Chapter 45

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Chapter 45

The quietness in Bundela mansion was still persisting like the barely soft bristles of a passing wind. Not a single human had conversed with each other since the many number of days the sons of the house were out of it. With Dheeraj's return, delightful noises broke out among the members of the house as he held Durga and Vidya in close proximity.

"I couldn't even imagine I would ever get to see you again, Dheeraj!" Vidya cried against his bosom as he caressed her hair. "You don't know how my life has been without you."

As he consoled both his mother and his wife, Sanchi's eyes continued searching for Vihaan. Sanchi was standing quietly next to them when Durga stepped towards her. "Sanchi, please forgive me. I know I've committed a grave sin by not trusting my own son. When his whole family turned against him, you were the only one who held a firm ground for him. No other wife could trust her husband as much as you did."

Sanchi pressed her palms against Durga's arms as she said, "Maa, you are not suppo-sed to apolo-gize. I know a mot-her can't keep her calm wh-en she sees her son ly-ing dead bef-ore her. You were not in your regu-lar senses then."

"A sin is always a sin after it's committed. I have only increased Vihaan's hatred for me after this incident. I blamed him for everything and..." Durga cried on to Sanchi's shoulder while the latter caressed her.

Dheeraj turned to his mother. "Mom, are you telling the truth? Did you all really blame Vihaan for whatever had happened?"

Virendra held Dheeraj's arm as he narrated the entire truth to him. "I know we all were so wrong but your death had surely traumatized your mother and Vidya."

Dheeraj removed his father's hand off him and stood apart, looking over to Sanchi. "There is this girl who has known Vihaan barely for a few months but she stayed strong in her standpoint for him. And there are you all who have known him for so long, but failed to keep your faith on him. I wonder if in the future my brother would be treated in a better way once I'm really dead!"

"Dheeraj, please don't say something like this again, son. I know it won't be enough for us to even apologize to Vihaan." Durga wiped her tears. "But what else could we have done when it was being proved that he had killed his own brother!"

"No mom, it's not the question of only apologizing to Vihaan. I don't think Vihaan did anything wrong by shooting the suicide bomber considering it was me. If in the future any day it happens that he has to shoot the real me, he must do the same again. A traitor-like brother being dead is better than the fake one left alive." Dheeraj remarked strictly. "Our father has taught us to remain honest during the tenure of our service. Vihaan was never wrong, my brother can never be wrong!"

Vidya inched the gap between hers and Sanchi, throwing her arms around her soulmate. "I know I don't have words to beg your pardon, Vanya. Still I would want to apologize to you for everything. My behavior with you was so wrong, I treated you poorly and..."

As Vidya cried embracing her, Sanchi rubbed Vidya's back. "No Vi-dya, do you think I can ever be up-set with you? You had lost your hus-band and your beha-vior was totally on expect-ed lines. You want-ed your soul-mate to remain bes-ide you during your diffi-cult times but I chose to rem-ain aloof and sup-port your husband's murder-er."

"I am sorry, right? I deserve any sort of punishment from you and I will abide by it." Vidya tightened her hold on Sanchi.

Kissing Vidya's cheeks, Sanchi said laughing, "Your punish-ment is that you will be cook-ing for the entire family toni-ght."

The family's reunion seemed complete except for the only one human being, Vihaan Singh Bundela. He was nowhere to be seen in the hallway and the thought of facing him again perturbed Sanchi's mind. Even though she wanted to unite Vihaan with his family, with his mother but she knew it would be the toughest ever task for her.

Sanchi politely took leave from the family to move to her room. Vihaan was always at the back of her mind and even though she was scared to face him, she was also eagerly waiting to catch a better glimpse of her beloved.

After Sanchi had ascended the stairs to disappear into her own room, the Trivedi family made their appearance at the Bundela mansion all of a sudden. The breaking news of Dheeraj's return had left them stunned too. While they got busy meeting Vidya and Dheeraj, Durga found her time to discuss with Virendra aside.

"Vir, you know that I had vowed before God not to see it's face again after losing both my sons to disasters. Now since everything is back to normal and I've received such beautiful gifts from God, I will have to visit our native temple at Omkareshwar," Durga said, taking a seat beside Virendra on the couch.

"At Omkareshwar?" Virendra's mouth opened wide as soon as he heard of it from Durga.

"Definitely. You know how much I believe in God and going back to our native place for offerings is a reputed ritual among the Hindus," Durga commented, smiling back at Garima once.

"Are you sure it'll be a good decision? We haven't been there in years." Virendra asked, narrowing his eyes at Durga.

Durga nodded her head. "We hadn't faced such severe situations in years so we didn't bother to visit there. We can stay at the farmhouse we own there so nobody from our families will ever come to know I suppose."

"Your family can still be managed but the Bundelas of Omkareshwar is unimaginable, Dia!" Virendra gasped. "I don't want to impose our past on our children."

"You shouldn't worry. They haven't cared for us in all these years and I don't think they'll care for us even if they see us this time. Let's just decide a proper schedule and go on holidaying. The children will also feel better and refreshing after the past worst days," Durga spoke in a convincing tone to which Virendra nodded his head.

"Do you think Vihaan will agree? We can't tell him that we will be going to Omkareshwar for the temple rituals and offerings." Virendra crossed his arms across his chest.

Durga stood up with little difficulty and adjusted her walking stick. "We can always tell him that we are going for holidaying at our native farmhouse. His rejoining letter after the suspension order will also need time to arrive so he won't deny."

"Are you sure?"

"I am but if Vihaan doesn't, we can always take Dheeraj's help to convince him." Durga laughed while Virendra rested his back against the couch smiling back at her.

***** 

Sanchi pushed the door open to their room carefully, taking care not to make the least sound. As already expected by her, Vihaan was not there in his room and she heaved a sigh of relief. Though she was wanting to meet him face to face, but her heart wasn't ready or strong enough to actually see him.

Dropping her bags on the sofa, she trodded her way to the cupboard. As her hands crawled along her night dresses for a proper selection, her eyes beamed against a solitary envelope placed among her clothes. Lifting it in her hands, she saw her name in blue ink glistening before her.

Recognizing his handwriting, she tore open the white cover and revealed the piece of handwritten letter inside.

Dear hickory,

I know this sounds so much odd to you after whatever just happened in our lives. My indifference towards you will add more to your confusion. But before you come to any conclusion, let me clarify one thing to you.

If you remember the letter you had written to me once because you weren't able to express a few things directly to me, I am also trying to follow the same pattern as you.

I'm 'sorry' for being a jerk, again. You know I don't tell 'sorry' to people often but it seems that it has gotten a habit with you. What magic do you know which compels me to do things that I really don't want to? I was supposed to spend my evening taking rest in my workroom after staying behind the bars for so many days, but here I'm writing a letter to you!

My purpose behind writing this letter is very simple. I am neither a jargon at writing nor an analyst to write longer or meaningful sentences. I wrote this because I want you to know of how grateful I am to you for whatever you did for me and my family. You must have thought I would be mad at you for breaking the promise but I am not. I reached home earlier because of different reasons and you'll get to know soon!

Now open the second last drawer from the bottom of the cupboard and grab one more surprise for you ;) 

Yours,
God of Arrogance.

"Short and sweet letter!" Sanchi chuckled to herself as she opened the second last drawer as mentioned by Vihaan. The moment her eyes fell on the neatly wrapped gift box, her heart began beating rapidly against her chest.

Quickly unfurling the colourful ribbon and the shimmering glossy package, she found the gift waiting for her. Flickering her eyelashes and rubbing her eyes as many times as she could, she struggled hard to believe that the gift was specially meant for her.

A glamorous model of Taj Mahal placed inside a stunning glass case was now in her soft palms. The white powdery coating over the crystal glass and the carves polished skilfully to give a picture-perfect look to the real beauty of Taj Mahal filled her heart with euphoria of joy. Below the glass case, there was an another envelope waiting for her to read it.

Dear hickory,

Sounds similar, eh? I chose to write one more letter to give you double surprises. You must be surprised with the Taj Mahal in your hands but believe me, I didn't find a better gift for you when I visited Agra.

I'm not any Shah Jahan to build a Taj Mahal but, somehow I found out your liking for the monument. So I decided to give it a try and bought one for you. I hope you liked it.

Now, let's get back to the evening's third surprise for you. If you are done going through all these surprises and ready to face me, quicken your feet and climb the stairs to our terrace. I will be there waiting for you with bated breaths.

Yours,
Do I need to write who I am, again?

"God of Arro-gance!" Sanchi whispered, folding the letter and replacing it neatly into the box again. "He wrote short notes ins-tead of writ-ing a long letter, but wrote eno-ugh to win my heart over and over aga-in. He may not be Shah Jah-an but to me, he is the one. I love you so much, Vih-aan."

***** 

Counting steps and trembling limbs, Sanchi climbed the stairs to the terrace. All the while into walking her way to the top, she continued murmuring a short prayer to ease the fast paced breathing within her. As soon as she opened the gate to the terrace, her eyes squinted due to the lighted table lamp placed in the middle of the terrace.

Decorated with cupcakes and soft drinks, the center table managed to enrapture her attention. Taking shorter strides and rotating her eyes everywhere, she paved her way towards the table. "Vih-aan?"

The moment she uttered his name, a heavy pair of hands covered her eyes. "Keep quiet and sit on the chair next to you."

"Vih-aan, what are you do-ing?" Sanchi caught hold of his hands while he adjusted her to the chair. "Will you all-ow me to see the world aro-und? I wasn't here to get blind-ed by you."

"I will free you now, hickory."

As Vihaan detached his hands away from her eyes, she opened her eyes instantly. "Vih-aan, this is not fair. Invi-ting someone for a sur-prise and blind-folding the same per-son..."

"Will you keep your mouth shut and let me speak? You have spoken enough for the day, from the interrogation session till here," Vihaan muttered slyly. "It's my turn now."

"You will sp-eak and I am here to list-en. But at first, I need to kn-ow if you have for-given me for every-thing or not?" Sanchi said, clutching her palms together.

Vihaan bent towards her, holding the backrest of her chair. "What do you think this surprise is for? Why would I have done all these if I hadn't forgiven you?"

Vihaan's face was so close to her that Sanchi began perspiring rapidly. As his warm breath fanned her cheeks and his quivering lips ready to graze hers, she found it very difficult to utter anything. "Vih-aan... I... I... I don't kn-ow."

Sanchi jumped out of the chair and stood upright, facing the wideview of the scenery outside. Their closeness was too awkward for her when she didn't even know what exactly he felt for her.

Vihaan's gleaming face turned gloomy as he straightened himself. The little distance between him and Sanchi seemed so mighty and powerful. "Sanchi, when my family or the world didn't trust me, you were the one who chose not to leave my side. Do you think I can still be mad at you?"

Sanchi could feel Vihaan's painful voice behind her but was fearing to face him. "But I broke your pro-mise. I dis-closed the truth in front of every-one. I was not suppo-sed to do it."

"I am supposed to be mad at you for this but I am not. I know why you had to disclose it to others, I also know how you were trying to avoid disclosing the truth to the lawyer or to Arjun. You only disclosed it after you found my brother safe," Vihaan said, taking a step towards her. "I owe so much to you this time. You reunited my family."

When Vihaan grabbed her arm from behind, Sanchi couldn't help keeping the tears inside her. Turning towards him and burying her face in his chest, she let her eyes cry. "Have you for-given me for what-ever had happen-ed on the marr-iage day of Vidya?"

Vihaan let out a sigh, running his fingers through her black hair. "I was deeply pained when I realized that you had given away my gift to someone else. Though I still feel bad about it, but I have understood you didn't do it willingly. Your sister must have forced you into doing it. You can always wear the dress sometimes later again."

"It mea-ns you have for-given me!" She murmured against his chest.

Vihaan laughed at her silliness. "I have forgiven you long ago. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have bought that gift for you from Agra. I wanted to gift it to you earlier but the situation wasn't favourable. What else do you need to know now?"

"Why did you leave on such a risky miss-ion to Agra with-out inform-ing anyone of us?" Sanchi asked, slamming her palm against his chest. "You don't kn-ow how I spent so many worri-some days and rest-less nights get-ting tensed for your well-being."

Detaching from Sanchi gently and dropping a soft kiss on her forehead, Vihaan cupped her cheeks. "I may hate women but you are the only woman who can never be forgotten ever in my life. You have created your own rightful place yourself. You fought against my arrogance, you showed who I am and gave me whatever I never demanded from anyone. When my own parents didn't believe me, you fought against the whole world only for me."

Sanchi looked up at Vihaan's reddened eyes and murmured, "Vih-aan, are you cry-ing? A CBI officer cry-ing for not getting the supp-ort of his parents? Your par-ents were only piss-ed at you, they don't hate you."

Wiping his eyes, he held her shoulders in warm grip, never to let her go. "You have touched the softest corner of my heart, Sanchi. It is the same reason why you have witnessed my tears so many times. Do you know that my respect for you keeps increasing daily?"

"Vih-aan!" Sanchi said touching his arm. "I under-stand whatever you've gone thro-ugh in your life. Your past might be too hurt-ful to be en-dured. But I.. I can't rea-lly see you in pain beca-use I lo..."

"No more of that, Sanchi. I don't want to remember anything of the sadness or the past again. Let us forget whatever indifference we had come across and be the special friends like before." Vihaan said, pulling the chair to her. Bending a little over towards her face, he whispered humbly, "Take your seat now, Sanchi. We can have this cupcake dinner now."

Sanchi lowered her eyes as she got herself seated on the chair. Vihaan was so physically closer to her again but yet so mentally far. "He regards me as his spe-cial friend and I was rising my expect-ations for nothing. My mother was right, girls like me don't dese-rve to be loved or have a hus-band. But I can always love him only by look-ing at him and admi-ring him."

Sanchi adjusted herself on to her seat to increase the distance between them. Vihaan's hot exhale falling so near to her skin dampened her sensitive senses. Before she lost her inner concealed emotions, she was trying hard to recompose herself. Clutching the muslin material of her long cotton dress near the thigh, she bent her head to stare at the floor in nervousness. "Take your seat, Vih-aan."

Upon realizing the awkwardness between them, Vihaan pushed himself away from her again. As he took the seat opposite to her, he passed over the plate of cupcakes towards her. When Sanchi dipped her hands into eating it, he thought to himself, "Why can't I control myself from getting closer to her? I know she felt uncomfortable due to my actions but why am I getting carried away? She'll be with me for barely three months more and we will part our ways. Can my life be the same without her again? Can I sleep without feeling her presence? Can I..."

Vihaan's trance broke when Sanchi's lowered voice interrupted, "I'm done eat-ing, Vihaan. I sho-uld go and take some rest. I think you sho-uld take rest too."

Vihaan's eyes rolled down to her plate. "But you didn't even eat anything!"

"I had some-thing in the even-ing so my stom-ach is full." Sanchi walked towards the exit of the terrace. "I'm sorry Vih-aan, I'll have it next ti-me."

As Sanchi left, Vihaan too put his plate aside. "She just refused to have her favorite cupcakes. Was I behaving that awkward? Remaining too close affects her in some sort but closeness in friendship is always normal to her. I didn't really mean to go so closer to her but..."

Vihaan stopped when he heard Dheeraj's voice behind him. "Vihaan! Where were you? I was searching for you until I met Sanchi near the stairs. What's all these, my little brother? Were you giving your wife 'surprises' after so long?"

Vihaan turned to face his brother. "Why were you searching for me?"

"Vihaan, first you promise me you won't be denying to what I will be telling you now." Dheeraj held out his palm.

"Brother!"

"Vihaan!"

"You are annoying me, brother." Vihaan shook his head. "I promise you. Now tell me."

"We are going to Omkareshwar for holidaying during the coming weekend. It's only a family outing, ours and the Trivedi family." Dheeraj exclaimed loudly, taking a gleeful look at Vihaan's puckered face.

"But..."

"You promised me, Vihaan."

"I know but why do we specifically need to go to that place?" Vihaan asked after accepting his defeat.

"Because we own a farmhouse there. Don't you remember you had always wished to visit Omkareshwar since childhood? It is our ancestral place, Vihaan." Dheeraj smiled at him.

"I don't wish

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