Before you read – Set in the same day ( actually night ) when Dev falls sick. Dev believes that Ananya took care of him when he catches her beside him and she gives him the medicines. Annaya does not clear his misunderstanding, seeing it as a chance to get closer to him.
Ghar jaaiye, Tara Ma’am. Pehli baat to – itni der raat aapko yaha aana hi nahi chaahiye tha aur dusri baat-
Pehli baat to ye Mr. Malik ke aap mujhe nahi batayenge ke mujhe kab kaha hona chaahiye aur kab kaha nahi. Mana ke ye haveli ab aapki hai lekin main koi cactus nahi hoon jo chubh raha hai aapko.
Maine kaha aisa?
Matlab to wahi tha. Kyun, nahi tha?
Aapse behes karne ki taaqat nahi hai mujh mein, Tara Ma’am!
“To kyun kar rahe hai?” She wrapped the shawl that she had grabbed from his room the moment Basant Kaka told her that he was on the terrace. “Aur aapko samajh nahi aata? Aise thand mein khade hai yaha. Abhi abhi bukhaar utara hai aapka. Pata hai subah kitni der pattiya rakhi thi maine lekin phir bhi-” She bit her lip, stopping herself right away as the instant regret filled her.
His hand that had grabbed that shawl to push it off his shoulders stilled after her words hit his ears. “To wo aap thi jisne mera khayaal rakha, Ananya nahi! To wo aap thi jisne mere sar par thande pani ki pattiya rakhi, Ananya nahi. To aap thi jise meri fiqr thi, Ananya nahi…” He turned toward her, his eyes going to the warm shawl that was protecting him from the cold. “To wo… aap thi,” he murmured.
“Nahi, main wo…” she fumbled, cursing herself for blurting it out.
When she had returned to the Haveli after checking up on her father, she heard Deva expressing his gratitude to Ananya believing that she was the one to take care of him.
Even though the sight Tara witnessed was quite strange as she couldn’t figure out what had led to that conclusion, she didn’t wish to dig deep. His fever had gone down and that was all that mattered to her.
His silently accusing glare at her after she stepped into the room, feigning to have heard absolutely nothing had bothered her. They weren’t supposed to, she knew.
If he thought that she didn’t care about him, then be it. It wasn’t supposed to affect her. He had reminded her time and again that she was just his employee who didn’t get to meddle in his affairs.
He adjusted the shawl around him, taking a step toward her. “Aap nahi thi?”
Involuntarily pulling herself a step backward, she shook her head.
Matching her backward step, he took his forward step. “Phir puch raha hoon… aap nahi thi?”
And once again when her head gesturing a no came in front of his eyes, his feet advanced in her direction without a halt till her back hit the wall of the small storeroom on the terrace.
She looked back only to curse her fate upon seeing the wall. Where was she supposed to go now? Her trapped self wondered, watching him standing right in front of her. There are still two escapes, you idiot. Her mind could only sigh at her stupidity while reminding her to look to the left and the right from the corners of her eyes.
Just as she attempted to act on her plan, he slapped his palms on the wall, holding her in her place. “Itni bhi kya jaldi hai! Aapka doctor dost intezaar kar raha hai kya?”
Arjun’s mention irked Tara. “Aapko problem kya hai Arjun se?” she asked, utterly frustrated at his weird dislike toward Arjun.
“Kis haq se khayaal rakha aapne mera?” he asked, ignoring her question. “Zakhm dene wale marham nahi lagaya karte, Tara Ma’am!”
She folded her hands across her chest. “Matlab kya hai aapka, Mr. Malik? Aapko fever meri wajah se aaya? Ye sahi hai. Kal ko tsunami aayega to aap kahenge Tara Ma’am ki wajah se aaya. Matlab problem koi bhi ho, jad main hoon! Wow!”
His face cracked into a smirk at her lame attempt to mock him. “Duniya ka mujhe nahi pata, na pata karne mein interest hai lekin meri zindagi mein aayi… aane wali har problem ki jad aap hai.”
She could only roll her eyes, almost as if she had stopped taking offense at his accusations. Ever since he had met her, he had made a whole lot of strange comments that she couldn’t make sense of no matter how hard she tried.
Her plan was to push him away and leave till something struck her that snatched the look of annoyance from her face.
He wondered if he should withdraw himself and let her go when she lifted her eyes to him. The familiar look of having something figured out took him back to their childhood where she would catch his lies like a pro.
What had she figured out now?
“Arjun keh raha tha aapka fever shaayad thakaan ki wajah se hai ya neend puri na hone se ya,” she said, letting her hands fall to her sides, “khaana na khaane ki wajah se!”
Dammit. He should have let her go, he realized but it was too late.
“Aapne khaana nahi khaaya na, Mr. Malik?”
Furiously pulling his hands from the wall, he turned around, hating how obvious he was making things with his reaction.
She grabbed his hand, not giving him the chance to run away. “Let me guess why!”
“Don’t!” he warned.
“Main aapko pehle hi bata chuki hoon aap mujhe nahi batayenge main kya karungi aur kya nahi!” She tightened her hold around his wrist when he started struggling to move away. “Itni bhi kya jaldi hai? Aapki girlfriend aapka intezaar kar rahi hai kya?”
“Meri koi girlfriend nahi hai!”
She chuckled at his immediate response. “Haan to kya hua? Ban jayegi. Thode khadoos hue to kya… aap itne bhi bure nahi hai!”
“Kisi par yaqeen kar paau… ab aisa mera dil nahi raha, Tara Ma’am. Barso pehle kisi par khud se zada bharosa kiya tha aur jab wo bharosa toota… khair, main bata bhi kyun raha hoon!”
“Har baar jaisa dikhe waisa hi ho ye zaroori nahi hota, Mr. Malik,” she said, going back to her own past. “Kai baar majboori logo se aisa kuch karwati hai jo saamne wale ko galat lagta hai lekin sirf karne wala jaanta hai usne jo kiya wo kyun kiya!”
“Kisi ki zindagi barbad kar de aisi koi majboori nahi hoti, Tara Ma’am!”
“Hoti hai, Mr. Malik!”
“Aapki thi?”
She fell silent at his question, not wanting to reveal the intimate details of her life in front of him.
“Kya aapne kisi ka yaqeen toda hai, Tara Ma’am?”
Another question reached her ears when she was still contemplating if to respond and what to respond.
“Kya aapko… afsos hai uss baat ka?”
She clutched her Saree with one hand while the other one still stayed securely curled around his wrist. It seemed like he was hell-bent on making her burst into tears.
“Nahi hai, Mr. Malik,” she said, sucking in a sharp breath. “Haan, yaqeen to zaroor toda tha maine kisi ka. Jhooth bhi bola tha lekin isliye bola tha kyunki wo insaan mere liye bohot zaroori tha aur mera ek jhooth uss insaan ki zindagi ke liye zaroori tha to kyun na bolti main wo jhooth?”
Oh, the audacity! He clenched a fist, not caring to ponder over her words.
“Agar kisi baat ka afsos hai… kisi baat ka dukh hai… agar kisi dard se ab tak ubhar nahi paayi hoon aur shayad na kabhi ubhar paaungi to wo iss baat se… ke use bachakar bhi humesha ke liye kho diya maine…” Her voice trailed off as the heavy emotions clogged her throat.
Ke use bachakar bhi humesha ke liye kho diya maine. What did she mean by that? His head bent a little as he began to decode her statements. Was there more to their story than he knew?
As much as his eyes were blinded by the desperation of revenge, his heart couldn’t turn a blind eye to the words spoken by his Tara MemSahab.
He let out a sigh when his head began to hurt with the excessive stress that he had been putting over it. “Ghar jaayiye, Tara Ma’am!”
“Chali jaaungi,” she said, quickly wiping the teardrop that escaped her eye, “aap kuch kha lijiye phir main chali jaaungi!”
“Main khaana kha chuka hoon, Tara Ma’am!”
She stared at his back that had been facing her all along for a long moment before she finally walked forward, letting go of his hand as she stood in front of him.
“Main kitchen mein ja rahi hoon. Aadhe ghante mein khichadi ban jayegi. Aap dekh lijiye. Khaana ho to aa jayiyega warna aaj ki raat main yahi bahar thand mein baithungi!” With that, she left the terrace.
She hadn’t given him even a moment to think or say a word in response.
Vigorously rubbing his forehead, he followed her downstairs.
He tried everything that he could to stop her from cooking but all in vain. Neither his patience nor his yelling worked.
Tara Sehgal simply refused to listen.
Exhausted, he pulled a chair for himself and settled there, dropping his head on his hands pressed on the round table.
By the time Tara finished and went to him with the plate of khichadi, he had dozed off. She carefully placed the plate beside him on the table. “Mr. Malik,” she whispered, gently patting his shoulder.
His eyes snapped open at the sudden disturbance and the aroma of khichadi filled his nostrils. His hands couldn’t resist themselves from reaching for the plate.
“Baithiye!” He gestured for her to take the chair.
Not wanting to argue, she did as he said and sat across from him.
“Main kha kar aayi hoon!” She informed when he pushed the plate toward her. “Aap lijiye!”
*
“Aapne mera khaana phenk diya uss baat ka mujhe sach mein bohot bura laga lekin uss baat ki khud ko saza dene ke liye aap bhukhe rahe iss baat ka bhi mujhe utna hi bura laga hai, Mr. Malik. Shaayad uss se bhi zada bura laga hai. Dobara mat kijiyega!”
His hand stilled on the plate that he was putting in the sink after he was done eating.
“Nahi karunga. Aap apne uss doctor dost ko lekar phir yaha mat aayiyega… main nahi karunga.”
She frowned. “Aapko problem kya hai Arjun se?”
He dropped the dish in the sink and reached the table back in three long strides. Pressing his hands on the table, he leaned toward her face. “Maine keh diya itna kaafi nahi hai, Tara Ma’am?”
Her lips slightly parted as her widened eyes stared at him with his words echoing in her ears again and again. She was pushed back into the time of her childhood.
Flashback.
“Hua kya hai, Deva? Tum mujhe kyun nahi khaane de rahe ho Kheer? Tum to jaante ho mujhe kitni pasand hai. Chachi ne pehli baar myjhse itne pyaar se baat ki hai. Mere liye ye Kheer banakar laayi hai aur tum… “ Tara ran toward Dev, jumping to take the bowl from his hand that he didn’t seem too willing to let her have. She stomped her foot down, frowning. “Ye galat hai, Deva. Meri height chhoti hai iska ab tum bhi fayda uthaoge?”
He pulled his hand down when his upset friend went to sit on the grass. He had no idea how he was supposed to tell her that he saw her Chachi mixing something in the Kheer outside the haveli.
When he himself did not know what it was, what was he supposed to tell her? It was just his gut feeling telling him that something was not right.
He scratched the back of his head and followed her to where she was. Quietly sitting beside her, he kept the bowl in front of her. “Aap naraaz mat hoiye, MemSahab. Main to bas… main bas nahi chaahta ke aap ye khaaye.”
“Wahi to puch rahi hoon, Deva. Kyun? Koi ek wajah to do…”
His fingers played with the grass. “Maine keh diya itna kaafi nahi hai, Tara MemSahab?”
Tara was snapped back to reality with the sound of the door being opened. Hastily pushing the chair back, she rushed to the door. As she desperately held on to his arm, she didn’t care what he would think of her in those moments. “Aap-aapne aisa kyun kaha, Mr. Malik? Hum itne qareeb nahi hai jo aap mujhe aisa kuch kahe phir kyun… kyun kaha aapne?”
“Maine aapse pehli bhi kaha tha, Tara Ma’am… aap sunti aadha hai aur samajhti zada hai. Haath chhodiye. Mujhe jaane dijiye!”
“Mera jawaab deke jaayiye!” She insisted, not letting go of his arm no matter how much he tried to remove her hold around it.
“Sawaal-jawaab ke liye abhi bohot waqt hai humare paas lekin filhaal,” he said, using his strength to make her hand leave his arm, “aap ghar jaayiye! Bohot raat ho gayi hai!”
“Chhodne nahi aayenge?”
He had just stepped out of the room when he heard her. He cocked a brow, turning his head to her.
“Nahi itni fiqr dikha rahe hai to maine socha ghar tak bhi chalenge!” She gave him a forced smile.
“Fiqr to waise aap bhi bohot dikha rahi hai,” he said, taking his gaze to the shawl that was still around him, “to main bhi puchu… raatbhar yahi nahi rukengi? Mera khayaal rakhne ke liye?”
Ugh. Kadva Karela! She pressed her eyelids shut in irritation before forcing her feet in the direction of the kitchen countertop. As she bent to furiously grab her bag from the floor where she had kept it when she was cooking, she muttered, “tum mere Deva ho hi nahi sakte!”
“Maine kaha main hoon?”
Came his immediate response, making her bang her fist on the floor. Itni dheemi awaaz mein bola hua bhi sun liya!
As she stormed out, constantly muttering something under her breath which was inaudible to him, he knew that he was the one getting cursed and he didn’t quite mind it. Aapke Deva ko aapne khud maara tha, Tara MemSahab aur ye main aapko kabhi… bhulne nahi dunga.
She hadn’t stopped till she was out of the haveli. Her mind was clouded by every single thing that Dev Malik had said to her which reminded her of Deva. Her Deva. Kitni bevakoof hoon na main, Deva. Jaanti hoon tum nahi ho iss duniya mein phir bhi… phir bhi pata nahi kyun, jab jab Mr. Malik ko dekhti hoon, aisa lagta hai… tum ho. Ho kya?
This shot considers that Dev knows about Tara’s childhood friend Deva. She might have blurted it out to him in some conversation, subtly confronting him and he refused being that friend of hers.
Why that dialogue – you can’t be my Deva.
Did I say I am?
I finished writing this last afternoon i.e. before yesterday’s episode so the whole Ananya took care of me thing was purely a guess around which I revolved this shot but then again, it wasn’t too hard to guess. Itna experience to hai ITV serials mein. xD.
I hope you enjoyed reading. Do let me know what you think about this in the comment section. 
Beaaaautiful!♥️