The shark and the saint

18. Fare well

Prerna was only gone a day and Rishabh couldn't breathe. Honestly, it was more so because he was home alone. If either of the girls had been home, he would have hidden his emotions better. But here he was home alone with his memories.

Mr. Jones was at the end of his Indian tour, and the companies hosted him a farewell. Anurag decided that since Bajaj hosted the welcome at his mansion, then he would host the farewell in his Badi.

Dealing with Anurag Basu was no problem for Rishabh, but being in Basu Badi meant he had to face Moloy Basu. Rishabh's life goal had been and still was to destroy Moloy for what he had done, but as he sat holding the invitation in his hand, Rishabh's heart was beating fast.

"Dadi, aap namak kam khaya karo, dekho aaj kitna high blood pressure hai!" Prerna scolded her grandmother.

"Dadi main hun ke tu? Thori hi umar reh gayi hai, jee lene de mujhe!" Dadi joked.

Prerna laughed. "Abhi aapko kafi saal jeene hai. Aapne badi nani... ya dadi banna hai abhi."

"Kahan! Koi asraat nahi nazar aa rahe."

Before Prerna could respond, her phone rang. Her phone was up and the name said Mr. Bajaj. Dadi read the name and smiled.

"Tujhe aaye eik din bhi nahi hua aur abhi se yaad aa gai!" Dadi teased.

Prerna chuckled. "Unhe apni beti aur business ke aage kuch aur nazar nahi aata," she said to Dadi and answered the phone on speaker.

"Ji, Mr. Bajaj. Aapne phone kiya?"

"Prerna," he said, followed by a breath, and Prerna turned her full attention on the phone. Rishabh Bajaj was never nervous.

"Mr. Bajaj, aap thik hai? Aapki awaaz bhaari si kyun hai?"

"What?" He asked and cleared his throat. "Wo, uh, so ke uttha tha, shaayad iss liye. Listen, aaj shaam ko Mr. Jones ki farewell hai."

"Oh, accha?"

"Yeh party Mr. Basu host kar rahe hain... apne ghar," Rishabh's voice sounded different and Prerna sat thinking why. She then remembered Mr. Bajaj had a vendetta against the Basus.

"Kyunki.... Main ne unki welcome party aap ke ghar kardi issi liye? Aap ke liye problem bana di na main ne? Agar mujhe pata hota ki itni badi problem jo jaye gi toh..." Prerna asked.

"Mr. Basu ke actions ke liye aap responsible nahi hain, Prerna. You need to learn to separate yourself from him," Rishabh instructed her and sighed. "Anyway, main ne call iss liye ki thi ke agar aap mere saath jayein gi toh..."

"Ji, main aa jaun gi aap ke saath," Prerna agreed and he thanked her and ended the call.

"Kya hua?" Dadi asked when Prerna looked worried.

"Pata nahi. Unki awaaz se lag raha tha kuch hua hai."

Dadi smiled. "Acchi pattni ko apne patti ka hamesha saath dena chahiye. Tu iss rishte ko maane ya na maane, lekin meri Prerna apne saare rishte puri tarha nibhaati hai."

Prerna smiled and went to get ready. The party was at Basu Badi, and Prerna too was apprehensive to go, but she realized Mr. Bajaj would be with her. Like him or not, she knew that she could be independent with him. Prerna wore an anarkali for the party to hide her pregnancy. Tonight was probably not the best time for the reveal.

At 7, a car came to pick up Prerna and took her to Basu Badi. She met Mr. Bajaj outside the house. Mr. Bajaj gave her a quick up and down.

"Aaj aapne sari nahi pehni?"

Prerna smiled. "Haan. Woh, maine bataya nahi hai kisi ko..."

Rishabh nodded, and offered his arm. She took it and they headed into the badi. "Are you ready for this?" He asked.