Stay

Stay

Rao Ramrakh sat in his office unable to concentrate on the work in front of him as he wondered about the incident that had transpired in the morning,

Kokia ji had sent out an official memo to the office  “for the entire next week, Ajabde baisa will not be available. Duties and responsibilities will be distributed evenly amongst you all.” The memo had raised doubts for Raoji knew Ajabde was not one to take to skip on work especially with the grand opening of their online portal and the royal kitchen was so close. He had told his loyal butler to dig deep and find the real reason behind Ajabde’s absence

“Hukum,” he bowed his head in respect, “everyone in the office has been informed that Ajabde baisa is visiting the two factories from where we received grievance messages. According to the memo sent out, she will return in a week but…”

Rao Ramrakh looked at his butler, “but that is not the truth.” The butler nodded his head, “hukum, baisa fainted in her hotel room. The doctor who checked her said it was due to exhaustion. Both Hansabai ji and Kokoia ji decided to have her take a break to recuperate.”

“Is she back home and resting?” Rao ji asked concerned, but the butler shook his head, “she is not back home. It seems only Kokoia ji knows the place where baisa is recovering.”

Rao Ramrakh stood up angrily, “what is Kokoia ji thinking? That child is sick, recovering alone without anyone beside her. What if something happened to her?”

The butler stared at Rao ji in surprise for in all of his years of service, for the first time his master had openly shown concern towards the eldest Punwar. He along with few others had prayed for this day to come, but now, he was not sure if it would be enough to make Ajabde baisa stay.

Pratap stared at his feet as he recalled the conversation he had eavesdropped earlier.

He had received news about Ajabde’s leave from work due to inspections and factory visits. He was not convinced of the reasons, so he had decided to find out about the real reason. He walked up to his mother’s room to tell her when he heard her voice

Jaiwanta Baiji sighed, “Ajabde beta if not Hansa behen then let me visit you. Stop punishing yourself.”

“Punishment” Ajabde’s voice was weak and hoarse, “I deserve it after all I did kill my brother, Rao ji’s son. This pain is the only way I can repent” her voice broke down.

“Ajab…” Jaiwanta bai’s voice went soft.

Dammit, Ajabde he thought to himself angrily. He knew that in all these years Ajabde had rarely mentioned about her brother who had died and she had gotten used to Rao ji’s unfair treatment but hearing her broken voice he realised the amount of pain she had been carrying for all these years. But not anymore, he gathered his car keys and was about to leave when his mother’s voice stopped him

“Pratap” Jaiwanta Bai walked to him with two maids following, “this tiffin has khichdi and here are the medicines. Make sure Ajabde drinks at least one glass of haldi milk. It will help her recover fast.” She smiled as the maids walked out to keep the stuff in his car

“How did you know?” Pratap asked his mother only to receive a pat on his head in response. 

He drove out of his home determined as thoughts of her bombarded him and taking the exit for the highway; he pressed on the accelerator for her knew the place to find her.

Ajabde frowned upon seeing the figure organise the messy room. “I must be dreaming,” she thought as the figure came near her and touched her forehead and neck.

“Yup, it’s a fever” Pratap spoke looking at the girl who was frowning at him. 

She tried to get up but her body felt way too heavy, and she gave up. She stared at his worried face and raised her hands to wipe off the frown, but she  didn’t have any energy

“Shhhh just rest,” he told her as he sat by her side as her eyes closed.

 The next time she opened her eyes, she felt more aware of her surroundings. The room had been organised, on the side table a glass of water, some fruits were placed, and she could smell lavender as well.

“You’re up” Pratap walked in holding a tray. She looked at him confused, “I must be still sleeping” she spoke out loud,

“Why do you think that?” he asked with a smile that went away with her response.

“There is no reason for you to be here especially in the real world. In the real world, you don’t stay- nobody stays ever especially with me.”

“We will talk about that stuff later, first eat” he fed her the khichdi Ranimaa had packed for her. He made sure she had finished the food and then gave her the medicines.

“I’m sleepy again” she yawned. Pratap tucked her in bed and made sure she had fallen asleep before getting up but stopped as her hand was holding on to his,

“I’m not going away. I’ll stay with you, and that is a promise. This time I will prove it not by mere words but by my actions.”