BATTLE OF LOVE (completed)

CHAPTER 22

Dharani's POV:

It's almost 9:00 in the evening and the training ended. I've noticed that Priya started regretting her decision. I knew she would. She loves Deepak to the core and that's the reason I was hesitant to put him behind bars.

"Dharani, can you do me a favor?" she asked me. I don't want to put false hopes in her. There is nothing in my hands now. Every decision should be made with mutual consent and Arjun would never agree to release Deepak.

"I am sorry," I said before she could even ask, "I cannot do anything about Deepak. It's too late."

"But I want him. Please, Dharani help me. You are my friend," she said with tears in her eyes.

"I am so sorry Priya," I said placing my hands on her shoulders, "You know right. Every decision should be made with mutual consent and Arjun would never agree on this."

"But he is your husband and he loves you. Don't you think he would listen to you?"

"He won't," I said, "You know Arjun right. Justice and standing for the right is everything for him. He won't even let you take your complaint back."

"That's right," Arjun added from behind. He was eavesdropping on our conversation? Since when? Oh yeah, we were loud enough for him to hear and he is not far behind.

"I am sorry Priya but Deepak will have to stay in there till tomorrow afternoon," he added, "you can meet him and spend time with him if you want to as long as it is not more than an hour."

Priya looked down and a tear dropped from her eye.

"Priya please," I said, "Don't cry. It's just a matter of a few hours."

Priya wiped her tears and we went to meet Deepak, all three of us.

In prison (Outside Deepak's cell)

Dharani's POV:

"Deepak!" Priya called to her husband who was playing with the patterns on the floor. He immediately looked up and smiled.

"I am sorry, Priya," he said as he stood up and walked towards the cell door.

"You guys might want to talk in private. We will leave," I said as I signaled Arjun to come out with me. We waited outside and Priya came out after a while.

"Feeling better," I asked. Priya smiled.

"He realized his mistake and that's all I want," she said and I offered her to stay in the guest room so that she feels better and could meet Deepak again first thing in the morning. She spent only 15 minutes inside so she still had 45 minutes left. She happily agreed to stay with me.

Suddenly I realized that Arjun is missing and the first thing that came into my mind was the prison. OMG, what if he went in and did something to Deepak. I asked Priya to go to my room and walked back to the Deepak's cell and what I saw shocked me.

Arjun was talking to Deepak in a calm and peaceful way.

"See I kept my promise. I united both of you," he said.

I was shocked. What the hell? Am I dreaming or something?

"Is that the reason you arrested me?" Deepak asked with a sign of hope. He was hoping Arjun would release him. I knew he won't and I was right.

"One of the reasons," Arjun said, "The main reason, however, is that you abused your wife which is indeed a crime to be arrested for."

Deepak remained silent and Arjun continued.

"Fights happen, I know," he said. "There hasn't been a day where I haven't fought with my wife or teased her. There is a limit, however. You can argue but with mutual respect and on valid points. Abusing after getting drunk is one of the worse things to do."

Did he just say 'my wife' instead of Dharani?

"I honestly didn't know what I was doing, sir," Deepak said, "I was totally drunk."

"That should be the last time, Deepak" Arjun warned. "Never again should I see you getting so drunk. Your addiction might ruin your relationship someday if it's not under control."

"Yes, sir," Deepak said and Arjun turned around only to find me looking at him with admiration.

He was a little surprised.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"I actually thought you were going to do something to Deepak.....so...I came to check...but.... actually....." I paused.

"Go ahead," he said looking into my eyes and smiling lightly.

"You are not as evil as I thought," I said.

"I am actually a very good person, Dharani," he smiled. "It's just that you have the ability to see goodness even in criminals but not in your husband."

I smiled and it was involuntary. I kind of liked it when he referred to himself as my husband and me as his wife. But why? Maybe I've fallen for him.

"Do you drink?" I ask in an attempt to divert my brain.

"Of course not," he said, "my job demands me to be alert all the time. You don't drink either right?"

"How do you know?"

"Such an innocent face you have," he said still looking into my eyes and slightly moving a bit forward, "There is no way you could drink."

I smiled more and we stared into each other's eyes for a while before we hear the 10 pm alarm. We quickly retreated.

"Good night, Dharani," Arjun said, "I want to end this meeting before something happens and we start arguing again."

"Good night," I said and we walked back to our rooms. 

That's the harsh reality of our situation. We might want to love each other and be with each other but one complaint or one disagreement is all it takes for us to get separated and fight again. 

(Hey guys! Thank you so much for making it till here. So the next chapter will be published on 30 November 2018 (Sorry for the delay but I have continuous exams till then). So please do come back and please vote and comment and if possible wish me all the best. I made a target regarding these exams which I have to fulfill at any cost and I kind of believe that if more people wish for something good to happen it would happen for sure (when worked hard for which believe I did). So please wish me. Thank you and love you all.