"Who is this lucky girl then?" asked Jyothi Malhotra, sipping her glass of water.
"That sweetheart is a surprise," Rajiv said, as he tore up a small piece of Roti and dipped it in the delicious Palak paneer, served to him.
"What do you mean by 'surprise'?" Jyothi enquired.
Rajiv could sense the anticipation in her voice as he brought the Roti into his mouth not before speaking, "It means you'll see her on the day of the marriage."
Jyothi choked on her food slightly.
"Are you serious?" she asked with a doubtful look.
"Of course, Jyothi. Why would I be kidding about anything like this?" Rajiv retaliated while chewing his food.
"Then why am I being allowed to see her, only on the day of the marriage?" Jyothi exclaimed.
Rajiv chewed the last piece of his Roti and gulped it down. Later, he questioned his wife, "Do you trust me, Jyothi?"
She was taken aback by his question, for a second; but answered right away, "Why are you asking me this, Rajiv? You know my answer."
Rajiv dabbed a clean towel on his mouth looking at Jyothi and sighed before speaking, "She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen apart from you and my daughter. I've seen her for more than half of her life. I've seen how kind-hearted she was, since her childhood. I've seen how she handles difficult situations. She is the perfect one for our Jai."
Jyothi's mind was filled with the talk of her husband and her hesitation can be seen by him.
"Trust me on this one, Jyothi; you won't ever regret your decision," he reassured her.
~*~
Jyothi was sitting on their bed, inspecting one of her case records while Rajiv was on his side of the bed, still trying to catch a wink.
"Do you know Jyothi? When I first met you, I thought you were an innocent girl. But, you are a feisty one," Rajiv said trying not to chuckle at his last sentence.
"Why are you telling me this now?" she asked with a hint of playfulness in her voice.
"It's just...physical appearance is not what shows a person's true self. You can get deceived if you estimate a person by looking at their appearance."
"Are telling me that you were deceived looking at my outer appearance?" Jyothi replied, slipping the file onto the nightstand.
"Of course. I thought that you'd be the one to fall for me first. But you tamed me earlier."
Rajiv heard her chuckle.
"Believe me with this, Mr. Rajiv Malhotra; I struggled a lot to tame this tiger," she said, switching off the bedside lamp.
~*~
Location: A nursery.
The nursery was the finest place to relieve Sahana Raj's tension. Watering those beautiful plants, maintaining them with the help of 25 workers, and taking orders for marriages and other occasions were one of her jobs. Sister Janet, whom Sahana calls Ma, helped her with that nursery. Just two months after the start, the business picked up. They now take orders three months beforehand, if they needed to export them to other countries, and two months for local purposes.
Apart from the nursery, Sahana also earns from a job, working from home and visiting the company whenever needed. She was currently working as a graphic designer in one of the forwarding start-ups in India, which she took immediately after the completion of her Masters's from a reputed university. She always felt that she was lucky enough to get a benefactor who supported her not only financially but also as an advisor. It was his idea for her to do something else apart from her education and job, which made her start her own, florist services.
Watering her favorite cherry blossom bonsai, she felt calm. After watering it, she got up from her wheelchair that she had bought to overcome the loss of her exhaustion, due to her physical condition. She took her elbow crutch that rested on the wall nearby and started instructing the workers regarding the next batch of exports, further making her way to the house in which she was currently staying.
Sahana unlocked the door and went in. The house is small with four rooms; a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and bathroom. There is minimal furniture which is mostly some necessities, like, a bed, TV, refrigerator, washing machine, a three-seated round dining table, a table for her workspace, and a couch. It was the policy of the orphan home, to let out the children live on their own after 18 years of age. However, the administration would keep tolls on the students and help them if anything is necessary. And without her Ma's and her benefactor's help, Sahana wouldn't have established her nursery, as well as found a roof to live in.
Being in a good job since the start of her career, Sahana earned quite well. But instead of using her all earnings for her necessities and luxuries, she sponsored two orphans from the same orphan home where she was bought up.
And the sum that Sahana earned from her nursery business went to her savings, investing in the same, paying the salaries of her employees and her hospital bills. The physiotherapy sessions that Sahana received from a famous doctor were half sponsored by her benefactor, even after her frequent insistence not to do it again. She was very grateful that he had helped her all along.
The only reason behind her long treatment was that the doctor said there might be a chance for Sahana to walk on her own. But she knew better as she had been taking these physiotherapy sessions ever since she was 15 and not much improvement was seen. She always felt greedy when it came to her chance to throw out the crutch.
But her hopes started tumbling down when her doctor talked to her in last week's session. He said he won't be sure about her treatment anymore.
Before she could progress to her further thoughts, Sahana heard a knock on her door and found her Ma, standing there.
"Ma," Sahana greeted, gesturing for her to come in.
"How are you, dear?" Sister Janet asked.
"I'm good Ma. How are Joseph and Riya?" asked Sahana, referring to the kids she had been sponsoring for lathe the st few months.
"They are doing well. And Joseph ranked first in the sub-junior drawing contest!" Sister Janet said.
Sahana looked amazed and told, "Really? I must gift him some new color set then."
She gave Sahana a warm smile and stared at her deeply.
Sahana's smile fell as she asked her, "What is it, Ma?"
"What did your doctor say?" Sister Janet asked, hesitantly.
Sahana kept her head down as she remembered what he said the other day, about her condition.
"Well, he is not blurting in my face that there is no permanent solution for my leg. But...he said that I would feel difficult to walk for long even with a brace which he told me previously. He said that it can make my leg go numb for a day or two, after wearing it for a few hours."
"What are you going to do?" asked Sister Janet, gently holding Sahana's shoulder.
Sahana smiled sadly, "Buy that thing? And, it's not bad to live with a crutch, Ma. It's just...not that comfortable at times."
Soon images of how she was bullied in her school appeared in her head and tears formed in Sahana's unique green eyes. But she pried them off by saying, with a fake humorous voice, "Although it's not like I would win a competition with my dancing skills."
Sister Janet would always tell Sahana that she was a mood-maker. Maybe it was true. Even though her words reflect a stressed outburst.
Sister Janet let out a chuckle and said, "I have something to talk to you about, my dear."
"What is it, Ma?"
"It's uh...about your marriage," her Ma said, but it came out like a whispered question.
"Marriage?" Sahana repeated.
"Who would marry me, mother?" Sahana chuckled bitterly.
"Don't drag yourself down, Sahana," Sister Janet said, nudging Sahana's hand.
It's the truth! Sahana told herself.
"Do you want to know about the groom?" Mother asked.
But Sahana felt no happiness.
Sahana asked herself if he was handicapped too. It didn't matter much to her though. Because she had seen many happy couples, of which both were handicapped or anyone was. She saw how supportive they can be of each other. She often wondered about her married life and her future husband. She was also scared that her husband will love her irrespective of her outer appearance.
"Do you know how handsome he is? Your soon-to-be husband is the best-looking boy I have ever seen!" Sister Janet chimed in excitement.
Sahana hesitated to ask if it was the right time for her to get married, but she heard from her Ma, chuckling, "He is not handicapped if that is what you think of your groom. He is a perfect boy everything in perfect shape."
She frowned at her statement and said dismissively, "It doesn't matter Ma."
"I know you are scared, dear. But at least you need to try. And you know what?"
"Hm?" Sahana hummed, uninterested.
"He is the son of your benefactor."
Immediately Sahana's heart perked up.
"H-he is my benefactor's s-son?!" stuttered Sahana, blinking a couple of times, registering what she had just heard.
"Yes! And you are going to marry him soon! Did you see this coming?!" chuckled Sister Janet at Sahana's expression.
Well...that's a surprise for her.
~*~
Authors note:
Hello, my readers! I wanted to know if these two chapters are good. I hope you all will get accustomed to the changed names and scenarios. I added a few words used by Indians in this chapter.
Ma: Mother
Roti: It is a round flatbread made of wheat flour.
Palak Paneer: A curry made with spinach and cottage cheese.
Thank you @Imperial_Aura for the editing work.
Posted on: 12-05-2020