Manav Rajput
"Now what? What do I do with Manasvi?" I could hear Kabir's frustrated voice from Dhruv's office from outside the opaque door.
"Watch your tone, Kabir. I didn't force you to marry her." Dhruv's cold tone sounded, and I decided to wait outside instead of barging in, even though what I came here for was much more important.
"Of course, you didn't. You never force us to do anything, right? Just like you didn't force me to drive her to the airport." I heard a crashing sound, and then silence. Complete silence, which terrified me like nothing else.
"Are you done? You can leave if you are." His tone wasn't suggestive, and Kabir knew that because he opened the door the very next second only to see me.
"How much did you hear?" He growled, which made me so angry that I had to grip the files in my hand to keep myself from punching his face.
"Not enough to do anything." I voiced out, my voice just as much insensitive as his.
His glare didn't faze me as I gave him side to leave. Once he had angrily marched down the corridor of our office, I entered inside to see Dhruv sitting on his chair, twirling the paper weight in his hand and staring off into space.
"We have got some bigger issues at hand." I muttered, bringing him back into this world.
"What happened?"
"There are rumours about the existence of Rajput daughters-in-law." He stood up from his swivel chair in shock and snatched the newspaper from my hand, reading the recent article with furrowed brows.
Before any of us could say anything, Dhruv's phone rang and he put it on speaker for the both of us to hear what the speaker had to say.
"Dhruv? Did you see the news? The photos taken in Kabir's wedding got viral, and now everyone is talking about the Rajput brothers' wives." Mishka bhabhi's voice was calm, as if she was talking about the weather, and that was because she was not one to panick during such situations. She was the perfect eldest daughter-in-law and a perfect wife for Dhruv, who was the same as her.
"I did. How is Manasvi and Aastha?" We didn't know Manasvi and what type of person she was, so he had to ask about her, and Aastha was too soft spoken, she would not be able to handle this news very well.
"They are fine. Papa is asking for you, and bring Manav, Kabir and Arjun with you too. He is declaring a complete lockdown." She said, and cut the call.
We turned our gazes to the door of his office where we knew those idiots would be eavesdropping, so we didn't bother to wait and marched angrily all the way down to our cars.
These media people were surely going to see hell on earth after I made sure Aastha was not crying hysterically anymore.
***
She wasn't.
Bhabhi had handled her well, and my wife had stopped crying long ago but the tear streaks could still be visible on her cheeks. Manasvi, like Bhabhi, was very cool about the whole situation and was hugging my wife close enough to provide her warmth.
I had noticed from being married to her from the past one year that she caught cold whenever she cried, and that was a lot during the initial days of our marriage.
Aashika, like expected, was fuming when we came inside the Palace, and it looked like mumma was having a hard time trying to calm her down. Papa, along with Mishka bhabhi, was nowhere to be seen so I assumed they would be in his office here, discussing what to do next about this uncalled situation.
I stopped in front of Manasvi and Aastha to see her already asleep.
"I will put her to bed."
"No, Manav, let her stay here. She will get scared if she wakes up and sees herself alone in a room." Mumma's voice came from behind me, and I sighed in disappointment when I didn't get to hold her and kiss her forehead like I usually do after she falls asleep.
"Papa is calling you. Where is Arjun?" Mishka bhabhi came down the stairs in her saree, and stopped in front of us.
"Here, Bhabhi." Arjun, who did not respect any of us after that night, held huge regards for the eldest daughter-in-law, and I couldn't blame him for it. Bhabhi demanded respect wherever she went, and the adoration we had for her came naturally.
"Take this with you." She handed Arjun a tray filled with bowls of soup.
"Thank you." I uttered, shocking my brothers and I, earning a nod and a smile from her.
"Mishka, take care of Aastha. She is too weak hearted." Dhruv's choice of words were harsh, but we knew what he said was true.
"She is not weak hearted, she is just not accustomed to these things yet." Bhabhi defended, but I knew Dhruv was right. There was no place for cowards in our world, and I had no idea why Mumma chose her for me when she knew this well enough.
"Mishka! There's a call from someone named Raghav." We heard Mumma yell, and Dhruv's eyes turned dark as he gazed at his unfazed wife.
"Who is Raghav?" He shouldn't do this in front of us, but it was very unusual for him to get angry and so we didn't dare to make any sound that would further aggravate him even more. Angry Dhruv was never a pleasant sight.
"Oh my God! I didn't tell you? I am so sorry. Raghav is actually my boyfriend and we are going to marry after I divorce you." She gasped, and we all could see right through her act except Dhruv who was getting angrier with each passing second.
"Mishka, follow me." He ordered, his voice giving nothing away, but we knew he was angry. His body was tensed and his jaw was clenched so tight I was afraid he was going to break all of his teeth.
"Sorry, my dear husband. I want to talk to my boyfriend first, and you have to meet papa." She smiled sweetly, and moved towards Mumma who was sitting on the couch, the end of her saree trailing on the ground behind her.
Kabir and Arjun walked right past us to Papa's office on the first floor, while I stood behind him, making sure he was not as angry as before, and then followed the other two idiots to the intricately designed, double doors of mahogany timber on the first floor.
I knocked on the door, and entered inside after I got the permission to do so only to see my father, Arjun and Kabir leisurely sipping the soup made by Bhabhi.
"What do we do now?" Dhruv asked, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the chair in front of our father.
Dhruv and I picked up the two remaining bowls of soup and I almost moaned when I tasted it.
Bhabhi made the best food ever, I swear to God.
"Have the articles been taken down?" Papa asked.
"Yes, but that proved to be useless. It was pretty late when the PR team took down the articles."
"You should stay here for a few days. Until the matter resolves and everyone forgets about this matter, nobody will leave the palace." Papa commanded.
"Aastha will never agree." I said, because I knew my wife's love for her job and she would never agree to take a leave.
"I talked to Mishka about this. She will convince everyone to stay home." He said.
"What about Manasvi?" Dhruv asked.
"What about her?" Kabir questioned back.
"She is a busy woman. Will she agree?"
Kabir shrugged,"Bhabhi will convince her."
"Okay! Papa, are you still going on that trip?" Arjun asked, and it suddenly dawned on me that Papa and Mumma were going to travel around for a bit because they wanted to spend some quality time.
"Your mother denied, so, no. Why?"
"I think you should go. It will be a good change for Mumma." Kabir, for once, agreed to his twin brother without fussing.
"I will talk to your mother and tell you. But, if any problem arises, you call me. Got it?"
"Of course, Papa." Dhruv nodded, and Papa gave us a smile before hugging all of us and sending us out the door with the tray of empty bowls in Kabir's hand.
***
"Manav, dinner is ready." I heard Aastha's voice from the door of my room, and I looked up to see her back fading from my line of sight.
Before she could disappear from my sight, I jogged towards her and asked,"How are you doing now?"
I could see she was shocked and flustered to see me talk to her, and I almost felt bad about ignoring her for all these months. After all, it wasn't her fault Mumma forced us to marry.
"Better than before." She confessed, sniffling a little later which proved her point.
"Are you fine with being locked here for a few days?" I surprised myself and her by asking, because I never used to care about others' feelings.
'What changed then?'
"Yeah, I guess. It's just for a few days after all." She shrugged, but I could see right past her act.
She was upset of being away from her children and her school. I knew that her job was her safe haven, and it was upsetting for her to leave it even for a few days.
"Aastha, help me please." Mishka bhabhi called out, and my wife glanced at me once before rushing away to the kitchen and I joined the bunch of people sitting in the living room.
"Manasvi, is it fine for you to skip work for a few days?" Mumma asked.
Manasvi, I heard, was kicked out of the kitchen because she didn't know anything and caused absolute blunder in whatever she cooked.
"I don't know. Our firm doesn't really grant leaves until absolutely necessary. I will talk to the management once though."
"You do that, and if they don't allow then just skip. It's your wish after all." Aashika entered the area, holding a bowl of cookies I was sure she stole from the kitchen.
"Aashika, how many times do I have to tell you not to eat cookies during meal times? Then, you will not eat dinner properly and wake up in the middle of the night to eat. It's not good for you." Mumma scolded, gently prying the bowl away from her who pouted and crossed her arms.
"Dinner is ready." Bhabhi sang, breaking the murmuring between my parents, Aashika and Manasvi.