Chapter 22

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This is not good.

I try blocking Jeet from Mr. Chavan's view, but it is in vain. Jeet's height ensures that he towers over me and there's no way I can hide him behind my small frame.

Mr. Chavan looks past me, at Jeet and around the house. I know what it must look like. Jeet in wrinkled clothes from last night, extra pillow and folded blanket on the couch, breakfast dishes on the table. It is an easy guess that Jeet slept over last night.

Mr. Chavan looks back at me, his face a mixture of anger, disgust and disappointment.

"Mr. Chavan, please. It is not what it looks like." My heart is thundering in my chest. I don't want to think of the consequences. I can't afford to be thrown out now.

"You were very specifically told, no man can stay the night here, unless he's your husband."

I feel Jeet coming up closer behind me, to listen better. Seriously? This had to play out in front of Jeet!

Mr. Chavan continues on, "From the time you have been staying here, no one has seen your husband and yet we still believed you when you said he is out of India. You have not even submitted your marriage certificate so far. We thought you were a respectable lady and will not behave like all the other youngsters. But you have disappointed us by sneaking a man into your house, even though you were forbidden."

"P..p..please sir, hear me out. I can explain everything. There is a m..m..misunderstanding," I stammer in fright, fighting back the tears that are threatening to spill out.

Mr. Chavan raises his hands in a signal to stop, shaking his head. I am crestfallen, steeling myself for what I know, is coming up next.

"Rules are rules. I explained all of them explicitly. You are free to live elsewhere where there are no restrictions, but in this society, such behaviour will not be tolerated."

"Please don't do this, at least hear me out. I can explain everything," I plead with folded hands.

"Unless this man is your husband, you will not be allowed to stay here anymore. You will evacuate this property by end of this month."

That is less than a week.

I feel sick to my stomach. My hands and feet have gone cold. The room is swimming around me. I think I am hyperventilating. I stagger backwards, my mind numb, till I hit a wall of pure muscle behind me.

I shakily turn to look at Jeet, whose face is grim. I look up at him in defeat. It is what it is, but I will not let him see me crumble. I give him a weak smile.

The caramel eyes are boring into mine, once more I feel like he's looking right into my soul, looking for answers. I know what he is silently asking, and I shake my head in reply.

No! I don't have a husband. This was all a sham and I have been called out - my fib is caught. I am going to be homeless in a week's time. You just saw my life come crashing down.

Jeet takes a deep breath, his face set, his eyes hardening in resolve. He bends to whisper in my ear, "Just follow my lead."

Straightening up, he comes forward, standing next to me. He extends his right hand towards Mr. Chavan casually draping the other around my shoulder.

"Hello! I don't believe we have met before. I am Jeet, Tarana's husband."

I snapped my head up so fast to look at Jeet, it is a miracle I did not break my neck.

Wha......??

I must say something to stop this, but words fail me. I am left staring incredulously at Jeet.

I look at Dinesh Chavan, who seems to be in a similar state of shock. He rapidly blinks his eyes, possibly trying to wrap the information around his head. Hesitatingly he shakes Jeet's hand.

"Husb..Husband you say?" his eyes darting from Jeet to me. "Why didn't you say so before?" he asks me accusingly.

Probably because I did not know it myself.

I open my mouth to tell that it's not true but Jeet steps in for me again. "That's what she was trying to tell you, but you did not give her a chance." He smiles at Mr. Chavan, giving a warning squeeze on my shoulder.

I snap my mouth shut.

"I came in yesterday to give her a surprise at her company picnic, but I was surprised to see her like this," he says pointing to my foot, before continuing, "By the time we came back home from the hospital, it was well past midnight."

"So, we finally get to meet the mysterious husband," Mr. Chavan states without smiling. "Now that he is here, I am sure you will have no problem submitting your marriage certificate." Now it's Jeet's turn to look at me with surprise.

"Yes. Yes. Sure!" is all that I can reply.

Jeets carefully closes the door as soon as Dinesh Chavan leaves and turns to look at me, his eyes glinting with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

I slump against the door, bringing my knees to my chest and dropping my head between my knees.

"You have some explaining to do." I lift my head up to look at Jeet, who is pacing the floor, hands stuffed in his pockets.

He stops directly in front of me, looking down at me like a stern school teacher admonishing an errant student.

"So, if I am guessing correctly, there is no husband?" I shake my head. "Have you ever been married?" Again, I shake my head.

"So why did you say you were married?"

I explain to Jeet my circumstances from the time I reached Mumbai to moving into this apartment.

"But then your friend also said you were married?"

"That was a misunderstanding on her part."

"How long did you think you could have carried on this scam? What would you have done after the third month?"

"I don't know, I was hoping to find something else and move out before that. If that did not work, I would probably have asked the society to give me an extension or even come clean and appealed to their sense of compassion to let me stay."

Now I was getting peeved, "Now thanks to you, I have to produce a marriage certificate, without actually being married."

I stand up squaring my shoulders and glare back at him.

"How do I explain all this to them now?" I wave my hands around, indicating the hypothetical mess.

"Would you rather have been kicked out this week? From what I saw and heard, I am pretty sure that guy was in no mood to listen to any explanation, other than you show up with a husband. I did, what I felt was in your best interest, under the pressing circumstances."

He was right, I was being unreasonable. This whole dilemma is my fault. Jeet was only trying to help me.

But it still begs the question - what am I to do now? I consider my options, which is basically only one. I have to reveal the truth to the Society officers and plead with them to make an exception in their rules for me.

Going by what Mr. Chavan said, the chances of them allowing that are very bleak.

This is not good!!

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