A suitable Man

Chapter 29

Mahendra gave a distant look, and said matter of factly, " You will have to stay with your father, pretend that I have thrown you out of the house, you will have to be like an informer, Sheena will contact your father in someway or the other, this time mind has to be played over muscle, try to wiggle out information from your dad. He has been privy to lot of things in the past too. If he starts singing, he will be the most important witness we will have against Sheena"

Smriti was apprehensive, " But will Appa take me back?, I mean he has told me never come back, I sometimes wonder why does he hate me so much!!! He will not take me back Mahendra, and it will pain me immensely to hear him insult you and our love at ever step. I have never answered him back, but he crosses his limits when he is angry".

"No Smriti, you have to convince him, I know I am being selfish, but Padmakar Bhat is our only thread to the past and present, and you are the closest we can get to him, why do you think he was so against our marriage!!! there has to be something he knows and quiet clearly." He held her hand, " I know its going to be very tough, and I am asking a part of me to be away from me, but if we tide through this, we can achieve what we had set out to find. Prabhakar too is looking out for him, Sheena is untraceable right now,Prabhakar had sent men to his house in Honavar, there is an arrest warrant in his name, but there is no trace of him there too. but he will surface, we have to weed him out. The closest link is your Appa".

" Please don't do this to me Mahendra, how will I survive without you, even if under a pretence, it will be difficult for me.... please don't send me away from you" Smriti almost choked.

Vasundhara left them to their privacy as she headed out to mull over the plan which Mahendra just mentioned.

Mahendra hugged Smriti, and consoled her, "You are my life Smriti, I have decided this after giving it a lot of thought, Sheena kidnapped you, because he knew how precious you are to me, he knew I would come for you, he played on my weakness, but if we carry out our plan, you will be out of this, because he will eventually come to know that I have disowned you and you will be not of any consequence to him, this is the best way to protect you my dear"
" No, Mahendra, no, please I am ready to stand by your side and fight that moron in anyway, but it will be with you, please don't keep me away from you", Smriti sobbed

Mahendra cupped her face and looked in her eyes, " You are my soul, Smriti, my heart, my love, the pain he caused you, the trauma, it is unbearable for me, I wont be able to live with myself if anything happens to you, if you stay at your father's place you would be safe from him, and that is what I want, you are too precious to me, the day you didn't come back from school, I was on the brink of insanity, I cannot take a risk on your life Smriti, pleas try to understand. I know you are a brave girl, you are my hero, a hero I love to kiss" Mahendra teased, " but I wont let you near him again".

" But what if he tries to harm you Mahendra, I wont even come to know, what if something happens to you" Smriti said in a concerned tone.
"I have Amma with me here, and you don't know what she is capable of, My Amma and Dodda consider themselves as the direct descendants of Devi Durga Parmeshwari. Mahendra smiled. " This time Sheena will not be spared. I assure you nothing will happen to me. We have a lifetime together Smriti, I have to see you become a Professor, then we have to make babies together.... so many things are yet to be, darling!!! So be happy, your hero is going to vanquish the villain once and for all". Mahendra laughed.

Smriti too smiled at his assurance, although she was sceptical of leaving him. But the bigger picture was better. She agreed to go back to her Appa and act out as she was told. The plan was to be executed the next day.
With a heavy heart Smriti came back to her room, she didn't want to go but this could be a better way to get rid of Sheena once and for all. Mahendra also joined her. He hugged her from behind kissing her nape and inhaling her fragrance. It would be a long time till she would be in his arms again. It would be tough for both of them. But nonetheless, they would be together always.

The next day

Smriti packed few of her belongings, took Ganga by her tethers, kissed Mahendra a long good bye, took blessings from her mother in law and walked towards her home.

She reached in few mins only to find her father not at home. She walked Ganga to the cow-shed and settled herself in the house. She prepared her father's favourite dinner and waited for him to come home.
Padmakar returned home around dusk, he was welcomed by the aroma of his favourite Onion sambhar and rice. He was surprised at first and he walked towards the kitchen to see Smriti cooking. His blood boiled at her sight, why was she here? And she seemed to be moving around with a limp. He thought that Sheena must have bashed her too. He almost shouted, " What are you doin' here, in my house?"
Smriti was startled by his question. She turned around putting up an ashen face, " Appa, please let me be at home, I have no longer a place in that house where you are insulted and derided at every step, Mahendra' s family members came to know that I am your daughter, they were very angry on him, and after that Sheena's episode, they have thrown me out of the house Appa, I have nowhere to go". Smriti deliberately mentioned Sheena's name.
Padmakar smirked, " So Sheena did as he had planned" he bit his tongue, no one should ever know his association with Sheena. He continued, "I told you, he will use you and throw you away, you were a fool to believe his love talks, he wanted to deceive me that's why he pretended to love you, that scoundrel, you also were a part of his plan against me  but no you just get out from her, NOW, I Don't  WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN, YOU KNOW HOWMUCH TROUBLE YOU HAVE CAUSED ME BY REFUSING TO MARRY VISHWANATH" Padmakar was riling.
Smriti knew he would react that way, " Please Appa, let me stay, I have nowhere else to go, I will do everything that you want me to do, I wont meddle in anything, pleas let me stay. I shall cook for you, do all the house work as I used to earlier, but please please let me stay Appa".Smrtii pleaded.
Padmakar thought on this again, if Smriti was at his disposal, he could again make some plans for his gain. He would somehow convince Vishwanath again to marry her, and no doubt this time there would be no Mahendra to stop him, also Sheena would fill up his pockets handsomely for conspiring and plotting with him. Padmakar rubbed his hand in excitement, finally his small plans would take shape again. He was delighted at the prospects.

He spoke in a commanding voice, " Ok, I will keep you here only on one condition, you have to do whatever I tell you and without any questions!!!! Do you get that ?

Smriti nodded her head in approval, she genuinely wanted her father to believe her. Their plan was working, she would slowly gain his trust again and then she would keep an eye on him. Once she convinces her father that she was also against Mahendra, she could wriggle out the information from him. In few days, she would achieve that.

Padmakar ate his dinner and didn't bother about Smriti as usual. She finished her house work and went to her "DevaraKone" to rest. She was flooded with the memories of this place, where she had slept the last time. How she had deemed herself unfit for Mahendra, how she had cried herself to sleep, the saddest nights spent before her wedding, all the pain and sadness was rewarded, and with immense love. It was only a day and she was missing Mahendra badly. She looked at the gate of her house, the place where she had seen Mahendra for the first time. How she had mistaken him for some one else, and how he had made fun of her. The thoughts made her smile. She messaged Mahendra secretly, " Missing you already😔😔."  He replied immediately " Me too, 😘😘😘". They chatted for a while, updating each other with the smooth execution of their plan. Mahendra was happy she was able to convince her father about staying with him.
Mahendra had a daunting task of finding Sheena now, he was in to hiding. Prabhakar had sealed Sheena's house in Honavar, he was not located in Bhatkal too. He needed to make his case strong, for that Padmakar's statement would be of great significance. Now there was not much time to squander.