Page 57

Story: Substitute Bride

"Okay, you try and see, because I too did not hear anything you said; I am going inside."

When Jhankar sees Vikrant leaving, she immediately begins to head towards the mansion's gate, but the guards have locked it, making it impossible to open under any circumstances. Jhankar starts looking at all of them angrily, but her looks are not relevant to anyone because Vikrant has ordered them not to let her go out; otherwise, she would not know. Jhankar turns back and looks angrily towards her room, where she clearly sees Vikrant standing at the window, smoking a cigarette. The smile on his face exacerbates Jhankar's frustration, and she retreats inside, stamping her feet.

As soon as Jhankar enters the room, she notices Ravindra sitting there, reading the newspaper. Upon seeing Jhankar return, Ravindra begins to stare at her. Then Sharda also comes out of her room to go to the garden; both of them look at her angrily and ask her together.

“What happened? You did not go to the office today."

“Your son is not letting me go; he is saying that he will drop me himself.”

Jhankar angrily climbs the stairs and starts going to her room, while Ravindra keeps watching her go from there. Ravindra's gaze shifts to Sharda, who is smiling and observing Jhankar's departure, before he speaks to her.

“What is all this happening here”…

“Nothing, husband and wife cute banters…”

Ravindra's gaze stops at Sharda's smile, which in itself expresses her happiness. He turns his gaze towards the chime that has already entered the room, takes a deep breath, and starts drinking his tea quietly.

~~~~

Jhankar is properly organizing her file and glances at the time on her wristwatch; it's almost 8:00 pm. With a strange smile, she starts collecting all her notes. After gathering her belongings, she steps outside and walks toward a lane that is very isolated. She looks ahead—just like every day, Vikrant is already present in the car. On seeing him, a slight smile appears on her face, but she mumbles,

“Once he makes a commitment, he won't listen to anyone.”

He is checking something on his mobile, but suddenly he looks at her. She immediately wipes away her smile and, very comfortably, walks over and sits in the car. As soon as she sits down, the driver starts the engine. Vikrant looks at her and says,

“Because of you, Sharda Maa scolds me, saying that you are not able to eat anything in the afternoon. Can’t you make a system that allows you to eat well during the day too?”

"I eat much more at breakfast than you, and at dinner, I eat both lunch and dinner together. You must have noticed that in all these days. Now, I cannot waste half an hour just for lunch…I try to do whatever I can online during that time, because even at night I am unable to complete many things online, so I have to manage everything efficiently."

“As far as I know, you must be earning quite well from this job.”

“That’s what you think, not me. I have to earn a lot of money, which you won't understand.”

Vikrant begins observing her cautiously, because as far as he knows, she is not a gold digger at all. But the way she is talking now doesn’t match with what she shows in front of him every day. Either what she does daily is a pretended good-girl act, or what he is seeing right now is the truth. He says,

“You are a little weird…”

“Don’t think about me as a little weird; you are completely weird, but I never complained.”

“Thank you…”

“Mention not…”

Jhankar immediately replies, looks outside, suppresses her laughter, and quietly enjoys the lights outside, which twinkle more beautifully in the fast-moving car. Vikrant, engrossed in his work on his MacBook, often catches glimpses of her. But every time, she is looking out the window. He clears his throat loudly to get her attention back.

“Your father called…”

After hearing this, Jhankar immediately starts checking her phone, then closes her eyes and mumbles while fiddling with the device.

“Today again it’s dead… Its battery isn't working properly. It switched off again. This is a daily problem with it.”

Vikrant begins to carefully examine her phone, which is in very poor condition, and says,

“Your father was saying it has been 15 days since he met you, and he hasn’t had any time due to office work. So, he thought he could come to the mansion to see you. He wants to meet you.”

While trying to restart her phone, Jhankar replies,

“Yes, I know. But what can I do? I don’t have time these days.”