Chapter 58

The preparations for Nidhi's alliance were taken well care of by Sanchi with the marriage date drawing closer. For the past couple of weeks, time quickly flew by without much realising it. Sometimes, she used to wake up to dreaming of Vihaan the whole night, shivering and shifting positions in sleep.

Rigorous fear used to grip Sanchi whenever Vihaan's thoughts crossed her mind. Worrying for his well-being and guessing if he was out on any dangerous mission again, she never failed to daily offer prayers for his good health and safety. Her philosophy of far-sighted love was making it too difficult for her to live without him. There was no one in the Patel house who could take care of her like the way Vihaan used to, reaching out to her side every time she needed him.

Wiping her tears and rubbing her dirty palms on the sides of her old blue suit, Sanchi rushed out of the kitchen to attend to the waiting guests at the doorway early that morning. It was fourteenth of February and she had least expected to see the love of her life before her eyes on such an auspicious day.

When she threw the door open, Arjun greeted her with a broad smile on his face. Vidya and Dheeraj entered from behind him, shaking their heads at her respectively. The brightness on Sanchi's face faded when the tall and handsome figure of Vihaan emerged all of a sudden, towering opposite to where Sanchi stood with her fingers gripping the hem of her cotton dress.

Dressed in an expensive and polished black coat and trousers, Vihaan's brown hair was kempt on one side of his forehead. Staring down at her own worn out clothes for once, Sanchi felt ill-at-ease.  Twitching her eyes for multiple seconds, she continued staring at him with a blank expression until Jwala and Kunwar's cheerful voices greeting them brought her back to reality.

Moving slightly out of line and out of sight from the guests, Sanchi waited for them to enter the house. Jwala caught hold of Vidya's arms and congratulated her for the good news and baby she was expecting in a few months. Smiling back at Sanchi's mother, Vidya waved at Sanchi. "How are you, Vanya? Long time and no see."

Trying to suppress all sorts of emotions inside her, Sanchi almost choked on her voice. "I am fi-ne. How do you do?"

"I am happily married to the love of my life, Vanya." Vidya shifted closer to Dheeraj. "Meet my husband Dheeraj, who is also an inspector under the Indore CBI besides Arjun."

Vidya's response took Sanchi by surprise as she realised they were all pretending to be new to her before the Patel family. Nodding her head at Dheeraj, she mumbled, "Ni-ce to me-et you."

"I am Arjun's best friend too." Dheeraj added soon after.

"Forgot to introduce me, sister-in-law?" Vihaan stepped between Vidya and Dheeraj, glaring at Vidya with a false accusation.

Before Vidya could open her mouth to speak, Jwala interrupted him, "Vanya is not any special being to be introduced individually. We all know you are Vidya's brother-in-law and also work in the CBI."

Arjun almost gasped with a suppressed laughter. "He doesn't work in the CBI but we all work under him. He doesn't run after thieves, robbers or murderers, but he is the one taking care of internal terrors all the time. In fact, he is the most devilish cop the state's history has ever seen. He is the DCP whom we all admire."

"If he is really that brave, what is he doing here? He must be busy all the time with work," Kunwar asked, exchanging a glance with Jwala.

"Because I don't have any case to work on right now," Vihaan answered quickly to deviate Sanchi's parents from doubting on him. "Secondly, Arjun is like a brother figure to me. I can always sacrifice a couple of days for the special occasion of his life."

"But where is your dumb wife Sanchi?" Jwala enquired with a dirty frown on her forehead. "Isn't she the one who keeps herself in a veil and speaks nothing? Didn't she accompany her husband here? I thought she is a husband-devoted woman belonging from some rural area."

Arjun and Dheeraj fisted their palms on the sides while Vidya gritted her teeth, but Vihaan's calm composure melted their anger sooner than expected. Stealing a glance of Sanchi's bowed down face, Vihaan spoke with a little smile, "She always accompanies me wherever I go even if she is physically invisible to other people I meet. She is present everywhere around me."

"Where? I don't see her. Is she waiting outside? Feeling shy to enter the house?" Jwala asked once again, taking a couple of steps towards the door.

Dheeraj jumped in the gap between Jwala and Vihaan to interrupt their cold argument. "My brother means to say that his wife is his shadow, it follows him wherever he goes. She hasn't accompanied him here so you don't need to bother about her."

"She should have attended the marriage ceremony. We could have felt better," Kunwar said quietly, touching Jwala's shoulder to prevent her from insulting Vihaan's wife anymore. Arguing with cops could always act as boomerangs.

"Dheeraj's parents aren't keeping well and so she stayed back with them," Vidya's quick reply saved them for the day while Sanchi's feet trembled with all the chaos caused in the matter of a few minutes.

*****

As the guests were led to the dining room for the morning breakfast, Sanchi quickly headed for the kitchen. She had nowhere to hide herself or run away, all she could do was just try hard to avoid the most important persons of her life for the next couple of days.

"Wh-at are they up to? Why are th-ey still using my iden-tity and crea-ting false stories on my be-half? Vih-aan was never so close to Arjun and most impor-tantly, he never liked to attend cere-monies. If God exists in real, ple-ase save me good gra-cious!"

As Sanchi fidgeted with the oven lighter placed on top of the counter in the kitchen, Nidhi pulled her away. "Vanya! I need your help."

"Wh-at sort of?"

"Mom told me that I should cook the breakfast for the guests today but you know I am a lame duck in cooking. You are a good cook and I want you to help me. I can't upset the people closer to Arjun by my awful cooking skills," Nidhi requested in a pleading tone.

"I can help you but you sho-uld also learn to cook. I won't be the-re to help you after your marr-iage."

"I know you won't but I'll learn everything with time. Just save me for today, please. Remember you still owe me a help because I had saved you from mom's wrath."

"Fir-st and last time, Ni-dhi. You are go-ing to cook your-self from next time."

Sanchi devoted the next hour into cooking a proper breakfast for the special guests. All the favorite dishes of each one of them were prepared with dedication, including Vihaan's less spicy ones.

"Do you think they will like the less spicy ones? Spicy ones are always delicious, not the vice-versa," Nidhi asked from across the counter as she chopped the salads into the bowl.

"Less spi-cy ones are alw-ays good for health," Sanchi warned her before setting up the tray with coffee mugs.

"What are you doing, Vanya? Are you in your senses today?" Nidhi shifted closer to her, placing the salad bowl beside the trays. "There are six people at the dining including our parents. What's the seventh cup of coffee for?"

Biting her lower lip in nervousness, Sanchi fumbled while speaking, "I thou-ght maybe some-body might need an extra one. If they don't, we both can sha-re it later. It's bet-ter to keep an extra reser-ve than fall-ing short of stocks."

"Commercial dialogue," Nidhi blurted before moving out of the kitchen with a couple of trays. Sanchi followed her with the bowl of salads in her hand, tiptoeing her way towards the dining table.

*****

"The breakfast smells nice." Arjun inhaled audibly while Vihaan and Dheeraj exchanged glances. Sanchi stood behind Nidhi, trying to hide herself against Nidhi's tall figure.

After Nidhi had distributed the respective plates and mugs, Vihaan chose to take the less spicy dishes for himself. While the last mug of coffee remained unoccupied in the tray, Vidya pushed it towards Vihaan in an instant.

"Sorry Nidhi, was this spare cup for any of you?" Vidya apologized. "Vihaan is in the habit of taking double cups of coffee daily."

"It's alright, I have willingly prepared an extra cup of coffee in case you people needed it," Nidhi said in her voluminous tone, laughing widely.

Sipping on the warm drink, Vihaan licked his lips. "The coffee tastes as if I was always in the habit of drinking this special liquor."

"Sorry but I didn't know. Did you not like it? I thought you all might like it that way and.. I picked up this recipe..." Nidhi muttered in an apologetic tone.

"Will you stop pretending, Nidhi?" Arjun raised his voice upon realising the taste of Sanchi's handmade dishes. "You don't know cooking at all. Someone else must have cooked it for you."

Vihaan saw the beads of perspiration on Sanchi's forehead and the slight tremble of her feet. Smiling to himself, he got up from the chair and took a couple of steps towards Nidhi. Looking over Nidhi's shoulders, he fixated his eyes on Sanchi before murmuring, "Or is it true that Vanya has cooked on your behalf? The nervous look on her face and perspiration even during winter says it all."

It was very difficult for Sanchi to avoid the awkward situation she had fallen into. To add more to her misery, Vihaan had called her by the name 'Vanya' for the first time in so many months. Quickly dropping the bowl of salads on the table, she rushed to her grandmother's room in a speed faster than the speed of light. The last thing which she wanted was to allow Vihaan notice the emerging tears in her eyes.

"What happened to her?" Vidya stood up from the chair too. "Why did she leave just like that?"

Arjun released the fork in his hand on the table and stared up at Nidhi. "It's because of you that Vanya felt embarrassed today. You shouldn't have lied about it and allowed us to praise her cooking. You made your sister cry for nothing."

Nidhi caught hold of Arjun's arms seeking for an apology. "Don't take me wrong please. I hadn't wanted to take the credit to myself but it was Vanya who had prohibited me not to tell you all about it. Believe me."

"Will you stop lying?" Arjun shoved her hands off him.

"You know I wouldn't lie to you, Arjun." Nidhi continued with her genuine apologies to him.

Vidya nodded at Vihaan's silent gesture before turning to Nidhi. "Nidhi, you can explain Arjun later. Just tell me where Vanya is. I need to console my soulmate, talk to the one I'm meeting after so many years."

"She stays in grandmom's room these days," Nidhi replied with a small smile before continuing her arguments with Arjun again.

Moving aside to a different corner, Vidya gave Vihaan the directions to Sanchi's grandmother's room. It was Vihaan's strong determination to personally confront Sanchi at all cost, putting aside all the fears and nervousness for the time being.

*****

"Where were you, Sanchi?" Sanchi's grandmother asked Sanchi the moment she barged into the room, wiping her tears.

Hearing her grandmother call her by the name 'Sanchi', the color on her face disappeared in a second. "I am sorry? Grand-ma?"

"Stop pretending now. Doesn't your new identity go by the name 'Sanchi'?" The disappointment in her grandmother's voice was clearly audible. "Before you counter-question me, I will tell you something."

Sanchi shook her head. "I am your cul-prit, I know. Pun-ish me for lying to you."

Her grandmother sat upright on the bed. "I overheard Jwala discussing with Kunwar about you. It didn't surprise me when she was cursing you, I mean her own daughter. What surprised me was when she disclosed that you were married to someone before returning home. Do you know the meaning of leaving your in-laws and returning home? The society will never stop insulting you even if the fault might not be yours."

"I know grand-ma and the fau-lt is only mine, not of my in-laws."

"Who were you married to? If you were already married, why didn't you disclose the truth to me when I met you during Vidya's marriage?" Her grandmother's dark grey eyes shone from rage.

"I thou-ght I had time to at least find a solu-tion out of the wrong alli-ance, but when I couldn't, I left. What was the use of stay-ing back into the family who loved me like their own dau-ghter and a girl like me who can't ever imp-art the happi-ness they deser-ved?" Sanchi let her tears flow down her cheeks.

"Why are you judging yourself by your past? If your husband really loves you, he will always stay beside you whether you deserve to be with him or you don't. It's he who will decide whether he can put up with you. Did your husband love you but you left him just like that?"

"He does-n't." Sanchi wiped her cheeks before mumbling, "I was sca-red that he might fall in love with me bec-ause he really cared for me. But while holiday-ing at Omkar-eshwar, I found out that he does-n't love me. I didn't wa-nt him to fall for me at all. Hence I cho-se to drop the idea."

"Were you married to someone from the Bundela family?"

"How wou-ld you know?"

Her grandmother smiled a little. "After listening to Jwala's harsh rants, I returned to the room and searched your luggage. I found your identity card, the one that belongs to the Indore CBI. Your name is clearly mentioned as Sanchi Singh Bundela on it."

"I was marr-ied to Vidya's brother-in-law Vihaan Singh Bun-dela and later we divor-ced." With Sanchi's declaration, her grandmother rubbed her forehead.

"The angry DCP! We have heard so much about him in the news." The old lady's eyes widened in shock. "Tell me all of it, Vanya. Narrate to me everything that had happened to you in all these months."

Sanchi narrated the story of the entire short span of contractual marriage with Vihaan, breaking down in every little part of her painful tale. "That's how we sepa-rated, grand-ma."

"And you say he doesn't love you! Nobody can do things for someone the way he did. He seems to be a responsible son from whatever you told me and so he must have been honestly trying to fulfill his promise to his father. But it doesn't mean he doesn't love you." Her grandmother laughed again. "You are a fool."

"He him-self told me that he does-n't love any-one. He also said that he consi-ders me as only his spe-cial friend," Sanchi spoke in a convincing voice. "This actually work-ed in favor of me to go away fr-om him."

"I understand your point." Her grandmother shook her head before raising her eyebrows. "Now you tell me do you love him? I mean no woman can take bullets on a man's behalf if she doesn't love him or consider him as her husband."

Sanchi folded her palms together as soon as her feet began to tremble. The depth of her true love for him was always pure though she had been trying to control it. "I want-ed to save the life of some-one who had saved mine ear-lier."

"I know you are very adamant when it comes to love and relationship. You haven't yet overcome the hurdles of your past and you think marriage or relationship isn't suitable for you."

Sanchi nodded her head. "I don't want my des-tiny to ruin him or his fam-ily. Love is not what cou-nts here."

Her grandmother frowned before sliding her palm underneath the pillow, taking out a small box. "So you mean you don't love him but you apply this sacred Vermilion daily on your forehead even to this day. I found this box and the sacred thread in your luggage. I even saw you applying the crimson in between your hairline early in the morning after shower today and then hiding it with your hair locks."

"I... I.. I wish for his lo-ng life..." Sanchi ran out of words, kneeling down on the ground. The emotions were too tough to handle and she whimpered all of a sudden. "Beca-use I love him grand-ma, I love him more than any-thing else in this entire world. I reali-zed it on the day of Vidya's marr-iage but couldn't make it succe-ssful. My fate woul-dn't allow me."

"What are you supposed to do now? Forget everything just like that!" Her grandmother coughed a little. "Do you even know that Jwala is trying to degrade you so that she can expel you out again?"

"She ca-n't do this to me again, grand-ma. She can't black-mail me any-more because I have got noth-ing to lose this time." Sanchi stood up from the floor, smoothing down her suit. "I am going to attend the art exhi-bition at the old mus-eum today. On my recomm-endation, a few of the chil-dren from the orpha-nage where I used to stay have sub-mitted their own unique crea-tions. I will try return-ing home in time. Vidya might be stay-ing with you till then."

Vihaan, who was all the time had his ears pressed against the curtain of the door to Sanchi's grandmother's room, jumped in joy over the revelation of truth out of her mouth. Getting to know that she was equally and deeply in love with him made his work of fetching her to Indore easier. It was now only a matter of time to win over Sanchi's adamant behavior and claim her for the rest of his life.

*****

Dressed in a furry pink top coupled with a brown woollen jacket, Sanchi fished her phone into the front pocket of her navy blue jeans. Her hair was loosely tied with a rubber band, the black fringes dangling freely against her back and shoulders. Clutching the leather handbag in one hand, she quietly descended down the stairs of the portico in her flat slippers, the likes of one pair that Vihaan had bought for her.

Following her was Vihaan, moving in monotonous strides behind her. He had adorned his muscular body with a blackish grey full sleeves' shirt, accompanied by a turtle neck midnight black hoodie. He too had combined his outfit with a navy blue denims similar to her and modern black sneakers making his evening out with Sanchi complete.

The wintry weather at Gwalior during the month of February was biting against their skins with chills of shivering as they hurried their way to the main road. Vihaan walked in his usual accent behind Sanchi while she found herself terrified by the sound of someone following her. As soon as a cab stopped by, she hopped into the backseat and Vihaan adjusted himself beside her.

"Can you please give me a lift, Vanya?" was all Vihaan could say in his not-so-often sweetest voice. "I am new to the city and arranging a comfortable vehicle will be time consuming. I have an urgent work and need to reach in time."

Sanchi felt tricked by Vihaan's sudden softened tone and she scowled at him. "If this is an enti-rely new city for you, how the hell you got an urg-ent work here?"

Vihaan positioned himself on the backseat, leaving only a couple of inches between them, and rested his elbow against the window. "As much as this city is new to me, this is so much old for Arjun because he keeps visiting it. He informed me about a case and I'm going to attend it."

"Whe-re is it loca-ted?" Sanchi asked, raising her doubtful eyebrows.

"You are not our employee anymore so you don't need to know the confidential information. Don't worry, we will have you dropped off to your destination and then I'll take away the taxi to my destination. I hope you wouldn't want to refuse Ms. Vanya, because it is a public issue."

Sanchi averted her darting eyes away from him and instructed the driver to drop her to the old museum. The car started to run in it's normal speed