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It's been a week since Imlie's accident. Environment in Rathore mansion was quite hostile. There was a prevailing tension between Aryan and Narmada.
Tension between Imlie and Narmada has worsened, Narmada was hostile towards her, still taunted her in the absence of Aryan, Imlie tried to ignore them, tried to act indifferent, but it still hurt her. She couldn't believe the transformation that has taken place in Narmada.
Narmada was a woman who never judged her. She showered her with motherly love without any hesitation, always embraced her when she was in her weakest moments.
She was a mother figure to her when her Amma was not there with her.
Narmada never differentiated her from Arpita Or Aryan.
She was so happy when she learnt that Imlie and Aryan were married.
But now it seems like Imlie cannot recognize the old Narmada anymore.
She seems so different from the Narmada who was kind, compassionate, loving and caring. Was that all a facade? Or whatever is happening now is a facade?
Imlie knows that Neela was manipulating her, but Narmada is not a small kid who can be manipulated so easily. She was a strong woman who raised Arpita and Aryan alone after their fathers' death.
But now it looks like this transformation will be remaining forever and Imlie has to adapt this change forever.
*************
It was a Sunday, both Aryan and Imlie had off from their work. So Arpita asked Imlie to go shopping with her.
After much persuasion from Arpita, Imlie had finally agreed.
It's been 5 hours since Imlie had been to shopping with Arpita and surprisingly,Aryan was bored without Imlie around him.
Both of them generally spent their Sundays with each other.
Sometimes, as Aryan worked on his laptop Imlie left no chance to disturb him by singing her weird songs until Aryan was left annoyed and stopped working. Then she would sit with him talking about anything and everything comically, and Aryan simply listened to her adding his opinions here and there.
Sometimes Imlie would decide to clean their wardrobes and dump all the clothes on the bed and Aryan would help her clear all the mess.
On the evenings, they both took a walk around the garden, sipping their favourite beverages.
At night after their dinner, they simply sat on the cosy couches in the gazebo present in the garden. They sought solace in each other as they both just sat there in silence, with their fingers entwined.
So now, as Imlie was not there with him on this Sunday, he felt quite bored. He also felt good that Imlie was taking some time for herself, especially since the atmosphere in the house was not so pleasant.
He was just hoping that they return soon.
It was 6 in the evening.
Aryan was laying on the couch in their room, surfing through the internet when the door to their room was opened with a bang.
He was not surprised. That's how Imlie announced her presence in their room, with a bang. But he was definitely surprised seeing her changed attire. Pleasantly surprised.
Imlie was carrying a few shopping bags with her. A house help was following her while carrying a few cartons, he kept them on the table and walked away.
ABP!" Imlie exclaimed with excitement bubbling through her body.
"Hi" Aryan replied in a daze, unable to recover from the beautiful shock.
Imlie walked towards him and waved her hand in front of his face.
"You look beautiful." He blurted out.
"Sach mein?" She asked with a wide smile.
"Haan. I mean, you look good." He said pulling himself out of the daze.
"Waise, why this sudden change?" He questioned.
"As soon as we entered the mall, Arpita didi pulled me into a store and forced me change into something different. So this change." Imlie said.
"She is also going to help me change my wardrobe." She continued.
"That's good. Kyun ki un sadiyon mein tum-" He started, but stopped in the middle, as he saw Imlie coming dangerously closer, while glaring at him.
"Sadiyon main kya? Aage bolo." She whispered trying to intimidate him.
Aryan made both of them sit on the couch and started," You look older than me in those sarees" He said with a smirk.
Her nostrils flared in anger, " You! How dare you say that?" And started hitting him with the cushions.
Aryan chuckled and held both her hands and said " Woah! Relax. Jungli kahi ki! I was just kidding."
"Ok, listen to me carefully now." He said in a serious tone, holding her hands.
"I know it's your life and you should be the one to decide what you want to wear and I also know that many ladies wear sarees in their daily lives and there's nothing wrong with that.
But you are a working woman, Imlie and these sarees are so uncomfortable during work, you often go outdoors for work, and it is so difficult to manage yourself in these sarees. I have seen how these sarees restrict you while you do all the nautanki and also how cramped up you feel while driving.
So what I want to say is that, there are more cons than pros in wearing sarees everyday." He completed with a sigh.
Imlie was dumbfound by the time he finished speaking. She couldn't believe he has noticed her so much.
Imlie:- " Whatever you said is right. But those sarees are given by Kakimaa, how can I-"
Aryan cut her in th middle:- " Imlie it's your life. You have the right to live your life on your own terms. You should wear what you want to, in which you are comfortable. You don't need to please or impress anyone.
And come on, don't you wish to wear some new, fancy, fashionable clothes which you like?"
Imlie grinned as she heard this and said dreamily:
"I love dressing up in new styles. I was not able to do so till now, but now I will. I'm loving this new dress and I'm going to ask Arpita didi to help me change my wardrobe.
Also I haven't forgotten the age comment you did." She glared at him at the end.
"Just relax, Jungli. Mein mazak kar raha tha." He said chuckling.
"You look older than me. Huh!!-" Imlie mimicked him and looked away.
"Hum nahi, tum budhe lagte ho apne wo three piece suits mein. Chalis ke lagte ho." She said with a sickly sweet smile trying to irritate him, but his face was blank.
He got up from the couch and walked towards the balcony.
He knew she just wanted to get a reaction out of him. He knows that she loves seeing him in those three piece suits. He has noticed her staring at him during work, when she thought he was busy working.
It is no different for him. She is so beautiful that he can't help but admire her from his cabin, when she's busy working. He also tries to keep the blinds of his cabin up, as much as possible during work hours, to stop himself from getting distracted.
Imlie pouted, unable to elicit a reaction from him. She followed him to the balcony with the shopping bags in her hands.
Aryan was sitting on the arm chair with his eyes closed, his posture relaxed.
Imlie kept the shopping bags on the floor, softly without making noise and went back in their room. She decided to make some tea for both of them and walked towards the kitchen, hoping to not run into Narmada or Neela.
***************
Imlie returned to their room after a few minutes with a tray in her hands.
She entered the balcony and saw Aryan wiping the tears from the corner of his eyes.
"Aryan" She called out softly.
Aryan was startled with her sudden appearance and hastily wiped his tears.
She kept the tray on the small table and sat on the arm chair beside him and took his hands in hers. "Papa ki yaad aa rahi hai?" She asked in a gentle tone.
"No. It's nothing like that, I just... " Aryan said hurriedly.
"It's ok. You don't have to tell me anything. Yeh lo chai peeyo. Humne special chai banayi hai aaj." She said handing him a cup.
They both sat there, in silence sipping their teas.
As they finished the tea, Imlie took the shopping bags from the floor and kept them on the table before them.
"I will show you my shopping." She said in a delighted tone.
"Rehne do Imlie, I know you wouldn't have shopped anything for yourself and would have only bought things for others." He said plainly.
"Nahi, yeh sara samaan humara hai." Imlie whined.
Aryan raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"Really? That's great."
Imlie started opening the packages one by one.
"Yeh dekho" She said pointing towards the table.
"Oh, wow!! Jewellery?" Aryan asked in astonishment. "I didn't know that you loved jewellery so much."
Imlie smiled sadly and said:- " During my childhood, I was always fascinated by the different types of ornaments which women wore. I always wanted to have those types of ornaments, but our financial conditions didn't allow me to, not even the imitation ones.
So, whenever I had holidays, I used to accompany Amma to her work and then, I would pick varieties of flowers from the neighborhood and arrange them to form different types of Jewelleries and wear them proudly. But they always withered within few hours." She completed, as her eyes turned misty.
Aryan's heart broke as he listened to her. He hugged her sideways, kissed her temple softly and said:- "But now you are capable of fulfilling all your desires on your own."
Imlie smiled and said "Yes. I shopped all these from the savings of my stipend."
"I am so proud of you." He said in admiration.
"Lekin, yeh asli heere nahi hai." She said wistfully.
"To kya hua? What matters is that you bought all these for yourself, for your satisfaction so that you feel good. And I'm very much sure that soon you will be buying diamonds for yourself." He said, confidence oozing from his tone.
As soon as he completed, Imlie turned towards him and hugged him tightly, her ears close to his heart, hearing his rhythmic heart beats.
They stayed in the hug for sometime, before Imlie abruptly broke the hug and sprinted inside the room.
She came back, carrying a few cartons. Aryan helped her settle down the boxes and Imlie opened them.
"Plants?" Aryan questioned curiously.
"Indoor plants. These plants help to filter the indoor air and also help us to focus better. We will keep them on that table which is near the window. Our room will look more aesthetic." Her eyes sparkled brightly as she said this.
"That's interesting. You have gathered so much knowledge regarding this." Aryan said in appreciation.
"Thank you." She said cheerfully.
As they finished settling the plants, Imlie turned towards Aryan and asked :- "Shall we go to the garden for a walk now?"
Aryan replied in positive.
Their fingers entwined, Imlie and Aryan walked towards the garden to bask in the comfort they provide each other,to cherish each other's presence and to spend some peaceful moments of togetherness.
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Here you go with the next update.
It is the lengthiest chapter I have written till now.
I hope that it was not very boring or very cheesy.
Vote and comment.
Thank you❤❤
(Note: The above pictures are taken either from Pinterest or Google)