Love within reason

Only in the darkness can you see the stars...

- Martin Luther King Jr

Her grandfather always said that life is not a bed of roses. As it unfolds, there will be joy and sorrow, pain and gain, happiness and sadness, success and failure.

But he probably forgot about the exceptional people who never got to experience the positive part of life, Aarti mused; he probably didn't know such people existed because he was always a ray of sunshine, she thought as she waited outside the marriage registration office.

The wait almost felt like an eternity and she clutched her hands in anticipation about what would happen. She bit her nails frequently, a habit she had acquired since childhood and hard to come out of.

She had almost dozed off when a man came out "you're next" he told in a crisp voice "where's your husband?"he asked looking at her.

Husband...such a beautiful word, carrying a lot of impact on her life..she stared into the blank space. She could hear distant sounds of vehicles honking, the noises of vendors screeching and yelling at the customers, the crawing of the crows. She blinked, where the hell am I?

"Ma'am?"she turned "huh?" He stared "your husband, is he here?" She nodded "he should be here..he must have gone to..withdraw money".

"We already have few more couples waiting...if he can't come soon we'll have to cancel your appointment" the man was strict.

She sighed "please don't..he should be here any minute..he.." she stopped midsentence as the topic of their argument arrived.

Tall, lean and lanky, in fact too lean for his six feet height and an oversized horn rimmed glasses, with a tshirt loosely tucked in and a heavy leather jacket. He looked like he had just arrived from travelling.

And wet "I'm sorry..got stuck in the traffic" Prithvi apologized to the man "the rains are terrible this time!" He nodded, "come in fast"he said without any expression and walked in.

He exchanged a look with her which didn't portray anything except..hope "you have the photos?"she nodded "and all other documents?"

She nodded once again and he pocketed his key "let's go and get it over with". She followed him.

They entered an old and rusty office and a pale faced older man, probably in his late sixties with an oversized spectacles looked up "Mrs and Mr...?"

"Prithvi Sahay and Aarti Bhargav" he said, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his long face.

The old man nodded and motioned them to sit down, as he extended the document to him. He turned his attention to her.

"Name?

"Aarti.." she whispered impatient to get out of this dilapidated place as soon as possible.

"Mother's name?"

She hesitated "Anandi Bhargav".

"Father's name?"

She pulled herself together "is it really necessary?"she asked, her voice getting harsh.

His gaze didn't falter "yes it is..".

She held her breath. "Just tell him dammit!" Prithvi hissed beside her. She ignored his gaze.

"Harish Shekhawat"she sighed.

The old man nodded and turned to Prithvi "Prithvi Sahay" he said even before the man could open his mouth "father's name Parikshit Sahay and mother's Geetha Sahay".

"Okay..permanent residential address?"

Prithvi scratched the back of his neck, "can we give temporary instead? We're shifting to a new house and it takes time to get the new address and stuff like that..." he explained.

The other man thought for a while "alright, temporary will do". Prithvi told him while he wrote down.

"Fine..you'll get the certificate within a month" he said keeping it on the pile of other folders.

"What? A month?" She almost yelled, much to the chagrin of other two men "I mean...it's too late..don't you think?"she turned to her husband.

He clenched his fists in irritation but kept a straight face. "Please do something"she whispered.

He dug into his pant pocket and took out an envelope "please help us..we need it soon" he handed it to the older man who opened the cover to find new bundles of two thousand notes inside. Beaming, he kept it inside "don't you worry..will be done within a week". Prithvi gave a thin smile "thank you...sir".

"Call me Sengupta" the man smiled brightly "arey chotu?"he rang the bell and a small boy walked in "two cups of tea...and make it fast". Chotu nodded and ran out.

A while later, the boy came in with two glasses of tea. "Please madam..have one" he motioned the glass towards her.

Aarti stared at the glass, it was faded and she could see cracks on the edges "no thank you". Prithvi on the other hand took it and gulped easily.

"Photos and id proof please" he asked and they gave it. He regarded the young married couple in front of him "does your parents know...you got married?"he asked looking at her first.

She met his eye "I'm an orphan" she said in a serious tone. "Me too" Prithvi added hastily.

"Oh..I'm sorry..I was just curious" the older man said and smiled "well..my congratulations...you can collect the original certificate next week at the same time" he shook hands with Prithvi.

They came out of the office and out of the building. She heaved a sigh of relief and checked her watch. Prithvi was still waiting for her, hands in his pant pockets.

"Thank you" she said, not knowing what else to say "I'll go then...". He raised an eyebrow "what about my payment?"

She felt like a fool "I'm sorry I forgot..wait a second" she rummaged inside her bag and suddenly remembered "oh damn! I kept the cheque on the table! it's in my apartment"

He raised an eyebrow in bewilderment "I need down payment..now". She gave a long sigh "I told you it's at home".

"Then go home".

She gritted his teeth "fine..follow me". He looked at her in irritation "I'm getting late..my shift starts anytime now..." he glared "why don't you get it to my company office?"

"I don't know where it is" she said. He was losing his patience "I'll give you the address". She controlled her temper "can't you wait for one damn day?"

"Can't you remember one damn thing?"he seethed.

She glared at him "who the fu#k do you think you are?" she yelled "why can't you wait for a day dammit? I promised to pay you and I won't go back on my word! Now, if you want the money so badly you'll have to come with me and take it..or else just go screw yourself! What's it going to be?"

He stared at her for a long while "I'll come with you" he said finally. "Good" she muttered "I'll take a cab.. and you can follow me". He rolled his eyes "I've a bike..we can go together".

"Screw you" she said, looking at him with distaste. He shrugged "okay..suit yourself" he said. She gave a brief glance at his direction and walked towards her rented cab.

"Pathetic bitch!"he murmured incoherently as she passed but she heard it "that I am, deal with it" she snapped and walked away.

Prithvi watched her go with frustration..if only the circumstances were different, he wouldn't have gotten involved with the likes of her. But he needed her, or more importantly he needed her money.. and once his requirements were fulfilled he would flush her out of his life..

Aarti sat inside the cab, her mind racing faster...the nerve of the swindler! What does he think of himself! She could feel the anguish,the despair of having to come to this place...and dealing with people like him...she wished she were still in Dubai..her home..where she'd spent her entire life..until everything came crashing down...

She needed this guy badly..and once her requirements were fulfilled she would flush him out of her life once and for all..

At least, that's what they both thought...until life played a twisted game on them...