U N I ( Part 10)

FREEZE.....

That was Krupal's wishful order for everyone!

Juhi stood there facing Nidhi...a red rose in her hands and an envelope...She did not recognize Nidhi, she had never met her before.
Nidhi looked at Juhi and immediately recognized her......
Both the ladies turned expectantly to Krupal!

Krupal's wishful order seemed to have worked only on him.....he did not move, nor did his facial expression change, only his eyes moved from Juhi to Nidhi and back to Juhi and lastly to the Private Detective who stood in one corner enjoying the scene!
The detective realized this was an explosive situation, he would have loved to wait and watch but Krupal's look was too scary to take a chance so he ran downstairs.

The expectant expression on Juhi's face turned to realization. Who else can this girl be?
Nidhi turned to look at Juhi again, and with tears in her eyes, she stepped closer to Juhi and caught her hands.
"I've nothing against you Juhi.....But I love this man too much.....And he just lies to me and abandons me in the middle of nowhere...what am I to do? What would you have done?"

Krupal was shocked to see a sudden change in Nidhi's tone," Liar Liar" He muttered to himself!
"Pardon me?" Nidhi asked.
"She's a lawyer!" Krupal told Juhi in a "Introductory" Style.
Juhi looked in Krupal's eyes, longer than necessary.
She took a moment to think...Nidhi was still holding her hands.

"Krupal doesn't love you Nidhi. That is the truth!"
"We are getting Engaged on Monday Juhi....I just gave him his Engagement clothes and he took them. That is also the truth!"

"You can't force yourself on him......you might make things work temporarily, but in the long run, its going to break!"
"You can't assume to know him.......1 week isn't enough to know a man!"

What the hell was happening?
Here are two ladies, in love with the same man, arguing over who gets him?
For a moment Krupal felt proud......usually you get to hear stories of men fighting over a woman...but here, he had turned the tables!
But then, where was this leading? Both the ladies have strong personalities, and this can take an ugly turn!
What was Krupal to do?
Stop it? Let it carry on?
He chose to let it carry on.
It was like a tennis match......right now the ball was in Juhi's court!

"I am not assuming anything Nidhi! It's not a toy we are fighting on. He's a free person and he has to make this choice, we arguing here and playing with words means nothing at the end of it!"
"You talk like a sensible woman....but you definitely don't behave like one!"
"Excuse me?"
"Don't you have a conscience? Don't you care about your character and reputation that you just move in with any man who asks you to? Or was it your idea?"

Juhi did not answer, she just smiled,"Nidhi You can't chain and cage someone you love, you have to let them be free!"
"You please don't tell me about letting him be free! I let him be free enough to go and kiss you in that restaurant on our date, I let him be free enough to live with you and sleep with you just a week before our Engagement!"

Juhi looked at Krupal,"Is she even understanding what I'm talking about Krupal?"

"Monday 4 pm Krupal......you promised! I gave you your time, your space, your freedom! What more do you want? Tell me where I went wrong? Why are you doing this to me? We've known each other for so long Krupal! I cannot imagine a life without you......Please don't leave me...please don't let me down! I've woven too many dreams for both of us.....I've thought for too long about our house, about our family, our children....I'll be lost without you in my life Krupal! Please try to understand......tomorrow.....please come!"

Nidhi was about to leave, when Juhi stopped her.
"Why can't you two sit inside and talk and decide for today whatever it is. Why wait till tomorrow?"
"You don't interfere in between both of us please. So Krupal...4pm, you promised! I'll be waiting!"

"Nidhi, please come inside!" Krupal was finally speaking.
And Nidhi suddenly felt she was losing the battle.
"I don't want to talk with you in front of her!"
"Okay. We can sit inside the room!"
"No...Not there too."
Nidhi had started behaving like an adamant child fighting for a toy.

"Okay, you two can sit in the hall and I'll go out...fine with you?" Juhi offered.
"I want some water!" Nidhi had started crying...with every passing moment, passing sentence, she was getting the vibes of a loss. And she hated losing. University Topper she was...she had never failed in life.....She had always calculated in advance and everything had worked out her way!
Juhi got her water,"Can I get you some tea ,coffee or lime water perhaps?"
"Lime water".
"Okay!"

Krupal was a silent spectator in this world of female communication!He could not understand what exactly was happening at the moment? Were they fighting? Were they being friends? Colleagues? Who's helping whom? Is this really helping or is it making things worse? Should he be talking or letting the females handle it their way?

Again, he chose the later! He let them handle it their way!

Nidhi and Krupal sat on the sofa. Juhi went in the kitchen to make Lime water.
"I'm sorry Nidhi. But I don't think it will work."
"It's okay.....You've been giving me the signals for quite some time...but it is too difficult for me to let go of something I like so much!"
"I'm not some-thing Nidhi! I'm not your toy! I should have stopped you long back when you started dominating me....but I thought that stage would pass by! But it didn't, and our relationship did more harm than good!"
Nidhi: "Love always hurts Krupal, doesn't mean a relationship is failing!"
Krupal: " Love doesn't hurt Nidhi....Love heals!"


Nidhi sighed,"Hmm....That's well said! Krupal,You are in love with her...why couldn't you tell me when I told you about the Engagement?"
He laughed,"Do you know that you are a terror at times?"

She thought for a while,"How am I to manage without you?"
"Oh come on! You've always been on your own Nidhi...its just in our mind that someone else is there, has to be there.....but in reality, you've never been dependent on me as such..you are quite independent!"

"Are you dependent on her?" Nidhi asked.
Krupal put a hand on Nidhi's shoulder,"From the day I met her!"
"What about her?"
"She's useless without me!"
They both laughed a little.
And fell silent for a while.
"So....are we going to remain friends?"
"We could...do you want to?"
"I kind of liked her.....she's mature and composed! If she was some Bimbo I would have lost all respect for you!"
"Hehe! So you want to be friendly with me because you like her?"
"No....Nothing like that!"

They looked at each other," Krupal....I'm going to miss you!"
"What about me are you going to miss the most?", Krupal asked.
"Who am I going to boss over now?"
"Ohh! That part you are going to miss, is it?"
"What will you miss about me?" Nidhi asked innocently.
"Who will boss over me now? Nobody ever bossed on me the way you did- not my parents, not teachers..nobody!"
"Don't worry....I still retain the right to boss over you!"

"People...can I come in and disturb you please?" Juhi came with the tray of drinks and snacks.

Nidhi took a bite of a biscuit and asked Juhi,"How do you know it is love, when it happens?"
"I did not know.....I realized ..with time....Time brings all the answers!"
"How do you know whether this will last?"
"There's no way to tell actually...but it just feels right! I've no doubts.....and I'm sure he doesn't have too! It's not a chance that we are taking with each other.....we know we are in love!"
"And if it fails?"
"True love doesn't fail! It cannot fail!"
"Oh God! I'm going to cry!" Nidhi cupped her face with her palms and started crying. The tears were for the first failure of her life! The tears were for the realizations that this failure had brought to her, the lessons that she learnt from this experience!

Juhi put a hand around Nidhi's neck and tried to soothe her, and Nidhi turned to Juhi and hugged her!
"Oh my god...this is going to make me cry now....! Women....These things you do...my god!" Krupal joined them and hugged them both! He kissed both the ladies on their forehead," Oh god! I must have been God's favourite to deserve women like you two in my life...and there's another one.."
"Who?" Both Nidhi and Juhi shot up their heads to look at Krupal.
"Mom!" He said with wide eyes!
All three of them laughed, all three of them hugged and cried!

The next day, there was no Engagement! It was called off!

Juhi and Krupal wanted to take more time so they continued living in together for the rest of the year and got married the following year.

Krupal's mother was shocked to hear the turn of events and in the change of plans.....but then," These things these young confused people do now a days.....Let them handle it their way!" She said and stepped aside.

Initially it was a bit tough for Nidhi to deal with the whole loss..but Juhi and Krupal stood by her so that she could deal with the emotional side effects of a break up!

"This doesn't feel like a break up at all...maybe that's why I'm more confused about how to deal with it!" Nidhi often complained.

"Go start dating, meet new people, you'll be fine!" Juhi advised her.

"Do you know of any young eligible bachelors?"

"Actually .....I do!" 

Juhi introduced Nidhi to Swamy. 

It did not work...it was a disaster!

After that Swamy officially pledged not to date anybody recommended by J -1st Smitha, then Nidhi.....He would rather find someone by himself!

Nidhi is currently single, and ready to mingle.

If any of you young boys want a smart intelligent independent and nice girl, you could think about her.

And she's grown up now, she's no more controlling as she was once upon a time.

***************************** *******THE END*************************************

Your Feedback, suggestions and comments are most welcome!

Song in Part 8 : You and I performed by Scorpions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgUKG6w9CBM

Image at : https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdO0MzbjKLo8wF9A8We2ZQ4-h4HEj0D7BLllqZ2z6pLabJeor8Zi05YrWD-wds6VVsbtCEinKxaoBsqzlLn-lCxBaRhGsNE02X2XZzWGb529eESCMTJT4mHQIDpGyIIXz2sc1oAt-1gsEM/