Lies & Deception

“Cause for every lie I tell them, they tell me three” - I did something bad.

Jalal checked the light in one of the arches as he asked Heer to stand there. 

“You can actually do this professionally.” He said as the camera snapped, and Heer smiled. The screen set up under the gazebo immediately lit up with the picture, and Pratap nodded, impressed.

“You mean modelling?” Heer asked, surprised. “Spare me, Bhaijaan.”

“Why?” Jalal shrugged. “You look very comfortable in front of the camera. Now go walk in the lawn and look back when I tell you to. I need some videos.”

Pratap eyed Shakti, setting his hair with narrowed brows and reminded him, “You know the whole point was to look natural?”

“You mean to say I’m not naturally handsome?” Shakti asked as Pratap shook his head, amused. “Just go get it done. Where’s Ajabdeh?” Shakti shrugged. Pratap was about to get up and go look for her when Ajabdeh arrived, wearing loungewear from their label. 

“It’s hot out here…” She said as she fanned herself. “And Sweaty.” Jalal had just finished taking Heer’s snap and turned to Shakti. “Your turn.” He stopped as Ajabdeh arrived and said, “Why don’t you two do an indoor shoot first?” Shakti nodded as Ajabdeh asked where. Next thing they knew, the monitor and camera, lights and umbrellas were being set up by the man accompanying Jalal in the library. Ajabdeh looked nervous and conscious when Jalal said, “Forget there’s a camera, Punwar. Look at Shakti and have a conversation.” That made Ajabdeh even more conscious as Pratap and Jalal shared amused glances.

“Well…” Jalal shrugged. “Let’s try something else.” He wondered. Nothing seemed to be working well with Ajabdeh as Shakti finished his shoot, and Jalal had an idea. 

“Pratap. Take her to the garden canopy, and have a serious conversation.”

“Me?” He asked reluctantly. “But I am not dressed for pictures.”

“You don’t need to be. We need to take a few candid photos of her without letting her know.” Pratap nodded at his idea. “Got it.”

By the end of the day, Jalal was using the computer in the library to select the pictures he could mail to the social media manager. It was then that Ajabdeh peeped in, hoping to find him alone and walked in with a smile.

“It’s going well.” She eyed the pictures he was editing as he nodded, his eyes not leaving the screen. Ajabdeh watched him, engrossed in his work, happy that he had found his passion and bit her lip unsurely before turning to walk away.

“What did you come to say?” He asked, without looking up at her again. Ajabdeh stopped on her track and glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Umm… you… work. I will talk later.” She stammered.

“Punwar.” Jalal stopped clicking away at the mouse as he looked up at her and shrugged. “We both know the sooner you say it, the better I will focus back on work. So might as well…”

“Did you ask Pratap where he was going?” Jalal exhaled at her curious glance. “I did,” He nodded. “But he was vague. Said it was some school friend who wanted to be discreet and needed his help.”

“He did not even tell you?” Ajabdeh’s brows shot up. “I am sure something is terribly wrong.” Her words made Jalal frown. 

“As in?” He asked, “You think he is giving away money to someone using him?”

Ajabdeh shook her head. “I think he is having an affair.” Jalal laughed. He could not help it.

“You think he is cheating on you?” He shook his head. “In the first year of marriage?”

“There is nothing to laugh about.” Ajabdeh snapped. Jalal stopped, pressing his lips together.

“We both know that is not true. Pratap would never.” He was firm. “It must be something else, and you should stay out of it if he doesn’t want to involve you.” He shrugged. “Give him space, have your own.” Jalal knew his advice would fall on deaf ears as she walked away.

Pratap stopped in his tracks, keeping his phone away as he noticed Ajabdeh sneak out of the library and walk back hurriedly towards the living room. Pratap frowned a little as he walked back to the library, opened the door, and Jalal looked up at him with questioning eyes.

“Hi?” Jalal watched him look a little taken aback as he cleared his throat and walked in. 

“I forgot you were still there.” Pratap forced a smile as Jalal nodded. “Almost done.” He looked around and tapped his feet on the marble as he asked, “Was… umm… Ajab here?” He looked uncomfortable asking the question as Jalal looked up at him.

“No, why?” Jalal’s answer was short, and his face was devoid of any emotion as Pratap nodded, but his throat went dry. Why was he lying?

Pratap walked back towards his room, holding his laptop close to himself as he remembered how much Ajabdeh gushed about Jalal’s brilliant ideas the day she went to see him for coffee. He tried to unsee how she looked forward to making more plans with him and failed miserably. He narrowed his brows and looked up at the large portrait of Ajabdeh from the engagement that he had installed over his bedroom wall. He shook his head. Rukaiya had talked to him about this. He needed to trust his wife more. He needed to accept the fact that he could not undo the past. He had behaved in a way that caused Jalal and Ajabdeh to befriend each other. He stopped by the window, watching as Jalal was leaving, and Shakti and Ajabdeh stopped him by the poolside. They perhaps invited him for a drink, and he refused, and they thanked him and hugged him goodbye. He pressed his lips, watching Ajabdeh hug Jalal so comfortably. He had been feeling guilty about not telling her about Samaira’s problems. He had helped Samaira hire a lawyer, met her daughter, who was sweet and had been a good friend who kept his promise at discretion. But seeing Ajabdeh sneak around made him feel she, too, had secrets she did not share with him.

Udai Singh walked into Pratap’s room with a knock as he turned from the window.

“Dad?” He cleared his throat. Udai could see that he was disturbed.

“How did the shoot go?” He enquired as he walked up to the window where Pratap stood and discreetly watched Shakti and Ajabdeh wave Jalal goodbye. Pratap inhaled. “It was good. Shakti and Ajab seem happy with it.”

“Were you not a participant?” Udai asked, “I thought you would want to run the clothing label?” Pratap shook his head.

“Ajabdeh feels Shakti should do it.”

“Shakti?” Udai’s brows shot up. “Lead a new expansion?” He looked in disbelief as Pratap nodded. “Ajab feels he is ready for it and his vision for the label…”

“Pratap.” Udai shook his head. “I don’t think the board and investors would like it. They wanted you.” Udai emphasised as he eyed the poolside and then his son. “There are some decisions where you should put your foot down. Assert your rights. You are the eldest. You are the MD.” He lowered his voice slightly as he held his firstborn’s shoulder. “You are the husband.” Pratap looked up at him with furrowed brows.

“If Shakti has the vision…”

“ Nobody is telling him not to work for the label.” Udai snapped. “But leading a project from its birth requires a certain level of commitment.”

“I understand.” Pratap sighed. “I am sure he can do it.” He was suddenly firm in his father’s resistance. “Ajabdeh will bring that up at the board meeting, and I hope you consider him without any bias towards her.”

“You may think I have some personal agenda against your wife.” Udai said in a gruff voice, “But I have twenty years of experience at my job and thirty years of being a husband, so when I say you should pull your rank, I am saying it from experience.” He said in a gruff voice before he walked away, and Pratap shook his head and sighed.

Ajabdeh parked her car a few metres from Pratap’s. It had been two weeks since her talk with Jalal, and as much as she tried, she could not leave it alone. Every week during office hours on a particular day, Pratap disappeared. She needed answers. Even if it meant following him like a spy. She watched Pratap park his car and walk into a coffee shop, unaware of being followed. She had taken her secretary’s car so that he could not spot it easily. She decided to walk into the clothing store on the opposite side of the road and keep watch. As she browsed through some clothes she would otherwise never wear, a cab stopped in front of the coffee shop, and she could see Pratap get up from his seat and smile as a woman entered the coffee shop and greeted him with a hug. She was wearing a polo-neck bodycon dress and sunglasses. When she removed the sunglasses, Ajabdeh’s heart dropped to her stomach. She immediately walked out of the shop and went to the car. She felt like she could not breathe as she watched them talk and smile at each other. Once inside the car, she googled Samaira with trembling hands. She had a wellness centre, she used to live abroad, she had pictures of travelling, and her hand stopped at a post with her husband. They had a daughter. Ajabdeh felt like she could not breathe. The car was suffocating her. She dialled Rukaiya immediately.

“Hello, Ruqs?” The urgency in her voice made Rukaiya frown. 

“What’s wrong, Ajab?” She enquired. 

“Can we meet and talk?” Ajabdeh asked. Rukaiya nodded. “Actually, I was meeting Mrs Mishra. She came to her parents' place here, and she was hoping to invite us to a baby shower. A real one this time.” Rukaiya smiled.

“No.” Ajabdeh shook her head. “I want to see you alone. Right now.” Rukaiya’s smile faded. “You are scaring me.”

Rukaiya sat in a pensive mood as she watched Ajabdeh shudder. Her face looked pale. “Are you sure it's an affair, and they were not… umm… catching up?” Rukaiya found her voice of reason. “I don’t know. She has a husband and a daughter. She recently shifted back here. And… who catches up every week?” Ajabdeh was confused. Rukaiya held her cold hands. 

“Sometimes things are not as they seem.” She emphasised. “Why don’t you ask him?”

“I did, and he said he was helping a friend and I should stay out of it. It was not my business.” Ajabdeh shrugged as Rukaiya frowned some more.

“Tell him you are the wife, and that is your business.” Ajabdeh eyed Rukaiya sharply. “What kind of behaviour is this?”

“Did Jalal tell you that I told him?” Ajabdeh enquired. Rukaiya nodded. “Only that you were worried he was keeping secrets. He seemed very calm about it, so I did not realise this was serious.”

“She has a daughter,” Ajabdeh spoke again as she shook her head. “What if he had met her, too?”

“Ajab, stop overthinking. Why don’t you ask him?” Rukaiya spoke, “Ask him as if you or someone saw them and what’s up. Tell him I saw them, okay?” Ajabdeh nodded. 

“I have an important board meeting tomorrow. After that, I will confront him.” She looked determined.

Ajabdeh eyed the board members, looking unsure as she proposed that Shakti head the clothing label. Udai and Ram looked sceptical and did not favour the idea, and Pratap was oddly quiet.

“Some of the board members think he should be in a creative position, and the other technical aspects should be handled by someone else.” Pratap’s words miffed her. He did not tell her this when they talked about it. Shakti looked at his brother with a hint of disappointment.

“The brand USP and marketing were all his idea,” Ajabdeh emphasised. Pratap lowered his gaze from her and eyed Ram Rakh, hoping he would speak.

“Nobody is denying that.” Udai cleared his throat. “Hence, he should be part of the team. An important part.”

“I can assure you I am ready for any position I am offered.” Shakti spoke, “I am very much willing to lead this label with a target…”

“That is fine.” Ram Rakh nodded. “But building a brand needs more than that.” There was an awkward silence as one of the investors asked Ajabdeh if her entire business model was built on the idea that Shakti would be its face. She felt humiliated by her own people as she answered the questions to the best of her abilities, and wanted the meeting to end soon. There was a sudden sense of betrayal she felt from Pratap as Udai said he should lead it, and not even once did he suggest Shakti had worked hard for it and should lead the project. Miffed and frustrated, she walked back to her office and wanted to call it a day early.

Pratap wanted to talk to Ajabdeh and let her know he had no personal vendetta against her. He was sceptical of her decision and wanted to give Udai’s idea a thought. He knew she would barely believe him if he said it had nothing to do with him leading the project expansion. He needed to apologise to Shakti as well. He could not find either of them anywhere and decided it was best to go home and have a conversation.

“I don’t understand. He wants the job, or he doesn’t trust me with it.” Heer looked up at Shakti, who paced the terrace, worried. Heer inhaled. “Perhaps a bit of both?”

“Well, he should have raised his doubts when Ajab told him and let her know what Dad feels, rather than humiliate us like that.” Shakti snapped.

“I’m sure he had no will to humiliate you.” Heer tried to sound practical. “You are angry.”

“The hell I am, Heer. You were not there. You did not see how my father and my brother talked me down while Ajab kept on supporting me. What image do I have left to gain a vote of confidence from the board when my own family doesn’t want to trust me?” He stopped because Pratap was standing at the threshold of the terrace, and Heer excused herself with a polite nod to Pratap, reminding Shakti gently to be calm. Pratap inhaled as Shakti looked away from him.

“Look, I know you are angry. But…”

“I don’t want to talk to you about it.” Shakti shook his head.

“Bhai, we have never seen Dad and Chote Papa bring anything from work back home. I am sure they have had their disagreements…” Pratap made him smile.

“I don’t think they stabbed anyone in the back and humiliated them.”

“Excuse me?” Pratap narrowed his brows.

“You could have told Ajab you felt I was not ready, rather than say that in front of a board I was trying to impress. She told you beforehand.” Shakti’s accusatory tone made Pratap frown.

“Yes, she did, but she did not ask me what I think.” Pratap shook his head. “You know how she is. When she decides something, nobody can convince her otherwise, and I thought it was not my position to question…”

“Not your position to question her?” Shakti chuckled. “Oh, please, spare me your humility. All you did your entire life was to question her every move.”

“Shakti.” Pratap’s voice was firm. “If I owe anyone an apology, it's her, not you. You should learn to take criticism and work on it rather than sulk like a teen.” Shakti walked away as Pratap shook his head. He dialled Ajabdeh, and his phone went to voicemail. Her phone was switched off. 

Pratap walked into the Punwar House a little reluctantly as Hansa spotted him and welcomed him.

“Chote Papa is not home yet from the club. Ajab is upstairs.” Hansa smiled as he nodded reluctantly. “Go on, I will send snacks.” Pratap nodded as he walked up the stairs and knocked on her door. The music playing inside was too loud for his knock to be heard. Maine Uske sheher ko chora uske gali mein dil ko toda fir bhi seene mein dhadakta hai yeh dil… so he turned the doorknob and peeped in. Ajabdeh was packing a suitcase. Pratap eyed the suitcase and had to raise his voice over the music to be heard.

“Where are you going?”

“None of your business,” Ajabdeh said bluntly. “I have my weekend off.”

“Ajab.” Pratap sat down on the edge of the bed as she acted like he was invisible. “I know you are angry.”

“You know nothing.” He held her hand, making her stop.

“Will you at least tell me where you are off to?” He got up to face her as she freed her wrist from his grip.

“Why? Do you tell me everything?” Ajabdeh looked up at him as her eyes looked hurt, and Pratap’s heart skipped a beat.

“What do you mean?” He asked as his throat went dry. 

“What do I mean?” Ajabdeh shrugged. “I don’t know. Should I trust someone who lies? Should I trust someone who humiliates me?”

“Stop.” Pratap shook his head. “I did neither, and you and Shakti should stop…”

“There is nobody else in between our issues, Pratap.” Ajabdeh shook her head. “Or is there?”

“Don’t talk in riddles, Ajabdeh,” Pratap warned her. “I’m simply not in the mood.”

“Neither am I, to tell you where I go and what I do.” Ajabdeh shrugged. “End of discussion? Now leave.”

“Stop it.” Pratap looked angry. “I just asked a simple question.”

“I also ask you simple questions, Pratap. I share my ideas, and you think something and say something else. That is not how a relationship works.” Ajabdeh shook her head. Pratap eyed her. “What? I thought we were talking about work. Where did the relationship come from?”

“It's always there, right between us when we work and when we disagree. Maybe Bade Papa was right and…” Pratap stopped Ajabdeh by holding both her shoulders as she looked hurt at him. “Don’t go there.” He made her sigh.

“If you want to calm down before speaking to me, I understand,” he said, eyeing her suitcase. “If you want space, take it.”

“You don’t understand.” She shook her head. “I don’t need space. I need honesty.”

“I have always been honest with you.” Pratap asserted. Ajabdeh shook her head, amused. “Have you?” Pratap frowned.

“Rukaiya saw you in a coffee shop with Samaira.” Ajabdeh thought he would react, but he did not. “So?” He shrugged.

“So, you did not find it important to tell me that the friend you are helping is your ex?” She asked, shaking her head. “I’m your wife.”

“Yes, and she wanted a friend who could be discreet. I don’t think you need to know any of it.” Ajabdeh was taken aback by his reaction.

“So not only do you hide from me, but you also try justifying it? Wonderful.” She shook her head.

“Really? Don’t play this game, Punwar.” Pratap shook his head. “As if you tell me everything.”

“I do.” Ajabdeh made him smile faintly. “You were sneaking into the library to talk to Jalal, and he lied about it.” Ajabdeh gasped at his words. Pratap knew he had made a mistake by saying that. She turned her back to him. “Get out. Just leave.”

“Look, Samaira is going through a divorce and…” Pratap did not leave. Ajabdeh shook her head. “And you decided to take advantage of it?” Pratap looked miffed at her words.

“What?” He was taken aback. “How dare you speak like that? I was helping a friend.”

“And I was not sneaking around. I was asking your best friend what you are hiding from me because I was concerned.” Ajabdeh sobbed as Pratap looked alarmed.

“Hey… look… we should calm down and talk.” He asserted. “I don’t want us to have misunderstandings.”

“Just go. I need my space.” Ajabdeh shoved him away as he tried to get close. “We will talk when I get back.” Pratap sighed. “Fine, at least tell me where you are going?”

“Rukaiya and I are going to Sarangpura. We need some time to ourselves and will attend Saubhagyawati’s baby shower.” Ajabdeh made him nod as he walked away, and Ajabdeh wiped her tears, cursing herself for crying. Samaira was going through a divorce, and Pratap was helping her. If there was nothing more to it, why would he hide it from Ajabdeh? Why would he not trust her to be discreet? Ajabdeh shook her head. She was going to think about all that after her weekend off. She needed it. She also needed to talk to Shakti and come up with a better strategy to convince the board. There was a lot to do. Rukaiya wanted to talk about wedding arrangements with her, and she needed to know where Rukaiya stood emotionally as far as her nuptials were concerned. There was a lot on her plate. She wondered if she should tell either Rukaiya or Jalal about Pratap’s allegation, but decided against it. She knew Pratap. He said the exact thing that would piss her off and did not mean it. It was an attempt to divert the argument from his lie. Something Ajabdeh was not letting go of anytime soon.