His Handicapped Wife ( New Version)

Chapter 2: Surprise, surprise!

"Who is this lucky girl then?" asked Jyothi Malhotra, sipping her glass of water.

"That sweetheart is a surprise," Rajiv said, as he tore up a small piece of Roti and dipped it in the delicious Palak paneer, served to him.

"What do you mean by 'surprise'?" Jyothi enquired.

Rajiv could sense the anticipation in her voice as he brought the Roti into his mouth not before speaking, "It means you'll see her on the day of the marriage."

Jyothi choked on her food slightly.

"Are you serious?" she asked with a doubtful look.

"Of course, Jyothi. Why would I be kidding about anything like this?" Rajiv retaliated while chewing his food.

"Then why am I being allowed to see her, only on the day of the marriage?" Jyothi exclaimed.

Rajiv chewed the last piece of his Roti and gulped it down. Later, he questioned his wife, "Do you trust me, Jyothi?"

She was taken aback by his question, for a second; but answered right away, "Why are you asking me this, Rajiv? You know my answer."

Rajiv dabbed a clean towel on his mouth looking at Jyothi and sighed before speaking, "She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen apart from you and my daughter. I've seen her for more than half of her life. I've seen how kind-hearted she was, since her childhood. I've seen how she handles difficult situations. She is the perfect one for our Jai."

Jyothi's mind was filled with the talk of her husband and her hesitation can be seen by him.

"Trust me on this one, Jyothi; you won't ever regret your decision," he reassured her.

~*~

Jyothi was sitting on their bed, inspecting one of her case records while Rajiv was on his side of the bed, still trying to catch a wink.

"Do you know Jyothi? When I first met you, I thought you were an innocent girl. But, you are a feisty one," Rajiv said trying not to chuckle at his last sentence.

"Why are you telling me this now?" she asked with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

"It's just...physical appearance is not what shows a person's true self. You can get deceived if you estimate a person by looking at their appearance."

"Are telling me that you were deceived looking at my outer appearance?" Jyothi replied, slipping the file onto the nightstand.

"Of course. I thought that you'd be the one to fall for me first. But you tamed me earlier."

Rajiv heard her chuckle.

"Believe me with this, Mr. Rajiv Malhotra; I struggled a lot to tame this tiger," she said, switching off the bedside lamp.

~*~

Location: A nursery.

The nursery was the finest place to relieve Sahana Raj's tension. Watering those beautiful plants, maintaining them with the help of 25 workers, and taking orders for marriages and other occasions were one of her jobs. Sister Janet, whom Sahana calls Ma, helped her with that nursery. Just two months after the start, the business picked up. They now take orders three months beforehand, if they needed to export them to other countries, and two months for local purposes.

Apart from the nursery, Sahana also earns from a job, working from home and visiting the company whenever needed. She was currently working as a graphic designer in one of the forwarding start-ups in India, which she took immediately after the completion of her Masters's from a reputed university. She always felt that she was lucky enough to get a benefactor who supported her not only financially but also as an advisor. It was his idea for her to do something else apart from her education and job, which made her start her own, florist services.