Prerna was in a hurry to reach Kukki’s school, it was Mother-Daughter Day celebrations in the school and today for the first time Kukki was really excited for this! After all for the first time, her mother was going to be there with her to celebrate the day.
Under her breath Prerna was cursing the traffic, once she reached the school Prerna’s next trouble was to locate the room in which the celebrations were happening. She had come to Kukki’s school just once, following Rishabh after he left abruptly in middle of their argument but she didn’t pay attention to almost anything after she saw Kukki and came to know the truth.
‘ Mujhe Mr. Bajaj ke saath hi aa jana chahiye tha, unhone toh kaha bhi tha ki vo office se ghar aake mujhe pick kar lenge, lekin maine hi over confidence main keh diya tha ki main manage kar lungi, ek toh pehle hi school late pohunchi Hun aur abh class dhoondhne main aur late ho raha hai!!’ She kept blabbering to herself and was walking absentmindedly when she bumped into someone. She saw a lady in her early thirties in front of her and Prerna took a second to compose herself.
‘I am so sorry actually mera dhyaan kahin aur tha issliye galti se aapse takra gai’ Prerna said
‘It’s okay, ho jata hai, aap kuch dhoondh rahi hain?’ The lady asked in a litte too sweet tone
‘Actually main vo class dhoondh rahi thi jahan mother - daughter day ke celebrations ho rahe hain. Main yahan first time aai hun actually! And already kafi late ho chuki hun I guess’
Prerna was worried that if Kukki wouldn’t see her, she would start panicking and even Rishabh had been stuck in traffic, if he would have been here Prerna wouldn’t have to worry so much because she knew that his presence would have calmed Kukki down a bit. But both her parents were late for the function and Prerna knew that Kukki would get anxious to not see either of them in the room.
‘Arey, don’t worry about it , actually main bhi ussi ke liye aai hun, aur celebrations abhi tak start nahi hue hain because Principal ne school main urgent assembly bula li thi. Baache Abhi tak class room main hain. By the way, I am Shweta, and you are? ‘
‘Prerna’ it was relief for Prerna to know that she had not been late and walked with Shweta towards the direction of the room where the celebrations were about to take place. It looked like an activity class room. They both sat in a corner of the room and started talking to each other.
‘So Prerna tell me, aapke bache ne abhi abhi school main admission liya hai kya? Actually I was on a vacation in abroad for a month with my sister and I’ve just come back aur usse pehle main aapko kabhi dekha nahi yahan!’
Shweta was talking a little too sweetly for Prerna’s taste but she had to be nice to her, after all Shweta had helped her and she was just trying to befriend Prerna, a little annoying though but Prerna couldn’t do anything about it.
‘Nahi actually main yahan Kukki... I mean Sneha Bajaj ke liye aai hun...’ Prerna replied politely.
‘Ohh.. toh aap Sneha ke relative hain? She is a very sweet girl! I like her a lot and my daughter is also very fond of her’ Shweta stated, Prerna was about to correct her that she is Kukki’s mother and not any other relative but Shweta kept blabbering not letting Prerna say anything
‘And even her father, Rishabh Bajaj, you must know him na, oh my god, he is so hot, he is divorced yet he never let Kukki miss her mom, every year vo iss din Kukki ke saath celebrations main hone wale har competition ya event main part lete hain... and that makes him a little more attractive. You know Mera bhi abhi do mahine pehle hi divorce hua hai, and I am facing such a hard time with handling my daughter. Hats off to Rishabh for managing the situation so well for years!!’
Prerna had a mixed feeling listening to her words, she felt a bit sad that Kukki must have craved so much for a mother’s love, but she was also proud of Rishabh for proving to be the best father to Kukki
‘You know now I think that since even I am single, I should ask Rishabh Bajaj out on a date. I mean we would make a good pair na? We are both divorced and single parents, our daughters are even fond of each other so I don’t think it should be a issue right??’ Shweta spoke casually and Prerna just looked at her in shock!!
This lady had just been divorced for two months and she was already planning about moving on? That too with Mr. Bajaj, she now recalled her how Shewta was calling him hot and sexy , suddenly Prerna felt uncomfortable with Shweta, she wanted to tell her that she was Mrs. Prerna Rishabh Bajaj, the wife of the man Shweta was trying to ‘ask out’ but before she could say anything other parents had started to come in the room, she noticed that only the mothers had come, so Rishabh was obviously going to be the only father to be present.
She got lost in her own thoughts, suddenly she had visuals of Rishabh and Kukki doing all the activity together and being the odd one out in the group. She smiled thinking about how adorable the two of them would have looked.
She came back to reality when Shweta had patted on her shoulder, she pointed towards the door where Rishabh was entering the room while talking on his phone
‘See, he looks so sexy.. he always wears a three piece suit, even his hair look so great and you know when he takes off his jacket and rolls his sleeves up to perform the activities... oh lord, I can’t even explain in words, he looks smoking hot at that time. ‘ Shweta kept ogling at Rishabh shamelessly and that was making Prerna more mad, she just couldn’t tolerate her talks anymore.
Prerna didn’t know what she was going through but she knew that Shweta’s words left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wanted to shut her up but she had to behave. She took deep breathe and tried to speak again but was cut by Shweta.
‘ Oh my god, he’s coming towards us, Prerna, I look fine right and he’s smiling too!!’
Prerna just rolled her eyes and tried to speak but Shweta just wouldn’t stop gushing about trying to impress Rishabh. She finally kept quiet when Rishabh was hardly a few steps away from them.
It was Prerna that Rishabh was smiling at, he saw her speak to Shweta and tried to end his phone conversation soon and go towards them, he had conversed with Shweta once or twice earlier and he knew immediately that he couldn’t stand that lady, unfortunately Kukki was really good friends with her daughter so even he had to be cordial towards her. But he could clearly make it from Prerna’s expressions that just like him even Prerna was not so keen on becoming friends with Shweta. Once he finished his call, he walked towards them. He looked at them amused when Shweta had started fixing her hair and dress once she realised he was walking towards them and Prerna was rolling her eyes and trying to say something. Finally he reached them and before he or Prerna could greet each other Shweta started talking again.
‘Hello, Rishabh, it’s been a long time, how are you?’ Shweta asked in a sugar coated voice. Irking Prerna more, Rishabh gave her a forced smile and a polite reply. He looked towards Prerna and Shweta noticed this.
‘She’s my friend Prerna, But I think you know each other, Yeh bhi yahan Sneha se hi Milne aai hain’
Rishabh found it weird that Shweta was introducing him to his own wife. She knew that Prerna had come to meet Kukki then how didn’t she know that Prerna was Kukki’s mom! He gave a questioning look to both of them and said
‘Of course we know each other, she’s my wife! And why are you introducing me to her?!’ He replied casually.
Shweta looked shocked to know this. She looked at Prerna who gave her a forced smile and stood next to Rishabh and wrapped her arm around his, she kept looking at Shweta and how her eyes were now glued to their hands.
‘Main kab se unhe yehi baatne ki toh koshish kar rahi thi. Par inhone mujhe bolne ka mauka hi nahi diya. She assumed that I am Kukki’s relative!!’
Rishabh understood now what the confusion was, he felt it was funny and chuckled a bit. Shweta felt embarrassed, she had spoken a lot about Rishabh to Prerna and now that she came to know that she’s his wife the situation just got awkward. This time before she could speak the teacher walked in the class with all the kids behind her. Kukki rushed to her parents and hugged them both at the same time.
The teacher asked all of them to assemble around the tables placed in the room and started explaining them the activity for today
‘Hello mothers and Mr. Bajaj..’ the teacher said and everyone giggled, including Rishabh and Prerna, the teacher continued ‘so the activity for today is cooking... all the mothers with their children have to cook one favourite dish of their child. And since we have kids being a part of the activity we have made sure there are no sharp or harmful equipment’s here. So don’t worry about their safety but do worry about the time because you are going to have just an hour to prepare your dish! And your time begins now!’
Almost everybody got to work immediately, except Rishabh and Prerna, while Rishabh took his leisure time to get his suit jacket off and roll his sleeves, just like Shweta had mentioned to Prerna a while ago, Prerna was just staring at him. Prerna hadn’t realised that she was gawking at her own husband. She suddenly felt something else towards him, she realised that Shweta’s words were true. He really looked smoking hot this way! It was when Kukki tugged her hand that she broke from her trance. She sat on her knees and started discussing with Kukki what could they prepare. After considering two three options, they decided that they will prepare noodles! Rishabh has joined them now wearing an apron ! Prerna chuckled a bit and said
‘Mr. Bajaj app bhi khana bana ayenge ? Kya aapko khana banana aata hai??’ She knew that Rishabh couldn’t cook. But he looked a little red because he knew that he would fail in the task but he really wanted to join Prerna and Kukki in the activity. The teacher came to them and said that since this year Kukki’s mom was here, Rishabh couldn’t take part, every year he was allowed to participate only because he was her only parent, in fact, she thought that Rishabh wouldn’t even come to the celebrations this year and anyways only one parent could take part in the activity or else it would be unfair to the others. Rishabh tried to negotiate with her but Prerna asked him to sit, she knew it could lead to an argument between Rishabh and the teacher if he lost his cool. But since Rishabh couldn’t deny Prerna, he went and sat in a corner of the room dejectedly and started doing some work on his phone.
Kukki and Prerna got busy in preparing their dish and after a while, Shweta came towards them with an excuse of wanting some ingredients from Prerna’s table. She actually wanted to apologise to Prerna for her words from a while ago.
‘ Prerna I am so sorry, I spoke some really inappropriate things about Rishabh but I didn’t know that you are his wife, please don’t mind my words, and you know, it’s not just me but if you notice there other moms too who are kind of attracted to him, I mean he’s so sexy, we can’t be blamed completely right?!’ She winked at Prerna and left from there. Once again Prerna felt that same sprang of jealously, she noticed that indeed almost every lady in the room was secretly looking at Rishabh and giggling or blushing. She couldn’t believe it. They were all married and had children yet they were shamelessly checking out her husband. She huffed in anger but then tried to concentrate on her task.
Every now and then Prerna would look up at Rishabh and he would give her his rare smile. Though he was a little disappointed that he couldn’t join them in the activity he was happy that Kukki finally had her mother by her side to celebrate this day today. He knew that every year Kukki would take part in the activities only because he encouraged her to do so but today even she seemed genuinely happy and excited while cooking something with Prerna. He opened his phone’s camera and started clicking pictures of them together. Soon the activity got over and obviously Kukki and Prerna had won it. Rishabh couldn’t be more happy for his daughter and Prerna. This was the first time they had done something together and not only did they have a great time but also won the best mother- daughter tag!
Since the activity was planned in during school hours the children had to get back to their class rooms for the rest of their lectures. Once the children went back to the class, most of the parents came to Prerna and Rishabh and started congratulating them for their marriage and the win! Prerna felt as though some moms were trying to be too friendly to Rishabh. She felt insecure about Rishabh being around them. They couldn’t just leave as that would be rude so Prerna just stood close to Rishabh and once again wrapped her arm around his.
Rishabh noticed that his wife was acting different today. Prerna would usually hesitate to even hold his hand but right now she was clutching on his arm. When he looked at her keenly he realised that she looked a little pissed and was mostly faking her smile to the other moms. He wondered what could be the reason. All of them were trying to become friends with them and were just congratulating them. He didn’t know why that would irritate Prerna.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and excused himself. He went out of the room to finish his conversation and on his way back he overhead two moms talking to each other, he realised it was Shweta with some other lady
‘Did you know that Rishabh got married? I met Prerna and I was completely unaware that she is his wife, like an idiot I blurted out to her that now that I am divorced I was planning to ask Rishabh out on a date! God! I hope she won’t hold that against me!’
The other lady replied ‘Shweta your nuts, but I don’t blame you yaar, Rishabh is actually very handsome and hot, and you know the way he cares for Kukki and behaves around her, that makes him more attractive yaar! Aaj kal kahan sare mard aise hote hain, hot, sexy and caring and adorable too!! Prerna is a lucky girl man!!’
Rishabh was shocked, he didn’t know that the other moms thought about him in that way! He always felt that he was the centre of attraction during such functions but he assumed that it was either because he was the only man present in the room or because others were intimidated by him. And now that he had come to know what Prerna and Shweta were talking about earlier he realised that Prerna was behaving so oddly because she was jealous of the attention he was getting from the ladies. He smiled to himself and walked back towards Prerna.
As soon as he reached there, Prerna again clasped his hand and stood close to him, claiming her stake in front of everyone. They continued chatting with others for a while and Rishabh would look at Prerna every time someone gave him a compliment and see her expressions change into something different. He was totally enjoying seeing her like this. It gave him hopes that maybe she felt something for him too, after all why would she be jealous of these ladies if she had no feelings for him?? He made up his mind that today he will get her to confess what she feels about him.
As they were about to leave the class and head towards the entrance to collect Kukki, Rishabh started a conversation about Shweta, he wanted to see how Prerna would react to his words, he choose them very carefully
‘You know I am glad you became friends with Shweta, Kukki is very fond of her daughter and I like her too’
He looked at Prerna keenly and gauged her reaction, he could see how furious she looked after listening to his words. Prerna looked here and there, she took him towards the parking area where it was a little quiet, once she was sure that no one was at a earshot she spoke
‘I was just speaking to her, I have not befriended her and I won’t even be friends with her! I didn’t like her at all’
Rishabh was happy because his words had the exact effect on her that he wanted them to, he knew that it would easier to make her share her feelings if she was furious, he continued innocently
‘Why? Shweta is such a nice lady! Why didn’t you like?’
‘NICE?? She is a shameless lady, aapko pata bhi hai vo aapke bare main kis tarah se sochti hai?? She wanted to ask you out on a date, just two months after a divorce!!’
‘Prerna, vo jaise bhi soche, it’s her right to have her own opinion na, and waise aapko kya fark padta!! If she finds me attractive then why is it effecting you?!’ He asked calmly
‘ What you mean ki mujhe kya fark padta hai??Some other lady is telling me that she is ATTRACTED to MY HUSBAND and she wants to go on a DATE with HIM, obviously mujhe fark padta hai, in fact mujhe gussa aa raha hai, how could she even say that!!’
Rishabh was really enjoying himself, it was the first time he had seen Prerna so angry and not at him for once
‘ See, in her defence , she didn’t know that you are my wife, that’s why she told you all that and maybe that’s why she wanted to ask me out too!! But aap mujhe batiye ki aapko gussa kyun aa raha hai? Are you feeling jealous that she wanted to hit on me?!’
Prerna took a moment to register what he just said, well she was definitely angry to hear such things about her husband from someone else but was this anger because of jealousy?! And if so then why? She didn’t have to feel jealous about Rishabh and another lady. She realised that even now she had wrapped her arm around his, making it clear that they are together but she didn’t know why she had this urge to tell this to others. Maybe because she thought that it would stop those ladies from checking out Rishabh. She realised that she felt different about him today. She couldn’t bare any other lady even looking at him in a flirty way, she felt possessive about him. She frowned and then smiled and suddenly she was blushing.
Rishabh was noticing these change of emotions on her face and smiled at her, he knew that his words had some effect on her. He was hoping that she would finally tell him what she felt for him
‘You didn’t answer me, Are You Jealous Mrs. Bajaj?!’ He asked her In a husky and low voice, Prerna looked at him and she could swear she saw the mirth in them, she then understood that he is trying to tease her. But she enjoyed this teasing, it felt good, she squared her shoulder and looked at him while replying
‘ Why would I be jealous?? Aur main kis se jealous hongi waise bhi ?? Kisi ko agar aap attractive lage toh uss main meri kya problem hai!’
Rishabh understood that she was trying to avoid his question, he thought for a moment and then spoke
‘Hmm, so you don’t have any problem with Shweta being attracted to me right?!!’
Prerna gave him a half nod without looking at him, he continued
‘So then you also won’t mind na if I go for a coffee or something with her l?!’
As soon as Rishabh spoke these words Prerna looked at him in horror!! She freed her arm from his and started hitting him, he laughed at her reaction and caught her hand.
‘Stop it Prerna, we are in a school, what will people think if they see us like this!’
‘Stop it Haan, my husband is talking about going on a date with someone else and you want me to behave myself right now?!’ She almost yelled at him. Rishabh stopped laughing and calmed her down
‘Prerna, you just said na that you are not jealous of Shweta, so I thought.....’
Prerna cut him off and said while pointing a finger towards him ‘forget about taking her for coffee or anything, If you even speak to her, I swear I won’t spare you!!’
‘Oh god Prerna, what happened to you?? Why are you sounding so angry suddenly!! You know now I am sure your jealous of Shweta! But I want to know why?’
‘Okay fine ya, I am jealous of her and not just her, infact some other moms too,. that’s because I can’t tolerate anyone else gawking or shamelessly ogling at my husband! And you know what it’s your fault. Why do you have to flaunt so much Haan? Even I know you have a great body and you look hot !! but that doesn’t mean you keep faulting it na!!’
Rishabh’s mouth felt agape listening to her words, did she just say that he has a great body and call him hot?? He smirked at her and it took Prerna a second to realise what she had just blurted out!! She was getting attracted to him ever since she had started to understand him well and she knew that it wasn’t just physical attraction she had started liking him.
‘ Vo I...’ she started stammering and tried to say something to distract him, she knew she had dug her own grave. Rishab would definitely not leave this here unless he had her confess her actual feelings
‘So you think that I look hot?? Seems like you too are attracted to me Mrs. Bajaj’ Rishabh asked her in a teasing tone
‘Vo ... aisa nahi hai ... haan ... actually!!’ Prerna was left tongue tied while Rishabh was happy that finally his wife was at least feeling something for him! Prerna looked at him and felt her cheeks redden
‘Haan Toh aap mere husband hai, agar main aapse attract hoti bhi hun toh uss main kuch galat thodi hai...’ she said while looking everywhere except him.
Rishabh smiled and bought his hand towards her cheek, he softly brushed his fingers against it, and Prerna closed her eyes at his feather like touch. Rishabh smirked again and leaned closer to her
‘So my wife, is attracted to me and she feels possessive about me?!’
Prerna just nodded her head making his smile turn into a grin, he leaned towards her ear and whispered
‘ Then am I to conclude that my wife likes me and she gets jealous when others try to get flirt with me??’
Prerna knew that now there was no point in lying to him. Her heart beat had become erratic with Rishabh being so close to her, she knew that her HUSBAND had gauged her feelings already but he wanted her to confess it to him. She slowly removed his hand from her cheek and caught it in her hand, she looked in his eye and leaned closer towards his ear just like he did a minute ago and whispered to him
‘Yes, your wife is attracted you and also she is very possessive about you, so don’t you dare Mr. Rishabh Bajaj, even think that She would let anyone else come close to you or flirt with you!!’
Saying so she moved back, she saw that Rishabh had a face splitting smile on his face! She couldn’t help but chuckle looking at him But stopped soon when She saw Rishabh leaning towards her once again
‘Don’t worry Mrs. Bajaj, I’ll keep this warning in my mind and I am glad that you finally confessed to me what you feel about me. And I want you to know that I am equally attracted towards you!!’
Prerna looked in his eyes and noticed that his eyes had some different emotion in them, something raw, he then moved his gaze from her eyes to her lips and Prerna unconsciously parted her lips and sucked a breath, her innocent action had made Rishabh loose his self control. Without a second thought, he placed his lips on hers, he wanted to kiss her so badly, ever since he realised that he felt attracted to Prerna he wanted to express it to her. But when he realised that she wasn’t responding he felt like he messed it up!
Prerna was taken by shock for a second when Rishabh kissed her without a warning, she knew that she felt attracted to him too and the way he was kissing her, he tried to express what he felt for her in that one kiss, when she realised that he was about to withdraw, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started responding to the kiss! She felt his smile immediately and she smiled too. They shared a passionate kiss, trying to express what they felt for each other in that kiss!!!
Their moment was spoilt when the school bell rang, they both broke the kiss and looked at each other. Prerna was blushing hard, she just shared her first kiss with her husband, in a school’s parking-lot!! Rishabh laughed at her and quickly pecked on her lips once more!
‘This ain’t over yet!!’ He winked at her and taking her hand, they went back towards the entrance, Prerna saw Shweta there and went to her, she hugged Shweta and thanked her for today! After all if it wasn’t for Shweta and her talks Prerna wouldn’t get jealous and it would have taken longer for her and Rishabh to confess their feelings to each other!!
Writer: Niyati_T
