Bouquet

Zara.

 "She doesn't want to meet you, " my mother snarled at him. 

 "She is my wife. My legally wedded wife. Do you get it. Nobody can stop me from meeting her.  Zara.... Zara... " He kept on growling. His distinctive manly voice echoed outside the cabin. He was behaving like an unhinged animal.

In the past I never got to witness this kind of unrestrained behaviour from him. He was sweet and caring until he got me completely in his mercy and only then he showed me his true colours. His ugly face.

 "I will stop you. Wait, let me call the police commissioner. Two days in the lock will teach you a good lesson." My mother retorted to which he scoffed.

  "Do you think he can stop me?”  My heartbeat increased drastically hearing him. “No power in this world can stop me.”

 My whole body shivered in fear. I refuse to get dragged into that hell. His voice and the way he declared war felt like whips against my ears.

I don't want to hear these voices.  Mostly I don't want to hear him.   I inserted both my index fingers inside my ears and squeezed my eyes tightly, blocking everything out. I tried to recall something to divert my mind from all the noises. Something which will lock their unbearable voices. Few seconds or may be minutes passed when my mind flashed with memories filled with him. I tried to divert my mind but nothing worked.

I don't know how long I stayed in the same position.  When I felt my mother embracing me only then I realize that she entered the room and was very close to me. Gradually I unblocked my ears feeling the tender care of her body.  She always stood against my marriage with him. She never liked his presence anywhere near me.  

"My baby, he is gone. Shhhhhhhh...... Don't worry. Soon you will be free from his clutch. I will make sure of that. And after that, you will go to America and start afresh. You have me and I will make everything alright for you."   Her warm lips pressed on my forehead cooed my leaping heart to beat normally. I was like my father who takes decisions from the heart.  And heart plays with your life. I peered at her with uncertainty when she was looking at me with motherly concern. 

"Are you okay?” She asked in tender tone, after defying her yet she was being so

"Yes, Mumma. " I whispered staring at the door blankly.  

  "If you had paid attention to my saying before then . These low-class people have no emotion. You sheltered a monster in this house. Daughter, he never loved you. These people can never be someone's own. Their habit is to ditch. He didn't allow me to meet you for the whole month. How cleverly he planned everything. How he manipulated you. Not anymore. This marriage needs to get an end. What if he has millions in the pocket now but these won't change the fact that he belongs to that gutter. His family members disowned him. He has forgotten his limits. Bloody slumdog millionaire. Everyone knows how he has reached such height. And look at the way he talks to me, at least show some decency towards your mother- in law. But no. A rough will never know what is manner. The way he walks charging the doctors as if he owns the hospital. " She keeps on blabbering and my mind wants some peace.

 "Mumma, I want to sleep. " I mumbled. 

"Fine, I'm leaving. But don't stress yourself." She said as I laid down on the bed eventually closing my eyes. She left.  

As soon as I heard the door close, I opened my eyes.  A lone tear slides down making a patch on the pillow.

Where did I go wrong with him?  A sob escapes my lips. The ache in my heart won’t go no matter how much I cry.

I’m the foolish one for laying my heart on the ground for him just so he can stomp all over it for another woman.

If it wasn’t the dose of medicines, I won’t have fallen asleep with all the tensions going in my head.

Next day when I woke up, I spotted my dad. He was sleeping on the couch available inside the room. He is constantly by my side. Although his head was facing the celling yet I can see the lines of distress marred his forehead.

I have no more courage to bother him, so I tried to sit up by myself. As I was weak, with great difficulty, I laid my back against the pillow in a half sitting position.  After gathering all my bearings my breathing turned laboured. I relaxed back inhaling.

Just then the sound of knocking got my attention and my eyes flit to the door. My father made shifting sounds and when I turned to face him, his sleep was broken and he his eyes were wide open. Then he lowered his head and looked around the room. When his eyes landed on me, he exhaled a sigh of relief. He opened his mouth to asked me something when he was stopped by the sound coming from the door.

“I will go and check.” He signalled with his hand for me to rest as he got up from his position and strides to the door. In response I simply nodded my head. He swung the door open and was out of my sight. I can hear some murmur before he returns back with a huge bouquet of flowers that hides his entire chest and his face leaving his eyes with its enormous size.

It consists of white lilies and yellow combined with red roses. Few colourful ribbons flying out of it.

Covering the distance, he rested the bouquet beside the table near my bed. Its sweet smell hits my nostrils.

“Who gave it?”

Dad shrugged then spoke, “I forgot to ask about it. Then he drew closer taking a step near it and peeped into the bouquet. He guessed right when he pulled out a small card. He was about to read the card when the door flung open and he swivelled behind. My gaze also shifted to the door and saw my mother walking through it. She was with our head maid who was carrying tiffin bags on each side of her shoulders. The moment her eyes fell on me, a smile break on her face.

“How are you, beti? (daughter)” She asked in her warm voice.

“Better.” I lied and she being my mother, she bought my lie. I was anything but better.

“Good to hear. Look, I brought your breakfast and lunch.” Then she reach me when her gaze fell on the huge bouquet. It was big enough to get noticed by anyone who would walk inside.

“Its beautiful.” She murmured slowly tracing her fingers over some roses and lift her head.

“Did you get it for her?” She asked dad and before he answers her eyes moves to the card he was holding. Her smile fall a bit as she pulls the card from his finger and took in between hers. She flipped the card. Her eyes read what’s written and each passing seconds her facial expression changed from calm to a raging storm.

“Who send it?”  Dad enquired studying her keenly.

But the moment she ended reading in the next instance she tore the card into multiple pieces.

“Bloody scoundrel.” She gritted her teeth and looked over her shoulder and yelled. “Rukaiya, throw this bouquet in the garbage, right now. I would have done it myself but I don’t want to dirty my hands.” She pointed her index finger as she fumed in rage. The maid nodded her head as she  dropped the tiffin bag on the side table and scurried towards us. She picked the bouquet with her both hands and carried it out of the room.

Dad stared back at me. Our eyes met and witnessing the fate of the bouquet of flowers, it didn’t took us enough time to understand who send it. I broke our eye contact and looked anywhere avoiding him.

She has such hostility towards only one person in this world.

Her burning eyes roamed around for something. As soon as she spotted, to throw the pieces of the card she moved towards the dustbin and roughly dumped it. Returning back she spoke.

“Nawab Sahab, we need an immediate restrained order against that bastard from the court.”

'That's it.' I closed my eyes to run away from my current situation. I have no interest to know what length my mother and my husband will go before they rip each other’s head.

If he thinks that he can make me fool with those flowers then this time he is highly mistaken.

My broken heart won't fix forever.

_____