Vishwaas

Chapter 11: Room

Priya smiled sweetly at the family before telling Aarav to go get her bags. Not wanting her to do anything stupid, Aarav slowly moved to go outside and get her bags. Shourya clenched his law and fisted his hand at this, but felt helpless to protest.

"Good boy, abh aise hi apni Priya bhabhi ki saar baate maana. Okay?"
(now listen to everything your Priya bhabhi says to you, just like this.)

Soon Priya's bags were near the stairs and Shourya told everyone to continue on with their day like usual before walking out of the living room. Seeing the anger radiating off of her husband, Meera gave a quick kiss on Chhaya's forehead before rushing after him. The last thing they needed was for him to get mad. 

Soon the family went off to do their own thing, leaving only Chhaya, Rohan and Priya in the living room. 

"Okay then, mein aapne kamre mein ja rahi hun. And I believe ki mere kamra abhi bhi wohi hai jo pehle tha, matlab Rohan ka room. Come on now Chhaya, mere bags upar tak le jao aur haan, mere wardrobe se aapne saman nikal ke kahin aur shift kr lo."

(I'm going to my room. . . . My room is still the same as before, Rohan's room. . . . . Take my bags upstairs, and yes, take your things out of my wardrobe and shift it somewhere else.)

Rohan could see that Chhaya was holding back her attitude before she stood up, walked over to Priya, look her dead in the eyes before saying, "tumhe lag raha hoga ki tum jeet gayi ho, pr yeh to sirf shuruwaat hai, tumhari barbaadi ka. Tumhe tumhara kamra mil jayega, mujhe koi shaunk nahi hai tumhare muh lagne ka, toh roz roz tumhari uss kmre ko le kr kich kich nahi sunni. Das minute mein aa jana, apna yeh kadab khana le kr. Tumhe tumhara kamra khali millega."

(You must be thinking that you've won, but this is just the beginning of your destruction. You'll get your room, I'm not interested to speak to you anyway, so I don't need you bothering me every day for that room. Come in ten minutes with your stupid rubbish and you'll have your room.)

Chhaya walked away but not before looking at her husband. Soon she was in her wardrobe, stuffing her things in her bag harshly, she was letting her pent-up anger out. Anger at the woman coming into her home, anger at the fact that she was still the lawfully wedded wife to Rohan, anger at the fact that she was going to stay here. Anger at her in-laws, for not once speaking up against it, and anger at her husband for standing up for her in their argument about the room. Anger at the fact that all of their actions were completely justified based on the situation, anger at the fact that she didn't deserve this crap.

Somewhere during her packing, Rohan came into their wardrobe with a bag in his hand. Chhaya looked at him confused about what he was doing and it wasn't until he started to pack away his clothes did it click that he was going to move out of the room as well. They continued packing in silence until everything was done, Chhaya couldn't hold her emotions back anymore and she flung herself at her husband. All of this was overwhelming for both of them, and Rohan too wanted comfort. So when he found his wife clinging to him, he couldn't help but just melt into her warmth.

The two embraced each other for a little while longer before Rohan gently pulled away, he looked at Chhaya's dried tears and that did something to him. Not wanting to stay here any longer, he smiled at her gently before grabbing both their bags and walking out. When they reached downstairs, they noticed that Neel and Reema were in the living room, alongside Meera and Shourya and they all looked incredibly upset, whilst Priya played with the ends of her hair unbothered by the tension in the room.

"Priya, tumhara room tyaar hai."

(Priya, your room is ready.)

Priya smiles Rohan's way as he said that only to end up frowning at the sight of the bags he was holding. "Itne saare bags kis liye?"
(Why so many bags?)

Rohan stays as calm as he could before saying, "do loggon ka itna saaman toh hoga hi. Don't ask such stupid questions."

(There would be this many for two people.)

"Do log?"

(Two people?)

"Haan, mein aur meri biwi. Chhaya."

(Yes my wife, Chhaya, and I.)

Chhaya looked up at him as he said that. He had never called her his wife. He never addressed her like that. It did something to her. It also did something to Priya. She had felt she had been replaced by someone else. Priya saw this as a challenge and took it to her ego. It bruised her ego even more when she heard a quiet giggle from Meera, who was quick to shut her mouth and hide behind Shourya when Priya threw a glare her way.

Neel and Reema smiled at each other and Shourya held his wife to his chest to ease her, whilst smirking in Priya's direction. She was not going to win this time. Before Priya could say anything further, Rohan walked over to the guest room downstairs and began putting his stuff in the wardrobe. The space here was smaller compared to their one upstairs, they had their bed, a dressing table and two chairs near the large window facing the garden. The bathroom was smaller too, it didn't have a bathtub, just the shower and the wardrobe was also a little more congested. 

But that was the last thing the two were thinking about, they were thinking about today's events, what the future would look like and how they were going to deal with Priya and her threats. Chhaya knew that today she let her impulse get to her when she answered back to Priya, but one of these responses can get the whole family in big trouble.

Rohan sat on the chair opposite next to Chhaya as they gazed out the window, both absorbing the peace and quiet before they begin the hard conversation waiting for them.

"Chhaya."

"Hmmm."
"Even though I'm legally not divorced from her, but for me, she's not a part of my life anymore. I see you as my wife and my future. I know that things didn't start off on the best note for us, and I judged you way too harshly based on my past experiences. And I'm sorry for that. I . . . don't think I'm ready for marriage right now. . . .but I want to try and make this work. I can't let my past with Priya linger into my present and future. Our present and future."

Chhaya was completely taken aback by Rohan's words, she didn't know how to respond so she asked the first thing that crossed her mind.

"Yeh, mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha."
(This, I don't understand anything."

Rohan smiled gently at her before saying, "I know, pr aaj jab Priya aayi aur ussne jo bhi kaha aurn jo sab ho raha hai. Pata nahi. Something clicked in me, and I just don't want to hang onto the past anymore.  Mein usse bahar nikalna chata hun, aur jab tumhare baare mein sochta hun toh mujhe ehsaas hota hai ki mein kitna galat tha. I generalised all women, but you've proved me wrong every single time. And you've made me realise how stupid I was. So thank you."

(but today when Priya came and all the things she said. I don't know. . . . . . .I want to come out of it, and when I think about you then I realise how wrong I was. . . . .)

Chhaya gave him a shy smile before looking back out the window, leaving the poor man hanging. Although he did have some idea of what she was thinking but he wanted verbal confirmation about whether or not she wanted to start fresh again.

"Chhaya." He called only to be ignored by the giggling woman in front of him.

Here is one more! Tell me what you think!