The Accidental Wife NOTE PLEASE READ -154 - Page 7

4: THE LONG & SHORT OF IT

Madhu braced her arms on the edge of the rose petal strewn mattress and scrutinized the man sitting between her and freedom. He stared right back, his sturdy chin resting on tented fingers and his eyes filled with such intense anger and indignation that made her insides tremble with fear. But she didn't look away, she wasn't a coward.

Deepika had not only deceived this guy, she'd pulled wool over her own friend's eyes. She had told her that Rishabh Mehta, doctor par excellence was fat, short and ugly. While in fact he was just the opposite--tall, well-built and incredibly good looking; the kind that made one's throat run dry and the pulse go pitter-patter. She'd also been told that he was a nose in the air SOB' who was too full of himself. Madhu wasn't exactly sure if that definition was true. So far his behavior seemed perfectly appropriate under the circumstances.

He was angry as hell and truly deserved to be so; after being cheated by the girl who'd promised to become his wife.

Haaye is ladki ne mujhe kahaan phasa diya. Why didn't I consider everything when I agreed to take her place? It doesn't seem like he's going to let me go anywhere.

Her heart began to thud wildly when her restless fingers came in contact with the silken petals. Good Lord! What if? She glanced at him. What if he's a rogue, a degenerate who preyed on women? How could Deepika have taken the chance to place me, her friend in such a situation? How could she do this to me? Madhu tried hard to deduce his intentions. But Rishabh's expression had become inscrutable and she didn't like that at all.  She hoped, as Deepika had told her, that he was a cold blooded automaton, who was completely immune to the allures of the female sex. At least, she hoped he remained that way till she got herself out of here.

"I can't wait forever. Get on with it!" Rishabh's voice rang out sharp like a bullet, startling Madhu out of her musings.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything from the beginning. For starters, where is Deepika?"

"She has run away, absconded. She has eloped with her lover."

Rishabh looked perplexed, "Eloped? But I don't understand. Why did she advertise in the matrimonials? Why did she insist on me coming here and signing on the marriage certificate? She could have as well completed the whole farce and then fled. Why the in between?"

Madhu interlaced her fingers under her thighs to keep them steady. She couldn't make sense of the situation herself. Though she was trying her best. If she could paint a sympathetic picture of Deepika, perhaps then this man would feel kindly towards her?

"Deepika is a... you know, a sentimental sort of girl. She didn't want to participate in the ceremonial wedding and take the saat pheras with you. It held a lot more significance to her than a piece of paper. Then she'd have felt really married' and it would have been harder for her to leave. So she asked me to take her place and I helped her out." Madhu said, hoping he bought that ridiculous explanation.

"So in effect you are my wife and not her. It seems like she has done you in as well as me." Rishabh said looking distinctly amused. What a bloody anticlimax!

"Maybe, if you wish to say so." Madhu retorted trying to look indifferent though she was seething inside at her so called friend. "But I'm not planning to stay and carry it through. I was absolutely serious about not marrying anybody, most definitely not you!" Then she had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I know this must be very crazy and upsetting. You got the hard end of the bargain. You were the unlucky scapegoat."

What? Me, a scapegoat? I can't believe it! Rishabh Mehta, the brilliant sought after neurosurgeon had been made a royal fool by a mere slip of a girl! He'd been so bloody naive!

"What the F***! I can't believe this! You and your friend deliberately plotted to trap me in this mess!" He exclaimed jumping out of his chair and moving menacingly toward her.

She shirked back, ducking away from his long reach. "Please calm down. It wasn't my idea. It was Deepika's and you just happened to be available. You just wanted the label of a married man and didn't really want a wife and she didn't really want a husband."

Turning away from her, Rishabh leaned his forehead against the wall in an attempt to control his rage. He had to know the rest of the story, and that wouldn't happen if he got carried away by anger.

He swung back and saw her sitting on the bed, her sensible jean clad legs crossed over feigning an appearance of nonchalance, though her frazzled nerves were betrayed by her pursed lips. Decidedly she possessed much more courage than that rotten Deepika.

She threw a wary glance his way. "Deepika is really a very stupid girl. She made the mistake of falling in love with a guy."

"Oh... so falling in love makes one stupid?"

"Yes. Especially if you fall for someone like she did. A loser! A spoiled rich brat who thinks he's all that! Who drives around in flashy cars making girls like her swoon! He promises them the world but in truth he can't earn even a decent day's living! I hate such men!" Madhu exclaimed with force, her face flushed and eyes sparkling with feeling.

Rishabh was glad that he didn't belong in the category; he'd definitely not want to be a victim of her spite.

"So why didn't she marry him?"

"Because she couldn't. Her parents don't like losers. But she was in too deep and that creep was pressuring her and so were her parents. They were starting to get suspicious. She had rejected several excellent matches, each one better than the other and she knew she couldn't continue doing that forever. She was in a bind."

Madhu fidgeted with the tassels of a heart shaped cushion. Rishabh waited patiently.

"Then Deepika had a brilliant idea. She pretended to succumb to her parents' wishes but stipulated that she'd choose her own groom. She couldn't risk agreeing to one of the matches they'd chosen, cause if she had, they'd be subjected to endless ridicule and ostracized by the entire community. Her parents agreed. She placed an online ad and surprisingly in a short time found you."

Madhu smiled at Rishabh, "You were heaven sent. Perfect credentials, stinking rich doctor, a neuro something or other and best of all you lived outside the country."

"A neurosurgeon and no, I'm not stinking rich and I work very very hard for what I have." He corrected her. He was feeling worse than ever, wishing that he'd taken better precautions instead of acting so gullible.

She shrugged her delicate shoulders. "That's beside the point. In fact I wonder why Deeps preferred that fellow over you."  Her eyebrows met together in a frown. "Perhaps that's why they say love is blind. I'll never let it happen to me though."

You can't predict the future Ms. Madhu, he smiled. She seemed to strike off on a tangent very easily, "You were saying...?"

"So she found you or you found each other. You didn't balk or ask questions when she asked you to come over here. Her parents didn't complain, rather they were delighted with her choice and more so when they met you in person. She even applied to get the marriage certified and registered thus assuring her parents that she was indeed serious. So, to not find her sitting in the mandap must have come as a tremendous shock to them."

"Aren't they losing face now?" Rishabh asked.

"For all practical purposes, their daughter Deepika is married. I'm quite sure very few besides you and them noticed the switch. Therefore, if they keep it to themselves, everybody will think that their daughter left with her husband and is living happily abroad."

It took several moments for Rishabh to absorb the information, before he erupted. "Wow! Amazing and as you said brilliant! I'm stumped! Would have never come up with it myself. But I want to know did she ever think about how I will feel after all this?"

Madhu looked distinctly uncomfortable. "She didn't. She...she called you a snooty bas***d who really didn't want a wife'. A maid or a robot would have served the purpose equally well. So she didn't really feel bad about it."

Rishabh was fighting hard, very hard to keep his emotions in check. The gall of the girl to treat him so shoddily. After all he'd gone through for her! And this one to be so casual about it all! She seemed as bad as her friend. Are all females heartless?

"All right, Ms. Madhu. You seem to have analyzed the situation to perfection. Your friend and her immature adolescent romantic illusions. Me, as the handy dumb unsuspecting snooty bas***d' push over and even her parents with their hopes for a secure future for their daughter now permanently dashed. So tell me how does a superiorly insightful, candid and intelligent girl like you allow herself to be caught in this unholy mess?"

Madhu chewed on her lower lip, wondering what this was leading to. The guy seemed unusually calm whence rightfully he should be banging his head against the wall.

"Uh... As you've seen for yourself, Deepika is very persuasive and an excellent actress. She told me her sob story laced with plenty of added masala and I felt sorry for her. I didn't have reason to doubt her. She was my roommate for a short time and I didn't know her well at all."

She looked at Rishabh hoping he would sympathize but he seemed unaffected. "She also painted you in the most inglorious terms, saying that you deserve to be taught a lesson in humility. So I went ahead thinking I was doing my friend a favor. But now I know I was horribly wrong and I feel terrible about it." Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she began inching toward the door, "I hope you can get over this, move on and find yourself a girl who is truly deserving of you. Sorry..."

"Sorry isn't enough! I demand compensation!" Rishabh was standing in her way again and his hands were gripping her arms so hard that her eyes welled up.

"Compensation?"

"Yes! Compensation for my troubles..., for the humiliation I've suffered at the hands of your friend, in which you had a major role to play! I want my marital rights and I'll extract them tonight with great pleasure from my beautiful wife!" He said tersely dragging her to the bed.  

Terrified eyes took in the rose strewn mattress. Her worst fears were about to be realized, "You want me to spend the night with you?!"

"Yes I do. And perhaps many more to come. I'm sure I'll have no regrets!" Flinging her down, he began to fumble with the buttons of his sherwani, cursing aloud when they refused to cooperate.

"You've gone mad!" Madhu screamed managing to wiggle out from in between his knees. She rolled to the other side and jumped out.

But he proved equally nimble. Blinded by insane anger and an overwhelming desire to extract revenge, he yanked her into his arms and held on tight, deriving wicked pleasure in making her squirm. He felt particular malice toward her...how could she calmly participate in the deception and then just as easily leave him high and dry? After all he'd married her observing all the traditional rituals and norms. And she was far more desirable than any girl he'd ever met. Tears trickled down her cheeks but he didn't care. She deserved the pain. Knitting his fingers through her scalp, to hold her head steady, he bent down, aiming for those lips that'd been bothering him for quite some time.

Then it suddenly struck him. Something was missing. "Where is your sindoor and the mangalsutra that I tied around your neck?"

"I...discarded them."

"Why...why would you do that?!"

"Because they hold no meaning. You...you thought you were placing them on Deepika; while I...I was just going through the motions. I believe that marriage is a convergence of two hearts; a journey embarked on mutual understanding. I don't even know anything about you!"

"Convergence of two hearts...romantic crap! You disgust me!" He exclaimed, pushing her away. "Get out of my sight right now!"

"I'm sorry..." Whimpering with relief, she ran to the door and struggled with the bolts.

"No, not that way!" He stopped her, realizing there were plenty of people still around who were planning on staying up all night.

"Then which way?" She asked, before heading to his first floor balcony and peering down at the abandoned backyard. She had swung her legs over before Rishabh caught her arm.

"It's at least 10-12 feet. Too dangerous. You may break your back or worse split open your skull!" He said, his medical instincts coming to the fore.

"I could do it if you give me a hand. Please?"

He reluctantly nodded seeing no other practical solution.

Holding her firmly with both hands, he gingerly lowered her so she could jump down safely. He followed, scrambling after her as she raced to the back exit.

He glanced around. The sky was inky black and the streets completely deserted. It was past 1 am in this quiet upscale South Delhi neighborhood. "I can drop you home..."

She wheeled a bright yellow Scooty out from behind a tree, "Don't worry, I came prepared. I'm used to taking care of myself."

Clipping a helmet around her head, she started the engine and smiled at him. "It was nice meeting you. I wish it had been under better circumstances though. Good Bye Rishabh." She raised a hand in a hesitant wave, then rode away.

He waved back and watched till she disappeared into the darkness. All of a sudden he was seized by a depressing loneliness.