Kunal opened the door when the bell rang the early morning.
He was all fresh after a shower and was ready in his casual wear.
"Hey! I thought they would take entire day to get done with the drama." Kunal playfully commented as Arjun removed his shoes and stretched his toes.
"Apparently, they like me too little to bear me more than this." Arjun retorted back.
"True that." Kunal agreed walking back in.
Arjun sighed as he stood up and stretched his body. This bones screamed in protest. Without wasting time he rushed in to discard the fatigue.
He dressed himself in a full sleeved beige color T-shirt and paired it with dark washed jeans, after a long shower.
He was not surprised at the aroma of freshly made eggs. Kunal was setting two large plates with omelette, toasted bread and poured a tall glass of milk while he made a green tea for himself.
"Thanks, Man. I really needed this." Arjun said settling down on a chair and pulling a plate towards himself. He dig in to eat whatever was served without looking up. Kunal silently buttered two more slices of bread and put them in the toaster and cracked another egg to make one more omelette.
Arjun finally looked up when Kunal placed a warm slice in his plate. He noticed his friend was all ready to leave.
"When are we leaving?" He asked.
"The train is in an hour. We can manage to board it if we leave in next ten minutes." Kunal replied, taking a mouthful of the toasted bread.
"Great! Let's get going then. I will book a taxi."
Kunal just hummed and focused on his plate and Arjun booked the taxi while he ate large bites and gulped them down and finally drank the glass of milk in a few large sips.
Kunal shook his head in defeat. He could never get his friend slow down with the food. Arjun had a weird habit of taking large bites and gulping them down without chewing them enough.
But now was not the time to teach him.
Both the friends were out of the house and Kunal locked the house, while Arjun picked up their bags.
"How was everything?" Kunal finally addressed the topic when they were off to the train station.
Arjun looked at him and blinked.
"They were very happy. Congratulated me for the wedding. We received a grand welcome and a lavish feast."
Kunal was taken aback. He had known Arjun for too long to understand the meaning behind his words.
He instantly knew what Arjun meant. Arjun's family was extremely angry. They had probably hit him. He was kicked out of the house and was on empty stomach the entire time.
Kunal sighed and looked away for a long moment.
"Was it all worth, Arjun?"
Arjun blinked at the passing trees.
"It was worth, Kunal. If time comes, I will do it all over again."
Kunal did not reply. He knew his friend was crazy. There lay a devil in him that listened to no one. With time, Arjun had changed a lot. He never justified his actions and spoke only when required. He never got into details of anything at all. Kunal had learned to derive meanings of his behavior. Arjun would never even voice out the pain. He had not recalled a small hiss from Arjun's mouth whenever he got hurt.
But he had anger issues. It was not easy to handle Angry Arjun.
He did not have any food preferences.
He would gulp down whatever was there in the plate and would never ask for additional serving. It never made difference if the food had high or low amount of salt or chilli. He would eat it with large bites and neither would appreciate nor criticize the food.
Arjun stepped down the taxi and paid the fair, while Kunal pulled their luggage out. They were on time and the train was already waiting to take the passengers to Lucknow.
Veena was asked by her parents to accompany them to their home, after Arjun left.
She did not know what she should decide. She was not sure if Arjun just wanted the marriage to stay in place, or he wanted her too, to stay in the house. To say that she was not scared of him and his blazing eyes was a complete lie. She had seen a very dangerous form of a sleeping demon, who was about to take a destructive step, had she refused to give in.
She thought on the offer of her parents but had no courage left to decide for herself. She was at the crossroads.
She stood quietly and deep in thoughts, by the window of the living room, looking at the outhouse, where Arjun had stayed the previous night.
"Here, drink this. You will feel better." Richa handed her a glass of chilled orange juice.
She accepted the glass and sat down on a stuffed chair.
Naren was pacing in the living room while Samrat found himself helpless.
It was another moment of fury when Sahil walked in with his parents. Samrat could not forget that he had raised a hand on Veena. The scene was enough to send him on another ride of fury.
Sahil sat down followed by his parents.
"How are you, Veena?" He asked gently.
She looked at him and averted her eyes.
"I can't say that I am fine."
He nodded in understanding.
"So, annulment? Is it completed?"
Everyone looked at him and found him hopeful.
"No. She has decided to not proceed with annulment." Richa was the one to answer.
"She decided what? Why would you do that?" Sahil asked with controlled temper.
"I need some time, Sahil." Veena replied after a deep breath.
Sahil lost his cool. He had come there with the hope to see the marriage annulled and then convince Veena for a rushed marriage. He wanted the marriage to be in next two days. But Veena had to go ahead and flush his dreams down the drain.
"You need time for what?" He snapped at her.
She was taken aback and everyone else was shocked by the way he talked to her.
"I came here with the hope that the marriage was annulled by now. Listen, Veena, I want us to get married in next two days. Sign those damn papers and get this scam of marriage to an end." He ordered standing up.
Veena furrowed her brows. She did not like to be demeaned in front of her whole family.
"I told you, Sahil, I need some time. Everything is so sudden. My life turned upside down and you want to get married in two days?"
Sahil blinked. He instantly realized that he needed to act in front of everyone else.
"Yes, Veena, two days. I have waited enough. All this... Had taken a toll on me too. I am not in my correct senses.. Please, just sign the annulment papers and get rid of this hoax. We will get married immediately."
The voices were raising and the tension was rising too. Bansi could not take it anymore and rushed down to see what was happening.
Veena clenched her fist.
"Do you really think, if the marriage gets annulled, I am in the state to marry again so soon? What is there you can't understand, Sahil. I need time to get through everything. I don't have any thoughts to marry you at the moment."
Sahil could not accept a no. He was filled with fury.
"Really now? You need time?" His voice was threateningly cold.
Veena furrowed her eyebrows. A shiver ran down her spine. She was glad that she was surrounded by her family. She had never seen this side of Sahil.
"For what? Did you fall for him overnight? Is he more charming? More handsome? Or all this was just a drama and you both were playing me?" He asked and Veena widened her eyes as his words sunk in.
"Since when do you know him?" Naren suddenly asked out of nowhere.
"What?" Veena looked up startled.
"Arjun. Since when do you know him?" Naren asked again.
"Since last evening. When he abducted me." Veena clarified.
Sahil chuckled.
"And you want us to trust that?"
Veena gasped.
"I am telling the truth. I never saw him before yesterday."
"And he decided to kidnap an unknown girl and marry her? Do you think we all are fools? What are you two playing at, Veena? If you did not want us together, you could have simply told me. There was no need for all this trouble. You not only made a fool out of me, but you also defamed your own family."
Veena's eyes welled up.
"I did no such thing, Sahil."
She then looked at her father, who was already giving her a skeptical look.
"Dad, trust me. This is all not true. I never knew or saw him before."
"Stop playing the victim card." Richa intervened.
"Bhabhi?" Veena gasped shocked.
"I am not playing a victim card. I am telling the truth. I never knew any man named Arjun Mathur before yesterday. Why can't you trust me?"
Sahil crossed his arms on his chest.
"Prove it."
Everyone looked at him flabbergasted and Veena was taken aback.
"Prove how?"
"Sign those annulment papers and get married to me." He said in a no nonsense voice.
Veena parted her lips. The mere thought of proving herself right when she knew, she was not wrong, did not sit well with her.
She took a deep breath and looked at him squarely.
"I am not proving anything to those who don't trust me. The marriage will not be annulled until I decide so. And... Even if it is annulled, I will not marry a man who doesn't trust me."
Veena did not wait there for anyone's reaction and turned around to rush to her room.
She halted in her tracks when she came face to face with Bansi, who was standing by the stairs and was a silent witness of everything that happened.
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Another chapter up.
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