yun hi tu mere saath rehna

Chapter Forty Eight

“I'm scared,” Abir admitted to Mishti as he sat down beside her, passing her a glass of chai. The city buzzed around them, but Abir & Mishti's little corner was mostly quiet apart from a few stragglers. It was late at night and the tapri that had become their preferred spot for their regular chai pe charcha was winding up for the day. The first thing that Abir had done after moving to Udaipur had been finding a roadside tea stall that served all their purposes - not too busy, secluded enough that they wouldn't be disturbed, but not too far from home, that had a comfortable place to sit, and most importantly, served piping hot chai just the way they both liked - cheeni kam, doodh zyada. 

Since he'd zeroed in on this particular stall, Abir & Mishti had slowly become regulars to the point that they recognized not just the owner but also his other regular customers. They would visit often, talking about their day, about their families, about work, about everything under the sun, really, and unwinding. 

It had been a few days since Kaveri had invited them to dinner & then announced her approval for Armaan & Abhira's relationship. The days had blurred since then as everyone was soaring on the high of Kaveri's declaration. All the kids in both the houses were over the moon. And especially the couple. Abir had spied Armaan lost in thought, grinning to himself, being absolutely useless at work more than once. And Abhira? She was a giggly fool - jumping around the house, dancing, singing, constantly blushing. Abir was sure he had never seen either of them as happy as they were. 

Everyone seemed to have accepted Kaveri's words without a second thought, but the niggling feeling refused to leave Abir. It was simply too easy. After opposing the match for months on end, Kaveri Poddar had so easily given in? It just didn't seem right. 

Abir couldn't help but remember - another time, another vehement refusal, the subsequent acceptance, and finally the startling realization that all of it had just been a ploy. His mother had done that to him. She had fooled him, fooled Mishti, both their families into thinking that she was genuinely ready to give her relationship with Mishti a try, was ready to accept Mishti as Abir's wife, as her daughter-in-law… But had shown her true colours soon enough after the wedding. 

One thing that Abir had realized in all the very limited time he'd spent with Kaveri Poddar was that she was eerily similar to Meenakshi Rajvansh, perhaps even worse. Both of them would be willing to stake anything to satisfy their ego, even the happiness of their children and the peace of their family. Neither of them cared about who they hurt with their nefarious schemes as long as they got what they wanted. 

But the question was, what did Kaveri Poddar want? Why was she doing this now? Suddenly, the very same Abhira who had been forbidden to even step foot inside her house, was the perfect choice for a daughter-in-law in her eyes? Nothing made sense. 

He'd been trying to justify her behaviour, trying to come up with plausible reasons for this sudden change, but was coming up empty. He could not think of a single genuine, good reason that she would do this. She was not doing it for Armaan and she was definitely not doing it for Abhira. 

Like his mother, Kaveri Poddar was also extremely selfish. Whatever she did, she did for herself. This little stunt that she was trying to pull by playing the loving grandmother who would do anything for her grandson's happiness was nothing but a sham. 

Every instinct within Abir was loudly screaming that nothing would come off this entire situation. This would end badly for his kids, for both Armaan and Abhira. He just had to figure out how. 

“I'm scared too,” Mishti admitted. “Kaveri Ji ne itne easily haan bol diya? Something doesn't seem right. Armaan itne time se unhe manane ki koshish kar raha hai, Abhira kitni koshishein kar rahi hai ki woh maan jaaye. Lekin unhone har kadam pe sirf unn dono ka dil dukhaya hai. Toh ab aise achanak woh kyun Abhira ko apnane tayyaar ho gayi?”