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“Tum Ranav se pyaar karti ho na?” Malika asked with a venomous accusation dripping in her voice.
Bela hadn’t heard of a stupider thing in her entire life.
“Pagal ho gayi ho kya?” Truly there couldn’t be any other explanation for why she would be asked such a question.
“Pagal mein nahi tum ho gayi ho!” Malika shrieked. “Tum ne dekha tha na ki yeh meri friend ke saath kaise flirt kar ra tha. Dukh ke maare mein do minute ke liye bahar kya chali gayi, tumne toh dance pe chance maar liya.”
“First of all, fuck him.” Bela said, pointing a finger at Ranav. “Na meine isse kabhi pyaar kiya tha, aur na kabhi karungi. Secondly,” she directed her finger to Malika, “fuck you for even daring to think that way. Ek toh mera fiance yahan kara hai, aur tumhara hone wala fiance bhi hai. So who gives a fuck ki yeh kiske saath dance karta hai.”
“ Mujhe farq parta hai!” Malika yelled.
Bela huffed mockingly and shook her head in disbelief. Pursing her lips, she clapped her hands tauntingly. “Wah Malika. You know, given the fact that you are already filthy rich, mujhe hamesha laga tha ki tum apne liya ek aisa ladka chuno gi jo sach mein tumhe pyaar karto hai. But tum toh sirf ek gold digger nikli.”
“Bela!” Malika had raised her hand but Bela stopped her before she could strike.
“Chilao mat Malika! Tumhari kya sachai hai yeh hum sab dekh chuke hai.” Bela gestured toward everyone who had gathered for the engagement ceremony. “Bhale tumne apna rishta chupaya ho, but tum do saal se Adi ki girlfriend thi. Poetry competition mein uski Mom ko impress karne ke liye tumne meri pariyon ki kahani chorayi. Aur ab jab finally tumhara rishta pakka hone wala hai, tumhe achanak se Ranav se pyaar hogaya? Humein itna bewakoof bhi mat samjho.” Walking over to Adi, she spoke with great sympathy. “I’m sorry Adi, but Malika ko na tumse pyaar hai aur na hi Ranav se. Agar pyaar hai toh sirf Raichand ki daulat se.”
“How dare you Bela!” Malika spun her around. “Tumhare family ke liye mere dad ne kya kuch nahi kiya aur tum humein aise treat kar ri ho?”
“Aisa kaunsa special kaam kar liya tumhare dad ne Malika? He’s just an employer. Agar woh na hote toh koi aur hota. Don’t take it so personally.”
Whimpering, Malika ran to her father. “Dad, aap dekh re ho. Aap ke pyaar aur ehsaano ka yeh nateeja mil ra hai.”
For a brief moment, Bela felt bad for Mr. Sambiyal. Over the years he had always treated her with kindness. On days when her own father had been particularly not so great, she would find herself at his doorstep. With a soothing rub against her back, and a never-ending supply of chocolate bars that always magically appeared from his pocket, all her troubles used to melt away.
She hung her head, unable to look him in the eye. How could she let her anger towards Malika overwhelm her to this extent?
Shushing his daughter, the MLA turned his attention towards Bela. “Bela, yeh kaisa behavior hai?”
“I’m sorry uncle. But meine sirf sach kaha hai. Aap hi toh mujhse kehte rehte hai, it’s all about the optics. Toh aap objectively iss situation ko analyze kariye aur batiye ki yeh kaisa lag ra hai. Ek ladki apni hi engagement ke din, apne fiance ko chod kar uske bade bhai ke saath shaadi karna chahti hai kyunki saara paisa aur property uske naam hai?” Bela scoffed. “I mean, sharam naam ki bhi koi cheez hoti hai. Na usne Adi se baat ki, na theek se break up kiya - seedha palti maar di?” She looked at Malika in true astonishment. “Itni jaldi rang toh ek girgit bhi nahi badal tha jitna isne badla.”
“Shut up!” Malika shrieked.
“Why Malika?” Adi spoke up. “Sahi toh keh rahi hai Bela. Hum dono bachpan se ek dusre ko jaante hai. At least uss naate hi sahi tum mujhse baat toh kar sakti ho.”
Malika gritted her teeth. “Jaise tumne mujhse baat ki? Jhoot bola tha na tumne ki yeh saari property tumhari hai?”
“Who gives a damn ki property kiski hai!” Adi yelled. “Agar tum mujhse sacha pyaar karti ho then my bank account shouldn’t matter to you.”
“Of course it should matter Adi!” Malika argued. “Yeh pyaar bhari baatein sirf sunein mein achi lagti hai. Aaj ke zamane mein pyaar se zyaada important paisa hai. Agar kal ko kuch hogaya aur tum sambhal nahi sakte toh?”
Bela scrunched her nose in disgust.
“Are you serious Malika? Sambhalne ki zimedaari sirf meri kyun hui? Tum khud ko nahi sambhal sakti?” Adi asked.
“Oh,” She laughed mockingly, “matlab mushkil waqt aane par tum mujhe akela chod do ge? That’s just great Adi.”
Adi shook his head. “Oh no no. You don’t get to judge me for that especially jab ke tum mujhe pehle chod ri ho.”
Striding towards him, Malika stood before Adi. “Too late Adi Raichand. Meine already judge kar liya.”
Adi replied, “Toh phir mein bhi kar liya. Bela ne tumhare baare mein jo bhi kaha sahi kaha. You are a gold digger. Aur tum jaise ladkiyon ko toh mein…” Malika flinched when Adi slapped his hands together.
Bela felt a pinch in her heart. It was final. Adi and Malika were no longer together. She looked away. Breaking Adi and Malika up was the last thing she had planned on doing tonight. Then again, even without her involvement, Malika was well on her way to accomplishing just that. But still… somewhere in her heart, she felt the guilt. If she hadn’t pushed matters today then perhaps the breakup wouldn’t have been this ugly.
“Kya Adi, ek khoobsurat ladki se koi aise thodi na break up karta hai.” Bela rolled her eyes at Ranav’s flirty line. “Judai mein bhi ek khoobsurati honi chahiye.”
Though she was furious, Bela couldn’t help but notice there was a hint of sadness in Ranav’s eyes. She peered at them closely. His eyes were dazed as if he were looking back on a distant memory. She shook her head. It didn’t matter. The only thing she wanted with Ranav was for him to be duly punished for his crimes. Anything else was superfluous.
“You just stay out of this okay.” Adi rebuked. “Yeh sab tere wajah se hua hai.”
Ranav pointed at himself in an exaggerated act of surprise. “Me? Woh kaise? Mein toh hamesha se Malika se pyaar karta aaya hoon. You already know that.” Rubbing his cheek, he mumbled, “Kaafi baar maar bhi kahi hai uske liye.” He wrapped his arm around Malika. “Don’t worry Malika. Yeh Adi, Bela, sab ko bhul jao. They obviously don’t care.” He squeezed her arm. “Not like me. Inhe hamare pyaar se jalan hai toh hone do.”
Sniffing, Malika nodded and glared at Bela. “You’re right. Pyaar kya hota hai kuch logon ko kabhi samaj mein nahi aayega.”
“Aur self-respect kya hoti hai woh jhoote makaro ko nahi aayega.” Bela taunted. “Don’t be so shocked Malika. Did you honestly think ki aaj ki harkat sab ko pata nahi chali gayi? Just look around you. Sheher ke bade newsreporters aur business ke log hai yahan par. Tumhara aaj ka tamasha dekh kar, tumhare aur tumhare dad ke liye kya hi izzat reh jayi gi? Tumne sirf shaadi ki hi nahi, balke khud ka bhi mazak bana ke rakh diya hai.”
“Bela, ab bas bhi kar ja.” Tugging on her arm, her mother whispered to her urgently. “Bohot ho gaya. Bhool mat, tumhare bhi sasural wale hai yahan par.”
Goosebumps rose on her skin. She had forgotten about her would-be in-laws. Given Vijay’s shady antics lately, she supposed she was starting to care less about them too.
“Ghar chal.” Her mom pulled on her arm and sighing Bela followed.
They had just reached the doorstep when they stopped, shocked. Standing before her, completely safe and well was her missing friend, Avantika.
“Avantika?” Bela knew she should be happy to see her, but nothing about her was making sense. Not the festive clothes that she was wearing or the makeup that was adorning perfectly on her face. “Tum… yahan… kaise?”
Grinning, Avantika hugged her. Bela raised her arms to reciprocate the hug but she couldn’t follow through with it. There was something wrong with her sudden appearance.
Avantika must have sensed her tension for she broke the hug, and with a forced smile asked, “Kya hua Bela? Mujhe dekh kar khush nahi ho?”
“Itni dino se kahan thi?” Bela had no patience for niceties.
“Woh kya hai na Bela, jungle ke hadse ke baad mein bahut gabhra gayi thi. Sukh shanti ke liye I just had to get away from everything.” Avantika responded.
“Aur jo sukh shanti mere aur tumhare babe ki cheen li gayi thi, uska kya?” Bela didn’t even try to hide the ire in her voice. “Din raat ek kar ke, khud ki jaan ko khatre mein daal ke, tumhe junglon mein dhoondte rahe. Uski tumhe zara si fikar nahi thi?”
“Bela, kaisi baat kar ri ho. Of course, I care.” She touched Bela’s arm but she knocked it away. There was nothing but bullshit spewing out of Avantika’s mouth.
“Kahan gayi thi tum?”
“How does it matter? Ab mein aa gayi.” Avantika tried to brush the matter off with a smile but Bela wasn’t going to let go that easily.
“Avantika baat ko talo mat. I want to know ki tum aisi kaunsi jagah chali gayi ki tum ek phone call nahi kar saki?”
“Kaise karti? Mera phone jungle mein kho gaya tha na.”
“So what! Tum jahan reh rahi thi, wahan phone nahi tha kya? Kissi landline se phone kar leti, ya phir kissi se borrow kar leti. Agar humare phone numbers yaad nahi te toh police station ka number lekar unhe phone call kar leti. Don’t tell me you were too fucking stupid to even think of that.” Bela’s anger rose in volumes.
“Bela, don’t talk to me like that!”
“Or what! Itni laa parwayi meine tumse expect nahi ki thi Avantika. Mujhe phone na karti toh chalta but at least apne baba ko kar leti. Unhe toh bata deti ki tum sahi salamat ho. Do you have any fucking idea what kind of torture he went through?”
“Bela meine kaha na mein nahi kar saki.” Avantika sounded exasperated but Bela couldn’t find it within herself to care. She was done with her lying.
She raked her eyes over Avantika again. The way she was dressed it was obvious she had put a lot of time and consideration into it. The fact that Avantika would painstakingly put in the energy to get ready for a party that she wasn’t even invited to, but not let her worrying father know that she was alive and well, enraged Bela.
“Tumhe yahan kisne invite kiya?” Bela gritted.
“Woh mujhe ek email aaya. Wahi se mujhe invite mila.” Her words came out slowly as if she was reluctant to speak them.
“Email? You’re fucking joking right? Ek zaroori message dene ke liye tumse ek phone call nahi ho para but ek party invite dekh kar seedhe bhaagi chali aayi?”
“Bela, bas.” Her mother tried shushing her but Bela ignored her.
“Nahi Maa mujhe jaana hai. Akir yeh thi kahan jo yeh apne baap ko ek message nahi bhej payi.” Turning back to Avantika, Bela urged, “Bol na. Kiske kehne par tum yahan aayi ho?”
Avantika flicked her eyes to the right. Bela followed her line of sight and saw Ranav at the end of it.
“Ranav?” Bela’s annoyance had gone through the roof. “Yeh kaisa ganda mazak chal ra hai?”
“Ab meine kya kiya?” Ranav asked innocently. “Tumhe tumhari dost chahiye thi, aur woh mil gayi.”
“Kya tumhe pata tha ki woh kahan thi?”
He didn’t answer.
“Ranav, mein tumse kuch puch ri hoon! Kya tumhe pata tha ki Avantika kahan thi?”
“Agar mein haan kahun toh?”
Bela marched to him and grabbed him by the collar. “Tumhe pata tha na ki mein apni dost ko dhoond ri hoon. Tumne bataya kyun nahi ki woh kahan hai!”
“Kyun batata?” Ranav asked. “Taaki uske upar phir se hamla hoye? Meine usko chupa kar uski jaan bachayi hai. And I didn’t tell you,” He held Bela’s wrists, “because I didn’t want you to stop looking for her. Agar tumne usse dhoond na band kar diya phir jo Avantika ki jaan ke peeche pare hai, unhe malooom par jaata ki woh abhi bhi zinda hai. Kuch mahino baad jab mamla shaant ho jaata, mein bata deta ki woh kahan hai.”
Bela’s grip loosened over his collar. There was sense to what he was saying but she didn’t appreciate the lies and trickery. The accusations she made of Ranav being a criminal were now obviously going to be deemed as false. What if going forward everyone thought of her as a liar?
She shook when Ranav swept his thumb over the back of her hand.
“I know ki tum sirf apni dost ki fikar rahi thi. Tumne jo bhi kaha, kiya, mein uska bura nahi manuga.” Releasing her hand, he took a step back. “Jao. Meine tumhe maaf kiya.”
This was a turn of events that Bela wasn’t expecting. With Avantika’s return, Bela no longer had a reason to hate or go after Ranav. If Malika chose to bury her self-respect for his sake, then that was her choice. Bela had no say in the matter.
Nodding her head, she silently called it a truce. Walking toward the entrance, she thought of how as soon as she crossed the threshold things would no longer be the same. Her friendships with Avantika and Malika were effectively ruined. The amicable relationship she had with Mr. Sambiyal will also be strained. She no longer had any interest in marrying Vijay or being a part of his greedy family. All she had was her mother.
Before they left, Bela held her mother’s hand. “Maa,” In a quiet voice she asked, “do you hate me?”
There was genuine surprise reflected in her mother’s eyes. Then, perhaps understanding what was troubling Bela’s mind, she gently smiled and cupped her cheek. “Kabhi nahi.”
Relieved by her response, Bela hugged her tightly. At least there was one relationship that hadn’t changed.