CHAPTER 45
Prakram has taken Aashi in his arms and is holding Avishka's hand tightly, which is why both of them are walking in step. Avishka looks at her hand in Prakram's hold and feels happy, but in the second, she starts to stop herself from being happy. Aashi is very happy to see the twinkling lights all around, as they are in a very popular mall here. Prakram has brought both of them for shopping today because he has planned something very good for the next two days, so he wants to do some good shopping here.
“You have given Armaan a grocery list of whatever you need."
“Yes…”
Avishka consistently responds succinctly to his questions, a habit that has now begun to bother him. She always responds to his questions, but aside from that, she rarely engages in meaningful conversation. Gradually, everything about him has started making her realize that she is leaning too much towards him, but despite that, she is controlling herself and staying within a limit. This issue has become a significant source of concern for her. They are here for a few more days. After coming here, Prakram has made an effort to give his marriage a chance by following his father's advice. He feels that he cannot spend his entire life as a stranger, which is why he wants to talk to her. He tries his best to learn about her, but Avishka wrapped herself in a shell, which is now bothering him.
Within 15 days, his work will conclude here, and they will return to India. All he knows is that since arriving in Australia, he has felt a deep connection with Avishka, and he is thoroughly enjoying this closeness. But somewhere, there is still a lot of hesitation in Avishka, due to which she is not able to take her steps towards him, which has started troubling him in a very frustrated way. Because of this, he feels a strong urge to express his anger, but he also wants to contain it, knowing that it will only hurt the person in front of him, whom he does not wish to harm. He becomes completely engrossed in his thoughts upon hearing Aashi's voice.
"Papa, wait…”
Aashi immediately looks towards a shop and starts asking her father to stop. Prakram and Avishka avert their gaze from Aashi, directing their attention towards the shop. Prakram starts smiling after looking in front, because he has immediately understood all the intentions of Aashi and quickly responded.
"Good one…”
After hearing her father's words, Aashi smiles. Avishka is looking ahead; she immediately feels Prakram's grip on her hand again, but she grabs his hand to stop him and tells.
"There is no need for all these things, Aashi. Let's go; we have to buy some excellent gifts for your grandparents."
"But this is what Aashi wants; from now on, Aashi and Mumma will wear exactly the same clothes."
Prakram starts smiling at his daughter's insistence, due to which Avishka starts looking at him. Prakram looks at her and tells her.
"There is no problem in this; if Aashi wants both mother and daughter to wear similar clothes and look alike, then what is the problem with that? Do you have any problems with this?"
"I like to wear my simple suits, so I don't want to buy any clothes. It is just a waste.”
Prakram has never stopped her from doing any kind of shopping, but she never does any shopping; even the loose suits with full sleeves that she has, she likes to wear them only, whereas after coming here earlier, Sandhya had bought her many nice suits and different dresses, but he had never seen her wear any of them, on Aashi's insisting she wear a saree but on next again with her loose suit. The last time he had seen her wearing anything trendy and nice was at his last reception. Prakram signals Armaan to take Aashi to the shop, places his hand on Avishkaar's waist, and draws her closer to him. As a result, she looks into his eyes and begins to gaze at him with her hand on his chest.
"You want to hide yourself. From whom do you want to hide yourself? There is nothing wrong with wearing nice clothes, looking beautiful, or feeling beautiful. I'll say it again: The way the other person looks at you is the fault of his eyes... Not yours... So stop troubling yourself about these things."
Avishka just keeps looking into his eyes, which is giving her a lot of comfort. He guides her into the shop, gently placing his hand around her waist. By that time, Aashi had already tried on three or four dresses, which worried Armaan, but he decided to buy them because he knew she was Prakram Bundela's princess. Aashi tells Avishka that as soon as she sees the blue dress, one of them has asked her to take it.
"Mumma, wear this."
Avishka looks at the dress and then starts seeing Aashi's excitement. Prakram gestures that she takes the dress and gives it to Avishka.
"Go wear it. I will make Aashi wear the dress."
"Please no…"
"I am not used to hearing no; you should have understood this, and now that you are refusing something that is completely baseless, it has become necessary for you to insist on it every day. Get it done, which you don't want to do. Please change your clothes quickly and come, as we will be purchasing a large quantity of clothes for you. If you fail to arrive promptly, both Aashi and I will have purchased a significant amount of clothing for you, and you will also be required to purchase items of your own choosing. The longer you wait, the more harm you'll suffer, as we'll compel you to wear the clothes we've purchased."
Avishka has nothing left to say; rather, after listening to his words, she wants to smile with a strange sense of relief because the fear that dominates her all the time seems to go away slowly with Prakram's words. She quickly looks at the dress, making her want to wear it, but when he realizes she is just looking at the dress alone, he holds her hand, leads her to the dressing room, and takes her inside. He pushes her, gives her the dress, and tells her smilingly.
"We are waiting with lots of dresses."
This time, a small smile appears on Avishka's face as soon as she hears his words. She immediately bows her face and begins closing the door, keeping Prakram's eyes fixed on her until the door is completely closed. The salesgirl is already getting Aashi changed, and Armaan is standing outside in front of Aashi's changing room. Prakram now deliberately starts looking at all the dresses with a lot of interest, and while imagining Avishka in every dress, he starts buying dresses for her. It is strange why he is doing this, but somewhere, he feels that Avishka is troubling herself by concealing herself in a shell. She has to come out of the shell in which she wants to stay confined. Through Armaan, he has come to know very well that Avishka was never like this; he does not know what has happened to her, due to which she is very scared. She has completely changed her life, but he knows this much: in the college photographs he has received, Avishka appears to be a very cheerful, very modern, and happy-hearted girl. He makes this statement while observing the dress that Avishka has chosen.
"Nobody can stop you from smiling unless you force yourself to drown in some sadness, and now you have to smile... After a betrayal, I am still moving forward, so try hard.”
In the dressing room, Avishka looks at herself very well after wearing the dress. She looks stunning in the dress, but she has not done any makeup or changed anything about herself. She simply removed her suit and wore the dress instead. She slowly opens the door. Prakram isn't there. She comes forward, searching for him. She finds him in a lot of dresses. She starts coming towards him, smiling lightly. She wants him to turn immediately and look at her, but he is so engrossed in looking at the dress that he does not pay attention at all to the fact that she has come there. She calls him softly.
"Si... r..."
Her voice is so low that he would hardly be able to hear it because she had suppressed her voice completely because she knew that Prakram did not want to hear SIR at all. She looks at him, and with struggle, she says:.
"Prakram…"
Prakram's hands stop suddenly because this is the first time that Avishka has called him by his name. He turns and looks back. Avishka is looking very beautiful in her dress. He hands over all the dresses to the salesgirl standing nearby, tucks his hands into his pockets, and stands directly in front of Avishka. Earlier, Avishka had kept her eyes down, but as soon as she felt him right in front of her, she slowly started to look away. Her face also starts bowing, but he holds her face and gently lifts it up, and while looking at her very carefully, he frees her hair from the captivating clutcher.
Avishka starts looking into his eyes. While looking into his eyes, he runs his fingers through her hair and starts spreading it nicely. After her hair opens, Avishka starts looking even more beautiful. Aashi changes her dress. She also goes there to show her dress to her parents, and when she sees Avishka, she says it loudly.
"Wow mumma…. You are so beautiful.”
Prakram smiles a lot after hearing Aashi's praise. Seeing such a smile on Prakram's face, Aavishka shifts her attention from him and starts taking Aashi in her arms, then Prakram holds her hand and makes her stand near him. He takes Aashi in his lap and says to Aashi:.
"I want to go on a date with two beautiful girls. Will you both go on a date with me?”
Aashi begins to laugh, gently pressing her mouth with both of her small hands, while Avishka also smiles lightly. Prakram gestures to Armaan, who recognizes the smile on his face and informs him before he can utter a word.
"Now go on a comfortable date with these two very beautiful girls, and there is no need to come early at all; I will take care of everything."
He says all this so quickly that everyone present there starts laughing, which causes Prakram to start looking at him, and he just stands there silently and starts scratching his head. They have a lot of fun throughout the evening, and Aashi and Avishka are looking very good with each other, due to which Prakram is unable to take his eyes off both of them, and this is the first time that he has noticed that Avishka is noticing his gaze very well. He was pleased to see that whenever she notices his gaze, her eyes look down in shyness with a soft smile.
Prakram was so well settled in his life that he did not want any kind of life partner in his life, but he himself did not know that his life was taking him somewhere else, and at the same time, Avishka herself was coming into his life. have begun carving out space for herself; he remains unaware when he begins to notice her presence. Suddenly, Aashi distracted him.
"Papa ice cream..."
"No way…"
Like every time, before Prakram can agree to Aashi's request and say yes to her, Avishka refuses her, which causes Prakram to start looking at Aashi, and Aashi starts gesturing with her eyes and asking him to convince her mother. As a result, Prakram is looking towards Avishka, and Avishka is looking towards Prakram only with a little bit of strictness.
"I mean a single small cup..."
"Not at all; you know very well that it is frigid here. Who consumes this much ice cream in the winter? If anyone does, I am unaware. I just know that Aashi's health deteriorates as soon as she consumes something cold."
Aashi has to eat ice cream, so she very innocently tells her mother.
"Aashi is a good girl; I take medicine as soon as I get home; I will not have a fever."
"And if Aashi is a good girl who doesn't eat ice cream, then she will not have to take bitter medicine."
Due to her desire to eat ice cream, Aashi starts seeing her father so that he can somehow convince her mother because she has come to know that she is not going to let her eat ice cream at all. Prakram looks at Aashi from Aavishka. Before Prakram could utter a word, Aavishka addressed him.
"Aashi is a child; you are not a child; it's as if you can't comprehend that her health deteriorates as soon as she consumes ice cream, and if her health deteriorates, then whatever surprise you have in store for her will also deteriorate. Just keep this thing in mind.”
This is the first time that Avishka has said so much to Prakram because of Aashi, due to which he is just looking at her. She immediately turns towards Aashi and tells her.
"It is very cold here, and if you eat ice cream, you will fall ill. When we go to India, Mumma will make ice cream herself only for you, and you will not get just one; you will get many."
Aashi becomes happy by clapping after listening to Avishka, and Prakram starts looking at Aashi, who understands Avishka's words very easily and her insistence. After a wonderful evening, they return to the cottage. After putting on her nightdress, Aashi is frolicking around and engaging in intense play. Prakram and Avishka are standing at different ends of the bed, pretending to catch her, which is causing Aashi to feel very happy and enjoying herself. But in the end, Prakram holds her and makes her sleep on his chest, due to which Avishka starts looking at both of them smilingly. Aashi places her index finger on Prakram's heart and tells Avishka.
"Mumma, just play. Does it fly? ..."
Smiling, Avishka sits near Aashi and starts smiling while playing with Aashi by placing her index finger on Prakram's heart. After some time, Aashi starts feeling sleepy, and Prakram is also a little tired, so when he starts sleeping, he tells Avishka.
"Sleep..."
"You guys go to sleep; I want to sit in the garden for a while."
"At this time..."
"Hmmm… You have said that I should give the list to the maids to pack all the necessary things for 2 days, but I could not work for the whole day because today I was playing the whole day with her, so it was necessary to take care of it now. She's sleeping near you, so I can do it comfortably."
"Hmm..."
Avishka quickly leaves from there with pen and paper, comes to the garden, and starts doing her work.
"Sister-in law..."
As soon as Avishka hears Armaan's voice, she turns around and sees that he is standing with a water bottle in his hand. Although he might have come to fill the bottle, seeing Avishka there, he comes near her.
"What are you doing here?"
"Your sir had told me to pack my things for 2 days and make a list accordingly so that I don't need anything else, but I didn't get time, so I am making it now."
"Okay...
Armaan sits beside her very comfortably and starts checking her list. Upon reviewing the list, Armaan informs Avishka that she has also included a few items for Prakram, a revelation that undoubtedly brings him immense satisfaction. He quickly says:.
"For the last 3 years, I have not seen Sir as pleased as he is now.”
Avishka starts looking at him after listening to him, and somewhere she also wants to know about Divya, about whom no one talks because it is Prakram, and Aashi, who wants to forget her because she can't ask anything of Prakram. She just says randomly... "
"His first wife was much more lucky.'
"She was very lucky because Prakram Sir trusted her a lot, and that's why he ignored everything even when he saw it going wrong, leading to the biggest betrayal of his life."
"…Means"
"No one knows; only I and Sir know that Divya, his first wife, did not die while giving birth to Aashi.”
"What? So how did Aashi's mother die?"
"Sir had killed her.”