The Plan

Jaivanta sat in her master bedroom, wiping her moist eyes. On the side table beside her was a wedding album. Her son's. She sniffed. Udai paced the room noiselessly, with a grim frown upon his face and sighed once in a while.

"He agreed?" Udai asked at last. His voice spoke of disbelief. Jaivanta nodded. "It seemed so. He didn't say no."
"This is all your fault, Jaivanta." Her husband's tone of rebuke was the first time she had heard in her entire married life. She looked up, a little taken aback.
"Udai?"
"You heard me. It's all your fault. You wanted their marriage to be like every other. I warned you to leave them alone. You never understood that they are different. And it's okay."

"It's all my fault, is it?" Jaivanta defended, "It's not my fault that I grew up with certain orthodox ideas that proved quite alright to me. I never…"
"Did Ajabdeh even want a family?" Udai interrupted. "You put this idea in her head in the first place."
"But she could deny it."
"C'mon. She was trying to please you by being the kind of daughter-in-law you wanted. You made her feel that her entire existence in this family depended on an heir."

"That's what my mother-in-law taught me." Jaivanta retorted. "I didn't force her. I suggested."
"Then both you and my mother are extremely wrong." Udai shook his head.
"What do I do?" Jaivanta looked perplexed.
"First, tell Pratap the truth." Udai sat down across from his wife. "The entire truth."
"The truth about what?" Jaivanta's brows shot up.
"Everything. From you sending Ajabdeh for those tests. He needs to know why she feels the way she feels to heal her." Jaivanta looked up at his words.

Pratap stared at his mother in disgust. A sense of guilt hit him. The guilt of being in the middle of all that was happening and being clueless about it all. Had he been more vigilant, neither Ajabdeh nor his mother could have lied to him the way they did. He needed to set things right. He needed to make Ajabdeh see the fact that their relationship was not based on the facts she thought were most important. But how?
"Leave me alone." He tried to check his voice in vain. Jaivanta looked up.
"I am sorry, son."
"I said, leave me alone. Let me handle it now. And please stop interfering anymore." Jaivanta left the room silently. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his hands on his head. A few rooms away, Heer was trying to study Ajabdeh. She was packing the rest of her things.

"Jija?" She spoke at last. "What have you decided?"
"I will shift to the apartment." She said.
"Oh, but you can't." Heer reminded her, "The apartment is under renovation. It will take at least a month."
"I am going to Bijoliya for a few days then." Heer looked up at her words with hope as she added, "alone." Heer face turned pale. "I will work remotely. Then, when I feel better and the house is ready, I will go back to our apartment. Talk to my attorney. And send him the separation papers."
"Jija?" Heer stopped her by putting her hands on Ajabdeh's cold ones. "Are you sure?'
"I am Heer. I have to do this."
"Why?" Heer almost choked.
"Because I can't deprive someone of happiness just because I am incapable of providing it." She said nonchalantly. "He deserves to be happy."
"He wants to be happy with you." Heer reasoned.
Ajabdeh shook her head. "He pities my condition. He always pitied me. Now that pity is suffocating me. I can't breathe here. I need to be free."
"You cannot stay alone there." Heer sounded alarmed. "You are unwell."
"I am fine. I have always taken care of myself. I will now." Ajabdeh forced a smile. "I will drop you at the airport on the way. Pack your bags."

Shakti's knock on the door made the sisters look up as he entered the room with a grim face.
"You are leaving?" He asked. His voice trembled a little.
"First thing tomorrow morning." Ajabdeh sounded normal. He sat down by her on the floor and looked teary-eyed.
"Ajabdeh." He said, almost sounding helpless. "Don't leave." His words made Heer teary as she looked away. Ajabdeh smiled a little at him. "I know perhaps we were not the type of people you wanted as a family, and we failed to make you happy."
"No. No. No Shakti." Ajabdeh ruffled his hair. "It's nothing like that."
"Then why are you leaving?" He asked.
"Because relationships are about to give and take, Shakti. And I have nothing else to offer. I feel tired. Suffocated. And I can make nobody happy if I am not happy."
"Then take a break. Take a vacation." Shakti reasoned. Ajabdeh shook her head.
"A vacation won't undo certain things, Shakti. Don't blame anyone. It's me. It is all about me. I may sound selfish here, but I am doing this for myself. Please forgive me." Shakti hugged her tightly. Ajabdeh needed that hug. She knew she did. But she just expected it from different people. Expectations were, as she gathered, the root cause of pain.

Early at dawn, a car pulled into the porch of the mansion and the servants got busy loading the suitcases in. Sajja wiped her tears as Ajabdeh hugged her. "You are sure?" She asked, "You don't want to meet any of them?"
"I can't go if Dad tells me not to, I know he is upset with me. He will understand eventually. I know he will. I have already let Ranima know my decision, well, not directly, but she is aware of it. And said goodbye to Shakti." She sighed. "And tell Pratap…"
"Tell me what?"

Heer turned from the door of the car at his words and smiled hopefully. The first thing Ajabdeh noticed when she looked at him was that he was extremely well dressed for five in the morning, and he clearly hadn't slept the night before.
"I will send you the papers … when they are ready." She looked away. "Sign them."
"Oh, you don't need to do that." He put on his sunglasses as one of the servants brought his suitcases down to the car.
"I am coming to Bijoliya." He said rather monotonously. "Your leaving is, of course, your choice. My following you is mine."
"But…"
"Of course, you can't stop me. We are still legally married." He sounded casual as Ajabdeh's jaws tightened. "If you want, treat this as a business trip. But whatever it is, I do have some work in Bijoliya, and you are stuck with me."
"What is this work, may I ask?" She looked miffed.
"Of course. You can always ask. A man is always answerable to his wife." He made Sajja and Heer stare at each other and smile.
"I need to get my partner back. And I won't let her go unless she gives me a good enough reason for it." He smiled. "If there is anything she taught me, it is not to run away from promises. And I have made my vows to her."
Ajabdeh inhaled. "You can play your little game. It's a matter of a month. Once I go home, you can't follow me around." She snapped, "I will definitely send you the papers then." He removed his glasses, amused.
"Oh, I won't need to follow you around. Because I promise you this, Mrs Ajabdeh Punwar, that once this month is over, you will come back home, here, with me." He looked at her intensely, making her look away.
"Come on, Heer, let's drop you at the airport on the way. Shall we?" Heer nodded.
"Stay away from me," Ajabdeh said almost in a murmur.
"Oh, I will." He turned, amused as she got into the car.

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