Cigarettes & Peonies

45

So maahi, her family, vaishali, her family, Uday and his family constituted the crowd inside the Roy's mansion. Today was karanvir's parents wedding anniversary and they were kind enough to welcome all of them to celebrate the day with them. Vaishali was reluctant but as maahi insisted on, she gave in. All was still not well between vaishali and Uday as she was still not ready to forgive him. Poor Uday was doing everything possible but she just wasn't impressed. But both maahi and Karanvir were happy that atleast now all things were sorted out and even if vaishali needs a little more time, they knew it will all end up well for all. Maahi's father was seriously displeased to attend this party, and although both Mr. and Mrs. Roy were so polite to him, he just couldn't help but puke at the idea of having cordial bonds with them. Dope sellers are wild TBH. Everybody was enjoying a good time after a handsome meal, when suddenly Karanvir made his way towards maahi. For the first time, he looked nervous. And it was also the first time that his Viraj uncle wasn't here as he'd gone to Bihar to attend some function in Rudrakshi Bajpayee's house. Maahi wheeled around to look at him as he gently knelt before her. All gaped at him in shock as he produced a beautiful diamond ring from him pocket.
"Karan???" maahi was confused as Mr. Khandewal was watching him in shock. Karanvir drew in a breath.
"Maahi.....will you marry me!!!" he proposed softly. Maahi gasped loudly. That was moving too fast. Mr. and Mrs. Roy were equally shocked.
"But....."
"I-I promise to be a loving, caring, respecting although a tad bit too possessive husband. I'll give you every happiness you've ever dreamt of in your life. I'll stand by you forever. I won't ever leave your side. We'll be together forever until death do us apart." he confessed, tears hanging in the corner of his eyes. Maahi looked into his love filled eyes and found her heart clenching. Suddenly she felt someone tugging at the end of the gown she was wearing. Looking down she found kavyansh looking up at her with his big innocent eyes.
"Please maahi say yes and we'll all live together." he pleaded innocently. Her heart melted at his adorable request as both Mr. and Mrs. Roy looked at her hopefully. Maahi looked behind Karanvir, at her father who was clearly beckoning her to go on with a No. Her mother however covertly gestured her to listen to her heart.
"Punch him in the face." vaishali whispered from behind. Uday looked at her in horror. After a minute, maahi had finally decided.
"Yes. I'll marry you." she whispered hesitantly. Cheers broke into the hall as Karanvir picked her up and kissed her cheeks. Maahi honestly had never seen him this happy before.
"I love you so much....." he declared finally putting her on the ground and hugging her tightly. Mr. Khandewal was literally hitting his head on the wall when Mr. and Mrs. Roy came to congratulate their new samdhis.
"It feels so surreal..." said Mrs. Roy as she hugged Mrs. Khandewal.
"Mr. Khandewal are you ok." asked Mr. Roy with concern as he saw him hitting his head on the wall. Mr. Khandewal groaned.
"All I want is an earthquake to hit this valley, split the earth in halves so I can fall inside this earth and never come back to the surface." he shouted as he stormed outside. Mr. and Mrs. Roy could only gape at him in confusion.
"Don't bother about him, he just is too protective of his daughter. He sort of dislikes people who do illegal stuff so...." Mrs. Khandewal said nervously. Mr. Roy laughed.
"This is our living, what to do." and they laughed together.

Karanvir came to drop them off to their home. Maahi's father hadn't talked to her during the whole ride and she was scared that he would never talk to her for choosing a guy he hates intensely. Karanvir however knew it won't ever happen. Maahi's father hated Karanvir because father's hate any guy near their daughter. Any guy!!!!
"Papa." maahi finally broke the silence as they alighted the jeep. Mr. Khandewal ignored her grumpily. Mrs. Khandewal was pissed off with her husband's attitude. Tears welled up in maahi's eyes. There was no way out there was she going to upset her father and marry the guy who loves her. Her father was more important to her than anybody else.
"I thought you'd issues with me but looks like you've problems with your daughter as well." Karanvir joked. Mr. Khandewal looked at him tiredly.
"Nobody cares if I have problems with anyone, everybody here is a master of their own. Nobody needs my opinion so why bother if I talk or not." he responded brusquely. Maahi's father never behaved like this with her, and this is what pained her the most.
"Mr. Khandewal please...."
"Look Luv's mother, you said yes to this relationship and I said nothing. Your daughter took the decision by herself to marry a goon, I said nothing so don't..... I repeat, don't try to talk to me about anything. My position in this house is worst than a dog. You and your daughter should not worry about me." Mr. Khandewal barked insolently. Maahi started crying. She didn't know her father would react this strongly. Had she known she would never have said yes to him. Mrs. Khandelwal's heart sank.
"Atleast don't talk like this Mr. Khandewal. For all your life you've loved your daughter the most and today you're.......I can't believe it." Mrs. Khandewal said. Karanvir tried to console maahi. Mr. Khandewal wasn't even looking at maahi, which literally shattered maahi's heart in pieces.
"Exactly. I loved her the most and this is what I get. Look what your daughter has given me, pain and humiliation. Perhaps that's what I deserve as a father after loving and caring for my daughter." he said, pain evident in his eyes. Maahi wrapped her arms around him and cried on his chest.
"No papa.....I won't ever do that. If you don't want me to marry him, than I won't. I won't do anything that will become the cause for your humiliation. I promise." she sobbed. Karanvir looked at Mr. Khandewal seriously and began.
"You don't want me as your son-in-law. Fine, I won't marry your daughter against your wishes. But remember Mr. Khandewal, I can challenge you....you won't find a guy who loves your daughter more than me ever. You hate me not because I'm a bad boy but because you know that I love your daughter the same way you do. And you don't want that. You don't want to share your daughter." he looked him in the eye and continued.
"Mr. Khandewal, your daughter needs a man who treats her like a queen she is and that guy is me. I won't say anything more in my defence, but I will say this much that you may find a man who may die for her but you won't ever find a man who'll kill for her. I am that guy Mr. Khandewal. I can die for her and I can kill for her. I can burn down this whole world but won't let any harm come upon her. Go on Mr. Khandewal, spend the rest of your life finding a good guy who loves your daughter the way I do. But I only hope that when you're breathing your last you don't have the regret that you ruined your daughter's life due to your stupid ego." he completed fiercely. Mr. Khandewal looked at his daughter who was sobbing on his chest. And then he looked up at the man who he hated with everything inside him. He looked up at him to see how much he loved his little girl. How much he craved for her. At that moment Mr. Khandewal knew that he hadn't been entirely correct all along. This guy was unhinged but not treacherous. He genuinely loved his daughter. And surely he would never want to see his daughter live a life in sadness.
"Come inside the house." that's all he said while wiping maahi's tears. Karanvir's face lightened up as he and maahi looked at each other happily. Her father had finally gave a thumbs up and although he would never openly say it but his gestures were enough to prove that he had accepted them both.
"Prepare something for him to eat. Damad shouldn't leave the house empty stomach." said Mr. Khandewal somberly, kissing her daughter's forehead. Maahi hugged him more tightly.

Far away in the rich green meadows of the valley, Peonies bloomed in numbers. The fog swept over the vast turves of Peonies giving the impression of a cigarette smoke rising up from the enchanting flowers. Back in the Khandelwal's house, Karanvir must be being fed handsomely by his soon-to-be in-laws. There's this adage, 'All's well that ends well' and in our story too, everything went well in the end. Cigarettes were karanvir's favourite addiction but now it was replaced by a sweet, lively Peony. Do you know what we learn from their love story?? Very simple. Not all love stories need to be perfect, because perfect love stories never end well. Love is for everyone, doesn't matter if you are tall, short, fat, lean, good, bad.....All of you deserve to love and to be loved. Love always finds us when we aren't looking for it, but we all have a love story for sure. Don't worry if your love story isn't perfect like others, remember Karanvir and maahi too aren't a perfect couple. But they did end up together didn't they. If you're happy together, than your love story is perfect, no matter what the world says. And yes, Prince charming comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes he comes as a fun loving guy, sometimes as a nerdy chap; sometimes as a sweet guy but sometimes as a........BAD GUY.
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Epilogue will be available next week.