The shark and the saint

13. Zindagi Gulzar... Hai?

The next morning, everyone had packed their bags ready to go, but Rishabh got a last minute work call. Prerna and Kukki complained.

"Yeh kya baat hui? Aapne promise kiya tha ke aap hamein le kar jaayein ge!"

Rishabh put his hands up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Aisa karte hain mein abhi aap dono ko nani ke ghar chhor deta hoon, phir shaam ko lene aa jaunga. How's that?"

Kukki gave him big thumbs up. Rishabh settled them in the car and drove them to Prerna's neighborhood, but was too busy to go inside. He dropped them off and headed off to work.

Prerna and Kukki surprised everyone with their arrival but the family was happy to greet the girls. Kukki looked around the house and later Mahesh took her outside to the markets. Veena and dadi were upset that Rishabh hadn't come in, but planned to ask him to stay when he came back.

Rishabh finally arrived close to dinner time, and Veena greeted her damaad with aarti as it was his first time there. He sat down in the living room and got to properly know the rest of his in laws. Shivani wasn't his biggest fan, but Suman was eager to stay in his favor. Mahesh was busy entertaining Kukki, and Shekhar hadn't come home from work yet. He talked with dadi about some of his past, sharing general information, which Prerna didn't even know.

Rishabh tried to leave, hoping not to burden the poor family, but the elder women convinced him to not only stay for dinner, but stay the night as it was too late to go on a plane now. Prerna didn't like the idea.

"Maa, aap kya kar rahi ho?" Prerna scolded when they were in the kitchen.

"Kya hi kar rahi hoon, Priyu? Itni raat ko woh bacchi ke saath airport jayega? Taklif hogi."

"Jaise yahaan reh kar unhe kum taklif hogi. Ma, woh mehlon mein rehne waale log hain. Yahaan kaise adjust karein ge? Light chali gayi toh? Pankha nahi kaam kya toh woh raat soyein ge kaise?"

Veena just smiled and placed a hand on Prerna's cheek. "Kuch nahi hoga, Prerna. Agar kuch hua bhi, toh aik raat mein mar toh nahi jayeinge na. Aur Kukki ki fiqr mat kar, usse dadi sula leingi."

Prerna sighed and helped take the food to the table. They had of course only cooked vegetarian and Prerna was worried, but Veena managed to make Kukki finish her plate.

After dinner, Rishabh insisted on going to bed as they would have to leave early tomorrow. Veena and Suman arranged for them to sleep in. Prerna changed Kukki's clothes and laid her next to dadi who was sleeping in the veranda. Dadi started telling Kukki stories and Prerna went up to her room.

Rishabh had gotten ready for bed and was sitting on a chair in Prerna's room, busy on his phone as he waited for Prerna. Prerna finally came in with her clothes changed, and put away her day's clothes before she went to try and open the balcony door. The old wooden door was stuck of course, and Rishabh came to help.

"Itni raat ko khidki kholni hai aapne?" He asked her when the door finally opened.

"Haan. Woh, raat ko hawa acchi aati hai na," Prerna replied and went to the bed.

Rishabh looked up to the ceiling. "Fan hai,"

"Hai to. Lekin agar raat ko electricity chali jaye gi, to fan kaam nahi kare ga, aur phir garmi ho jaye gi."

Prerna sneezed and Rishabh closed the balcony door. Prerna got up to protest. "Arre? Khula rehne dijiye!"

"Aapko garmi lag rahi hai?" Rishabh asked as he moved across the room.

"N-nahi toh."

"To phir thik hai. When you're feeling warm, aap fan on kar lena."

Prerna sighed. "Mera to guzaara ho jaye ga garmi mein bhi. Lekin aap..."

"Mera businessman hone ka yeh matlab nahi hai ke maine bad times nahi dekhe. I can live without a fan, Ms. Sharma," Rishabh vaguely told her as he picked up a pillow.

Prerna quickly noticed what he was doing and tried to stop him. "Aap, bed pe so jao. Main manage kar lungi. Aap ne subha flight pe bhi jaana hai."

Rishabh sighed and tossed the pillow on the bed as he sat down. "Mujhe aapko remind karna parde ga ki aap pregnant hain?"

Prerna was shocked by his words.

"You sleep here. Main floor pe so jaun ga jab sona hua mujhe."

Rishabh took his pillow back and went to sit on the chair, working in his tablet. Prerna couldn't argue more, so she slowly pulled the sheet and awkwardly got into bed. She laid down and faced the other way so she didn't have to look at him.

Prerna was feeling guilty. The only bad thing he'd done with her was force her to marry him, and even that had good intentions behind it. He was more of a gentleman towards her than Anurag. Prerna sighed and turned to face the ceiling.

"Aap... aph bhi bed par so jao," she said awkwardly. "Aap, chadar ke upar ho, to koi problem nahi hogi." Prerna informed him and laid back down, slowly falling asleep.

A few minutes after she was asleep, Rishabh was getting tired, and turned off his tablet. He thought everything through, then decided to take Prerna's offer to sleep on the bed. As much as he'd told her, Rishabh was starting to feel uncomfortable in the heat, so he opened the smaller window in the room to get some air in before he went to the other side of the bed and laid down on top of the cover.

In the middle of the night, Prerna had gotten up to drink water. She sat up and got the glass from the bedside table and had some water. When she turned back in, she noticed Rishabh shivering. Prerna thought about pulling the sheet under him to put on him, but thought he might wake up. Even when she did try to pull at the blanket, Rishabh was too heavy for it to move. With no other option, she tossed her side of the blanket over him, leaving herself bare. Which was fine cause she wasn't feeling cold, but as she got colder in her sleep, she unconsciously cuddled closer to Rishabh to get some warmth.

In the morning, Rishabh woke up to find himself covered with a half of the sheet, and noticed Prerna sleeping cuddled close to him. He tried to recall if anything had happened, but he'd been too tired to be awake at night. Slowly, he managed to slip out from under her, and the movement made Prerna turn to the other side. Rishabh was relieved, and took the opportunity to return the cover on top of her.

Rishabh left the room to go to the bathroom, the door opening woke Prerna up. She had fixed the bed and was putting things away when Rishabh returned, ready to head out. He got his suitcase and was gonna leave the room when he stopped.

"Listen. This is for you," he turned back, and pulled out his wallet, giving Prerna a shopping card.

Prerna tentatively held the card, not yet pulling it out of his hand. "Yeh kya hai?"

"Money card hai. Mere account se linked hai."

"Main iska kya karun?"

Rishabh pulled his hand away, leaving the card with her. "Debit card ke kitne uses ho sakte hai, Ms. Sharma? Aur yeah, agar paise nikalwane ho, to woh bhi ho sakta hai. Bus pehle you need to call the number and set a pin."

"Lekin aap mujhe yeh kyun de rahe hain?"

Rishabh sighed. "Aap ko har baat pe argue karne ka shock hai? Hamare beech rishta jo bhi ho, legally hum married hai. Aur meri wife meri zimedaari hai. Waise bhi, aap Kukki ke liye aur ghar ke liye shopping karti hai. Main pehle de deta lekin card banwane mein time lag gaya. Whatever, abh yeh, aapka hai. Jaise marzi use karna chahe, ya na karna chahe. Aapki marzi."

Rishabh informed her and exited the room, smiling at Suman as he passed her. Prerna didn't get much time to think as Veena called her down to say goodbye to Kukki. She left the card in her room and went downstairs.

Prerna knelt in front of Kukki and made her big promises and asked her to listen to her father and the doctor. Kukki told her she would miss her, and that she would bring chocolates for them all. After goodbyes with all, Rishabh finally took Kukki and left for Switzerland.