Hi, I am back with the regular dose of the story. This is the next chapter. Thanks so much for your wonderful wonderful comments. They really keep me going. Please forgive me for any typos and spelling mistake. I haven’t had a chance to proofread. Thanks – Azure
****************
Sanskar stepped out of his room and walked purposefully towards Laksh’s room. Ranveer and Adarsh bhaiyaa might have stopped him yesterday, but he wasn’t going to stand by and watch Laksh misbehave with Ragini in any way or form.
Sanskar opened the door and entered inside. Laksh was sleeping in his bed, sprawled across it. Not surprising since he was busy talking rubbish about his Bhabhi last night, Sanskar thought annoyed. He picked up the bottle of water that was placed next to the bed, opened it and emptied it on Laksh.
Laksh woke up startled “What the f**k?”
“Get up. We need to talk” Sanskar told him firmly
“Sanskar bhai?” Laksh asked looking confused
“Get up” Sanskar ordered
“What is wrong?” Laksh asked him confused
“What is wrong is that I covered up for your pranks for too long!” Sanskar shot at him “What is wrong is that I thought those pranks and that childish behavior was temporary and that you would grow out of it”
“What are you talking about?” Laksh asked him
“I am talking about what you have been doing lately. I am talking about the wrong path that you have already gone too far along” Sanskar said, anger now bubbling through him
“Have you taken something bhai?” Laksh said throwing his hands in the air “What is wrong with you? Did you have anyone else to bore this early in the morning?”
“I would have loved to bore someone else than waste my time on you” Sanskar clarified “But unlike family, I cannot look the other way and let this go on anymore”
“Let what go on?” Laksh asked
“Laksh, don’t pretend to be innocent. The family has been treating you like a child and you have been taking advantage of that. You have been involved in things that disgust me even to utter, unfortunately the family let you be without punishing you for it. And I ignored it all thinking it was childishness. But no more” Sanskar warned him
“Will you tell me what you are on about?” Laksh asked annoyed
“Laksh, I don’t want to comment on the cheap activities that you have been indulging in with your friends and those cheap girls, but let me make one thing clear, keep Ragini out of it” Sanskar warned
“What about Ragini?” Laksh asked throwing attitude at Sanskar
“That is Ragini Bhabhi to you” Sanskar corrected him
“Adding a tag doesn’t change the reality” Laksh shot at him “You wouldn’t mind dropping her like hot coal the first chance you get, don’t pretend that this marriage isn’t all pretense”
“Don’t talk about something that you don’t understand. Ragini is your Bhabhi and that is a fact” Sanskar said, his temper rising very quickly.
“Why don’t you just come out and say that you have woken up to her beauty now and want to have her?” Laksh said with a mocking smile
Sanskar lost his cool at Laksh’s words. Something screamed from deep inside him incensed by the way Ragini was being objectified. His jaw clenched and before he or Laksh knew it, his fingers clenched into a fist and he punched the photo frame that was on the wall next to where they were standing. It was a photo of the three brothers with Uttara. The glass frame cracked and as he pulled his hand back, it was clear that he had injured his knuckles. They were bleeding and there was a small piece of glass stuck into his hand.
Laksh looked at Sanskar’s hand startled. He had been already taken aback by the swift punch that Sanskar had thrown breaking the glass. He had never seen Sanskar lost his cool to this extent and get so angry that it was emitting from him in waves. What was even more evident was that Sanskar hadn’t even twitched because of the wound or realized that there was a piece of glass sticking out from his hand.
“I don’t care what you think of me, but get this into your thick skull. Ragini is my wife. We are married and will remain that till the end of time. I will not tolerate anyone” Sanskar warned him, emphasizing ‘anyone’ while poking him in the chest with his injured hand “anyone saying anything bad about her. You get that!”
Laksh stood still, he was still reeling under the shock of seeing Sanskar this way
“She is off limits” Sanskar said, not stopping or bothering with Laksh’s reactions. He was beyond angry just then “And if you try to cross limits with her, I will not look the other way like the rest of the family. I will be the one punishing you for it”
“Bhai” Laksh managed to utter softly
“You call me Bhai right, well get used to calling her Bhabhi then” Sanskar told him
“Bhai” Laksh tried to speak
“One more off comment about her, even if it is with your friends! One more off look. If I see you leering at her or crossing limits in any way or form, it will not be a photo frame at the end of my punch” Sanskar said cutting him off “And punches will be the least of what I will do then”
“You will do that to your Lucky for a girl?” Lucky asked him
“She is not any girl. She is my wife, your Bhabhi. She is part of this family” Sanskar shot at him “As for Lucky, are you even my Lucky?” Sanskar asked him
“Bhai?” Laksh asked him
“My Lucky was a prankster and he was childish, but he knew the meaning of family and he respected all the members of the family. My Lucky would not have had disgusting intentions towards his own Bhabhi! His bhai’s wife” Sanskar spat at him “The person standing in front of me isn’t that”
Sanskar left the room and walked out. He stopped a few feet away from the room, but a side table, holding on to it for support. He was feeling emotionally spent and yet there was still pain, disappointment and anger coursing through him. He held on to the edge of the table, closing his eyes. The laughter, the crude comments from last night came rushing back to him without him wanting it, and fueled his anger again. He opened his eyes, pulled out the glass piece and threw it away. He wrapped his handkerchief around the wound before rushing down stairs. He needed to get away for some time.
Sujata saw him “Sanskar, where are you going? Come have breakfast” she told him
“I am not hungry mom” Sanskar said, without stopping as he tried to rush out.
Ragini had been about to go upstairs to call him. She saw him rush out and ran behind him “Sanskar” she called out
“Don’t ask me to stop and have breakfast” Sanskar told her as he reached the car
“I wasn’t going to” Ragini told him
Sanskar stopped, a bit surprised. He turned around to look at her “Then what?”
“I was just going to say that walking is better than driving” she told him
“What?” he asked her confused
“Well think about it, walking is a good exercise” Ragini said as she started to tick of things on her fingers “Walking is good for thinking peacefully. You don’t need to be worried about traffic. Third, walking is safer than driving both for the driver and the person on the road” she said as though going over the points in exam
“Anything else?” Sanskar asked confused by her words
Ragini nodded “The park nearby had a nice jogging track. It is clean, peaceful and best of all, if you feel hungry, the house is really close by”
“Anything else?” Sanskar asked, now feeling his anger cool down almost completely as he saw her talking from the steps by the house, holding her hands in front of her.
Ragini nodded again “We have aloo parathas for breakfast today” she told him
“Anything else?” he asked again
Ragini shook her head
“Okay” Sanskar told her
“Okay then” Ragini said as she stood right there looking at him.
Sanskar shook his head as he walked towards her “Come on. Let’s have breakfast” he told her with a smile
Ragini beamed at him as they made their way back in “I knew the aloo parathas would get you” Ragini told him enthusiastically
“That’s it. They did the trick” he told her sarcastically, shaking his head as he followed her.
As they reached the landing at the end of the stairs, Sanskar stopped. Ragini stopped seeing that he wasn’t following her.
“Sanskar?” She asked him
“You go ahead. I will be right down in 5 minutes. I need to go to the room for a bit” he told her, hiding his injured hand behind him
“Come with me” Ragini told him
“I will. Just give me 5 minutes” he told her
“Come with me” Ragini told him again, tugging his hand once
Sanskar shook his head, but followed her. She took him to the kitchen. She took out a big bowl from out of the cabinets and filled it with ice and pour some water into it.
“Show me your hand” She told him
“What?” Sanskar asked
“Just show me your hand” Ragini said
Sanskar extended her left hand towards her
“The other one” Ragini told him
Sanskar looked at her, without moving
“Sanskar, please” Ragini requested him.
Sanskar sighed and held it out to her.
“You didn’t think I would miss seeing it, did you?” Ragini asked as she removed the handkerchief.
Sanskar looked at her but didn’t say anything. Ragini gently poured some of the ice water on his hand. His hand flinched a bit. Ragini’s face flinched seeing it “Sorry” she told him apologetically
Sanskar nodded but didn’t say anything as she continued to pour water on it, cleaning the wound and washing the blood off
“What was on the other side of this?” Ragini asked indicating his wrist “Punching bag? Wall? Someone’s face?”
“Photo frame” Sanskar said matter-of-factly
“There isn’t any glass in the wound, right?” Ragini quickly asked “Does anything prick? Anything feel odd?” Ragini bombarded him
“Don’t worry” Sanskar told her “Nothing in there”
Ragini gently wiped the wound with a towel before taking out the first-aid box. She gently applied some antiseptic on the wound, blowing air on the wound gently, as she applied it. She put some cotton on it and then applied a large bandage, taking care to cut fringes into it so that they wouldn’t restrict his movement.
“Is it okay?” she asked him after she was done.
Sanskar nodded. He was touched by her care. “Thanks” said as she put the bowl and the first-aid box away.
Ragini just smiled warmly at him “Go on now. Have your breakfast. I know you must be hungry” she told him
Sanskar nodded and made his way out while Ragini went to the kitchen counter.
“What about you? Aren’t you joining?” he asked seeing that she wasn’t following him
“I just need to make a couple more parathas” she told him “You go ahead. It won’t be more than 5-10 minutes. I will be right out”
Sanskar nodded and left
Ragini walked out of the kitchen after few minutes, carrying two parathas in a dish. Pari had been serving everyone. Seeing that Sanskar and Uttara were yet to be served, she told Pari that she will serve them. Ragini serve the hot paratha to Sanskar with a smile, before serving one to Uttara and heading back to the kitchen
“Where are you going?” Pari asked her
“I am making two more” Ragini said
“No need. We have enough” Pari told her
“I will make these, just in case” Ragini said “It won’t be 5 minutes”
When she came out again 5 minutes later, she was walking towards the dinner table, when Laksh walked past swiftly and too the dish from her hands
“Laksh!” AP exclaimed “Is this some way to behave”
Ragini was taken aback and shocked as Laksh moved past her. Sanskar saw Laksh’s actions too late and his jaw clenched. He made to get out of his chair when Laksh spoke
“Sorry” Laksh muttered and then added “Thanks” looking at Ragini. Sanskar clenched his fist. “Ragini Bhabhi” Laksh said in the end looking towards her and then Sanskar
Sanskar stopped his motion, but he remained there his jaw clenched as was his fist. Ragini quickly moved towards him. She placed her hand on his shoulder as she slid into her seat. Sanskar looked at her, she blinked her eyes and gave him a small smile. Sanskar unclenched his fist and sat down.
She saw that his paratha was untouched “You didn’t have your paratha?” she asked him
“I was waiting for you” he told her softly
“But the paratha would have become cold by now” she said
“That is okay. I don’t mind” he told her “I wanted to give you company. You would have been left to eat alone otherwise” he said
Ragini gave him a bright smile as she served herself with a paratha “Let’s eat. I am hungry. Aren’t you?” she asked
“Starving!” he said as he dug into his paratha
Ragini looked at him with a warm smile. She had come to know how much he enjoyed aloo parathas, and hot ones at that. It meant a lot to see him wait for her. She was thankful she had found a wonderful friend in him. Someone who cared enough even about even small things impacting her.
She saw him attack the paratha with complete zeal and dug into her own, shaking her head.
Precap – serious discussions
****************
Link to previous chapters
https://www.tellyupdates.com/?s=red+string+of+fate+%28ragsan%29