Hidden Hues Of Henna

Rishte-naatein (I)

Part-1

She was so stupid.She had to be. Otherwise how else would she agree to keep being married to Raghav Rao,the man who has been nothing but trouble ever since the first night she crossed paths with him,also the man who was the reason of her being ousted from her previous marital home or rather a major part of the reason,and lastly,the very man who married her on gun point,literally and proverbially.

An amalgam of thoughts ran through Pallavi's head,none of them pleasant. Her brain had practically been screaming at her ever since the moment she had said 'okay' to him.Now,nine hours later,less vulnerable and alot more charged due to the sleep she was blessed with the previous night,Pallavi was having second thoughts. Big,scary second thoughts.

The night before,it had been easy. She was a crying mess,weak enough to not be able to raise her voice over a certain decibel.He on the other hand,was like an anti-Raghav Rao.Gentle touch,soothing words,kind chocolaty eyes and strong promises which made her already feeble heart melt into a pool of mush.She would never really admit it to the man but when he decided to be soft and honest.....well there seemed little that she could refuse him for.

His words had seemed as sweet as honey then and his intentions,his promises to not disppoint her,to not hurt her or doubt her again had been like a balm to her aching soul. It was a fact of little surprise hence that Pallavi had given in to him without much fight.However now,in the light of the morning with a cup of coffee in her hand,her thoughts took a different turn.

What if he had just been telling her all that she wanted to hear?

What if all his promises,all his determination end in all of two days?

What if was lying?

NO.Pallavi shook her head with a frown as she dismissed the final thought. Raghav Rao could be many things but a liar was not it. All done and said,she could not quite convince herself that he would go to extent of lying after having hurt her so much. Misguided he was but evil? She did not think so.The open remorse in his eyes,his words-Pallavi could see it even now. He truly was sorry and he truly wanted her forgiveness but despite all that,worry ate at her and the biggest of all the doubts was—how long?

At present she was hurt and Raghav was sorry but as days go by and if Raghav stands true to his words,then he might win over her forgiveness. But then,later,they would be just two polar opposite people,practical strangers at that,tied together in a marriage confused about what to do with their relationship.Right now,they had a long sequence of events which had pushed them together,they had hatred,frustration,worry and guilt as threads which loosely connected one to the other.But,Pallavi worried,what would happen when one day they would have nothing more between them two? Would they have to live alongside each other compromising due to circumstances or would they have to separate causing all their efforts to co-exist go down the drain?

Maybe a day would arrive when Raghav would be done seeking her forgiveness,when his guilt would cease to exist and then......Pallavi feared to think what would happen of her then.

"PALLAVI!" A large shout of her name startled her making her jump in her seat at the dining table.

She blinked furiously to clear her head before looking up to see her mother in-law standing right beside her,trying to free the half-empty coffee cup from her deathly grip. Pallavi had not realised that she had been clutching the object so tightly. Instantly,turning a little flushed,she left her hold on the cup letting Jaya take it away and put it on the table before slowly raising her head to meet the older woman's worried eyes.