Another Half Of Me - Chapter 22

The car entered her lane and Roshni saw some people standing in front of her house. She lowered the window and tried her best to gather what was going on but could not even recognise a single person standing.

Rudy stopped the car in front of the house and got down. Roshni was about to get out, when he gestured her to stay put.

“I’ll check what is the matter, Ma’am. You stay in the car,” he said not liking the scene at all.

Roshni looked on as he strode briskly and authoritatively towards the crowd. She tried her best to strain her ears to hear the agitated conversation between Rudy and the men but could not. Suddenly she saw her dining table being hurled outside by her landlord’s son.

Oh my goodness, he is throwing my things away. Shit, I have not paid the rent for past 3 months. I have to talk to him. I’ll convince him to let me stay, Roshni thought getting out of the car.

Rudy saw her get out and rushed immediately towards her.

“Ma’am, please stay in the car. I’ll get this sorted out. I have already informed Bhaiji. He should be here in some time.”

“God, Rudy, why did you have to call Siddha? I can handle all this,” she said gritting her teeth and trying hard to escape from him.

Rudy cursed hard under his breath as Roshni dived through the crowd to reach the stairs of her house. Dammit, Bhaiji is going to kill me.

Sitting inside the car, Siddha tried hard to be patient. How dare he throw her things away? Remembering what Rudy had told him on the phone, he muttered something foul trying hard to control his temper. Thank god, he had send Rudy to pick Roshni up. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if she had been alone.

Sid looked at him as he shouted on Jimmy, his driver to hurry up.

“Calm down Bhai,” Sid implored looking at Siddha. “We will reach there soon.”

“Check with Karan, if he is following us or not,” Siddha said to Amit mentally picturing Roshni fighting with the landlord to keep her furniture inside and losing his patience every passing minute.

As he neared the lane of her house, he saw Rudy dragging someone away from Roshni while she tried her best to hold onto the chairs being thrown outside. Without even waiting for the car to halt, Siddha got down the moment it slowed down a bit.

Sprinting towards Roshni, he dragged the chair from her hand and kept it on the street. He looked at her landlord and gestured him to keep the dining table down. But her landlord did not listen. He threw the table on the street.

Violent anger erupted inside Siddha and he raced up the stairs, and twisted the landlord’s arm behind his back, stretching his muscles fully.

“Throw one more furniture and I’ll break your arm,” Siddha bellowed in a thundering voice.

Rudy rushed towards him and tried his best to drag Siddha away. Amit, Sid and Karan tried to disperse the crowd before Siddha did something insane.

Roshni looked at Siddha and did not recognise him. The Siddha she knew was not even there. Instead there was this man erupting with violent rage and anger. For the first time since they had met Roshni was scared to look into his eyes.

She picked up the chair, averted his eyes and went inside the house.

Letting the landlord go, Siddha watched Roshni go inside without looking at him even for a second. He gestured Rudy to get everyone inside.

Rubbing his arm, Roshni’s landlord looked at Siddha angrily and said, “Why are you beating me? Ask her where the rent is for last 3 months.”

For a second, Siddha stood motionless staring at the landlord. He turned and looked at Roshni sitting on the couch with her head bowed. Not able to believe his ears, he asked, “She hasn’t paid the rent for past 3 months?”

“No, she hasn’t. My father had warned her repeatedly about it but she never listened. What else can we do other than to throw her stuff out,” the landlord’s son said looking at Roshni in a foul manner.

“How much does your place cost?” Siddha asked sighing hard to supress his anger.

When the landlord did not understand, Siddha gestured to Karan to explain it to him clearly losing his patience slowly.

Roshni listened while Karan explained to the landlord that Siddha wanted to buy the house. Glancing at Siddha, she saw him staring at the wall. She did not want him to do all this. It wasn’t necessary. She got up and stopped Karan.

“He does not have to buy the house. I’ll pay the rent tomorrow. I do have the money. Just have to withdraw it from the bank.”

“Enough,” Siddha shouted losing it finally hearing Roshni’s words. “Tell your price,” he commanded looking at the landlord.

15 minutes later, Roshni’s landlord had a cheque in his hand for the price he had asked.

Once, he and his son left, Siddha instructed Karan to get the legal formalities done and asked everyone but Rudy to leave. Rudy looked at him apologetically, but Siddha smiled at him knowing too well that it was not his fault.

Stepping inside the bedroom, he saw Roshni standing near the window. She turned as she heard his footsteps.

“You don’t need to pick up all my tabs,” she said looking at Siddha.

Hearing her, he again felt anger bubble steadily inside him. “You are linked to me and I will not have any Tom Dick or Harry bother you like this.” When she did not budge from her stance, he continued.

“You were not paying the rent. God, Roshni, when would you have told me all this? At the last minute? This shows you don’t trust me at all. I don’t know about the past. But now that I am here in your life, I will take care of your financial issues. And, yes Roshni whether you like or not, I will pick up your tabs. Now and forever.”

Saying this, Siddha started to leave the room when Roshni stopped him.

“I am sorry. I did not mean it that way. I would have paid the rent, believe me,” she said looking at Siddha with sad eyes. She had never wanted Siddha to see her like this.

Siddha crossed the room and took her in his arms. “Sweetheart, I know you would have. I trust you, but now I am here. I am a part of your life. You are my another half. How can I bear someone treating you like this? Promise me, you will not keep secrets from me ever.”

Roshni hugged him and knew Siddha will be there no matter what. She nodded and looked up at him.

Siddha lowered his lips and kissed her. Roshni’s mouth opened instinctively answering his feverish need as he backed her towards the wall. Licking and sucking her lips, he felt Roshni grinding her hips into his.

“I want you,” Siddha said with a whimper trying to feel her. Seeing her being ill-treated by her landlord had taken the wind away from his sails. Touching her everywhere, he wanted to reassure himself that she was safe and in his arms.  

“I want you too,” Roshni replied not hiding her desire at all. She had never seen Siddha so angry before. His anger convinced her that he will not let anything happen to her and their child. He had given her everything. A family, friends and most of all himself. Right now in his arms, all she wanted was to feel secure and loved.

Siddha lowered his head connecting their lips again. This time Roshni’s tongue plunged inside his mouth and he felt his insides melting against her taste.

“Bhaiji!” Rudy called from the drawing room.

Sighing, Siddha broke away from Roshni reluctantly. Roshni buried her face in his throat trying to get her breathing normal. Hugging her hard, he kissed on the forehead and said, “You are in trouble tonight, Mrs Rajput.”

Roshni looked up and smiled. Kissing him on the cheek, she whispered in his ear, “I’ll be waiting for it, Mr. Rajput.”

 Copyright © Paromita Majumder. All Rights Reserved.