Ajabdeh's Story

“Take me home where we met so many years before.” - The Very First Night.

Ajabdeh had rehearsed the scene in her head a thousand times over. She wouldn’t flinch, she wouldn’t even give a smile. A smile would mean she was happy to see him, right? For an overthinker like herself who tends to see more into things than she should, it was tough to conclude. How does one behave toward someone they haven't seen in a long time? How do you behave so that it is evident that she doesn’t care about a mistake of the past but cares enough to be a friend? Was it a bad idea to bring Jalal along for her cousin’s wedding? Or perhaps it would be a pleasant surprise for Pratap to see his childhood friend dating the girl who is crazy for him? Her jaws tightened as she remembered the taunt in their voices, the amusement in his. Who would believe her now if she told them that he was the same person who pushed her up against the staircase wall and kissed her like he wanted to savour her? That it wasn’t a mistake she could ignore? Did he exploit her feelings for his benefit? Was she an emotional fool? Was she his rebound? 

Ajabdeh inhaled at the memory as her throat went dry. She poured water into the glass on the table and gulped it down in one go to calm herself down. It meant nothing. She didn’t know whether he even remembered or cared. She didn’t know if he was bringing someone as his plus one; perhaps he was. `How does it matter to you, Ajab?

The last time she had seen Pratap was when he left for London. As her sister and his brother hugged him goodbye, she stood beside his mother, expressionless. She could feel his gaze on her, perhaps anticipating a reaction from her, but she was not going to give him the pleasure of playing with her emotions anymore. She wished that if he did return, years later, she would already be his boss in the company. Shakti was partially right. She needed to move on. But usually, it was difficult to move on until it was on to something. Like an epiphany, Ajabdeh remembered Rukaiya telling her that Jalal liked her. She knew he cared. He was a good friend. It was a more practical decision she made to be with him, and she was clear about it with him. Perhaps it was her little way to clear her conscience of using him to forget his best friend. Situationships were not something she believed in, until now.

She wanted to bring him to her cousin’s wedding to establish to her family that she was serious about the relationship that they didn’t quite approve of, as Shakti put forward the idea that somewhere her subconscious mind wanted to see just one person’s reaction. She was well aware that she needed to continue the facade of a serious potential relationship till she officially joined as the CEO of the “Punwar Sisodiya Group '' and her parents wouldn’t talk about finding a groom for her till then. Both sets of parents knew that they were taking it slow. Way too slow. Jalal parroted what she had repeated to him a million times to everyone around them, friends and family. She didn’t bring up Pratap in front of him anymore, but was eager to know if Pratap was aware of them. She was not hard to miss, especially with her frequent appearances in the news, for charity polo matches, donations to various causes, events for some royalty, and occasional appearances at celebrity parties or weddings. After all, soon, she was going to be the face of the company. Ajabdeh shook her head at her chain of thoughts. She dreaded what she had heard that evening. Their fathers discussed how it was important for the children to understand the business at the root level before they assumed their positions, Ajabdeh as the CEO and Pratap as the MD. Their prospect was to send them to Sarangpura in Sanganer, where their great-grandfathers had started small in their native homes. Once, they used to be Thakurs in the region, but with time, they had risen to a position as self-made men of business to be invited to sit at par with kings, something that people of their native place put great value on. Sarangpura, where it all started a decade ago. Normally, Ajabdeh would be excited about going to the summer home, full of memories of a lost childhood and grandparents she missed. But going there alone with Pratap was a horrible idea. Was there any way he would perhaps refuse before she could find an excuse?