PreRish OS: Dar
‘Aaahh’, he heard the scream of his wife as he stood in the corridor outside their room. But before he could turn around to look what happened, he felt someone collide with his back. Two petite arms encircled his waist hugging him from back. Mr. Rishabh Bajaj froze. His mouth fell open in surprise when he realised that his wife was hugging him tightly. The woman who had told him that he didn’t have any right on her, except as the mother of his daughter, was hugging him as if her life depended on him.
‘Mr. Bajaj wo…’, his trance broke as he heard her terrified voice again. He immediately cut the phone call he was having and looked at her over his shoulder.
‘Prerna kya hua?’, he tried to turn around to face her but she held on to him tighter.
‘Wo… wo waha.. Waha… waha chhip.. Chhipkali hai..’, she stuttered with fear.
‘Kya?’, he turned around to face her and she held on to his arm. He looked down at her terrified face with her eyes tightly shut. ‘Kya kaha aapne?’, he asked again unable to believe his ears.
‘Wa...waha room me chhip.. chhipkali hai’, she replied and Rishabh started to laugh. He couldn’t stop himself and laughed wholeheartedly. For a moment Prerna forgot her fear watching him laugh like that. She hadn’t seen him this lively before. He looked more handsome when he laughed and his dimples could be seen more clearly. And she was fortunate enough to see it this closely. But she soon got back to reality.
‘Aap has rahe hai? Waha room me chhipkali hai, mujhe dar lag raha hai aur aap has rahe hai?’, she rambled angrily. He tried to control his laughter, but he could not help his smirk.
‘Hasu nahi to aur kya karu Mrs. Bajaj? Aap jaisi ek samajhaar aur strong ladki, ek chhipkali se darti hai?’, he mocked her. She glared at him and he controlled his smirk.
‘Ab dar lagta hai to lagta hai na. Aap ye sab chodiye...aap.. aap jaiye aur use.. use bahar nikaliye’, she said still a bit of fear in her voice.
‘Thik hai chaliye, main dekhta hu’, he said indicating her to go ahead and he will follow. But she held on to him even tighter, hiding her face in his chest.
‘Nahi.. nahi main nahi aaungi..’, she said. Bajaj shook his head at her antics. And also to clear his head from the effect her closeness was having on him.
‘Prerna mujhe dikhaiye toh ki chhipkali hai kaha?’, Rishabh asked, but she kept on hugging him.
‘Nahi please… main nahi aaungi… mujhe bohot dar lagta hai chhipkali se Mr. Bajaj please…’, she kept on rambling. Finally he held both her shoulders and unwillingly detached her from himself.
‘Shhh..’, he shushed her and she stopped talking. ‘Mrs. Bajaj, trust okay…. Main hu na aapke sath… come on’, he said and held out his hand for her.
‘But Mr. Bajaj..’, she tried to object again but he cut her off.
‘Mrs. Bajaj… trust me’, he said. She nodded and put her hand in his. He led her inside the bedroom. ‘Ab bataiye, kaha dekhi aapne chhipkali?’, he asked.
‘Wo waha… waha…. Table ke niche’, she said pointing towards the study table. He left her hand and walked towards the study table. He bent down to look and found the lizard at the corner under the table. Fortunately Debu da had forgotten the duster on the study table. So Rishabh took it, and gave the lizard a small shove, who almost immediately slithered out of the room along the wall. Rishabh kept the duster on the table and turned to look at his wife. He smiled as he saw her standing with her hands over her eyes.
‘Mrs. Bajaj, aap aankhein khol sakti hai… chhipkali chali gayi’, he said and found her relaxing bit. She slowly moved her finger and peeped out of the gaps, that made him chuckle. He walked towards her when he saw her sigh with relief and smirked at her.
‘Vaise Mrs. Bajaj, mujhe nahi laga tha ki aap ek chhotisi chhipkali se itna darti hongi’, he mocked her and she glared at him.
‘Haan haan aap toh yahi bolenge na Mr. Tiger Bajaj!... aapko thodi na kisi cheez se dar lagta hai!’, she taunted.
‘Lagta hai’, he replied and she looked at him shocked. The Mr. Bajaj was telling her about his fear!!
‘Apno ko khone se’, he replied honestly looking into her eyes. For moment she felt like he was talking about her, but then he averted his gaze and looked to other side.
‘Ye dar toh har kisi ko lagta hai Mr. Bajaj’, she said and he looked at her. ‘Aap baki logon se alag nahi hai Mr. Bajaj… aur utne bure bhi nahi hai, jitna aap dikhane ki koshish karte hai dusron ko darane ke liye’, Prerna said honestly about what she thought about him.
‘Accha! Aur aap ye itna yakeen se kaise keh sakti hai? Aap mujhe jaanti hi kitna hai Mrs. Bajaj?’, he asked with a smirk. To his surprise she smirked back at him.
‘Itna toh jaanti hu, ki aap ke iss arrogant or cruel mask ke piche, ek caring father hai. Aur shayad ek acche insaan bhi..’, she replied confidently.
‘Accha! Toh aap mujhse nahi darti?’, he asked coming closer to her but she didn’t back away and shook her head in a negative.
‘Ab bhi nahi?’, he asked coming more close to her. This time they were just few inches apart. His eyes were intimidating, but she didn’t flinch.
‘Nahi’, she replied firmly.
‘Aur chhipkali se?’, he asked with a smirk and she glared at him again. ‘Chhipkali.. Waha’, he said pointing towards the door.
‘Aaahh’, she shrieked and hugged him, hiding her face in his chest this time. ‘Kaha?.. Bhagaiyye use’, she asked him while hugging him tight. He thoroughly enjoyed her closeness, but the urge to tease her was overpowering.
‘Dekhiye Mrs. Bajaj, ab aap hi mere kareeb aayi hai… fir mat kahiyega ki maine aapko chhua’, he said chuckling. She looked up and realised that she had been hugging him. She immediately left him, embarrassed at what she did and looked at his face. He just winked at her and left from there to complete the interrupted business, making her mouth fall open in a perfect “O”.
