Arylie OS : End of Time !! | Imlie | Sumbul Touqeer | Fahmaan Khan

 It was a cool night in Delhi and a quiet night in the Rathore Mansion. Aryan Singh Rathore glanced at the clock on his wall before stepping out into the poolside. It had been one heck of a week and he decided to reflect upon what exactly happened. He smiled. He had finally won over Imlie in all sense of her, mind, body and soul. It had of course been difficult; life is seldom easy for him and Imlie. But this week she had given him everything and finally he felt more content then he had in a long time. However being Imlie she had had her conditions. She insisted, now that the truth about MayaSundar had come out, that the truth about their marriage be revealed to everyone too and of course he had complied.

“Ma! Arpita, Sundar, Rupy, Mami! I need to tell you all something very important. Please come to the living room immediately.”

“, Aryan beta why are you shouting so early in the mornings?”

“Hold on Mami, I’ll tell you all what’s going on as soon as the Tripathi’s get here.”

“Why have you invited Imaliya’s family?”

“Because they have a right to know what I’m going to say too. It’s going to affect both families.”

By this time all the Rathore’s had assembled in the living room with concerned faces. Before they could start up another interrogation, Aryan gave them a look that shut them up. Not before long the Tripathi’s arrived asking similar questions. He sighed heavily before beginning and all throughout the explanation Imlie had been by his side holding his hand. After he had finished, all he received was shocked faces and silence and that only lasted a minute before everyone erupted in outrage.

“Imlie you’re coming home with us right now.” Demanded Aparna.

“No she’s not. Her contract still isn’t over yet. And if she want to go after that I’ll let her but right now she is still my wife and a Rathore bahu, so she will remain here for the time being.”

“Aru, don’t you think that should be Imlie’s decision after all you’ve put her through?” Arpita insisted.

Before he could speak again Imlie intervened. “It’s ok Arpitaji I agreed to stay the full length of the contact so I’ll stay until it’s over. And maybe even after that if you’ll still accept me.” Aryan beamed at what Imlie had said. There was still hope for them.

“Of course we’ll still accept you Imlie beta.”

“No! Absolutely not! After this fake marriage ends, you’ll come straight home and then we’ll go back to Pagdandiya and away from this man!” Spat Meethi. Aryan felt dejected that Amma had not called him Damadji but soon recovered, she had the right to feel angry at him. If he was in her position, he’d do a lot worse.

“No one can make that decision for Imlie. It’s her choice.”

Aryan shook his head to clear the memory. The Tripathi’s had refused to leave without Imlie but after a private conversation, Imlie had managed to convince them to go home. Nishant had refuse to talk to him after that unless it was business related and Sundar still refuses to look at him, let alone be in the same room. Even Mamiji looked at him in disgust. The only people who were talking to him was Ma and Rupy and even they have a hard time looking at him the same way. He sighed heavily. Everything will be fine, he thought, it had to be.

He let him mind wonder to Imlie’s slightly odd behaviour for the past two week. He hadn’t noticed it at first because he was mostly in house when she went out but soon he had began to pick up on it.

“Where are you going Imlie?”

“I’m meeting a friend of mine.”

“I’ll drop you off.”

“No no no no no. It’s ok, Aryan, I don’t want to disturb your work and I can take the car if it makes you feel better.”

 He could see just how anxious she was to get out of the house with out him. “Ok but if you need anything call me.”

She breathed a sigh of relief before smiling at him and exiting their room. Aryan had continued to work until he heard the front door close. He then grabbed his keys and followed his wife to see why she didn’t want him to accompany her. He had managed to follow her undetected to a roadside dabba and what he saw made his blood boil. There was his Imlie hugging a strange man! Not just any man, a handsome man that could easily make her smile. He forced himself to stay calm. The last time he had judged Imlie it had been disastrous.

He chose to drive away not being able to bear the sight of them two being so happy. He would let Imlie tell him herself about the little rendezvous’ she’s been having with this man. No matter how hard he tried not to think about them two he just couldn’t and soon began to panic. What if Imlie was in love with this man and because of the contact she couldn’t be with him? What if she had loved this man all this time and him and Mayank were only thorns on their love? Just because she said she didn’t have an affair with Mayank it doesn’t mean she wasn’t in a relationship. And then came the thought that destroyed the great ASR; he had said he loved her but she hadn’t said it back.

Waiting for Imlie to come back home was agonising. By the time Imlie had finally got home, he restrained himself from grabbing her and demanding some answers.

“Aryan, I need to talk to you.” She said nervously. Aryan had prepared himself for all kind of worst case scenarios but now that the time had come, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He motioned for her to continue.

“I know you’re probably wondering why I didn’t want you to come along with me to meet my friend.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Well you see, my childhood friend has come back to India to put his wife’s ashes in the Ganges and since I haven’t seen him in a while and he was in India, I thought I’d go meet up with him.” Aryan let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I didn’t want you to come because he is still very emotional about his wife’s death and he just needed to talk to someone he knew, if you came it would’ve been really awkward for him. I’m sorry Ar-” But before she could finish he had engulfed her in a hug.

“Is that all?” He asked after a while.

“Umm yes. Why?”

“No reason.” He said grinning.

Aryan smiled at the memory. He still couldn’t believe how he had over reacted seeing Imlie with another man. Aryan was interrupted in his thoughts when he heard the poolside doors side open. He turned to see his young wife holding out a glass of milk to him. He quickly drank the milk and pulled her into their room.

“Imlie I know what I said about the contract but I really do love you. And I know that there’s only 2 hours left before you won’t be my wife anymore but you need to know that I love you and trust you completely. If you do choose to leave after the contract is over, I promise I won’t chase you and I’ll let you go. The divorce papers are on the table, sign them before you go, if you choose to go. Do you understand Imlie?”

“Yes Aryan.”

“Good. Will you let me make love to you for perhaps the last time?” She nodded and he complied.

The next morning Aryan woke up slightly groggy but thoroughly satisfied that he still had a wife. He was then given the shock of his life when he’s wife wasn’t in the bed beside him. Dread filled his entire being. He opened the wardrobe to find all her belongings gone. He checked the bathroom and none of her toiletries were there. He glanced at the table where the divorce paper were and felt physically sick. He stumbled over to it and saw that there was an envelope and his mother’s bangles along with a signed divorce paper. His world came crumbling down when he saw this and his shaky fingers opened the letter.

Dear Aryan,

By the time you read this I’ll be long gone. You might be feeling a bit groggy and that is because I mixed sleeping pills in your milk. Please forgive me but I had to pack and leave quickly and quietly and I didn’t want to disturb you. I have completed the full 6 months and now leave you in peace. Please don’t ruin my sister’s marriage or pursue me. I’ve left for several reasons not just because our contract has ended. I’m young Aryan, too young to be married. I’ve always wanted to continue my education but I couldn’t because of our financial problem, but now I can. I want to see the world and do all sorts of crazy things that young people do. I know what you’re thinking, how is she going to do all that if she doesn’t have any money? Don’t worry about that Aryan, in fact don’t worry about me. Forget all about me and the times we’ve had, it’ll be easier for everyone this way. There’s one last reason I need to leave. I can’t bear to see Rupy everyday as I feel guilty about the whole  ordeal. This way she doesn’t have to be constantly reminded of the woman her husband wanted. Before you start your search for me because I know you’ll at least try to find me, ask yourself one question; who do I love more, Imlie or Rupy? If the answer’s Rupy, then don’t try and find me, live your life and forget about me. If the answer’s me, then don’t try to find me because this is what I want. And if you truly love me you’ll respect my wish. I return your mother’s bangles to you in hope they find their rightful owner. I wish you all the happiness in the world and I hope you achieve all your goals in life. I love you and have always loved you and only you.

Yours Imlie.

Of course Aryan had gone completely berserk after he saw the papers, read the letter and found the bangles. It had taken all the staff, Nishant and Sundar to restrain him. Aryan Singh Rathore never admits defeat, so he calmed down and drove to the Tripathi residence. She wasn’t there but they did know of her whereabouts and no amount of pleading, begging and threatening made them tell him where she was. He returned to RM and started grilling Arpita for information but she wasn’t budging and when he started to get a bit violent, Nishant had roughly removed him from his room. Since no one was telling him anything, he hired the best private detectives in the country to look for her.

I will find you Imlie, he vowed. And sure enough the detective found her whereabouts in Mumbai, she was staying with someone called Dev Malik. Further investigation on the man suggested that he was her childhood friend and that he had come to India to put his wife’s ashes in the Ganges. Satisfied with the fact that she was safe and with someone that she knew, he stopped monitoring her.

“Well Imlie, you got your wish, I won’t pursue you anymore. But I’m confident that one way or another you’ll come back to me. Until then I will love you till the end of time.”