After telling his parents he'll not be adding a bar to his dhaba, Krishna returns to KP room to find Pratigya sitting cross legged on the sofa. He chances a glance at her and notices that she's holding the Lord Krishna idol her dad had given her for her birthday, but was lost in thought, looking very sad & worried'. But with bauji's words still ringing in his head, he felt torn and hesitated to ask her what she was thinking. Going to the closet, he takes out his navy blue kutra pj and went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for some shut eye.
When he comes back out, Pratigya is still in the same position and this time, Krishna could no longer ignore the waves of sadness radiating from her. He walks up to sofa, sits in front of her and calls out softly'.
"Pratigya'. eh Babu, what is it this time? Why are you troubling this poor idol and not letting him have his fun"
Pratigya looks up at him, a feeble smile playing on her lips, tells him that its nothing for him to worry about, that he must be tired after a full day's work and he should go to sleep.
Krishna looks at her, shakes his head at her attempt to deflect him and replies "Why do I always have to coax you to tell me what is bothering you eh? '. Ok, until you tell me, we will both sit here on this sofa and will not go to sleep" and pointing to the idol he further states "But I must warn you, he's not going to be happy that you are keeping me up"
This forces a reluctant laugh out of Pratigya. With eyes brimming with amusement, love & sorrow, sets the idol aside, picks up his hand and cradles it in both of hers '
"Krishna'" she began, then hesitated'.
"Yes, go on'"
But she still hesitated' looks down at their joined hands and inquires "Can I ask you a question?"
"What do you mean 'can I ask you a question' ... of course you can ask me anything, since when do you need permission for anything?"
Pratigya looks up at him "If I were to tell you that we only have 3 more days together what would you do?"
Krishna snatches his hand away from her grasp "What is the meaning of this? ... what are you trying to say? If this is a joke I'm not finding it funny"
"No Krishna!" quickly taking his hand back, she implores "Please don't get angry . I was just"
"Just what? Threatening me? Because I'm not dancing to your tunes like I used to?"
No!!!... no ' please don't misunderstand me. I'm just trying to tell you that I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen and I don't know whether I can stop it. You know I always have faith in you but this time, I'm feeling so helpless ...Oh! I'm making a mess of this. You know what, forget I said anything. But promise me one thing'"
Krishna who had turned his face away from her in anger and still miffed that she could dare suggest such a thing as them not being together reluctantly looks back at her
Pratigya entreats "Promise me that no matter what happens, you'll never forget that I, Pratigya you wife, loves you from the bottom of my heart...and always prays that you be happy & successful in what ever you do"
By now her eyes were filling up with tears which she valiantly tried to swallow back. Lifting his hand that was still clasped in hers, she places a soft kiss on it and holds it to her cheek for a moment.
Unbearably moved, Krishna starts to say something but she places her fingers over his lips to stem the words. Unfolding herself from the sofa, she stands and pulls him up "Lets go to bed" she whispers softly... 😉 ☺️ ☺️ 😳
Fast forward ' it's the 3rd day' SS & Amma have been tightening the screws on Krishna; Pratigya has been trying to counter but has not been very successful. The crap has hit the fan at the havan and SS has decreed that Pratigya has to leave. Amma is feeling like its Christmas in July but is still has her mask on for Krishna's sake.
Cloaking her self respect around her, Pratigya turns away to leave the haveli, when
Krishna growls ...
"Stop Pratigya" She stops but doesn't turn around. Krishna walks up to her "Did I not tell you once never to think of crossing the threshold of this house?
Grabbing her hand, he takes her back to their room with SS calling out abuses at him.
In the room, Krishna goes to the closet and angrily pulls out a suitcase and starts to dump Pratigya's clothes in it.
Pratigya is shocked 😲 😭 and is trying to make him calm down and listen but he brushes her off. Krishna then goes to her bedside drawer to empty it out when he suddenly stops.
Sitting in front of him is the little Lord Krishna idol and everything in him goes still. Seeing the idol reminds him of the conversation they had a few nights ago and he suddenly realizes that its been exactly 3 days since then.
He slowly straightens up, turns around and looks at Pratigya who is standing helplessly looking at the suitcase full of her clothes.
Going back to the closet, he pulls out a duffle bag and slowly begins filling it with his clothes'. But she does not notice'.too shattered to bother seeing how else he might break her heart.
Amma who had been pretending to reason with SS & calm him down arrives at KP room seething secretly that her plans have once again failed but lo & behold, when she gets there she sees Krishna with the bag over his shoulder, the suitcase in one hand and in the process of pulling Pratigya out of the room.
Her inner devil dancing with glee, Amma makes a great production of trying to stop Krishna but he coldly tells her "I brought her into this house'.only I can take her out of it!"
When they reach center state, SS stops his tirade and is shocked to see Krishna with luggage dragging Pratigya along ' Amma tries to implore SS to stop Krishna from sending her DIL away, but SS retorts that his son has finally come to his senses and they can finally have peace in the house.
SS orders that a driver be made available to take Pratigya back to her father's house but Krishna declines' tells him that he will handle it.
Once they get in the car, Krishna drives like a man possessed but this time, Pratigya is not paying attention to where they are going and does not give any reaction. Its as if she had shut down emotionally and retreated to a place where she can feel no pain.
Suddenly the jeep stops and Pratigya jerks back to life. Looks out expecting to see her parents house, but instead, she beholds a grand building that could only be a hotel. [**this is for you Saima 😛😉 **]
Pratigya turns to Krishna who hadn't made any move to get out of the car "Where are we? Why have you brought me here?"
'I asked you a question Pratigya. What gave you the feeling that we would come to this point?"
"I was warned" she replied quietly.
"Warned? By who?" .. on getting no reply he poses the question again. "Who warned you? Bauji?
Impatiently, Pratigya retorts "What does it matter who said it? You are the only one that counts and you are more than willing to let me go"
"Who says I'm letting you go? Krishna asks softly?
"But'. You packed up my clothes, and are taking me back to MMGJ"
"Yes, I did pack your clothes" '.. Pratigya swallows a sob "But I packed some of mine too"
Confused, she looked askance at him'.
I'm not taking you back to MMGJ. I'm not letting you out of my life. But the events of today have made it clear that our marriage is not on a solid footing as we thought. So I have brought us to this hotel where you will stay until we figure out what is going on back at the haveli.
Krishna booked a suite of rooms for them, but he did not spend the night there with her, instead opted to return home.
When he walked into the house, Amma hurried over wanting to know what the Prof had said when they showed up, but Krishna coldly says that he doesn't want to talk about anything tonight and headed to his room. Amma follows him with her saccharine routine but he shuts the door on her face.
First thing the next morning, Amma calls up Komal to get the much anticipated reaction of the Saxes and also gloat on her success but gets the shock of her life when Komal has no idea what she is talking about.
Komal tells her that Krishna did not come to MMGJ the previous night and that Pratigya is certainly not there either.
Amma 😲 😲 😡 😡 😲 🤢 😡
🤣 🤣 🤣
The END
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