Set in the evening after the Holi episode.
“You can’t go… not until you tell me.” He locked her between his arms against the wall in the storeroom of Shergill’s house.
“Tell you what, Mr. Shergill?” She didn’t meet his gaze as she made a futile attempt to escape the place. Escape the place and… her husband’s confronting gaze!
“The reason. The reason why you’re avoiding me.”
There was strange desperation in his voice that he himself couldn’t fathom. Not hearing her voice wasn’t supposed to get him that unsettled but it did, driving him to the point where bearing that discomfort was beyond him.
“Avoiding you? No, Mr. Shergill. I am not avoiding you.” She let out a fake laugh while trying to shrug it off.
“Of course, you are.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“I am not, Mr. Shergill.”
“You surely are, Mrs. Shergill.”
“Alright, even if I am… how does that concern you?” She decisively let her mask fall off, stepping open in the battleground.
“So you are admitting that you have been avoiding me?”
That’s the only thing that he picked from her words? What was she supposed to do with this man? She mentally facepalmed.
“Be honest. What happened in the Holi?”
The mere mention of the Holi had her recall every tiny moment that they had shared. The day after Holi had come with the clear minds of everyone that no longer held any flashes of the events that occurred in Holi except for Drishti.
Neither Pishachini’s nor Mohana’s powers were enough to impact Divya and Drishti. Divya, however, could hardly remember anything that happened after drinking Bhang but Drishti had her memories crystal clear.
Her memories weren’t forgotten.
The memories of the unforgettable moments that she had shared with Bedil Shergill.
Rakshit’s inner self was ecstatic upon scrutinizing his hand that was the proof of his victory. Though he had absolutely no clue of what the challenge was, how did it even matter?
All that mattered to him was that… he had won the challenge and his wife was supposed to give him whatever he would ask for.
Wow! He could ask her for anything and she didn’t have the liberty to say no! How exciting was that!
He had made sure to inform his wife about the same, presuming that she didn’t remember it either but ever since he mentioned it to her, all that he had gotten to see was his wife running away from him as if he was that vegetable in her plate that she absolutely hated.
She had been all over the house but not in front of him. Not in front of him.
Initially, he had thought that she was doing it just to get away from the challenge thing but as the day came to an end, he could feel that it wasn’t just about the challenge but rather much more than that.
The more he tried to talk the matter out, the more he saw her making excuses to get away from him. He had gotten so restless after a point that he locked her and himself in the storeroom when he caught her there.
“Mr. Shergill, it would be better if you let it go.” She slowly looked up at him and that was when she realized how restless and impatient he visibly was to know why she was keeping her distance from him.
“I will,” he leaned forward, whispering in her ear, “not, Mrs. Shergill.” He pulled himself back only to come in sight of her slightly surprised face.
“Let it be, Mr. Shergill. Even if I tell you… you’ll never accept it. You’ll say that I am lying.“
Staring at her for a moment or two, he shook his head. “I won’t.”
“You will, Mr. Shergill.”
Visibly irritated, he pulled his arm away and stepped back. He turned around, increasing his pitch. “I won’t. Spit it out now.”
“If you insist.” She shrugged her shoulders, standing comfortably with her back resting against the wall. “You enlightened me about how you feel when I am with Shikhar.”
Every bit of him froze as her words made him instantly regret getting into that confrontation with her.
Damn, what else did he blurt out in front of her?
He was anticipated to know more but she was greeting him with silence. Never before, silence had been so bothersome to him. “And?” He couldn’t wait for more.
“And that you find me, really really beautiful and… and, oh yeah… and that I stay on your mind… 24×7.“
“What rubbish-“
“See, I told you… you won’t believe me.” Cutting him off in the middle, she pointed out proving that she was right about him. “You asked me to be honest. I am being honest, Mr. Shergill. You did say this to me.”
Who asked you to drink the Bhaang? Bear the consequences now. He tried again and again to recall some glimpses of the Holi event but alas, he couldn’t.
He couldn’t argue with her either for he couldn’t deny the possibility that he could have said to her what she was claiming that he did.
Besides, he saw no point in why she would lie about the same.
Stupid, you are, Mr. Shergill. Absolutely stupid. She instigated you, you got instigated and ended up drinking that stupid drink. Had you not fallen for it, nothing would have happened.
His gaze shifted to the sound that his ears heard. She had opened the door and all that it needed was one step to get out of the room. For a change, he was glad that she was leaving. He needed time to collect and process his thoughts.
“Mr. Shergill.” She called for him, gripping the door knob. “Mujhe laga nahi tha ke aap… jealous hone walo me se hai.” She giggled to herself, walking out, without waiting for him to reply that she knew he wouldn’t be able to.
He held his head in his hands, irked up with the stunts that he had pulled up in the Holi event.
Damn it. What have I trapped myself in?
*
“Simran, what’s that?” Rakshit’s eyes accidentally caught Simran who was watching a video.
“Bhai, this is the recording of the Holi party. This is the only footage of the party.”
“Show me.” He took the tablet from her hand, leaving behind a surprised Simran. Her brother had never done that before.
“I will give it back in a while.” Informing her, he climbed the stairs making his way to his room.
*
“Oh, so Mrs. Shergill has narrated the incident by conveniently skipping the details.”
He held himself from smiling after checking out the video. He couldn’t get over everything that he had just seen.
The video confirmed that he wasn’t the only one who was affected.
He affected her as much as she affected him.
Neither her smile after he confessed that he didn’t like her spending time with Shikhar had gone unnoticed by him nor the small blush when he was inching closer to her and most definitely not the way she applied the color on him and let him put the color on her.
You shouldn’t have thought that I wouldn’t find out, Mrs. Shergill. He grinned as he transferred the video to his mobile before deleting the one on Simran’s tablet.
Of course, he had to do that. Nobody could see Rakshit Shergill dancing.
He returned the tablet to Simran who had just rushed into his room for it and he stepped out in search of his wife.
A while ago, it was he who was trapped. The tables had turned.
It was the time to trap Mrs. Shergill.
I have a couple of more stories to share. Do come back to read them as well.
Do let me know how you found this.
Much love.