PreRish OS || The Fast of Love || Prerna | Rishabh Bajaj | Kasautii Zindaii Kay

Rishabh Bajaj walked into his Mansion’s living room to a bunch of overdecked ladies sitting on his sofas. Their loud chatter was a change in his usual silent Mansion. 

“Main keh rahi hoon, bahut achi party hogi, kyu Mrs Bajaj?” A woman, whom he recognized as Mrs Grover, threw the question at his wife, who was sitting on her favorite sofa.

Prerna smiled and nodded in agreement as the other ladies looked happy. Rishabh frowned as he saw Reena walk up to him to take off his coat.

“What’s happening Reena?” He asked his assistant, who quickly took off his coat.

“Sir, wo kal Karwa Chauth hai na, so ye ladies function rakh rahin hai. And they are here to invite Ma’am.” Reena said and noticed Bajaj’s thunderous face.

“Koi Karwa Chauth nahin hoga.” He suddenly announced and every lady’s head whipped to his side. Prerna sat up straight as she saw her husband looking angrily over everyone.

“Bajaj ji, hum toh aapki wife ko invite karne aaye hain. Wo humare saath apna vrat kholengi toh-

“Mrs Bajaj koi vrat nahin rakhengi.” He said and walked further into the hall. “Can’t you see she’s pregnant?”

“Haan par pati ke liye-

“Jab patni ki halat nahi hai aur pati khud nahin chahta ki vrat ho, toh aap kon hote hain force karne wale?” He said with a calm tone. “Invite karne aaye the, kar lia? Now if you’ll please excuse us.”

The ladies did not look very surprised at his ‘request’, they were used to it. Nodding and shaking their heads, they left on by one and Rishabh looked back to see his wife standing with her arms crossed.

“Kya tha ye?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Aap yahin thi na? Suna nahin?” He asked and started walking back.

“Main vrat rakhungi.” She said and he turned back at her.

“Koi zarurat nahi hai-

“Aap meri zarurat ki fikr mat kijiye-

“Kaise na karoon? Duty hai meri-

“Toh meri bhi duty hai. Main bhi chahti hoon ki mere hone wale baby ka papa ek lambi zindagi jiye.” She said and shrugged.

This shut up Rishabh. He smiled and nodded. 

Of course, how could he be so stupid sometimes? Did he forget already that his wife still loves Mr Basu and he is the father of her baby?

“Fine. Aapse jhagda karne ka mood nahin hai. Do whatever you want.” He said and left to freshen up. 

Prerna smiled to herself, a little surprised that her husband agreed to this but instead of worrying about that, she decided to look at the brighter side. This was going to be her first KC and she could not wait to start and end it with her husband’s hands already.

The next morning, she was woken up by Reema and she quickly had the sargi which was prepared. It was almost 6 am already and Rishabh, who usually woke up around 5 am, was still asleep it seemed.

“Mr Bajaj-

“Sir left for office at 5 am, Ma’am.” Reema said and Prerna pouted. 

She faintly remembered his soft, cold lips on her warm forehead and realized that wasn’t a dream she had dreamt an hour ago. He did come to see her, as every morning, but she didn’t wake up today.

--

Rishabh Bajaj shut the file with a thup, a bubble of frustration in his stomach riled up his mood. 

Why was he so affected by the fact that his wife was keeping a fast for another man! He knew that Mrs Bajaj loved Mr Basu, the baby was their, and if she wanted, she could do anything for the baby but...she should not have kept this stupid fast! 

What if it harmed the baby? She was supposed to have three hearty meals, four snacks and healthy soups and juices throughout the day but here she was, not eating a single morsel of food for more than 20 hours just because some hundred year old tradition said it would give a long life to her man. 

Her man.

Rishabh chuckled to himself. He hated how he felt lately, towards that woman, for that woman. His heart was in constant pain and there was no medicine for it.

His brain itched at him to go home and make her eat her breakfast, lunch, dinner all at once but he knew she would not budge. How could she when it was about the father of her baby? That man did not even know what this woman was doing and here he was, looking at the tamasha. 

He shook his head and cleared his throat before calling his secretary, who came in rushing with his coffee.

“Take it away.” He said at the sight of the steaming, black beverage. He could not even think of drinking anything when he knew his pregnant wife was going to be hungry the whole day. “And cancel my breakfast and lunch.”

--

“Hello?” He picked the call and looked at his watch, which read 7 pm.

“Aap ghar kab aa rahe hain?” His wife asked, sounding tired and weak. He pursed his lips, not wanting to scream at her.

“Kyu? Kya ho gaya?” He asked instead and could hear her walking around, as she did when she was nervous.

“Mujhe fast todna hai-

“Toh todiye. Take care.” He cut the call and almost threw away his phone. 

So Anurag Basu was going to come to his Mansion to break his wife’s fast? Rishabh laughed sarcastically and held his head, which thudded with pain. Hunger and thirst was making him more angrier than usual and he hated it.

Trying to stop his mind from overthinking, he opened a file to distract himself and was only disturbed three long hours later when his phone rang, the shrill of the ringtone echoing in his cabin.

“Hello?” He said, wondering what happened now. Did Mrs Bajaj want him to send a car to drop her beloved Mr Basu at his Basu Badi?

“Sir...jaldi se ghar aa jaiye please.” Reema’s tensed voice made him confused. “Ma’am...she did not break her fast and now she is not feeling good-

Before she could say anything further, Rishabh was out of his cabin and screaming at his secretary to call his driver. He just muttered curse after curse for that Basu boy, who could not even break a fast of a pregnant woman on time. He stopped himself from calling him and with as much patience as humanly possible, dropped a text, Bajaj Mansion, now.

His driver got scarred for life that night, as his Boss just yelled at him to cover a distance of ten kilometres in ten minutes. 

As soon as they reached the Mansion, he almost jumped out of the car, failing to see Anurag arriving behind him as well.

--

“Prerna!” He shouted, his empty stomach finally taking over his mind. “Prerna!”

“Sir, Ma’am room mein hai.” Reema said from the balcony and Rishabh rushed to his wife’s room, only to find her sitting on the bed, dressed in a blood red sari with beautiful jewelry yet with a pale face and sad expression as the doctor tried to coax her to eat.

“Maine kaha na.” Her tone was incredibly weak and Rishabh gritted his teeth. “Main tabhi khaungi jab wo yahan-

“He’s here.” Rishabh said and entered the room.

Prerna’s face lit up as she saw him enter. The smile on her face soothed his anger for a second before he realised it was not for him and he cleared his throat.

“Ye kya bachpana hai Mrs Bajaj?” He frowned and walked up to her bed. “Aapne fast kyu nahin toda abtak? Agar late ho raha tha toh call-

“Kia toh tha.” She said and crossed her arms. “Yaad dilane ke liye aapko, ki muje vrat kholna hai toh jaldi aa jayiega, par aapne toh phone hi cut kar dia. Aur bola kya? Toh todiye! Ab jiske liye rakha hai, wo hi nahi hoga toh kaise todungi?”

Rishabh, for a second, couldn't believe what she just said. She had kept the fast for him? As in Rishabh? As in her husband?

Main bhi chahti hoon ki mere hone wale baby ka papa ek lambi zindagi jiye.

The sudden smile on his face confused Prerna, who was expecting a sarcastic comment from her husband. As he walked towards her and sat beside her, she smiled softly and quietly, slipped her hand in his. He looked down, surprised at her touch and saw the beautiful henna designs on her hand. She saw him staring her palms and opened them. There was a small R on the palm and he traced his thumb on it, sending a current throughout her body.

“Fast kholne ke liye jo chahiye, lekar aao Reema.” He said and Prerna smiled widely, getting up from the bed. All her fatigueness seemed to vanish as she quickly walked to the dressing table to straighten up her appearance as her husband chuckled softly.

Reema walked in to inform that everything was ready in the balcony and Rishabh frowned.

“Maine kaha tha sab saaman yahan la-

“Maine sab balcony mein ready karwaya tha.” Prerna said and he sighed. He did not want to break her heart by spilling water on her plans, which she had planned for him.

He took three steps towards her and picked her up bridal style.

“Mr Bajaj!” Prerna gasped as her arms went around him. “Ye aap-

“Aap kamzor hain. Keep quiet.” He said and she remained silent as they reached the balcony. 

Putting her down, he looked at the beautiful decorations and then at his wife, who looked prettier than anything else.

“Beautiful.” He said and saw her blush unashamedly with a proud smile. 

“Vrat kholiye.” She whispered and he nodded as Reema handed a pooja thaal to Prerna, who went ahead with the rasams. 

Rishabh took the earthen pot of water and made her drink it as they did not break their eye connection for even a second. Prerna felt weirdly satisfied as the cool water dampened her parched throat and noticed her husband gulp a little more than usual. As he took a piece of sweet to feed her, she realised that she had not gotten any call from his secretary regarding his breakfast or lunch.

After finishing the sweet, she looked at the staff and gestured them to leave. One by one, the whole staff left them alone and Rishabh looked at her.

“Kya hua-

“Paani.” She said and put the earthen pot to his lips and he simply drank the whole thing in one go. She put the pot down and suddenly giggled as she saw that her lipstick stain on the pot left his lips a dark red as well. 

“Kya hua?” He asked as she shook her head to stop herself from laughing.

Prerna stepped closer to her husband and using her saree’s pallu, tried to wipe the lipstick off, startling him.

“Ab sahi hai.” She said as she cleaned the mark and he nodded.

“Waise, aap bahut zyada ziddi hain.” He said and gestured her to start walking towards her room.

“It comes with being a Bajaj.” She shrugged, leaving him surprised at her witty comment.

They did not realize that Anurag was following them as reached the bedroom and Rishabh said to the doctor to check his wife.

“She is okay now.” The doctor said after checking her vitals. “Let her have her dinner and her usual medicine.”

“Baby-

“Your baby is absolutely fine Mr Bajaj.” The doctor said and looked at Prerna. “You can feel it, right?”

“Haan, your baby is absolutely fine Mr Bajaj.” Prerna said, repeating the doctor’s words with a smile and rubbed her belly.

“Thank goodness, otherwise main bahut naraz hota aapse.” He said as the doctor got up to leave. “Rest kijiye, I’ll be back in five.”

Following the doctor, he walked out of the room to thank her and finally spotted Mr Basu standing outside.

“Jab apni biwi ke saath romance hi karna tha toh mujhe kyu bulaya-

“Spare me the lecture Mr Basu.” He said. “Kuch important baat karni thi but right now, my wife and baby are not well, so I’ll call you some other time. Bye.”

Anurag was left speechless as Rishabh Bajaj left him alone to go to his wife.

“Kya hua? Kaun tha bahar?” Prerna asked as he walked in.

“I’ll tell you later. Dinner kariye-

“Hum sath mein karenge, maine yahin mangwa lia hai.” She said and he nodded, sitting on the bed. “Waise bhi, I know you haven’t eaten a morsel.”

“What? I di-

“Jhooth toh boliye mat. You are like an open book to me.” She said and he smirked.

“Puri duniya mein shayad aap pehli insaan hain jinhone mujhse ye kaha hai that I am an open book.” He chuckled. “Otherwise logon ko meri direct baat bhi samajh nahi aati.”

“Main logon mein nahi aati.” She said. “Waise, aapne bhi vrat rakha, I feel really special.”

“Hmm, zyada importance mat dijiye khudko-

“Main kahan de rahi hoon? Aap hi de rahe hain.” She shrugged as their dinner came. 

Prerna took a piece of naan and dipped it in the curry before putting it before putting it before his mouth.

“Kha lijiye.” She said and he held her wrist to eat.

“Waise aapki mehendi ka rang baut gehra hai.” He said as she stared at her palms.

“Hoga hi. Aapne kahawat toh suni hai na? Mehendi ka rang gehra kab hota hai?” She said as they kept eating.

“Suni hai na. Didn’t believe it before but I believe it now.” He said and smiled at her beautiful smile and pink face.

That night, they finally broke their fast of love.

Writer: SanyaEterna