Hello People!
I am here with the update. I am pretty much nervous about this chapter because I have no idea how it is. My mood is all haywire, so guys kindly light it up with your beautiful comments and tell me we are going in the right direction. I really really hope you guys like it because I am absolutely freaking out right now. Do vote and drop inline comments. Love you, guys! You people keep me going.
Happy reading!
Author's POV
"Where is Meera?" He repeated louder this time, and the manager flinched.
"Sir... sir, she went to Ontario with the Guelph hotel interior design group last night," he stammered, making a shock course through his veins.
"What the hell! Who permitted her to leave her job and go this way? Did anyone ask for my permission? What is going on? I want her back right away," he shouted. He was going crazy with anger. How dare she go away without even intimating me? He fumed.
"Sorry sir, but we had a letter officially signed by you allowing her to pursue the next month of her service from the Canada branch as the design thinking intern. The group contains 5 selected people, and she got selected around 2 months back but refused to go at that time. Yesterday she called and showed her interest in joining as soon as possible. The next group was going in half an hour only, so I told her to wait, but she said that she would go with them only. She will resume working with you from next month, sir," he elaborated. Wait! Signed document? Oh fuck! That day, he signed the leave documents of all the employees who were eligible for the Ontario program. She never made a statement about joining them.
"Leave" he dismissed him.
She went away. He was dying to talk to her and she went away. Ahh! Meera, why did you not even tell me before going so far away from me? He mulled. The day, the night, and the month went away thinking about her every minute every second. He tried calling her numerous times but none of them got answered. He called the group and they said she chose to work in solace and preferred the least communicable area where contacting her became more difficult. It was like she wanted to hide. She didn't want to communicate. He went to her home and everything was perfectly normal there. Did I force her to get away to heave a breath of relief? Did I hurt her that much? He questioned himself. So many times this month he was so close to going to Canada and dragging her back home. home. He regretted keeping her away from the peaceful feeling that came along with the word 'home'. He couldn't go to her because of a new project enforced upon him suddenly. Why did she even leave? She is never the one to run away from issues. She talks them out like a sensible person.
Today was a blissful day. The day she would join back and he am going crazy with impatience. He had started talking to her pictures now. That's how crazy she makes him feel.
He was yearning for a glimpse of her beautiful face. Exactly at 9:00, he entered his cabin to be greeted with the aroma of blended cocoa. His perfect coffee settled on the table and he knew she was back. A smile made its way to his lips. He missed this. But where is she? I am yet to confront her. His gaze wandered around.
He walked inside and settled on the table trying to calm his hyperactive nerves, and hiding his desperation. He was always composed and calm but with her, in the picture, it was quite the opposite.
As the clock struck 9:15 she entered the cabin. He expected anything but a lost Meera. He expected his chirpy and talkative princess but the face of the girl standing in front of him told a different story altogether. Vacation and a change of air were supposed to relax people but here nothing seemed in place. He frowned as he saw her emotionless face and blank, cold eyes for the first time in his life. Gone was the ever-so-smiling girl and stood an impassive woman.
He instantly knew something went wrong. Something extremely wrong happened. Did someone say something to her? The thought made him clench his fists in vexation. I will kill that person. That person has to face me if he or she has tried to harm or humiliate her. He bellowed in his head.
'Good morning' is a greeting that is often ignored. Often disvalued in texts as the notion pertains that this greeting is forwarded to everyone in the circle so has no deep meaning. We forget that the click and the minute required to forward that message to you were invested by that person and we are supposed to value their investment. We forget to return the excitement the other person offers while starting their day by greeting us forgetting it might mean more than a word composed of 11 letters to them. Today he missed that one greeting full of warmth and love from her side because he did not receive it. He regretted not returning her enthusiasm every morning for these 6 months.
"Sir, your schedule is busy today," she announced while he looked for any vague sentiment in her stern voice. He was beyond perplexed by her behavior.
"Where were you from the past month?" Kabir roared.
"Canada branch- working as a design intern" she answered plainly.
"How could you just leave dammit?" he slammed his hands on the table while it didn't impact her a bit.
"Sir, I did drop an email," she said. A freaking mail? She knows she is the one who checks them for me and he would rather only read the tender-related ones.
"Do you find it enough?" he glared at her. Has anyone ever left their family like this?
"Sir it was written in the memorandum that only an email had to be dropped before joining any pre-announced abroad program" she chipped out.
"It may be enough for a CEO but what excuse will you give your husband?" he mocked. His tone gave hints of displeasure.
"Sir, my husband won't mind my presence or absence and you should not bother. It is none of your concern" she said. She was answering like a robot.
"It is my concern, dammit. You are my concern. You are my wife" he yelled.
"Sorry sir, can we please remain professional?" she asked and bile rose to his throat. This cannot be his princess speaking. The girl who claims him proudly every lunch break cannot say this. He might have said those words so many times but she never bent down.
'Our relation is above all professional bonds. Where hearts are involved, formality is just a pretense' she always said these words. Now he wanted to get a reaction out of her at any cost.
"Why don't you speak up?" he angrily marched towards her, held her shoulders, and yelled.
"Sir, it's of no use. My voice already torments so many people, we don't want an add-on to the list" she said without a tinge of pain. Something terrible did happen or else his bubble of optimism would never use these words. Her voice is the sweetest nectar poured into one's ears. It can give nothing but peace to others.
"Sir, your meeting starts in 5. I will prepare the conference room" she said and went away but he did not stop her, afraid that he would break whatever delicacy was left to revive. The coming days were hell for him. She was with him for the complete day but they were no longer together. It was like she was no longer the Meera he fell for. The Meera who had that captivating charm around her. The one who cast a spell on people with her smile. She didn't force him to have lunch anymore. She never overstepped those professional boundaries which she never cared about in the past. She didn't speak to him about anything except work. Even at home he never heard her, never saw her jumping around. He had just seen her zoned out, her eyes tracing the surroundings getting lost in a world of her own. He missed her. She was right when she said if she becomes quiet for a day he won't be able to bear it because the world around him seemed to be suffocating now. He didn't want to hear anything but her ramble. He wanted her to be how she was previously. She was right if her chatter was annoying then the silence was unbearable. Her non-stop speaking was like a comfort zone that assured him she was there. There to hold him, there to stop him from falling apart, and there to solve everything for him. He would trade the world to hear her babble. He was sorry for saying 'SHUT UP' to her because now he wanted nothing but for her to speak. Nothing but her to open up. Nothing but her to come out of the shell which was eating her up inside.
Three weeks went by and his every attempt to bare his heart open to her was rendered futile.
Today they reached home together as usual and she spoke for the first time after three weeks to him "Wait"
He stopped in his tracks to his room and turned while his heart danced happily as he heard her voice at home. He did not show any expression and asked "what?"
She rushed past him to her room and came back with some papers in her hand and gave them to him
As he read the word 'DIVORCE', his heart stopped beating for a second and he angrily balled his fist and asked.
"What the freaking hell is this?"
"Mr. Raichand, happy independence day. You were eating my head since day one to get these papers signed and today I have finally granted your wish. You hated to see my face and I have decided to show it never again" she said and instead of being happy, he felt sad and angry.
Only he knew how he had survived that one month without her. Rage filled his insides and he asked in a dangerously low voice "Why now?"
She smiled but it did not reach her eyes, "For the last time I am saying Mr. Raichand, and after today I won't say this again- 'You are my world' and I am freeing you to go and marry the one you love. To get this burden past your shoulder. I just wanted to say SORRY for disrupting your peace for these six months"
He felt his heart break as he heard those words. Why? Just why? He just wanted to hear this sorry from her every day but she proudly said loving him wasn't a mistake, marrying him wasn't a mistake, and caring for him wasn't a mistake. Even after being his employee, he couldn't make her say that word even for once. She never gave anyone this satisfaction and today he got it but he hated it now. He threw the papers away and pulled her closer and asked, looking straight into her eyes
"Did I just hear the strong girl give up?"
"Yes, you win and I lose. You were right. I am not the right one for you" she said plainly. Her voice was undeterred. How come just a month of separation changed her so much?
"Was marrying me a mistake?" he asked in a low voice.
"For me, no but for you yes" she answered, making him go insane. She called herself a mistake instead of him. She gave up. She gave up when he was falling hard for her.
She got out of his grip and forwarded her hand for a shake and said "Lead a very happy life ahead. Mr. Raichand"
His insides curled and the word 'Mr. Raichand' instead of Chaand, her nickname for him, skinned him alive. He took her hand in his and engulfed her in a hug promising himself to never let her go. He had already committed many sins but now he will change for her and become her Chaand in real life. He will earn her love back. He won't let her go. Not even at the cost of his life. She was taken aback but her next words shook him to the core
"Take a long cold shower to remove the disgusting feeling you will get after touching me"
Disgusting!!!! Fudging hell!!! He felt surreal. He felt peace. He felt at home and she had taken it all wrong. He felt disgusted even with the thought of removing the feeling of her touch. He moved back and asked,
"What did you take this hug for?"
"A goodbye hug maybe" she answered.
'No way in hell she was going anywhere. Goodbye, my foot,' his mind and heart yelled together.
"It was a goodnight hug Mrs. Raichand" he stated.
He never called her Mrs. Raichand as he cleared her pretty early that he would never accept her.
She chuckled humorlessly and said "Then I will take it as a good memory from here and you shouldn't call any random person Mrs. Raichand. The day you find the right one, call her this name. Even if it was a mistake try not to repeat it."
She tried to move past him when he held her wrist pulling her back and making her back touch his front.
He whispered in her ear "Noted. Princess noted. No one except you would be called this name. You are not going anywhere and no divorce is going to take place. Your mere absence for a month made me realize that you have become my heartbeat. Now there would be only you and me. Princess, why are you giving up when you are the only one who can read when I say the truth? I know you can feel my feelings"
The moment he used the word princess she knew he was as sincere as the holy decree preached all over the world. He addressed her with the word only when he was showing his love for her. His concern, care, and regard enveloped that word but she intentionally let it pass.
She smiled and said "I guess too many emotions have made me numb. This is the perfect time to throw me out, Mr. Raichand. I promise to never disturb you again. Remember you told me that you had so many better options unlike a plane Jane, an emotional wreck, and what was that....worthless girl like me. I am sorry I realized a bit late that you were right. Leave me right here, never look back and I promise I would never return to bother you"
"STOP IT, DON'T YOU DARE SAY A WORD MORE"
He pulled her impossibly closer and said "You are not going to leave me. Not now, not ever. Once more you call yourself names I will shut that pretty mouth of yours in my own way. Understand this princess that you are no more an option, you are my only choice, need, and want now. Till where throwing you out is concerned that is not possible because you own my heart now. You can kick me out but I can't"
"Princess, don't talk about ending our relationship again. I can't live without you" he said softly.
"Trust me, you will be better off without me" she muttered.
"Princess, you and me belong together" As he said those words aloud he realized that the feeling he was unable to name was love. Raw, true, and sheer love that he had never felt for anyone before. The kind of love that came like a gleam of sunshine after continuous rain. The kind of love that violins of heaven announced because even the thought of parting with her seemed like a nightmare which made him feel nonexistent. The love that was always there but he was too late in realizing it.
"If any sort of indifference or ignorance is left. I can stay for another month. Doesn't matter. Though you don't have to do anything to break me anymore. It's already done" she said, breaking him out of his spell.
She was uttering nonsense. Everything that hurts her will kill me alive. What does she mean by done already? Who dared to hurt her? Questions reeled in his head.
"Princess, the day you leave will be the day even the hell turns upside down. Your mere absence can torture me enough and hurting you will take my everything away"
She looked at me with unreadable emotions.
"Mr. Raichand, I am not your love. I am not your princess. I don't deserve to be here" she said and her voice did not waver but inside she was trembling to be held closely by him. She reminded herself of the reasons why she wasn't meant for him and she didn't let her resolve break.
"SHUT THE HELL UP" he shouted.
"Princess, if you don't deserve to be here then no one else does. You love me so much so why are you adamant about leaving?" he asked, frustrated.
"I don't have it in me to fight for your love now. I am thinking about shifting to Canada. I know that you will find a girl better than me. The one who can bring peace to your heart. The one who knows how to calm you down when there is a mess all around. The one whom you can share all your worries with. The one who isn't over-emotional, clingy, and bubbly. Just the one for you" she said.
She did not just say that! Every quality that I wanna see in my life partner is what she has. Even if she doesn't, I want none but her. When you fall in love you even fall for that person's flaws. No girl can be this patient with me. No one can wait for me to come back home and then only have food and sleep. Even if it means waiting till early morning. No one will ever choose me over everything like her. No one will ever kiss me goodnight. She is my blessing. The blessing people treasure and never let go of. She is chirpy, bubbly, and full of emotions and this is why I love her! He screamed to himself.
"Princess, look into my eyes. Don't you find peace? This peace is just because of your presence" He cupped her face.
"You won't give me a Divorce?" she asked instead.
"No, never. Leave divorce, I won't even let you away for a day" Kabir said firmly.
"Fine. I will call Lara and tell her to convince you" she shrugged. Like even the devil himself would be able to convince him to let her go!
"When you wanted to make me fall for you, you were adamant and now when it is happening you are adamant about leaving," he said frustrated.
"She has reasons," Lara said, coming from behind.
"And what are those?" he asked angrily. He was mad at her for interfering. 'I guess she was having enough fun with her boyfriend in the mall two days back now what was she doing here?' He was pissed.
"Don't. Just don't say a word to him" Princess sighed. What was she hiding was the question roaming in his head.
"Why not? Let's tell him that you are not a Kashyap. Your complete existence is a lie" she said and he was shocked would be an understatement.
******
Kabir's POV
I looked at her and she nodded firmly with blank eyes. Show the pain at least princess! Your surname doesn't matter anymore because you are a raichand now.
"So what?" I asked and for a second princess looked up at my face.
"So she is an orphan," she said and my jaw clenched. She has me.
"She is right! I am an orphan. A bloody nobody. No surname, no family, and no home. Now if Ms. Lara Kashyap, you are done describing me. Let's get over this. Convince Mr. Raichand to marry you" she said as if it was no big deal. I know she is breaking inside with her every word. She knows she is letting me go even after she said once 'Separation from you will take away the heartbeat from my heart' and I know she wasn't lying. She said 'I will lose myself along with you.'
I remember her every word by heart. I looked at the situation in front of me as a dark unfolding. A chaos that gave her nothing but pain. Her pain which sent tremors down my spine and churned my heart.
"Sorry Mrs. Raichand but your Chaand can't marry someone else. You aren't an orphan because you have me and a complete family. This is your home. Remember that your Chaand cannot live without his moonlight. I will lose my glow," I said huskily.
"You are joking, right? You love me not her" Lara shouted. What does this woman even want? Yesterday she seemed quite happy with her boyfriend romancing in the mall and today she wants me instead. Insane.
"Only one lady rules my heart and that is Mrs. Meera Kabir Raichand and Unfortunately you are not her" with this said I dragged my wife closer.
"You have gone mad Kabir, you can't fall in love with this girl. She is after you only for your money. She even wants divorce only for alimony" Lara shouts.
Caged in my arms she just quietly listened to whatever she was saying but her man wouldn't remain quiet. I was anything but calm. She was insulting my love.
"I thought you only preferred wearing short clothes. I didn't know your brain is short too. Nearly fictional" I mocked. How dare she say a word against my princess? Hate, love, romance, crying or smiling whatever it is, it's only with her, and it's only me who gets those emotions from her. Nobody else has the right to say a word about her.
"She is right, I am with you only for money but I don't need alimony. I have got what I wanted already" she said, making me look at her.
I was amused at her audacity to lie. She and caring about money don't go together. Never in our friendship of years and relationship of 6 months, she had taken a penny from me. The only thing she ever demanded was my time.
My girl lost her job but still managed on her own. She never said a word about it to me. She sold her jewelry but never asked me to fend for her. She had more rights than the world to me. Do money-hungry people sacrifice so much? She had my platinum card since day one and not even a single transaction till now. Why is she so stubborn? If you are Mrs. Raichand then even I am your husband. Wait and watch. I smirked devilishly in my mind.
"Oh my god! She is behind me for money and here I thought she loves me but now I can't live without her so I am ready to give you whatever you demand" saying that I took out all my cards and forwarded them to her. She looked at me and then at the cards and frowned. I smiled seeing her expression. The first girl that I met for whom my money, status, and fame have no value at all. Even with trembling hands, she couldn't take the cards and finally said "I have got what I wanted from you so I don't need these cards"
I laughed, kissed her cheeks, and said "Were you saying something about her being behind me for money, Lara? Why don't I see anything like that? How come she isn't able to take these cards from me? How come not once she has let me spend on her? You better keep your thoughts to yourself because I know my princess better than anyone else"
"Stupid girl" she muttered and said "She is acting now"
"You people think what you like and discuss it in detail. I am done with this conversation already" she said and was going to her room when Lara spoke,
"Hey, now you don't need to live here anymore. You should leave this place—"
"Ms. Kashyap, I am not bound to listen to you and yes, thank your stars because I am already leaving quietly. Don't make it difficult for yourself. I am done with your attitude. If you try to speak again forget about divorce, I will separate you from him forever, and for that, I just need to make a call to Devrath Sinha" she warned. Okay, so princess knew about her boyfriend already. Still, she allowed me to marry her. Very bad princess, very bad. Thank god I got saved from her because of your spell on me.
"You won't do anything like that" Lara warned. Oops! Warning an angry Olaf is dangerous.
"Try me" with this said she went to her room banging the door loud enough to wake every sleeping creature.
Lara's jaw dropped and she immediately exited the place making me smile. After a month I have seen her fight back. I was dancing in glee but then I remembered her words which almost pierced my heart. I went and opened the door of her room quietly. I frowned seeing it empty. My heart broke as I heard her converse with her sister, Aditi, they were more than audible to me.
"Di please, you have always been the one who understands me like the back of her hand. Was our relation limited to blood?" she asked.
"I know Meera but please look from my perspective as well, my son would lose his grandparents if I continue to be in touch with you. Do you want this for a small, innocent kid?" Damn! This was pure blackmail. If they don't want my princess they can gladly go to hell. I am enough for her.
"You know me too well to know that business runs in my blood, Di. Your emotional blackmail definitely would have worked if you were speaking as my sister but now I only hear a Kashyap heir speaking. Daughter of that family speaking. Don't worry Mrs. Aditi, this orphan won't disturb you again. And yes, I wish your son all the good things in the world. May no abandonment, heartbreak, and sorrow fall in his shares" she said.
With this said she hung up and sighed. Not a drop of tear. Meera, how many times will you use this orphan word? You aren't an orphan. You are my wife.
She looked at me and asked, "What do you want?"
Whoa! She sensed my presence.
"You! I want you" I answered smiling at her.
"Now I can offer you nothing but a divorce," she said. I hate that word.
"Nothing like that is happening. I wanted to say this for so long I love—"
"Just don't! Leave it in there. It would make parting easier" she said.
I pulled her closer until there wasn't a bit gap between us and said "How many times should I tell you that no separation is going to happen, princess?"
"Why are you so stubborn? You were behind me for this separation for 6 months and now you don't want it. Lara told you things right, those are enough reasons to leave me"
"Not enough for me. I won't let you go for anything. Give me a chance and I will make everything alright. I am not divorcing you. You have been holding us together for so long. Now it's my turn" I said, determined to make things fall in place.
"Fine, do whatever you want but I am not staying," she said. I kissed her forehead softly and let my lips linger over there. A sigh left her throat and I knew come what may we were never gonna be away from each other. Our love was holding us back.
Thanks for reading!
So will they part ways?
The tables have turned, she wants to leave him and he wants their togetherness...
Will she leave him?
Will the divorce take place?
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What doesn't fit at all?
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