Scars ~ Part 36

“Please explain to me what was the point of all that? What did you get out of it all. Khushi didn’t come with you and you looked like a fool.”

“What would you know? Yes there was no need to go in like that, but I now have Khushi’s trust back and she knows that I am here for her.”

“You need to stop being so caught up about her.”

“And you need to let go of this stupid prejudice! How much more are you going to make that child suffer?”

 

Garima looked down.

 

“No look at me and tell me. When are you going to get over yourself and give Khushi the love she deserves. I don’t expect you to love her as your own the way I do, but I expect you to be her aunt.”

“I can’t…”

“Why are you going to punish her for the feud you held with your sister.”

“She looks exactly like my sister! She basically is my sister!”

“But she isn’t your sister! You need to accept that Garima, she isn’t your sister.”

“No she may not be. But she’s the child my sister had with the man I loved!”

 

Shashi took a step back and Garima looked away. He always knew the truth, right from the start but it hurt all over again to hear it again.

 

“You need to let go of the past.”

“Never.”

“30 years have passed.”

“And I still hate her as much as ever.”

“They’re both dead Garima, what is the use of hating them both now?”

“Not both, just her. I still love him.”

“You still love a man who never loved you.”

“That doesn’t make a difference.”

 

Shashi could feel himself starting to lose his temper.

 

“I’ve been by your side for 30 years and still…”

“Don’t make this about you.”

“No I could never do that, it’s always about you isn’t it Garima. You act like you’re the one that’s always suffered so much. No one else matters. Not poor Khushi who lost everything at a young age, not me who’s been stuck with a woman he loves but has never been loved in return. And then there’s Payal. She’s had to grow up seeing her mother completely infatuated with another man.”

“It’s not my fault jiji stole him from me…”

“She DIDN’T! He PICKED HER. You need to accept that.”

 

Garima looked away, not prepared to accept what Shashi was saying. She walked away and Shashi decided that there was no point carrying on. She was never going to accept the truth.

 

*****

 

“Are you sure you’re okay.”

“Of course I am Arnav. Not for a minute do I believe anything that they had to say in the newspaper. I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”

“You have that much faith in me?”

 

Khushi took Arnav’s hands into hers.

 

“I trust you more than I trust anyone else in this world.”

“I love you Khushi. I promise I’ll never let you down.”

“I know you won’t.”

 

Khushi let herself snuggle into Arnav’s and he cradled her close to himself.

 

*****

 

“Payal? What are you doing here at this time?”

“I need to talk to Amma.”

“I don’t think she’s in the mood to talk today.”

“I figured that much, but I still really need to talk to her.”

 

Shashi led Payal into the house and called for Garima.

 

“Arre, Payal?”

“I need to talk to you Amma.”

“What is it dear?”

“I need you to accept Khushi. She’s finally getting the happiness she deserves, she needs you to accept her.”

“Payal…”

“No Amma, you need to.”

“I can’t.”

“Amma…”

“For goodness sake Payal, I’m your mother and you cannot question my behaviour.”

“I have always respected your wishes Amma, I have never done anything against your wishes, but today… I will not. If you do not accept Khushi, I will walk out of this house and I will never come back. Today you decide, I can leave here, but you will know that you have two daughters, or I can leave and you will have no daughters. It’s your choice.”

 

Garima looked at her daughter, unable to take the audacity of what she was saying.

 

“How dare you! Who do you think you are?”

“I am your daughter. And I’m telling you, you accept Khushi or that’s it.”

“Fine. Get out. Leave. Don’t come back. I will never, EVER accept that girl.”

 

Payal staggered back, it felt like she had been shot. How could her mother speak to her like this. Tears prickled in Payal’s eyes, but she remained strong. Payal shook her head, feeling disgusted. How could her mother be like this? How could she carry on being so hard?

 

“Payal bitya…”

“Babuji, I will speak to you again soon…”

 

With that Payal left and Shashi shook his head. He was fuming. There was a limit to everything and Garima had crossed the line like nothing ever before.

 

“There is a limit to everything! How dare you speak to our daughter like that.”

“Did you not hear how she was speaking to me.”

“Yes, Payal was wrong, maybe she shouldn’t have said what she said, but you have to understand, all her life you have been nothing but hard and careless towards Khushi. She loves Khushi like her own sister, and to see her mother reacting like this, it was breaking her heart.”

“Everything comes down to Khushi. Every problem, every pain. Now she has taken my daughter away from me too.”

“No Garima, she hasn’t. You managed to lose your daughter on your own. And now, you’re going to lose your husband too.”

 

Garima’s head snapped to Shahi and she looked at him confused.

 

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this any more. All these years, I thought one day you would learn to forget the past and you’d learn to love me. But looking at your actions today, I don’t see that happening. Garima… We have spent all our lives together, but not as one as we should have done. We have been two individuals trying to make a doomed relationship work. I’ve had enough… I want a divorce.”