Torn Apart

Girl in Disguise

A day later I arrived back in India and it felt strange at first. I was wearing my specks and I waited for Meet to pick me up. When I saw him I waved and he helped me carry my luggages to his car. It felt good to see Haryana once again after so long and finally I arrived at his office. It felt so good to see him after all this time. I missed him so much that I felt like hugging him but I stopped myself. "Namaste, mera naam Meet Alawhat hai. Tumhaara naam kya he? ( Hi, my name is Meet Alawhat. What is your name?)" I tried to stop but I began to giggle. A few seconds later it became a laugh. He turned a shade of pink as I cannot control. He began to laugh too! "Ok, aap ise jaanate hain, mujhe lagata hai. Mujhe aisa lag raha hai ki mainne tumhen pahale kaheen dekha hai. Aap meree patnee kee tarah dikhate hain, Meet Hooda. ( Well you know it I suppose. I feel like I have seen you somewhere before. You look a lot like my wife, Meet Hooda.)" I laughed uneasy since I am but I cannot reveal it. "Main? aapakee patnee jo dedh saal pahale mar gaee? Kabhee naheen! Vah nahin rahee aur main yahaan hoon. (Me? Your wife who died 1 ½ years ago? Never! She is no more and here I am.)" Oh my God! I am so stupid! How can I say this to my husband.  Suddenly I turned pale white since I saw tears pouring from his eyes. I never knew he would be this hurt. "Mujhe maaf keejie. Mujhe aisa kabhee nahin kahana chaahie tha.(I am so sorry. I should have never said anything like that.)" Tuduram began to calm down. "It's fine. Haalaanki tum sahee ho. Isake alaava, usake paas kabhee chashma nahin tha.(It's fine. You are right though. Besides, she never had glasses.)" I sighed a quick breath of relief and soon we continued to make plans about our mission. Suddenly the detecting alarm went on and we saw there was a bank robbery and a few people shot. We put on our suits and quickly wore our masks since people should not recognize who we were. It felt so funny like we were ninjas and we bother giggled. We went inside the bank and saw them stealing gold and money from peopleś lockers. The Manager had been shot dead and other people too. When the hanskins saw us they began to run and we chased after them. They drove their van but we did not have a vehicle. We saw a delivery truck nearby and got our rope which we could clutch and jumped onto the truck inside the hay. We took control of the truck and chased after their van fastly. When they came to a dead end they jumped off the van and we followed them. We ran with all our might and I felt like I was in an action movie. Suddenly there was a horn and Meet got hit very hard. "MEET!" Oh my goodness. He is bleeding continuously. Tears poured from my eyelids and I felt dizzy. I yelled and ran to him as the other people in sight helped me call 911. I climbed onto the ambulance as tears poured out from my eyes. I already lost him once. But I cannot lose him again! This felt like a nightmare as I saw him being taken to the operation theater. I pressed my hand against the glass as I waited all night to get the results. I prayed to Mattha Rani and Lord Jesus for my husband to be alright. I cannot reveal the truth which was very difficult but he had to be alright. I cannot think of a life without him since he is my world. "Mrs. Singh? Kya aapaka un logon se koee najadeekee sampark hai jo unake parivaar ke hain. (Mrs.Singh? Do you have any close contact to people who are his family.)" I felt like I must tell the truth.  "I am his wife. But please don't tell him I said that. It is too complicated." The nurse nodded as she replied, "Yah ekadam perfect hai. Mrs. Singh, mere paas aapake lie ek buree khabar hai. Vah theek to hain lekin is dauraan unhen kisee tarah ka tanaav nahin diya ja sakata. Use aaraam karana chaahie aur aapako yah sunishchit karane kee jimmedaaree lenee chaahie ki sab kuchh theek se kaam kar raha hai. Agar aapako kuchh madad chaahie to krpaya hamase sampark karen. Ham use kuchh ghanton ke baad usake ghar mein bhartee kara denge. (That is perfect. Mrs.Singh, I have bad news for you. He is alright but he could not be stressed through any sort of way during this time. He must take rest and you must take responsibility to make sure everything is working properly. If there is anything you need help with please contact us. We will admit him to his home after a few hours.)" I thanked god and helped them to get him to his house. I need to make sure that no one comes to understand I am alive. I saw Mummy outside waiting in worry and Papa came to help him. It felt so good to see them too. "Thank you. Aapane mere bete kee jaan khatare se bachaee. Tumhaara naam kya he? (Thank you. You saved my sonś life from danger. What is your name?)" I was about to answer Meet but I quickly changed. "Ashi Singh." Dad smiled as Meet made his way to the bed. "To aap hamaare vyavasaay kee pratidvandvee kampanee hain. Aap log traik rakhane mein bahut achchhe hain. Mainne suna hai ki aap prabandhak hain. Main hamesha chaahata tha ki tum mere bete kee misaal bano. Ok, jab tak Meet behatar na ho, tab tak aapako hamaare saath rahana chaahie. Kya aapako dhan kee aavasyakata hai? (So you are the rival company of our business. You guys are very good at keeping track. I heard you are the manager. I have always wanted you to be an example of my son. Well, you must stay with us until Meet is better. Do you need money?)" I felt ashamed inside since I would never want to do that. "Nahin! Yah mera sammaan hai ki main meet ko bachaane mein saphal raha. Vah vaastav mein ek achchha dost hai.(No! It is my honor that I was able to save Meet. He is a really good friend.)" Papa ji smiled happily at me. "Aap pahale vyakti hain jo vah kabhee bhee itana baat kar raha hai. Jab se meet hudda, unakee patnee kee mrtyu huee hai, vah bahut chup aur aarakshit hain. Main aksar use raat mein usaka naam pukaarate hue sunata hoon. Mujhe usakee bahut yaad aatee hai lekin jab main apane bete ko vilaap karate sunatee hoon to mera dil sabase jyaada tootata hai. Lekin mujhe lagata hai ki main aap par bharosa kar sakata hoon. Vaastav mein, aap mujhe apane vyaktitv se usakee bahut yaad dilaate hain. Aapakee madhurata, nirbheekata, daya aur eemaanadaaree sab meree bahoo ke samaan hai. haalaanki vah mere bachche kee tarah thee (You are the first one he is ever talking to that much. Ever since Meet Hooda, his wife died he has been very silent and reserved. I often hear him calling her name during the night. I miss her a lot too but it breaks my heart the most when I hear my son mourning. But I feel like I can trust you. In fact, you remind me a lot of her with your personality. Your sweetness, boldness, kindness and honesty are all similar to my daughter in law. She was more like my child though)" I felt a shiver as I heard all these things. I never knew Meet and Papa ji missed me this much. "Meet ne ab tak kisee bhee mahila se shaadee karane se inakaar kar diya, bhale hee hamen vaastav mein achchhe prastaav mile. Vah sirph use vaapas chaahata hai. Usane aatmahatya karane kee bhee koshish kee lekin mainne use rok diya. nahin to vah khudakushee kar leta. (Meet refused to marry any women until now even though we got really good proposals. He just wants her back. He even tried to suicide but I stopped him. Otherwise, he would have killed himself.)" I felt my heart skip a beat as I heard the words. I did not want him to sacrifice his life just for me. If it would be dangerous at some point then I would have to reveal the secret. For a few days I stayed at the Alawhat mansion. I helped Chachi cook dishes which the whole family enjoys and clean the house neatly. I supported Papa ji in his work and did so many tasks for him to relax. Mummy ji was astonished with my sense of style and asked me to help her in her latest fashion designers outfits. My favorite dress which I created was a white wedding gown with a pink bodice and flowers at the edges of the dress, trailing with a long skirt and blue pearls in the end. Another creative and trendy one was a crop top with ripped jeans and a satin green headband. One afternoon there was noise in the mansion. A family was visiting our house for a special occasion which Mom mentioned. Papa was cleaning the house with Chachi, Chacha, Isha and Meet who was healed , Mummy and I were preparing the food, Hossiyar,Masoom Didi and Duggu had gone out to buy gifts for the family. Finally when all the preparations were over, the bell rang. Papa opened the door and smiled as he warmly welcomed them inside the house. It was an old family friend of theirs and they had known each other since childhood. "Hamane aap logon ko ek vishesh avasar ke lie aamantrit kiya hai. Main apane pyari meet beeta ke lie shaadi ke baare mein soch raha tha.(We have invited you guys for a special occasion. I was thinking about marriage for our dear Meet beta.)" I felt as if my breath was taken away. Meet was going to marry another beautiful girl. Meet accidently spilled his tea in shock and spoke up. "Agar aap mere baare mein soch rahe hain maan, to isake baare mein mat socho. Main apane jeevan mein phir kabhee shaadee nahin karoonga. Mainne pahale hee apanee patnee ko kho diya hai aur main dard sahan nahin kar sakata. Jab yah saaph hone lage to ek baar phir mere lie dukh na laen. (If you are thinking about me Ma, then don't think about it. I will never get married in my life again. I already lost my wife and I cannot bear the pain. Don't bring sorrow to me once again after it is starting to clear up.)" I felt really sad that he is refusing all proposals because of me. "Meet!" Meet did not change his thought or decision in any way. "Nahin Mom. Javaab hai ki main mana karata hoon. (No Mom. The answer is that I refuse.)" The father of the other family smiled. "Theek hai Babita jee. Maiait ke lie aage badhana mushkil hoga. Darasal mujhe kuchh kaam tha. Ham ja rahe hain. (It is fine Babita ji. It must be hard for Meet to move on. Actually I had some work. We are leaving.)" Babita tried to stop them. "Please at least raat ka dinner to kha lo. (At least please eat dinner)" The other family then shaked their head. "Darasal, hamaare paas pahale se hee kuchh kaam tha.Hamen ise jaldee karane kee aavashyakata hailekin raaj ko aamantrit karane ke lie dhanyavaad. Ek baar phir ikattha hona achchha raha.(Actually, we had some work already. We have to complete it quick. But thanks for inviting us Raj. It has been good to gather once again)" They left and Babita scolded Meet but nothing could change his mind since he was stubborn.