RAGHVI FF : A PHOENIX

CHAPTER 31 : ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

Giving them a confused look he turned to face the way they were looking or preferable the way he had thrown the garlan only to find it residing around the neck of an equally surprised Pallavi who stood by the door along with her family.
Oh boy! What a great start to the event.

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"Pallavi" her name rolled off in a whisper by his tongue as Pallavi took a deep breath looking at the scenario that had just happened. It had taken all her energy to set her foot back into it's premises and now it felt like the history was repeating itself all over again, the first time she had been at this place, a garland was thrown right into her neck by the great don Raghav, himself, and now as she stood back here contemplating whether or not her descission about trusting him was correct. 
"Kya shot mara hai Anna." Raghav heard Farhad tease him with a nudge in his side but god forbid that since his entire focus was laid on her. The way she stood at the door of their house facing right at their portrait with her family, clad in a beautiful floral anarkali. The thought of her being here as if their parents were having an arrangement for their wedding made his blush in beetroot red, something he never knew he could be capable of. After all he was The Raghav Rao, Don Of Hyderabad.
"Utaar na isse. Dekh sab baal khraab ho gaye." both of their trances were broken  by the sudden voice of Aaji who clearly stood a little unimpressed and annoyed by whatever had happened, For her it felt like her daughter was getting brought back into a world she had long left for good and it felt unfair to having to face that again.
"Are aaiye na aap log." Both Sharda Aai and Amma ran ahead to welcome their guests as warm welcomes were exchanged, even though there was a ceratin coldness into the air between them but somewhere the residents of Hyderabad knew that this path wasn't going to be easy and they might have to make some adjusts too.
"Umm Vanity area kidhar hai?" Pallavi asked trying to keep her interaction as short as possible so as to not have Aaji be more pissed off than she was. The looks she had been getting from her since morning of both concern and annoyance had been enough for her quota of the day. The old lady currently sat with her family in the hall while the preperations for the shoot had been happening at the open gym/ lawn of the house.
"woh upar tumhare wale-" Keerti was quick enough to change her sentence as she said, " i mean bhai ke room main hi set up hai. Neeche storage ke liye thora space chahiye tha." 
"Achcha theek hai main jaati hoon." Pallavi got up to leave but stopped mid-way as soon as she heard Aaji's murmur.
"Ek toh itna kamm sa shoot area diya mera bachchi ko upar se jab pata hai ki chhota ghar hai toh idhar shoot rakhne ki zarurat hi kya thi. Kan̄jūṣa māṇūsa."

"Aaji bass karde." even though Baba was annoyed by this family too, he knew that pulling them down like that was totally uncalled for.
"Kyun chup karun main? are isse achcha intezaam toh mera Shiva krdeta woh bhi bina ki naukri par gaye. Yeh main bhi janti hoon aur tu bhi ki yeh sab drama bass meri Pallavi ko rijhakar wapas iss narg main laane ka hai." the words were cruel and ice cold.
"Apni bachchi ke liye kuch achcha karne ko aap drama kaise keh sakti hai." Sharada Aai was the first one to oppose the statement.
"Waise hi jaise aap ko apne hisaab se, apne samay par yeh yaad aa jata hai ki Pallavi apki bahu hai ya beti." it was Aai who took a stand for Aaji now.
"Dekhiye hum bas sab theek karna chahte hain." Amma tried to calm the others down.
"Kuch theek nahin ho sakta hai ab yeh tum sab bhi jaante ho aur hum bhi. Kuch zakhm zindagi bhar ko hote hai aur agar itna hi pyaar tha toh pehle itni takleef di hi kyun meri bachchi ko. Kyun meri Pallu ko ek paydaan (doormat) ki tarah istemaal krke bahar nikaal diya apke iss don bete ne."as if on cue to the hard words of the old lady, Pallavi turned to face her, she has had enough of this judgemental pressure now. Whatever these people had done was done to her but Aaji had no right to say negative things about them. It was her fight, her life.
"Bass Aaji. " her voice echoed through the now stilled and silenced room.
"Pallu"
"Main janti hoon ki aap bahut pyaar kati hai mujhse Aaji. Lekin ek time par yhe bhi mera parivaar tha. Aur jo bhi ladai aur gussa hai woh mera inse hai. Main bahut lucky hoon Aaji ki tu hai mere saath, Aai hai, Baba hai aur Shiva, woh toh bas meri dhaal bankar mere saath rehta hai lekin Aaji iss sab ladai se kuch nahin sudhrega, ulta jo sukoon aaj hai woh sab chala jayega. Bass ab tu aur inhe kuch nahin bolegi." Pallavi's voice had quivered by the end of the conversation, she had never raised her voice against her Aaji, ever, but right now things had actually gotten a little bit more out of control than necessary.
"Toh theek hai. Mera idhar rehneka koi fayda hi nahin hai. Hum chale jaate hai yahan se." everyone stood up but Raghav came in between this time.
"Aaji aap aise nahin jaa sakta hai. HUm baithke baat karte hai na." he requested them.
"Maine kahan na chalo sab." Aaji said refereing to the people beside her as they moved ahead to leave. Once they were closer to Pallavi, the old lady spoke in a low voice this time, "Tujhe bass aane wali taqleef se bachana chahti thi lekin agar tujhe tera yahi faisla sahi lagta hai toh yahi sahi. Lekin main inki tarah tera saath kabhi nahin chodungi yeh bhi jaan le. Jab inse thokar khayegi tab main kahan milungi yeh tu janti hai." and just like that they were gone.

"Pallu" Sharda Aai took a step forward to console her daughter but was shown a palm, " Main shoot ke liye ready ho jaati hoon." Pallavi turned and left the area with another glance.
"Raghav yeh sab-" Amma felt a sudden urge of sadness pass through her veins. Today wasn't supposed to happen this way.
"Amma . Amma tum stress kyun leta hai. Sab abhi naraaz hai isliye aisa bola woh" Raghav pulled her mother in a hug.
"Magar Pallavi bhi toh dekh kitna naraaz hai humse." the lady sniffled into her son's arms.
"Han toh naraaz hi hai na? Main mana lega. Arey Pallavi ka gussa na aisa sa hi hai. Woh bass aise acting hi kar pata hai, humse naraaz ho hi nahin sakta hai woh. Main bol raha hai na yun jhatt se maan jayega woh jab ek baar apna ghar dekhega, hamare saath time spend karega. Aisa sa hi emotional hai woh. Tum zyada tension nakko lena." unaware of how his words were going to affect his future, Raghav assured his mother that everything will be fine soon, but what he hadn't planned was about the women who stood by the stairs listening to his each words. Emotional? Acting? Baseless Anger? Was that what he thinks this entire scenario of hers was? Pallavi felt like barging out of the premises right then and there but she knew she had to stay and get this day over with somehow.

A few minutes into the preperations and Raghav knocked the door to his room. He had made sure to provide her with all the necessary and expensive things one might require for a professional photoshoot, even though this one was more of a camouflage for his plans of winning his ladylove back. A slight 'come in' whisper from her made him nervous all over again. And to top it with a cherry, the moment he entered and dshe turned to face him, the South Indian wedding attire drove him nuts. Was this happening for real? Was his dream coming true?

They never had a proper wedding and everytime they talked about it, Raghav used to imagine how she must have looked in a traditional outfit and now that it was happenign right infront of his eyes, he couldn't even belive it.
"Ahem" the fake cough from her was enough for him look back up in her eyes as she dismissed the workers at once.
"Aise kya dekh rahe ho?" asked Pallavi, her voice did felt a little monotonous to her but he thought maybe it was because of what happened a few minutes back downstairs.
"Woh toh bahut sundar dikha raha hai na aaj. Toh main bolna hi bhul gaya." his tomgue stammered due to nervousness.
"Shoot kitni der main hai?" she asked looking around for something on her table.
"10 minute main bulayega tumko neeche. Tum kuch dhoondh raha hai?" he asked not leaving her sight as he moved closer to her.
"Woh mujhe woh necklace nahin il raha hai jo pehenna hai." flipping through the stuffs kept on the table , Pallavi moved towards the bed only to get bumped into Raghav.
"Sorry" she said going past him to look around but was held by a firm grip on her wrist, "ek minute Saree Ka Dukaan." his voice was a mixture of excitement and anxiousness. 
With a slight tug, he pulled her towards the dressing area as he opened the cupboard by one of his free hand while Pallavi kept gazing the other that held her, his touch still leaving a lingering and burning sensation on her skin.
"Tumko yeh pehenna hai." even though Raghav felt his hands tremble in nervousness, he slowly left her wrist opening the box for her to see.
"Raghav yeh-" Pallavi was astonished to see a simple , delicate yet beautifully carved bridal necklace shining at her. Her throat went dry to even think that once a long time ago when she sat right in her room flipping through magazines during her wedding with Mandaar, she had pointed at a similar object for her brother to notice but finding him already stressed out about the expenses happening, the young Pallavi had hid the magazine behind her so as to not make her brother feel guilty about it.
"Tumko achcha nahin laga?" Raghav's voice was worried and a little more anxious now.
"Bahut sundar hai." Pallavi ran her finger through the design while Raghav's face welcomed a broad smile.
"Pasand aaya tumko. Main try krwata hai." and just like that it felt like everything was okay between them, as if nothing had changed, as if not stormed has passed through them and taken their relationship away. Hooking the necklace at it's place, both their gazes went up as Raghav glanced at Pallavi through the mirror, feeling the moment to be surreal while Pallavi somewhat felt herself in a delusional word when the words started ringing in her ears.

Arey Pallavi ka gussa na aisa sa hi hai. Woh bass aise acting hi kar pata hai.

Main bol raha hai na yun jhatt se maan jayega woh jab ek baar apna ghar dekhega, hamare saath time spend karega. 

yeh sab drama bass meri Pallavi ko rijhakar wapas iss narg main laane ka hai.

Aisa sa hi emotional hai woh.

Has he really never accepted his mistakes? Is it all just always going to be a big drama? Was she becomign an emotional fool again?

Raghav felt her move beneath his touch as he moved his gaze from her shoulder that had moved out from his touch , back to the eyes that have now changed. Was it too soon to be happy again?