Hidden Hues Of Henna

Rishte-naatein (II)

Part-2

Pallavi's life had always been about the people in her life.

Her brother,her sister in-law,her best friend. Later,Mandaar's parents,his family.

She would not call herself a people-pleaser but she did have a habit of caring about the people around her before even the thought of her own sake occured.Apparently,throwing oneself into caring,worrying and working for others felt a lot easier than having to care,think or worry about one's own self.Atleast to her,the latter was a mammoth task.

The advices to take her time,to think of herself,to discover what she wanted,to use this impromptu and unwanted marriage as a way to set her life back into a slant of her choice-she had heard them all.Her mother in-law,her brother and sister in-law.They had all repeated the words,encouraged the suggestions,urged her to choose what she wanted,what she felt would be right for.And Pallavi was thankful for them and their thoughts.In a long time,she felt cared for,thought of and it was a feeling she wanted to bath in especially when her previous life with the Deshmukh family had been upended in the worst way and she was still dealing with the trauma of it all,bit by bit.

But,but,she was still pretty clueless about all that had become of her,of her life.

All that she had known,all that she had been expecting,all that she had aimed at,worked for up until a few days back,had disappeared.None of it had remained.The Deshmukhs,although caused immense ache in her heart even when they were simply thought of,were all that she had known and lived by up until a few days back.Their house and their saree shop,the smiles on their faces and the food on their table—it was all that had mattered to her for nearly the last two years.

Hence,presently,when they had chucked her out of their lives unceremoniously,when they had thrown her to the street without a moment of contemplation of what would become of her and when she was their enemy number one,she did not know how to gain closure from the heartbreak that they had caused her and how to redirect her life into prioritising herself.

A movement in front of her caused her thoughts to break. Looking up she saw a cup of steaming hot tea being placed on the coffee table before her by Raghav's housekeeper.

"Thank you." Pallavi breathed out catching the older man's eyes with a grateful smile.

Ramakrishna smiled genially as he stepped back with a bow and then turned to leave not giving Pallavi any opportunity to ask questions or make polite conversation.It was the same case with every staff member of the house.They were nice,some even enthusiatic,but they were quick and efficient.The few that she met were ready to help in any way they can but they offered no more words than what was required.To Pallavi,who functioned on politeness and humility,it was utterly odd but she understood that this was how things just were in the RR mansion.Their boss liked being quick and tolerated no nonsense and the staff delivered that very behaviour.

The boss,Pallavi rolled her eyes in remembrance of her new husband.

After the stunt he had pulled at the entrance of his mansion in the morning when she was about to bid her brother a happy farewell,Pallavi had quite a mouthful to say to him.She had told him she was not leaving in solid words and yet he was not assured! Unfortunately,she could not quite express her dislike towards his act as he had rushed away to work without coming back inside the house.It was evening now and he was still at work.

The coward! Pallavi scowled as she leaned forward to pick up the cup of tea,the smell of cardamom wafting from it making her scowl turn a little mild.