Samjhota [The Compromise]

16: The First Night I

The immense, opulent dim office room exudes grandeur with its expansive floor, plush furnishings, and towering windows that offer panoramic views. Rich white mahogany furniture and elegant decor add an air of sophistication to the room, while the small crystal chandeliers overhead sparkled with the city light falling on them which traveled through the windows.

In the embrace of isolation, Shaurya sat lost in contemplation, his eyes fixated on the sprawling cityscape whose shimmering lights danced in the shroud of night. The room enveloped in darkness mirrored the obscurity of his current circumstances, casting shadows on the enigma of his world.

The results the report portrayed flashed in front of his eyes, causing mere disbelief in Shaurya that Ahana's baby is his. The instant it came out, astonishment struck him specifically the timing of it: when he just got married to Vaani.

" How can Ahana's baby be mine when I didn't touch her that night?" Shaurya pondered, sighing. A sharp ringtone shattered the extreme silence of the room, captivating his attention to the phone whose light allowed a gentle glow to reflect into the air. A sigh lets loose into the air and a single swirl to the chair lands Shaurya, facing the black glossy table. his hands struck the coldness the phone held and those attractive eyes notice the name flashing on the screen, aware of the scolding which might follow the trail he predicted.

" Jee (yes), papa" Shaurya responds.

"Where are you, Shaurya?" His father's outrageous tone reflected the extent to which he was upset with Shaurya. Rakesh glances at the hall where the celebration still went on. his fingers lifted to his forehead, rubbing it in tension and the brows constricted together. To every person who questioned Shaurya's absence only silence came as a response from Rakesh who didn't know whereabouts of his own son.

" I'm in the office, papa. I had some work. " Shaurya remains nonchalant, retaining the calmness in his tone. Heading back home would be the last thing he would desire tonight. The mere excuse hurled at his dad only leads him to be more furious.

"What is this haughtiness, Shaurya? You know very well that no ritual can happen without you, yet you still sent Vaani home alone!"

The loud music reverberating jollification in the entire mansion, suppresses Rakesh's high pitched scolding, despite being in the corner away from every eye.

"Papa, I'll be right back." Shaurya agrees and a single chime hints at the phone being disconnected. Getting to his feet, he shoves the phone into the embrace of the blazer's pocket but before the steps can proceed ahead, the eyes halt at the varmala and his pagdi (turban) resting on the sofa. Shaurya heads to it and in a single grasp they are held in his clutches followed by his departure to Singhania Mansion.

The party songs that vibrated into the hall had every individual captivated to the dance floor in its essence except Vaani who was drowned into the shadows of the gloominess. Even being in such a celebratory atmosphere, the trace of happiness remained absent from her heart but still she curved her lips into a fake smile being the perfect example of appearances are deceptive.

Those pearls of tears decline down her cheeks, the moment her eyes travel to the vacant grand chair next to her where Shaurya's presence was to be, close to the grand staircase. Had he been there, only trembling would have engulfed her body which she despised and loathed that her heart feared him.

Only one desire ignited in Vaani: to be distant from Shaurya but the sudden feel of being watched struck her forcing her eyes to dart around but nothing unusual came into the view. The shorter hand pointing to 9 indicated of the time Arya called her at the CSMT [Railway Station].

"It's 9 o'clock. Arya must be waiting for me." her fingers clutch the haath-phool while the mind remained in deep thoughts.

"No, I can't go. If I leave now, everyone will be humiliated all over again. Despite everything done to stop this marriage, it still happened. I can't run away. Shaurya may be however he is, but I'm not like that. I can't betray him. The harshest truth of my life now is that Shaurya Singhania is my husband."

Jerking out of the profoundness of the thoughts she realizes that all this while her eyes were staring at Sanya who already was skeptical of her behavior. Her sharp eyes could not miss the gloominess shrouding Vaani's beautiful face and the lack of glow a bride's face holds. Meanwhile, Standing away from the dance floor, Vaani's mother-in-law, rakhi held the shine in her eyes as she adored her daughter-in-law with the emergence of the thoughts that a new beginning was to originate and finally freedom will be earned from the media which chased him after the case.

A single gesture to Raina , who danced to the Punjabi music, brings her to her mother.

"Raina, take Vaani to the room." Rakhi instructs her but being mischievous, Raina's gaze travels to her father Rakesh who holds awareness of, the extent his daughter can be mischievous. Noticing her father's head shaking in a denial, Raina drops the idea and swirls to Vaani, but her eyes meet with Karan who sat with Abhimanyu at the bar. The gap between the pillars allowed her the sight and a wink given to her brother indicated something, cooking in her mind. The soft moonlight and the lights decking the garden reflected on both Karan and Abhimanyu, with the bar being close to the towering windows. The chandeliers glimmering add to the magnificence of the mansion. Vaani glances once again at the wall clock followed by a downcast, feeling the urge to run away from there.

Raina turns to her parents, having a smile on her face.

"Maa, the fireworks are about to start, so Bhabhi should be there too... and besides, Bhai hasn't even arrived yet." She literally screamed being in the influence of the loud music. Though her profession is a doctor yet no one is more mischievous than her in the entire mansion.

"Raina, shut up! And take Vaani to her room." Rakhi scolds constricting her brows following which Raina lively turns around and heads to Vaani. The lights reflect upon the beads embedded on her heavy pink lehenga.

"Bhabhi, come, let me show you Shaurya bhai's room... Oh, sorry, I mean your room." she corrects herself instantly holding Vaani's hand whose eyes laced with kohl lock with his. even in that crowd she could not fail to recognize him. Shock grips Vaani in its clutches on the mere sight of Arya being in the Singhania Mansion, who remains mesmerized by her beauty. The red lehenga, heavy dupatta resting on her head, the nath (nose ring) touching her red lips which part. Vaani gets to her feet instantly. All this while she has been yearning to get a single glance of him and now he stood in front of her.

"Arya" she whispers. Tears emerge in those eyes of her and steps freeze for a moment before advancing towards Arya.