BEYOND THE CLOUDS (Completed)

Chapter 45

“Hello!!” with an incline of his head Kartik opened the door for Shehnaaz. She had come home utterly broken, not knowing where her life was headed to. But for his sake, she had to put her disrupted feelings under a veil. She smiled slightly, but the weary look on her face was quick to raise his suspicion.

“Are you alright Shehnaaz? And where were you? Sidharth has been calling me off the hook, since you wouldn’t answer his calls. Did you guys fight again?” his questions flew one after the other. She hadn’t even bothered to look at her phone and even if she did, she didn’t know if she would have spoken to him.

And suddenly the hurt was back, stabbing her chest

“Nnno.. no nothing of that sort, its just..its just the heat outside. The sun is unbearable” mumbling an excuse she rushed into the kitchen for a glass of water, with Kartik following her.

“Where were you? And why have you changed? If I remember correctly you were wearing a salwar when you left” furrowing his brows, he noticed the stiffening of her back.

She let out a heavy breath. Should she just tell him? No, her mind alarmed her, if Kartik gets a whiff of things, he will never let her marry Sidharth, not to forget the punches that will land on Sidharth’s face. With great remorse, she had made up her mind, that she would let Sidharth have what he truly wanted, which was the sole inheritance of his grandfathers will.

“Actually I had a meeting with Sidharth’s stylist for some last minute fittings for tomorrows outfit. I accidentally spilled some coffee on my suit and she gave me this dress to change into” her breath came out all at once, hoping her lie will put Kartik’s doubt to ease.

“God I cant believe you are getting married and will be gone in just a day baby. I have taken all the longer bids at work, to keep myself busy and surrounded with people. Spending time in this house without u is scary” Kissing her forehead, he pulled her in for a tight hug.

Shehnaaz’s eyes closed in despair. I am going only to return back into the same house Kartik, she thought to herself and her eyes welled up.

Unable to even stand the thought of living with Sidharth under the same roof, she had decided that once the married stamp tainted them, she will come back here.

But what will she tell Kartik? Sidharth’s house is under renovation and she is allergic to the turpentine. Fuck Shehnaaz, who renovates the house on the second day of their marriage? Oh yes, her mind was at work again, She will say she has had a fight and she doesn’t want to see his face again, she thought and her mind slapped itself at the lameness of her excuse. God whatever, she will deal with it when the time comes. She eased herself out of his arms went to her room, shutting the door behind her.

“Baby Sidharth is calling, what should I say?” Kartik banged on her door making her groan. “Tell him I will call back in a second” Isn’t this man done frying my brain? She cursed and shouted back, instantly picking up her phone to dial him.

“Hello” trying hard to maintain her composure, she spoke. “Hello.. and why have you deserted me? I understand last night you must have been tired but no call, no text since the morning. And your phone has been unanswered since past two hours” his words caressed her like velvet, and she could sense the worry in his voice, again confusing her.

This guy had actually used her like a mere pawn, in his game of power. And he was playing the part of a soon to be husband to the hilt now. Didn’t he get tired of faking this love? Oh yes, there’s still a day to go until they were married and he couldn’t obviously leave the act midway. Anger boiled inside her as the thought hit her.

“So what am I supposed to do? Keep reporting to you after every hour? Don’t I get to have some time for my own?” she scoffed back.

“Hey hey.. whats wrong? Did I mess up something? and yes ofcourse you can have all the time you want love, its just that I got worried when you wont answer my call. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I am flying to Hyderabad for a meeting. Will be back tonight.  You wanna meet up?” her heart tugged with the softness in his voice, asked her to believe him, that he truly loved her as he said, but her mind flashed the copy of the will to her.

“I cant m sorry I have things to do. I will see you on the wedding day now. Bye” with that, she disconnected the call and threw herself on the bed, weeping.

She had been the happiest girl until yesterday and today she stood with Sidharth’s deception nagging at her brain. Could it be that he had planned all this? And the realization hit her in an instant.

He had mentioned about his inheritance passed on to him on his 35th birthday and that was the day they had first met. Which meant he knew right from the beginning what he was doing. He was cheating her, using her to his benefit. The love, the sweetness, it had all been a farce to pull the wool on her eyes.

She felt so shattered and her body wretched with sobs, she had to actually press a pillow on her mouth to stop the sounds from reaching Kartik.

She felt a hatred rising in her heart for Sidharth as she recollected the beautiful moments they had spent together. And she hated herself more for being a fool in love.

The one question she had asked herself from day one, why did a big shot like him choose her? A flight attendant, to shower his love on. And it suddenly made sense to her, he had probably thought of her as an easy target, who would happily crawl into the trap of a rich and luxurious life.

But she didn’t fall in love with him because of the flowers or the expensive gifts he gave her, she fell in love with his consistency to make her feel special. Which she now knew was a deliberate move to blind her from his actual intention.

Suddenly feeling the urge for a confrontation, she picked her phone to call him, but stopped herself the next moment. Being the master of words that he was, he would lie through his teeth defending himself and turn the tables on her, making her feel guilty of not trusting him. No she didn’t want any explanation. Nothing he could say now will prove him innocent. He had cheated and lied to her enough. All she will get now is more lies and she couldn’t handle it anymore. She just wanted to get thru this sham of a marriage from which he will be so greatly benefitted and then dissociate herself from him, forever. This was going to be her penance for loving him, more than life itself. Fresh tears leaked out of her making it difficult to decide whether it was from the hurt of betrayal or the thought of leaving him.

It had been a gigantic multitask for her, to maintain a smile on her face for Kartik’s sake, keeping her interaction with Sidharth to the minimum and going back to memories of the past few months, decoding each and every action of his. Her painful counting of seconds had ended and finally she stood at the entrance of his house, draped in a red net thread embroidered saree and a matching red sleeveless blouse. Around her slim neck was a seek diamond choker, with a flower of rubies in the center, and similar ruby drops lined with diamonds hung from her ears. All of this had been sent by him of course, with a note that the jewelry was his grandmothers and a blessing from her on their special day. She had crumpled the note and thrown away, her face turning as red as the rubies with the last minute and very unnecessary sugar coating of words.

It wasn’t like she was going to run away. He knew he had her now, so why keep up with the drama? She didn’t have much time to ponder over that cuz from afar she could see him striding towards her with a face splitting grin.

Despite of the anger she felt, she couldn’t help but feel every hair on her body rise up in ovation. In a sharp black tuxedo, he looked even more gorgeous than he already was.

Words choked in her throat as she looked into his eyes and marveled at the honesty they could show off. He came closer and without a warning, pulled her in for a kiss.

She wanted to resist, push him back but could only raise her hands to rest on his chest, welcoming his mouth into hers. “I love you darling” his lips at the corner of her mouth spoke.

She was appalled by herself for being so powerless against his touch. She didn’t loathe it as she had imagined, and even her body had betrayed her in the nick of time. Well this was the last of the last, a parting shot, she told herself and followed him to the living room, where the registrar was with their friends gathered to celebrate the union of two souls, the very base of which was deceit.

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Sidnaazkidiwani