Hamesha Wala Pyaar (Completed)

Chapter 80

Hamesha Wala Pyaar – Chapter 80

It was late in the evening when they moved out of the centre. Sidharth and Shehnaaz made an impromptu dinner plan with Maa, before they dropped her home. They reached The Green Channel, a stylish restaurant in a near vicinity. Shehnaaz spoke to her mother in law fondly telling her about her experience on the Yatch, her first visit to Goa, and other random stuff. All the while her eyes were constantly reading his tensed expressions. Sidharth was always a less of talker and his behavior didn’t seem to bother maa at all. She was happily getting her ears chewed off by Shehnaaz’s excited verbal outpour. But Shehnaaz knew something was terribly off. “Maa aaplog baitho, main aata hu” he excused himself and went out. “yeh kaha jaa raha hai abhi?” his mother’s eyes followed his retreating figure. “maa isko zaroor kuch hua hai, iska mood off hai kisi baat pe” her sullen voice spoke. She knew he must have gone out for smoke “shaam takt oh theek tha, achanak pata nahi kya hua usko, aap dekho na baat karke, pucho na usko” she held her mother in laws hand. “haan puchti hu, aane de usko” Maa replied. Their dinner came, and the server was laying the plated when Sidharth walked in reeking of cigarettes. He shocked her by ignoring the spot beside her and seated next to maa. But regretted soon after when he received a stern lecture on his smoking habits. “accha hua, bada attitude dikha raha tha, bol bhi nahi raha ki hua kya” she muttered softly to herself, but her gaze was fixed on him. “Sidharth is anything wrong? Tera mood off lag raha hai” maa rubbed his arm and prodded him to talk. He gave one look towards Shehnaaz, making her cower. “maa, iss gadhi ke wajah se mera mood off hua hai” his index was pointed at her “Hayye!!! Maine kya kiya hai?” she asked hunching closer across the table. “Kya kiya hai?” he shook his head angrily “maa isne bina kuch soche samjhe, dadi ko commit kar diya ki yeh brahmakumari’s mein Childresn wing handle karegi. Isko akal hai kuch? Pata bhi hai kaise kya chalta hai kaam unka” Sidharth ground his teeth flitting his gaze between his mother and Shehnaaz. “Toh unhone ne hi pucha toh maine kya bolna tha? Na keh deti main? Ki nahi mere se nahi hoga?” she nonchalantly hissed trying hard not to attract an audience “Maa aap hi batao, maine kya kehna chahiye tha?” she turned to her mother in law “maa kya batayengi, mere se baat kar” his voice was a tad bit loud for her liking. “Sidharth” his mother gasped at his raised tone. “Sorry” he raised his hand in peace “Maa she is already working with Preeti, taking this up means bye bye to Capital Group, and that too so suddenly. This doesn’t work like this na? isko kya hai yeh dimaag ka istemaal hi nahi karti, dil se sochti hai, but you can leave anyone high and dry like this na maa, Preeti kya sochegi?” Sidharth ranted, looking daggers at her. “Abhi aap bologe, bachi hai bachi hai, koi bachi nahi. Samajhti hai sab. But this was irresponsible behavior” he glared at her.  Shehnaaz now realized what her mistake was and why he was upset. She had gotten so excited at the thought of working at the centre that she had totally forgotten about her current employment status. Shitt !! how will she explain this to Preeti di, who had entrusted her so much and offered her a position in her company. But she was in deeper shit because he was livid at her and of all the things she was scared of, his anger topped the iist hands down. She gulped nervously, looking at them both. Maa sensed the building tension and broke the silence “Tum log shant ho jaao abhi, no more fighting.” His mom chided them both “Mujhe dinner pe leke aaye ho aur jhagadne mein lage hue ho” she cued the server to start serving the food. Sidharth and Shehnaaz both stayed quiet, but kept throwing angry glances at each other. Not a single word spoken between them. They somehow managed to wade peacefully thru the dinner with mom around but both knew this was far from being over. “Sidharth, Shehnaaz, tum dono ko samjha rahi hu, maine iss pure issue mein kuch bhi nahi bola kyuki tum dono ko yeh aapas mein sort karna hai, jhagda karo, zaroor karo, normal hai woh, fir ek dusre ko shanti se samjhao, aur aage badho. Samajh aayi?” she looked at them both as they came ot drop her at the lobby of her apartment. “Sidharth no matter how angry you are, be careful with your word” she admonished her son and hugged them both turn by turn, and left.

The car ride back home was silent. Their first fight after they were married. Just the thought was enough to tear her heart to pieces. Soon as they reached home, Sidharth stormed to their room and got changed in no time. Shehnaaz asked Paras to fix two cups of coffee, one black and one with cream & sugar. She stalled in the terrace playing with her yappy babies, awaiting him. Paras came but Sidharth didn’t. After a while she went to their room to find it pitch dark. He was already asleep on his side. She switched on the might lamp, but he ducked under the quilt, making an irritated sound. She changed silently and sat on the bed, beside him. His back faced her. She tugged at his arm trying to turn him to her side, but he tightened his body, not even budging an inch. “Sidharth main kya karu abhi?” she poked a finger gently in his back “mujhe nahi samajh aaya uss time” she whined, leaning over him. Sidharth turned to her, but Preeti’s words rang in his mind. “Let her deal with things herself” she had said. Sidharth thought about it for a moment and spoke “Shehnaaz mujhe neend aa rahi hai, I want to sleep. Aur tujhe jo karna hai kar. U have created this mess, and its about time you handle it yourself. Mujhe mat puch” his clipped tone brought her to tears. He turned back away from her and She fretfully slept on her side, thinking of the conversation she was going to have with Preeti di tomorrow.

The next day, Shehnaaz left for work, not even bothering to wake him up to drop her like he usually did. She knew he was angry, and she had to fix it somehow. Ok… she made a mistake, but she was depending on Preeti di to give her the right advice. She had already texted her on the way to work, asking for her time. Soon as she reached office, Preeti called Shehnaaz in her cabin. Shehnaaz narrated the entire fiasco from the earlier evening to her and waited for her to speak. To her surprise Preeti smiled. “sabse pehle to congrats, this is a very big responsibility, but Dadi ne bola hai toh kuch soch ke hi bola hoga. Aur rahi baat yaha ki, toh its your choice baby, koi force nahi hai” Preeti’s calm tone put her to ease. “You are a dependable employee, for sure but Capital Group ka yeh rule hai, hum kisi bhi employee ko rokte nahi hai if they want to fly out of our nest for their growth.” Preeti narrowed her eyes at her, but her face broke into a grin soon after. Shehnaaz was to serve a months notice, after resigning from her post and then she was free to go. She felt like a burden was lifted off of her.  She had expected Preeti to be upset and angry at her, but her cool and professional demeanor had surprised her pleasantly. She came to her desk and sank into her chair, grinning. She opened her drawer to find a small picture frame with their happy dazzling smiles. This pic was taken by Gunni on her birthday. After the big proposal. Sidharth could stop smiling that day, she thought.  But today this handsome, happy face was probably sulking at home. She had to think of something to cajole her husband.

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That's it !! For today

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Sidnaazkidiwani