Rudra
Now that Shalini was on board with the plan, we as decided to tell Amma and Tara about our 'marriage ' .
We told Madhav about the plan and asked ( technical forced should be the right word but who cares) him to work along.
We together decided to execute our plan when Amma was discharged from the hospital .
....
Amma was in her room while Tara was unpacking Amma's clothes from the hospital. When I entered Amma's room .
Seeing me enter , Amma looked at me for the first time in a while, her face was blank while her eyes was filled with a lot of emotions. I don't even know how to put it in words but those eyes were killing me .
I quietly sat on the floor next to Amma's bed I took her hand in my
" Amma I did what you asked me to do . I got married"
I was expecting reaction out of her , even her hitting me was on my list of reaction I could get but all I got was a simple nod from her .
" Bhai , what, when , how " Tara said shocked
" Who is she " Amma said in a weak voice
" Shalini "
" Rudra call her please" Amma asked me .
Tara was still confused about all this as I left the room to call Shalini, I could hear Tara talking to Amma but Amma did not respond to her talking.
Shalini was sitting on the swing in the courtyard , she was nervous.
As I got close to her I could see her wearing the Mangal sutra which Madhav had purchased to make this all look reality, she was even wearing sindoor . She did look beautiful wearing all the symbols of a married woman.
" Rudra.... Rudra ... " Shalini was wavering her hands in front of my face . I was distracted looking her like this .
" Did Amma believe you , is she okay "
" Amma told me to bring you to her room"
"I think she knows, this is wrong , we should tell her the truth. Amma will forgive us if we tell the truth"
" Shalini we can't do that , let's just go to her room and see what she says . I promise you everything will go well .
Believe me please "
Looking in my eyes , I could feel her getting a bit confident, she believed me .
We went to Amma's room together this time.
Now we both were standing in front of a weirdly calm Amma and a very confused Tara .
" Shalini do you love Rudra " I and Shalini were not expecting that question, I was ready to interfere when Shalini said "yes" to Amma's question.
Amma looked at me and gave me a smile, she gave Shalini her blessings .
Amma took out her old family ring and gave it to Shalini . Shalini was visible shocked at all the things going on . To be honest I was too .
Tara was happy to but to get some answers she took Shalini out of Amma's room .
As I was leaving Amma stopped me
" Rudra I am happy you found someone like Shalini , never let her go . Always respect her and take care of her ."
" I am happy too. Will always do , you raised me well Amma " I gave her a smile
Leaving the room I saw Shalini and Tara . Shalini looked like a criminal being enquired by a police , Tara in this case.
We were expecting something like this so we had already planned out the story . We had two good writers in the team ( Madhav and my beloved) our story was very realistic.
Shalini and I meet on train ( it was true) . We started talking ( also true) . We started liking each other , we decided to get married, we had a court marriage and madhav was our witness . ( The lies )
We decided that when Shalini has to for Delhi we will end our fake marriage. I will go back too . After sometime I will tell that we got divorced and this will all end .
Our plan is perfect, no one will suspect anything.
Shalini saw me and looked at me desperately for help. I went over to my little sis and my beloved , to help her out.
" Tara stop asking so many questions, you can do all the investigation later . I am taking my wife for a while now . Thank you "
I took Shalini's hand and asked her to come along.
" Now you are saved."
" Thanks for saving me back there "
......
Our plan was working perfectly till one day when a old couple and a girl around my age entered inside the house .
Shalini and I was talking about something when she saw them .
All the colour from her face vanished seeing them .
" Ma , papa , Seema ... What are you doing here " she said taking small steps towards them .
" How are you my dear " Shalini's father said hugging and kissing his daughter's forehead.
Before she could say anything, Shalini's mother has noticed the mangalsutra. Her eyes then move to her forehead on the red sindoor.
I was personally very scared, we never assumed that her parents will be involved.
" Shalini what is this , when did you get married ,who did you marry" Her mother asked
Shalini looked at me to help her out. Amma had also entered the courtyard listening to all the chorus.
" Sir...ma'am, I am Shalini's husband"
" Akash, Rani ... Is this really you two " Amma said standing in front of Shalini's parents.
Both of her parents were also surprised seeing Amma . It looked liked they knew each other but the question was how .
" Amma , how are you , it's been so long since we saw you " Shalini's father spoke.
I looked at Shalini to see if she has some idea about all this . It looks like they are a long lost family reuniting. We both are really confused.
In all this confusion Shalini has now moved closer to the girl who is still a mystery to us .
They are talking about something, I can't hear her.
....
Now the chaos has settled down a little , all the confusion is been cleared.
Shalini's parents and my parents had been close friends back when my parents were still alive. They moved to Delhi when my parents died.
The girl who was with them is Shalini's best friend Seema.
Shalini's parents wanted to visit Banaras and meet their daughter. Seema had joined along to meet her best friend.
Shalini's parents were surprisingly fine with her marrying me , they even blessed us .
I could see that Shalini was a little heartbroken because of all this lying . She really wanted to say the truth about our fake marriage but stopped whenever she saw the families face . Her and my included.
Our life has now become a giant roller coaster .