Complexity Of Relationships

Hi All,
Today I am going to post a really long story, one of my first writings. Please let me know your valuable feedback, it will be a great encouragement to me.

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There was once a beautiful lady, her name was Shabana. Shabana was a carefree independent cheerful girl. She was always surrounded by friends and was a very socially active person. She loved hanging around with friends. On the other hand, she did not have a very good relationship with her parents, it was always bitter conversations whenever she wanted to talk and ended up in heated arguments and fights. Shabana never wanted to stay at home and the moment she got admission in a renowned University, she left home praying that she should never return back.

There was this young shy boy, who came from a middle class family with a modest background who also took admission in the same University. His name was Rahul. Rahul was an introvert and was very grounded, he did not have many friends and hesitated talking to people. He had a very loving and caring family and he was very attached to his parents and little sister. He was an over-protective brother and always cared for the needs of his parents and younger sister.

Shabana and Rahul were in the same department and used to exchange greetings. Shabana used to make fun of Rahul as she was always with lot of friends and Rahul was most of the time immersed in his studies and avoided people. Rahul also did not much like Shabana due to the way she used to mingle with everyone, always giggling and laughing, never serious about her studies.

Days passed, Shabana and Rahul were partnered in assignments and projects and started knowing each other. This is when Shabana realized Rahul's nature and started admiring him for being so caring and helpful. Rahul also started liking her and when he came to know about the kind of background she had, he understood her more. Months passed, Rahul and Shabana became very good friends and started developing strong emotions for each other. Rahul wanted to give Shabana the best of family which she always wanted but could never get. He wanted to fill the void of her life and they started dreaming of a perfect happy family.

Once Rahul's parents visited his University and Rahul introduced them to Shabana, Shabana liked Rahul's family a lot, the kind of bonding and love each one had for each other mesmerized her. She had always yearned for such a family but never got one. Her parents were staying away from each other due to circumstances and always fought with each other on any trivial issue. Shabana's family members could not stand each other at all, and Shabana hated going home for even for those vacations. She longed for the vacation to end and when she would meet Rahul. On the other hand, Rahul used to be very happy, back at home with his family on vacation and they used to go on outings and spent very good time together.

Rahul was a very caring person and wanted to give the best to Shabana. The kind of life she always wanted a cozy happy small family full of happiness and love. Days passed, they completed their studies, Shabana told her parents that she wanted to get married to Rahul. There was a very cold reaction from them as if they never cared to whom she got married or what she was going to do. Rahul also discussed about his relation with Shabana and expressed his desire to get married to Shabana.

Rahul's parents though very understanding were not happy because of Shabana being a Muslim and they being Hindu. They belonged to a conservative family and never wanted to go against their community, but at the same time they did not want to dis-hearten their son. So they agreed, both families little apprehensive but got both Rahul and Shabana married.

Rahul and Shabana were on top of the world as if they had achieved everything in life. Rahul used to feel guilty of hurting his parents and going against the norms of their society, but he wanted Shabana more than anything in his life. He loved her very much. His parents understood his feelings and always supported him in whatever way they could.

Days passed by, months passed by....Rahul and Shabana were happy in their new life, they went on holidays often and had a very romantic happy life, both enjoyed each other's company. After sometime, Shabana used to invite friends very often over weekends; on festivals and birthdays, she loved having lot of friends around whereas Rahul always wished to cherish those moments with Shabana alone. He wanted to have a simple private life and enjoy with Shabana. But most of the times he gave in to Shabana wishes, and behaved like a good host. Most of the weekends when Rahul wanted to spend time together, Shabana wanted to plan for outings with friends. Things got changed and gradually Rahul started feeling lonely and left out. Shabana on the other hand became more active socially and was always chatting with friends on
social network or on phone, always giggling and laughing and making fun of others. Rahul felt like a stranger in his own house. Things went on like this for some time like this and then they had a Baby. Both loved this moment, and though they knew they were drifting apart, there was a strong feeling that this new bond would heal their relation and bring them close together once more.

Then one day, Shabana who had taken a break from work got a very good offer from a top Publishing house. She always loved writing and this offer was a dream come true for her. But the only problem was it was in a different city and Rahul was doing good in his career, he did not have the option to lose his job and join her in that city. Shabana was very excited about her job, but Rahul though he admired was not sure how to manage. Shabana was a very confident and strong girl, he believed her and she took the toughest decision of going and staying in that city with the new born baby. The baby whose name they kept as Rehan was only 6 months old. Shabana gave Rahul the confidence that she will be able to manage. With lot of skepticism and mixed feelings, Shabana went out to venture her new life.

Rahul used to visit often and sometime Shabana visited him. Rehan started growing and Shabana and Rahul became busy in their new lives. For Rahul, it was a big void in his life. He was emotionally very attached to Shabana and loved her more than anything in his life. He missed her every moment. Shabana loved her new job, place and was very excited about everything that was happening in her life. Her writings were well appreciated by everyone.

One fine day, a handsome cheerful guy shifted in a flat in the same apartment as Shabana. Rehan was now 2 years old, very adorable kid, quickly caught the attention of Jake, the handsome neighbor. Jake and Shabana used to exchange greetings on their way to Office in morning and evenings and Rehan liked the way Jake used to make funny faces and smiled. Rehan used to tell his mom, "Mommy Can I play with Jake". Shabana was like perplexed, "No Rehan, you shouldn't disturb anyone, I will play with you in the evening". Jake who heard the conversation said, "Don't bother about me, I wouldn't mind at all, I stay alone only and would love to accompany Rehan, You can leave him with me anytime he want to play, I'd rather enjoy". Shabana had no option but to say "Okay, Thanks!"

The next day after work, Shabana went to Jake's flat and left Rehan at his place and was about to leave when Jake said, "You seem tired, why don't you have a cup of coffee". Shabana was like "No it's fine, I'll go home and get refreshed, I'll pick up Rehan in sometime." Jake insisted that while Rehan is playing she can relax for couple of minutes here. Shabana obliged. Jake's made hot coffee, Shabana felt very refreshed and admired his gentleness. After an hour, Shabana and Rehan left.

That night Rehan kept talking about Jake, how they played with the car and jumped from the sofa. Shabana kept thinking and was happy for her son. Next day again, Rehan insisted he wanted to play with Jake, Shabana took him and again Shabana and Jake had some light talk over coffee while Rehan was playing. This became a routine now, everyday after work they used to chit chat about funny things and all the day's happenings. Over weekends, Jake used to go to Shabana's place and helped the mother and son with groceries and some household chores. Shabana started enjoying the company of Jake and Rehan also loved playing with Jake.

Once in a while, Shabana and Rahul used to visit each other, the visits were becoming more irregular now and formal, as Rahul was also getting busy in his work and Shabana also had busy schedule. When Shabana used to be in Rahul's place, most of the time she was with her laptop or mobile. The husband and wife hardly were having time for each other. Rahul loved Rehan and wanted to spend more time with him, he worked very hard so that he could move back to Shabana and Rehan and they could stay together once again. But Shabana was distancing herself, she was more pre-occupied with her work, writings, Jake and his social network that she started ignoring Rahul more often. The daily phone calls were reduced from minutes to a few seconds exchanging courtesies and Rehan became a mediator of their communications. When Rahul wanted to discuss anything, it ended up in arguments and misunderstandings. Even when they were together, when Rahul tried to be close to Shabana, she used to step back, saying she was either too tired or she had a very awful day.


Few days later, Shabana went on a holiday to Rahul's place and had asked Jake to accompany her and Rehan. Rahul hosted well, and did not want to spoil the situation once again, but it was very uncomfortable for him seeing Shabana always hang around and taking pics with Jake and Rehan. Shabana even posted her pics with Jake and Rehan to which Rahul received lot of taunts from his friends. Rahul used to brush off these remarks as he was the kind of person who disliked outsiders entering his family life.

Once, when Shabana visited Rahul, at night he saw the light turned on in the next room. He went over and saw Shabana working on her laptop with a gleaming smile. He just bent over to kiss and asked what kept her up so late, she fumbled and minimized the tabs on her laptop screen, and said, she had some important deadline for an article. She asked Rahul to go and sleep, she will join once she's done. Rahul saw her cold reaction to his affection and left the room wondering what might be keeping her so aloof all the time. Before she saw him, she was smiling and immediately had to close all her work. Suspicion grew in his mind. But he never said anything. After finishing her work, Shabana came to the bedroom, gave Rahul a hug and then turned the other side and slept. Rahul tried to bend over her to which she turned back saying she needs some rest as she would be traveling back in the morning.

The next morning, Rahul sneaked into her laptop and chat history and saw that she had a chat with Jake last night and was taken aback. Though the chat was casual, the kind of relation they both had and the chit chats they have, there was nothing wrong in what they chatted, but the conversation continued for long, in between gaps in which probably Shabana completed her work. It appeared as if Shabana wanted someone to accompany her while she finished her article and who better than Jake could virtually accompany her, who knew her so very well and had been her best buddy now. They kept chatting till Shabana completed her work. Rahul was upset and did not take this in the right spirit.

Next day, he confronted her that what had kept her so late last night, to which Shabana replied, "I already told you, I had a deadline to meet and was working to complete it". Rahul said, "If it was so important and you were short of time, how did you manage to have such lengthy conversations with your friend." To this, Shabana was totally taken aback,"Did you sneak into my account and read my chat conversations, How could you do this Rahul?" Rahul said, "Look sweetheart, I am your husband and I have every right to know whats going on in your life, for the past many days, I am seeing lot of changes in you". Shabana was very furious by this time and wanted to leave the house immediately. Rahul said,"You cannot leave like this, we need to talk". Shabana said," What is there to talk, you don't trust me, I said in your absence how much Jake cares for both of us and you doubt his intentions". Rahul felt a little guilty at the same time angry," I agree I should not sneak into your private conversations, but as a husband , do I not have the right to know about my wife?". Shabana snapped back, "NO, I do not allow anybody to enter my personal space, its my personal life and I hate being questioned for it. I will not allow anybody to interfere with my personal life". Saying this she left with Rehan. The next few days passed by with both of them not talking to each other. Rahul used to call, Rehan used to talk and he hung up. After a few days, Rahul visited Shabana and things were normal, they exchanged common greetings and spoke bare minimum. Once the weekend was over, Rahul left and Shabana was back to normal life. She relied on Jake for her emotional needs and confided in him, Jake being a gentleman consoled her and said, it will be alright.
Things never were normal between Rahul and Shabana, however much Rahul tried coming close to Shabana, she distanced herself from him.

After some months, Jake went on a long holiday, he returned married. His parents had got him married to their family friend's daughter who was doing her higher studies in a distant place. Jake's spouse had around 2 years to complete her studies, after which she would join her husband, so she stayed in the hostel even after marriage. Jake's came back only with his status changed as Married and nothing else changed. Shabana was happy for Jake, and they pretty much lived the same way as they lived earlier. Like before, Jake used to prepare dinner for her, sometimes Shabana prepared his favorite dishes, Rehan enjoyed playing with Jake, everything was normal. Shabana now started talking less about Jake in front of Rahul, and became more conscious of her mobile and laptop whenever Rahul was around. She used to always make sure she is not talking or chatting with Jake in his presence and used to take more time in
washrooms to complete her chats and conversations with Jake. Rahul also never initiated that topic, lest it made everyone uncomfortable. Though he was not getting Shabana's attention or affection, he still continued to love her.

One day, when Rahul called up Rehan, he was having his usual chat with him, Rehan said,"Daddy do you know I have made a boat yesterday, Jake taught me to make". Rahul said, "Oh that's really nice, next time I am there I will show you how to make a twin boat", Rehan immediately replied, "Daddy, Jake already showed me how to make a twin boat, we rode that boat all over mommy's body last evening, it went up and down all over her body while she was snoring". Rahul said, "What mommy was sleeping while you were playing is it?". Rehan said, " Yes she sleeps everyday in Jake's house while we both play." I told Jake yesterday,"Lets run this boat on Mommy and Jake said," Don't disturb Mommy, she is very tired". I said, " No I want to play with mommy", so Jake said, "Ok lets quietly play" and I and Jake ran it all over Mommy's body, you know "Mommy was snoring and the boat went up and down". "Then what happened", asked Rahul. Rehan replied, "Nothing, mommy got up, had her coffee and we came back home".

Rahul, kept thinking the whole night, he was unable to sleep. He couldn't bring himself to believe that his wife and some stranger were so close that she could go to someone else's house and sleep. He felt like a total stranger because Shabana hardly spoke to him about Jake or for that matter, anything going on in her office, her work nothing she discussed these days. All her articles had public comments by Jake, Rahul being an introvert only admired Shabana's writings, but never commented in public forums. Rahul thought of discussing with Shabana about Jake's involvement in their lives, but feared having another big fight and another round of misunderstandings. Rahul in fact wanted to share a good news with her that he got a promotion in his job and a transfer as Branch Manager in the same city as Shabana was. So very soon the whole family could stay together, how much he longed to unite with his family all these years.

Next day he forgot about all the thoughts of last night and called Shabana about the big news. Shabana was overwhelmed and Rahul was on top of the world. But somewhere at the back of their mind, they both had lot of thoughts revolving about coming together again.


After having known all this, will Rahul be able to trust his wife completely and knowing the kind of nature she has, would he be able to live the same life happily with her again after 7 years of staying apart. Out of these 7 years she had been close to Jake for almost 5 years, so it was a difficult choice for Rahul. On the other hand, would it be easy for Shabana to have a comfortable relation with Rahul once again. She was an independent woman running her own life, emotionally attached to a stranger, and totally detached from her husband and did not like the nagging from her husband, would it be easy for her to lead a happy life with Rahul once again. Would she be able to erase the imprints that Jake had made in all these years in her life and lead a normal life. Even she knew that after sometime Jake would go back to his wife and she would have to return to her husband. But would the couple ever be happy or it would be a compromising life for the sake of their son. Would it not impact the little boy. Who is to be blamed here for this whole turn of events and what could have been done to prevent situations going this far.


Eagerly waiting for the comments and a logical conclusion to this story. Thanks for reading

 

Thank you so much Arunarc for liking my story and your valuable feedback.
Yes Shabana has to start afresh with Rahul, but somehow I feel sorry for Rahul, he never invited all this in his peaceful life.

 

Thank you so much Dishaa for liking the post and your feedback.

 

Hi Dishaa,
The characters are based on true events , would love to get your perspective on the characters, what do you think about the relationships and situations.