Shivi FF: Agar Tum Saath Ho

1.

Raavi was pacing around the storeroom like a crazy person. Her muh dikhayi ceremony was about to start, the guests had already started coming in. She knew they were the same people who heard her confess to loving Dev from a very young age, and the ones who saw Dev leave her at the mandap. The same people who witnessed her wedding to Shiva. How could she face them? They were gonna look at her with pity in their eyes.

She tried to wear her earring, but she didn't realise that she was practically shaking. It fell from her hand. She picked it again and wore it. Dhara di had given her so much jewellery but her hands were shaking and she didn't want to wear those. She picked up the other earring and somehow managed to screw it in. Then she picked up the necklace but while trying to unclasp it, she broke the clasp and she screamed in frustration.

"Kya hua? Chilla kyu rahi hai?" Shiva asked, as he came into the room.

Raavi began crying looking at the necklace. This was the same necklace Dhara di had promised to give her before the wedding and now she managed to break it. She was ruining everything. Shiva came and took the necklace from her hands, inspecting it.

"Ro mat. Thik ho jayega. Main kal kisi jeweler se thik kara dunga ise."

"Kya kya thik karega Shiva? Mere saath sab aise kharab hota ja raha hai. Shaadi toh gayi, ab muh dikhayi bhi. Kya muh dikhau unko? Bachpan se cheekh cheekh se sabko bataati ki main Dev se pyaar karti thi. Aur ab dekh, woh toh mujhe mandap mein chodke Rishita ke saath nikal gaya. Sab hasenge mujhpe. Aur yeh necklace... Dhara di ne college time pe dikhaya tha. Kaha tha jab main Pandya bahu banungi tab pehenayegi. Aur maine ise bhi tod diya. Kuch thik nahi ho raha hai." Raavi screamed.

"Agar tujhe muh dikhayi mein nahi jaana hai toh mat jaa." Shiva told her.

Raavi looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Tu pagal hai Shiva? Main nahi jaungi toh log baatein banayenge."

Shiva sighed. "Tu jayegi toh hasenge. Nahi jayegi toh baatein banayenge. Phir teesra option kya hai?"

"Koi option nahi hai. Jana toh parega. Par necklace...." Raavi started crying.

Shiva tried to control himself. He was getting too annoyed. This chipkali was rambling nonsense. He walked over to the dressing table and found three jewellery sets lying open. Why was this girl crying over one necklace when she literally had three lying around like that? Who even cares if she wore jewellery or not? Shiva looked over at Raavi again clutching the necklace and crying, and his irritation disappeared. He needed to be patient with her.

"Yaha aur bhi necklace hai. Koi sa bhi pehen le." Shiva said. Raavi didn't move, so he picked up one set and walked over to her. "Yeh wala pehen le."

Raavi still didn't move. Shiva took the broken necklace from her hands and kept it on their bed. He took out the new necklace from the box and tied it around Raavi's neck. Raavi almost jumped at the contact. Shiva gave her a glare and got back to the clasp. She looked at him through the mirror. The necklace he had selected went well with the saree she was wearing. His hands were so steady that Raavi was surprised. She wasn't the only one who was compromising in the marriage, he was too. So why weren't his hands shaking? How was he so calm?

"Shiva tu humari shaadi ko leke khush hai?" Raavi asked.

"Khush? Tu pagal hai?"

"Par phir tu itna cool kaise hai yeh sab leke? Tujhe bhi toh Dhara di ki kasam ki wajah se shaadi karni pari."

"Haa toh? Teri tarah baithke rota rahu main?" Shiva asked. "Ab jab shaadi ho gayi hai toh ho gayi hai."

Raavi was surprised. She always knew Shiva as the man who would overreact to things, but in this case, she was the one who was overreacting. Shiva was better at controlling his emotions than her.

"Chal ab thik hai?" Shiva asked, looking at her through the mirror.

Raavi shook her head. "Kuch bhi thik nahi hai. Yeh earring pehli wali necklace ke saath match kar raha tha. Iss wale ke saath nahi kar raha. Aur iske matching bangles bhi nahi hai. Aur ro roke mera pura muh sujh gaya hai."

Shiva sighed. Would he have to tolerate this maami ki behen ki beti for the rest of his life? She started crying again and he decided to get back to work. He handed her a tissue and went and got her earring. She took out the ones she was wearing, but it fell because her hands were still shaking. Shiva picked them up and kept them in the box safely. He made her wear the new earrings which he thought was the most difficult thing he had to do. She kept wincing as he were stabbing her ear. Finally when she looked into the mirror, she stopped crying. Shiva almost laughed. This chipkali was too full of herself.

He looked over at the gold bangles and selected a design which matched her saree. One by one, he made her wear those. Raavi was almost shocked with how Shiva was getting her ready. He was apparently good at dealing with crisis. But what she hadn't expected at all was his fantastic taste in jewellery. He picked bangles of another set and somehow these went better with the current set she was wearing.

"Ab thik hai?" He looked at her reflection in the mirror again.

Raavi nodded. She got up and applied her lipstick. Her hands had stopped shaking. She combed her hair once again and looked at Shiva. "Ab thik hai."

"Toh chal." He said.

Raavi picked up the dupatta and covered her face with it. Exactly that moment Dhara came to get Raavi. She walked Raavi to the aangan and made her sit beside Rishita. Raavi looked over at Rishita. Even her face was covered but she could see Rishita smiling under there.

It was Maa who first lifted their dupatta and looked at their faces. She gave them both necklaces. Dhara di came next and handed them an envelope of money. Slowly the whole band of women came and blessed the girls. When it was finally over, they took off their dupatta and Jamna kaki started singing a folk song. When the dupatta came off, Raavi looked around to find the women looking at her with pity. She had been right when she thought this was gonna happen.

But then Sanjana came and hugged Raavi. She was surprised to see her best friend. Raavi hugged her back and she forgot all about the women giving her pity looks. Sanjana sat beside her and gave her a small gift.

"I'm so sorry main teri shaadi mein nahi aa payi." Sanjana said.

"It's okay Sanjana. Tere dad bimar the, I understand." Raavi smiled.

"Toh jiju kidhar hai? Kaha se chupke yeh function dekh rahe hai?" Sanjana looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of Dev. "Yaar tu kitni sundar lag rahi hai Raavi. Dev se shaadi karke toh tu puri badal chuki hai."

Raavi was horrified. So she didn't know about her marriage with Shiva. "Woh actually..." Raavi started.

"Oh hello, Dev mera pati hai. Uski shaadi mujhse hui hai." Rishita suddenly said. Her volume was a little high, and everyone stopped to listen in to the conversation. Raavi felt embarrassed.

"Matlab?" Sanjana was confused. "Dev ne tujhse shaadi nahi ki? Toh teri shaadi kisse hui hai?"

"Shiva se." Rishita answered.

Raavi looked at the crowd who were looking at her, hoping for some drama. Sanjana looked at her shocked, unable to grasp the meaning of it. Raavi nodded to her assuringly, trying to tell her that she would tell her the story later. Sanjana understood and she smiled her 100 watt smile assuring her that it was fine. She looked at the crowd staring at them and understood Raavi's embarrassment.

"Dhara di, waise yeh toh kamal ho gaya." Sanjana said, trying to cheer up the mood. "Maine dono ko raaste mein khade hoke cheekh cheekh ke jhagra karte suna hai. Ab jab shaadi ho gayi hai Shiva Raavi ki toh aap log kaan mein rui daalne ki aadat daal lo."

Everyone laughed and Raavi smiled. Sanjana saved her from another round of embarrassment.