It had been a few weeks since the fiasco at the Deshmukh House, and Pallavi hadn't forgotten it yet. She put on a smile in front of everyone, but in her head she kept hearing Baba's words over and over again.
When she came back from the saree shop in the afternoon (luckily only Nikhil and Krishna seemed to be working there this week), she headed straight into the kitchen to start making dinner. When she reached for the atta flour to start on some rotis, Raghav took her hand and pulled her close to him.
"Raghav, what are you doing, Amma ya Keerthi dekhlenge." Pallavi whispered.
"No one is home today, Keerthi had some work, and Amma is at the temple. Both of them are going to be eating dinner elsewhere, so I thought, why not take my beautiful wife out to dinner tonight. She really needs cheering up." Raghav pushed the hair out of Pallavi's face delicately, trying to catch her eye.
"Who said I needed cheering up, I'm fine." Pallavi lied, avoiding Raghav's gaze.
"Don't lie Pallavi, you're horrible at it. You've been pretending for weeks, and I've let you pretend, because you needed space, but now I can't take it anymore. Seeing you sad like this hurts me. Please, mere saath dinner pe chalo?" Raghav pled.
Pallavi looked at Raghav, "Dinner isn't going to solve anything Raghav, you told me after we came home from Baba's house that my family never wanted me as their daughter, that I was always an outsider. Well, fine. You were right. Congratulations." She pulled her arm away and started bustling around in the kitchen.
"Tum mujhse narrar ho, kyun ki maine sach bola?" Raghav asked, getting angry.
"You are the most insensitive...tumse baat karne bekhar hai." Pallavi groaned in frustration.
Raghav pulled the tava she took out and slammed it on the counter, "So what should I have done, continue to lie to you, to tell you 'Pallavi, sweetheart, your family isn't crazy, they love you, and they will forgive you.' How would that have helped you?"
Pallavi snapped back at him, "I helped you get your family to forgive you, didn't I? You can't do the same?"
Raghav grabbed her arms and pulled her close, "I can do anything for you, anything. What you did for me and my family, main kabhi nahin bhool saktha, nah mujhe bhool na chahiye. Ardhamaindha? But, you are my family now too. And I swear, if I thought anyone but your brother Nikhil was worth talking to, I would do anything to get them to forgive you. Anything. But—" Raghav took her chin and looked into her eyes, "woh tumhe deserve nahin karthe."
Pallavi's eyes teared up, "But...I don't want to be alone. I can't..." Pallavi backed away and started crying, weeks worth of tears coming out now.
Raghav walked close to her and grabbed her again, "Kaun kaha tum akele ho? Who said that? Amma and Keerthi mean nothing to you? Me?"
Pallavi wiped her tears, "Mera woh matlab nahin—"
Raghav turned around and crossed his arms, "I understood you perfectly, hum sab tumhara parivar nahin hai. Main kush bhi nahin hun, na?"
Pallavi touched his shoulder and turned him around, then she held her earlobes in apology, "Sorry."
Raghav melted, "Tum na, aisa cute face bana kar mjuke har bar mana nahin sakti."
"Toh main kya kart, mera yeh cute pati ko manaane ke liye?" Pallavi grinned.
"Woh toh tum ko bataa hai." Raghav put one arm around her waist and the other on her cheek. He leaned in for a kiss, and just as their lips were about to touch, Pallavi pulled back.
"Teek hai, Ghamandi Rao, main tere saath dinner pe chalthi hun." Pallavi grinned even wider, she took his hand off her waist, "I'll go get ready" and she walked out of the kitchen.
Raghav called after her, "This is cheating Pallavi Rao, this is not done!"
He smiled as he heard Pallavi's laughter as she walked up the stairs.
