The courthouse loomed ahead. She surreptitiously checked her rearview
mirror, and this time she could not beat down her worry. An ancient
and rusted brown Maruti was still behind her. Feeling the blood drain
from her face, Bhavi restrained herself from turning in her seat and
finding out who her follower was. That would fully compromise her own
identity.
There was only one explanation. Mr. Kaante had trumped her deception –
  he had never been asleep.
Nothing could be done about that now, Bhavi knew. He could try and
follow her, but he couldn't stop her. Clutching the purse with the
necessary paperwork inside, Bhavi waited in her car. Bleakly, she saw
the Maruti park nearby. Nothing could be gained from hiding. Putting
up her chin, she decided to get out of her car. From the corner of
her eye, she saw that a large man emerged from the Maruti.
He was not Mr. Kaante.
Before the sigh of relief could come, the world tilted as she
realized that her father must have hired more than one bodyguard.
More likely, he had hired an army of them. Well, if she had drugged
one of them, maybe she could try hand-to-hand combat with this one.
Discarding that last thought, she steadily walked towards the
courthouse steps. No need to show fear. Poise, outward poise, she
repeated to herself.
"Suniye…(Hello)?" A man's voice called out to her.
She stopped mid-stride, and without thinking, started running. The
man's voice rose higher behind her, but she didn't dare turn around.
  His eyes widened as he caught his first sight of her. With the sun
blazing in his eyes, she could very well have been a mirage. A
trembling mirage, he suddenly realized, as he saw her start to run.
He struggled to call her name, but the word stuck in his throat. No,
the word Bhairavi stuck somewhere in the proximity of his ribs.
She stopped running as soon as her frantic gaze caught him standing
at the very top of the steps that lined the front of the antiquated
courthouse. Very easily, every thought meandered out of her head,
replaced by a simple awareness. Steadying one shivering hand to catch
hold of her sari, she began to climb towards him.
Was she floating? Surely, her feet were not touching the stone steps?
The first step towards her was taken almost without Avirat's
knowledge. When I see you, he wanted to whisper, I become a rambling
poet. All these images and phrases form in my head. They're
beautiful, so divine and pure. But nothing ever slips out. A poet
without words.  You make me that.
Bhavi climbed the stairs as he descended to meet her, and they met in
the middle.
It was when she stood directly beside him, that Avirat knew the very
words he wanted to say to her.
	 "Be my…" He lost himself, drowning in the eyes that spoke
their own language, feeling himself weak, as if he would fall to his
knees.
	 "What?" she whispered, a half-formed expectation awakening
itself inside of her.
	 They stood too close to each other on that narrow step,
feeling, yet not understanding. Only when reality snapped its fingers
did they each have the presence of mind to step away from one
another.
	 "Be my guest," he softly, almost sadly told her, gallantly
extending his arm to lead the way.
	 Bhavi wanted to stop him, to ask, but she quieted the impulse
and followed him to a room that contained three others: Chutki,
Babuji and the judge. With the arrival of Avirat and Bhavi, the party
was only missing her father.
	 It was then that the burly man stormed through the half-open
doors of the courtroom. The instant Bhavi caught sight of his face,
she knew what was about to happen. Feeling her cheeks reddening, she
took wobbly steps forward and stopped the owner of the Maruti.
             "I-I can explain…Mr. Kaa – "
             "Oh, don't worry about it! I practiced all my lines three
times!"
             The grin he was wearing could hardly be seen under his
very large, very bushy mustache. Stepping past Bhavi, he approached
the younger woman standing beside Avirat, and announced, "Lo beti
mein aa gaya! Aur ye Avirat hoga, na? Kya hatta khatta naujawan hai…
mujhe to bahut pasand aa gaya! Ab chal, Avirat aur teri shaadi kar
de. (Look daughter, I have come! And this here must be Avirat, right?
What a strong, young man he looks to be…I like him very much! Now
come, let's get you and Avirat married)"
	 "Kya (What)!?" a flabbergasted Chutki almost screamed.
             "Kyu beti? Kya tumhe vishvaas nahin ho raha hai ki mujhe
Avirat ko apna jamaai banaane mein koi itraaz nahin hai…? (Why,
daughter? Can you not believe that I am willing to make Avirat my son-
in-law?)"
             "Vishvaas (Believe)?" Chutki miserably voiced, eying her
brother, "Vishvaas mujhe nahin, Babuji ko karna hai…(It's not me who
has to believe, but Babuji…)"
             Before Chutki could finish, and mostly to cover up her
words, Avirat spoke up,  "Sir, let introduce you to my Babuji, and
this here is my `sister', Chutki."
             "Kya (What)?" the shocked man stammered, repeating the
same reaction Chutki had earlier displayed. "Tumhaari behan hai ye to…
(If this is your sister, then…)" he muttered, swiveling to see the
other young woman in the room.
             "Bhavari!" He shouted as a greeting, striding towards a
queasy looking Bhavi and putting his arm around her.
             At this, a stunned Bhavi could only shoot a decidedly
scared look to Avirat.
             "Bhavari?" Babuji finally interjected, "Beti (Daughter),
I thought your name was Bhairavi."
             "Pet name! It's, um, her pet name," Avirat nearly
shouted, his desperation evident.
             "Bhairavi!" the other man loudly repeated, focusing his
gaze on Bhavi as he frantically added, "Mujhe lagta hai ki tum Avirat
ke saath bahut khush rahogi. Dekho kitna chalaak ladka hai…(I think
you will be very happy with Avirat. Look what a clever young man he
is…)"
             Bhavi, struggling under the weight of the heavy man's
arm, had by now figured out the game. She shot an exasperated look
towards Avirat. "Chalaak ya badmaash…? (Clever or devilish?)" she
mumbled to herself.
             A stony silence followed this, as everyone waited for
Babuji to see through the whole charade. But, they say marriages are
made somewhere beyond the clouds. And this one, false or true, was
definitely a pre-decided one.
             The next time Bhavi saw the stone steps where she had
stood just an hour ago, she was a married woman. New names were now
attached to her person. Bahu, bhabhi aur biwi*. (Wife, Sister-in-Law,
Daughter-in-Law). She squirmed when she thought about the hollowness
of it all.
	 "Beti…meri beti…(Daughter, my daughter…)" her assumed father
affectionately cried, his arm around her, as Bhavi realized that she
would even have to pretend suffering.
	 "Father," Bhavi returned brokenly, taking in the full impact
of her guilt and feeling the tears coming easily.
	 Avirat put his hand on her shoulder, and she could feel his
remorse, tangibly. Then, leaning over her, he whispered something
quickly to her "father", something that sounded like, "Ten o'clock."
             With the removal of her "father" from the party, the
Bharadwajs' led her to the borrowed car they had come in. Drowning in
self-mortification, she quietly went through all the traditions
required of a newly-wedded wife entering her husband's house. It was
nearly nine by the time they finished all the welcoming and sat down
to an awkward dinner. Afterwards, Bhavi flushed even deeper when
Babuji slyly pointed them towards Avirat's bedroom, waiting till they
had closed the door behind them.
	 Stretched garlands of jasmine and roses had been hung over
and around the bed. Both Avirat and Bhavi eyed it and tried not to
show their embarrassment. Each decided to be rational, but when they
abruptly turned towards each other, Bhavi's arm brushed past Avirat's
chest. And stunning electricity charged between them.
             "I, uh, need…" Bhavi began, quite forgetting the rest of
her sentence.
            "Need…" He said lingeringly.
            She opened her mouth, but just then, they heard a
shuffling sound outside the bedroom door. Avirat, instinctively
clamped his hand on Bhavi's mouth, stopping her from making any
noise. Instead of becoming anxious, or even attuned to the noise,
Bhavi felt the warmth of his hand on her face. The scent of jasmine
stole into her and instead of pulling his hand away, she found
herself swaying closer to him.
	 If it wasn't for the toll of the grandfather clock, well, she
didn't want to think about what could have happened. The chimes
penetrated the haze that they had drifted into, and each pulled back.
	 "Leave," Avirat murmured, finishing her former sentence, "You
need to get back."
	 Some sensible portion of her brain agreed to his suggestion,
as she watched him listen at the door for further noises. When there
was none, he stalked towards the windows and threw them open.
	 To leave, they would have to get down two stories. Bhavi let
out a pent up breath, as she raked a hand through her hair and
considered Avirat with incredulity.
            "I'm not a rock climber and neither am I stupid," She
finally told him, "What do you plan to do?"
            "You mean out of those two choices?" Avirat shot back at
her with a lazy grin, "Take the stupid way, but do it smartly."
           "Oh yeah, I married the chaalak ladka (clever boy) right?"
Bhavi retorted with a playful grin, referring to what her pretend
father had announced at the courthouse.
	 He smiled up at her, and without thought let his fingers move
lightly over her curved lips. The touch rendered Bhavi immobile.
	 "We, ah, we better get started. We don't have much time,"
Avirat hesitantly explained, pulling a coil of rope from under the
bed.
	 Without further explanation, he pulled the rope around her
waist and tied it firmly in a knot. They other end, he tied and
wrapped around his arm. They tested the strength of the knot, and
then Avirat leaned out the window and gave three sharp knocks against
the side of it. A few moments later, they heard three identical
knocks from below.
	 About a hundred questions formed in Bhavi's mind. Before she
could voice them, Avirat put a finger on her lips to quiet her. With
resolute determination, he spoke.
	 "I know that life has acquainted us in the strangest way,
then put us in circumstances we could have never imagined. It's true
that we hardly know each other, so separated are our situations. But,
I want you to know that I would never hurt you. I will keep you safe,
Bhavi. Do you trust my promise?"
	 She returned his gaze, her face illuminated by moonlight.
Barely managing to nod, she placed her hand in his proffered hand and
watched him lay it against his heart.
	 Avirat did not know how long they stood there, but perhaps a
few minutes later, he was explaining the method of Bhavi's trip down
the side of his building. He would be holding on to the ropes that
would let her down. And she would be using the balcony railings on
either side of the window to steady herself. At the bottom, the actor
from the courthouse would be waiting for her.
	 Bhavi climbed over the window with his help, gazing at the
concentration on Avirat's face. He held the rope fiercely. And she
was again reassured that he would keep her safe. At the bottom, the
actor caught her and untied her ropes.
How would Avirat get down? Before she could stammer a question, she
saw Avirat agilely use the railings to make his way down. He didn't
even need a rope.
	 "He's done this before, hasn't he?" She voiced, a question
more for herself.
	 "With Avirat's reputation – well, he must be an expert on
climbing in an out of windows!" The burly man answered with a
chuckle, and then looked frightfully uneasy as if he had said
something he should not have.
	 Bhavi turned to ask him what he meant, but was stopped by
Avirat's soft landing beside her. With quick and noiseless steps,
they went around the old building and headed for the car that
Avirat's friend had brought with him.
	 With sincere gratitude, Bhavi shook the man's hand. He, in
turn, placed his hand on her head, and gave her his blessings.
	 "Munnabhai…" Avirat began, and the two men grinned and
clapped each other on the back.
	 With that, Avirat and Bhavi got in the car and speeded
through the empty roads towards her house. In the car, their
conversation concerned their future stratagems. Avirat explained that
she would have to return for Bahu bhoj (Meal cooked by Bride) in the
morning. Afterwards, Munnabhai would call Babuji and explain that
Bhavi's dying aunt's last wish was for niece to stay with her.
	 "That way, Babuji won't suspect why you're not living with
me."
	 With us, Avirat meant to say. Living with us. He could see
her ashen face, and cursed himself for being its cause. The car
stopped by the stone fence near the back of the house. Avirat got
out, effortlessly lifting Bhavi over the fence. She didn't say a word
through all this, remaining distantly thoughtful. He climbed over the
fence to join her.
	 "I think, we've given Babuji plenty to suspect, but he plain
doesn't want to," Bhavi began, her voice so low he could barely hear
her, "The courthouse sham. The-the night before when you announced
that my father was out of town and then five minutes later pretended
that he was waiting at home for me…Babuji is closing his eyes to it
all."
	 "It was a sham, wasn't it?" Avirat murmured, as they stood
just outside the orchard behind her house.
	 She knew that he wasn't referring to Munnabhai's comic
confusion at the courthouse. He was referring to the document that
they had both so mindlessly signed.
	 "On paper," she whispered, then embarrassedly continued, "I-I
better go. Goodnight, Avirat."
	 He stared at her for another long moment. "Bhavi, I think it
would be better that we don't confuse what's on paper with what's
real. That kind of confusion wouldn't help either of us."
	 Without saying another word (why did he never say goodbye?)
he turned on his heel, leaving her standing staring after him. She
heard the soft jingle of the Porsche's keys in his hand as he
resolutely jumped over the fence and disappeared. His manner, she
realized, seemed altogether indifferent. The orchard loomed on one
side of her, and within it danced the memories of a different night,
not so long ago.