He slowed down as he neared the shah house. The house of doom, which kept his love locked for 26 years, is now decked up in all its glory for the fairy tale wedding of Anupama. The mere thought of her made his heart skip a beat. He shook his head to shake off the memories of their Engagement. Her smile, her excitement, nervous anticipation, and a thousand other shades of emotions that he witnessed during their Engagement were etched in his memory forever. He hardened his heart and whispered to himself.
Come on Anuj, You have to do it! For her! For her!
He entered the chaotic living room of Shah house and stood there a moment to absorb the liveliness of the room. Samar and Pakhi, as usual fighting over something silly. Toshu, sitting down and talking to the wedding venue guys over the phone. He felt grateful that Toshu accepted their relationship so wholeheartedly. Anuj's eyes did not miss the way his hands absentmindedly massaged Kinjals feet, relaxing on the sofa with her feet up. Kinjal has been going all out to make her Mummy's Engagement memorable. Anuj made a mental note to talk to Kinjal to take care of herself. Kavya and Ba, as usual, bickering over something. Dolly ben and Sanjay are talking in the kitchen, and Mamaji lazily wandered towards the kitchen, humming some old song. Mr. Vanraj shah, sitting on the dining table fidgeting with the salt shaker and giving daggers to Anupama every now and then, did bring a smile to Anuj's face. It's amusing to see such a complex human, Anuj sniggered, forgetting all his worries for a moment.
His eyes finally landed on his heartbeat. Anu sat on the sofa near Kinjal and was oblivious to the chaos around her room. She held a needle in one handle and cloth in one hand. Anuj longingly looked at the cloth she held; it was his handkerchief! His heart started beating a notch higher. He gave his handkerchief to Anu during the engagement ceremony to wipe off the smeared kajal. She never gave it back, and now he knew why! Anu was stitching an 'A' in the handkerchief. 'A & A' . Even amongst all this chaos, she kept him in her heart.
And I am going to break that heart... He closed his eyes in an effort to make his pain go away.
He spotted the one person he wanted to talk to. Bapuji, Anu's Bapuji, who sat apart from the crowd in a chair, lost in his own thoughts.
"Babuji,"
Anuj addressed him as he touched his feet. The whole room fell silent. No one noticed him, and everyone was surprised to see him returning to Shah's house after the engagement party.
"What happened, beta?"
Anuj gave him a hand to help Babuji stand up.
"All well?"
An anxious Babuji asked in his feeble voice. Anuj could see Anu standing up equally anxious. He knew she would guess that something was wrong.
Anuj took a longer look at Anupama, and her expression changed into a panic. She could see the storm raging inside his calm demeanor. She would know her Anuj; he knew She would understand him too.
"Let's postpone the wedding, Babuji". Anuj, never the one to mince his words, came directly to the topic.
"What!"
Ba's enthusiastic voice echoed in the hall first, followed by hoos and haas of each Shah household member expressing their shock at the sudden change of events. Not from Anupama. She would always know her Anuj!
Babuji looked at the folder Anuj was holding and realized immediately what Anuj was up to. The medical folder he gave to GK for safekeeping, the same folder which has the detailed description of his heart condition and surgery details, is in Anuj's hand. He swore to give a piece of his mind to GK Kakka the next day.
