brilliance. She would have felt the usual butterflies she always feels, seeing his nerve melting happiness which had become almost childlike in all it's glory.
He was so jubilant in his happiness that he had completely missed Pallavi's exasperated sneer at his voice which boomed like a foghorn in the shop as he almost jumped up the stairs.
How could he, when he was feeling so incandescently happy?
Raghav had just managed to win a bid and secure the most market oriented, prime loaction for one of his showrooms in Jaipur, in an auction which had been bidded against all his rival companies including some of the biggest names in the Jewellery Industry as well. It was almost an impossible feat but he had done it with his usual silver tongued charm and astounding conniving business strategies. The look on his rivals' faces were picture frame worthy and nothing pleased Raghav Rao more than winning an impossible game and then rubbing it on his defeated opponents' faces.
Okay.. maybe except boasting about the same to his Saree Ka Dukaan.. perhaps.
"Saree Ka Dukaan! You won't believe what happened today!!! I got that bid.."
"Will you keep the volume down a bit!"
Pallavi snapped rudely and he cut off confused. He then noticed her expression which looked between being apoplectic and then miserable. He felt his 'something-is-definitely-wrong-here' detector beep in frenzy. He frowned and stood in front of her who hadn't even gotten up from her seat which she usually did whenever anyone came in, including him.
"Are you quite alright? You look a bit pale.."
"I am fine! Why are you here again?"
She spat again feeling unbelievably snappish. Raghav looked even more bewildered at that and that made her irritation level skyrocket as well.
"I.. I had just come to talk to you. I got that bid actually.."
"What bid? I don't want to hear about any bid!"
"Yeah.. okay.. fine. But are you sure, you are okay..? You look.."
"What!"
"I mean.. you look a bit off weather.."
"I know. I look like that, most of the time. No sweat!"
Okay, now the sirens inside his head were blaring. His frown deepened darkening his handsome face a bit yet managed to look delectable still.
Why does she find him so.. irresistible anyways?
Pallavi groaned internally.
She wanted to slap him silly and then kiss him breathless.
What the f**k is happening to her bloody hormones!
"Pallavi.. something is definitely wrong. You look like someone has force fed you a bunch of garlic. Are you sick? Do you have fever? Where is that Saree ka Assistant when you need her? Krishna! Krish..."
Pallavi had had enough now. Her pain was just increasing and this man was infuriating her so much that she could barely see past her anger than notice the concern laced in his husky voice. She leaped up and shouted cutting his calls for Krishna who had just entered the shop looking frantic.
"I said I am fine Raghav! Why do you have to interfere in bloody everything and poke your nose even when it's not wanted!!! Get a f**king life!!!"
She heaved screaming her guts out maybe scaring a few stray dogs away from the front of the shop. Had it not been for the busy crowd during the evenings the entire street of shops would have heard her. She looked at her frozen audience then. Krishna looked completely shocked out of her wits. She had never heard her friend use that tone on anyone before. But then Pallavi's eyes fixed on Raghav's face which rapidly changed shades from a shocking white to a blank hardness. If it weren't for her fetish for observing even the minutest details about him and his characteristically expressive eyes, anyone would have thought he didn't feel anything at all.
But she knew he was hurt. His eyes clearly showed it. Her own words came back to her for a split second. And if that was not enough, his frosty words cemented her prior assumptions without leaving any space for doubt.
"I am sorry Mrs. Deshmukh for being such a nuisance. I will tap out and leave you be."
Not saree ka dukaan, not Pallavi... directly Mrs. Deshmukh.
The formality in his tone stung her heart horribly. She was so used to hearing his favourite moniker for her which had started to sound more like an endearment than outright teasing nowadays, that hearing him use her surname felt like a resounding slap on her face.
He turned and walked out swiftly and Krishna's round face twisted in disappointment and Pallavi felt more miserable than ever. The erupting pain in her heart on seeing him walk out as if he was leaving her, trumped the pain of her period cramps.
"R..Raghav! I am sorry! Come back please.. I didn't mean it. Rao! Hey... I am..sorry.."
If she wasn't so focussed in getting him back then she would have been embarrassed at the weakness in her voice which made her words sound more like garbled whimpers than anything else. She saw him almost in his car and couldn't control the hiccupping sobs suddenly attacking her, out of nowhere.
And before she knew it she was crying her eyes out like a kid.
The frustration of the failing business coupled with a strongly felt loneliness since the past month, amplified a hundred times worse due to her incessant cramps since morning today had finally proven too much for Pallavi to bear. The hurt in Raghav's eyes and coldness in his voice was the last straw which broke the proverbial camel's back.
Krishna might have said something but she couldn't hear. She didn't want to hear. Suddenly she felt familiar strong arms around her pathetically shaking frame and got the whiff of an equally familiar cologne as she was dragged into a firm and solid chest. She cried a bit louder and clutched his suit jacket with such ferocity which can make anyone think that she feared leaving it would make the other person fly away. His lips were near her ear and his hands rubbed on her back and tangled through her hair.
"I.. I am sorry. I am sorry.. Raghav please don't go.. I didn't mean it.."
She sobbed in his chest and he tightened his hold assuring her that he wasn't going. He was mumbling something in his native tongue in her hair pressing random kisses on the top of her head which ultimately calmed her enough to separate from him slowly yet her hold on his jacket didn't budge.
He was looking at her with something akin to a heart breaking tenderness in his dark gaze while he took out his wrinkle less handkerchief. He lifted her tear streaked face and wiped away her still falling tears with a surprising yet characteristic gentleness. He looked calm as opposed to what she had thought.
"Now will you tell me what has happened?"
He asked softly and she gave in to him sighing looking down.
"I.. I.. am just tired. There has been a continuous loss in business, I keep having creative differences with baba..He just doesn't understand.. I don't know what to do..I.."
He grimaced as the cramps made an inflow again. His brows drew in confusion till it cleared finally seeing her expression, a stain of red embarrassment and an arm around her waist. He held her around the back with an arm comfortingly and led her out.
"Okay.. I got it. Lets get out of here. Ask Krishna to take care of the shop and tell her you are staying at my place for the night.."
"But.. but how can I..? I can't..."
"Why? You don't trust me?"
"No Raghav.. I mean.."
"Afraid of what people might say? I am not unaware of my reputation.."
He teased her and she slapped on his bicep feeling like a bit more herself by the passing seconds. She did want to go with him but what will she do.. she couldn't do anything today without curling into a kicked centipede.
"Its just that, I am not feeling well.. I was.."
"I know that Pallavi. That is why I am telling. You are having cramps aren't you?"
She snapped her head up at him bewildered and he smirked lightly. He saw an adorable blush spread across her cheeks and nose making him want to kiss on it.
What a weird notion? As if..
She was confused, how come he guessed it?
Raghav had by then made her sit inside his car on the passenger seat without her notice of the same. So involved was she in his thoughts and words, on the process of discovering another intricate layer of the onion that was Raghav Rao. He put the seat belt on her throwing her oversized bag on the seat behind as Krishna gave them a wave. He got in the driver's seat and locked them in starting the ignition.
"But you.. I mean how did you.. I didn't say anything.. I.."
Pallavi began as he drove towards the Rao Mansion at an even pace for a change instead of flying. He smiled lightly.
"Periods Pallavi.. say the name. Why are you all so hesitant in uttering the term? If women themselves feel embarrassed at even saying the name, how will the taboo over the topic ever lift? Its a normal human physiological processing in females. What is so humiliating about it, I don't understand. I have heard the menstrual blood is worshipped in the Kamakhya Devi temple in Assam.. I think. Its weird how people associate it with something debase... And to answer your question, I have a sister. I know how temperamental women get during this time.."
He chuckled at the end while Pallavi looked at him in awe. She was completely behoved by this man. How can someone have so many varied shades in himself? He appeared to grow a different shade each time they interact. Or is it all inside him, hidden at untouched corners, waiting to be discovered.
"I..I don't know what to even think Raghav. Sometimes I think you are a guileless brute who cannot respect anyone at all and sometimes I see you flip like you have borderline personality disorder."
Raghav laughed. One of his rare as a pink moon laugh, which resonated from deep inside his chest resounding around the car like chocolate and velvet sending tremors down her slender frame.
"Was that a twisted compliment Saree Ka dukaan?"
He asked mischievously looking at the road in front even as he changed gears to slow down in front of some shops she saw.
"Take it as a compliment. It will be more digestible as such.."
She quipped back making him snort in laughter again. He went out in a blink even before she could ask where he was going. When he returned a few minutes later she surprised to see a huge brown packet in his hands. He drove towards the Mansion as she rummaged through the packet he had given her.
It had sanitary pads of two or three different manufacturers and she was shocked to see, a packet of tampons as well. She looked at him slightly bewildered taking out the tampon box.
"Keerti uses that brand. I don't know whether you will like it as well but she swears by it, so.."
He said as they rolled into the driveway.
"What?"
He asked her when she was looking at him weirdly.
"I have heard it works better than pads. And doesn't need much frequent replacements.. I thought you might prefer it even....like Keerti..?"
"But.. I. I have never used it.. Aai said maybe I shouldn't.. because.."
He raised an eyebrow. She looked away sheepishly.
"In what generation are you living my dear Pallavi? Both of us know that your hymen won't tear using tampons. That's just ridiculous. Imagine loosing virginity to a menstrual product. What a serious impediment would that be to a man's ego."
Pallavi having being taken aback by his unabashed words took a few moments to register the meaning and a laced humour in them. But the deadpan look he was giving her coupled with her sudden realisation that she was talking about periods with the Don of Hyderabad as he educated her on use of tampons set her off badly. Her laughter triggered his and soon both were leaning against each other laughing their guts out seated in his car in the driveway looking probably like idiots to the security standing afar.
Pallavi giggled stifling her laughter with much difficulty wiping her tears of mirth feeling like fifty percent of her pain had gone away somewhere in between the journey. Raghav gave her his hand and she took his gratefully as they stepped in the mansion.
Later Pallavi had changed into his oversized black t shirt and grey tracks (she had begun to become unapologetic about using his clothes since the past month seeing, he never seemed to mind.. and not because she felt nice in them... hold your horses my dear readers..) and was reclining on the fluffy sofa in the hall, tucked comfortably beside him with a hot water bag. She had taken a refreshing shower in that enviable state of art bathroom and had been amused seeing a strawberry flavoured shampoo ( of a brand which she could probably, never afford) in between his toiletries.
She was watching a recent web series she had been wanting to catch on desperately since some days but couldn't because of the work load, on the large flat screen in front, occasionally stuffing her face with the double loaded cheese pizza laod out on the center table.
She wouldn't ever mind being fat, her hourglass figure be damned if she could get Rama to cook for her too. She turned aside once and saw Raghav immersed in the official drafts of a few designs he had to final urgently, wearing those metal framed black reading glasses.
He had changed into casuals as well and was currently frowning into his macbook like it has personally wronged him, having no idea how strongly she had a strange desire, to launch on him like a jungle cat and rip out his clothes. She gulped her saliva visibly and tried to focus on the show running in front and not his musky natural fragrance though it was tremendously hard considering she was leaning into his chest almost, as he had an arm wrapped around her.
A lock of hair had fallen adorably over his forehead as he peered from his glasses on the screen muttering something rapidly and illegibly in Telegu as he swiftly typed his notes of improvements on the screen over the designs.
Pallavi sighed and went back to her show feeling weirdly heavy and light both.
Damn you Raghav Rao! What are you and when the f**king hell will I understand you?