Chapter 7

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Devakshi FF: Small Moments

Part 7

"Aap!" squeaked Sonakshi!

She literally couldn't believe her eyes. When she had gotten off the bed to come open the door, she had a slight suspicion that it could be him, but she couldn't believe it once she saw him with her own eyes.

"Kyun? Main nahin ho sakta? Kisi aur ka intezaar tha?" asked Dev looking at Sonakshi with that small smile of his.

Sona just kept staring at him for a full minute before she realized that she hadn't answered his question. She cleared her throat and quickly replied "N-Nahin Mr. Dixit, woh actually itni raat ho gayi hai aur aap yahan. Isiliye surprised hoon" she replied, yet she felt happy. So, weird.

Dev decided to stop teasing Sona and nodded his head saying "Haan, raat toh kaafi ho chuki hai, par mujhey aapse kuch zaroori baat karna tha. Main andar aa jaun?" Sonakshi snapped into action saying, "Haan haan aiye naah" and mentally kicked herself for not asking him to come in earlier. Dev entered the Bose's apartment and looked around. "Cute aur cozy sa ghar hai" he thought as he sat down on the sofa and looked around. Sona went ahead and brought him a glass of water and tentatively took a seat on the sofa opposite to him. "Toh kya baat karni thi aapko Mr. Dixit, ki aap yahan aa gaye? Sab theek toh hai naah? Koi bimaar hai kya?" Sonakshi asked going into her concerned doctor mode immediately.

Dev put the glass of water down after sipping it once and replied, with his amused smile still in place, "Ms. Bose, aapko kya lagta hai? Agar koi bimaar hota toh main itney relaxed aur slow pace me aapko has haske milney aata?" and his eyes twinkled with that same mischief Sona had witnessed earlier. Sona flushed scarlet and hid her face behind her hair by looking down. This cheeky Mr. Dixit was difficult to handle. Her concentration was getting destroyed. "Focus Sona, Focus. Jo baat janna hai usi pe concentrate kar. Unki aankhon me mat dekhna" she coached herself. Keeping her eyes on the table she said "Toh real wajah kya hai Mr. Dixit. Jaldi boliye. Kal subah uthna hai mujhey. And its Dr. Bose for you" she tried saying it smartly while her heart took somersaults inside her chest. Something weird was happening. Talking to Dev, no, Mr. Dixit alone, at this hour at night, in this situation, when he was in a mood like this was becoming hazardous for her health. She had to finish this soon. Dev on the other hand was enjoying the moment immensely. He was sure he made the right decision coming to her house.

Yes. He had come for a different reason, but here in this moment with Sonakshi, he was enjoying a thrill he had never felt before. It confused him greatly, but he decided to deal with the confusion later and just live in the moment. So, he kept his eyes on Sonakshi and said "Okay Dr. Bose. Toh REAL wajah pe aatey hai. Main aapsey yeh poochney aaya tha ki aap theek toh hai naah?" and this time he had real concern in his voice. Hearing him say that, Sona sat up straight and looked at him, no longer able to look down. Her instant reaction was happiness. Her heart filled with a strange warmth realising that he had come all the way to her house at this hour to check on her. Nobody had ever done anything like this for her. But immediately after that she thought that Dev must think she's weak. "Mr. Dixit Sona! Not Dev" she scolded herself in her head.

Aloud she replied "Haan. Main theek kyun nahi hongi? Dekhiye Mr. Dixit agar aap yeh soch rahey hai ki ekbaar lift me main thodi uneasy kya ho gayi, main koi abla naari hoon toh tomar matha kharap (you are mad)" and she said this with so much defiance that instead getting offended his small smile turned into a full-blown smirk. She loved seeing her react this way. At least now he knew that she was really alright. So, he pretended to ponder upon her words and said "Toh aapko buss uneasy laga tha? Thoda sa bhi darr nahin laga tha?" Sonakshi wanted to throw something at him! How dare he! "Aap apney aapko samajhtey-" but before she could finish the sentence Dev interrupted her with a chuckle, "Arey arey Dr. Bose. Aapko Tigress banney ki koi zaroorat nahin. Mujhey achhey se pata hai ki aap apney aap ko sambhaal sakti hai. Buss khaali coffee hi nahin sambhalta aapsey!" Sonakshi just glared at him. If looks could kill Dev was sure he would be lying dead on the sofa.

"Waise Main lift waaley incident ke baarey me baat nahin kar raha tha" he said suddenly turning serious. "Shaam ko maine aapko office se rotey huye nikaltey huye dekha tha. Main tabhi aata, par meeting thi aur main woh cancel nahin kar sakta tha, isiliye abhi aa gaya" he explained to Sonakshi, while she sat dumbstruck looking at him. He had seen her crying and had worried about her so much, so as to meet her before he went home no matter how late it was. And here she was yelling at him.  She was ashamed. Once again, she looked back down towards the table because those eyes would be the death of her someday.  "Main theek hoon" she said softly. "Aapko uss choti si baat ke liye itni duur aney ki zaroorat nahin thi" she continued softly. "Dr. Bose jo baat kisiko rulayein who choti toh nahin ho sakti. Kya aap pakka theek hain?" he asked scrutinising Sonakshi. He hated seeing her sad. Earlier when he had seen her running out with little tears streaming down, he had wanted to run after her and that had never happened before. Never ever. It's not that he had never seen a girl cry. He had three sisters for god sake. He knew everything about crying women. And then there was Tina who had this habit of crying when under immense stress. So, he knew how to handle them. But seeing Sonakshi cry made him feel terrible. He wanted to fix everything just to stop those tears even if it meant bringing her the moon. "Dhat. Yeh sab kya soch raha hai Dev. Get a grip" he said to himself and waited patiently for her answer.

Sonakshi on the other hand felt her heartbeat getting louder. She was afraid he might hear it. "Haan. Pakka Mr. Dixit. Main theek hoon bilkul" she replied smiling a little and she even felt okay. Seeing her smile, Dev felt like he had won the world. Satisfied that she was okay, he stood up, because if it was up to him he might have sat there talking to her all night. But they both needed rest. He was even happier when he realised that he would get to see her again tomorrow. He really was losing it.  "Toh main chalta hoon" he said walking to the door and letting himself out. "Safely jaiyega Mr. Dixit. Raat bohot ho chuki" Sonakshi said from the door. Dev gave her one last smile and walked away to his car. Now he could sleep in peace.

But it was another story entirely for Sonakshi. If Kushal was the reason that she couldn't sleep earlier, Dev was the reason she couldn't sleep now. Why had he come to her house? Was he really that concerned? But why was he so concerned? Sonakshi tossed and turned but her brain failed to stop thinking about Dev and thus she could not sleep a wink. As dawn rolled over Sonakshi decided she needed to thank him for taking the time to care about her problems. But just a thank you from her or a note from her would be too little. So, as she got ready for work, she thought of all the different things she could do to thank him. Not once did she think of being in the same building with Kushal. As she sat drinking coffee at the breakfast table, she suddenly had an idea. She knew how she would thank him and it would be unique, one which he wouldn't forget. She couldn't wait to get to work.

Forty-five minutes later, Sonakshi was at Ishwari Communications, making her way towards the cafeteria with the thank you plan in her head. As she made her way towards the counter, she found Tina in line. She hurried towards her and tapped her on the shoulder "Good Morning Tina! Mr. Dixit ke liye coffee lene ayi ho?" she asked her with a smile. Tina returned her greeting and said "Haan Dr. Bose. Dekhiye naah, mujhey abhi bhi do important calls karney hai sir ki meeting khatam hone se pehley, par yeh line hai ki hilti hi nahin" she said with a sour expression.  "Koi baat nahin. Tum jao. Main lekaar aati hoon Mr. Dixit ki coffee" Sona volunteered eagerly. "Arey nahin nahin Dr. Bose! Main le jaungi. Aap kyun karengi yeh sab!" Tina said vigorously nodding her head. "Arey relax. Main le jaungi. Mujhey waise bhi unsey baat karni thi. Tum jao" Sona assured Tina. Reluctantly Tina walked towards the elevator telling Sona that she would meet her upstairs then. Sona agreed and went to get Dev's coffee. Once she mentioned she needed the coffee for Dev, everyone made way for her and the barista prepared Dev's favourite coffee swiftly, the same one that she had spit on him, Sona thought laughing in her mind. She took the cup and walked to the elevator happy with her plan. After punching the floor number, she stood back and smiled. The plan was perfect.

She would give him the coffee and say thank you for yesterday. The coffee was their inside joke and hence would make the best thank you from her side. She was excited. She couldn't wait to see his reaction.  As she made her way towards his cabin Tina stopped her. "Woh Dr. Bose, Dev sir ne aapko yeh file deney ko kahan tha" Sonakshi looked at the file and said, "Theek hai mere table pe rakh do main unsey baat karke aati hoon. Main andar jaun?" She asked Tina. "Haan Haan. Who toh Natasha ma'am ke saath baat kar rahein hai.Aap chale jaiye." Sona nodded. She had heard of Natasha. Tina had told her about Natasha before. She was a sweet, young and hardworking lawyer who had joined Ishwari Communications as it's legal head a year back. She was also Dev's sister, Riya's best friend, Tina told her.

But there was something that Tina had forgotten to mention, but Sonakshi would learn that soon enough.

Sona walked towards Dev's cabin with a spring in her step and pushed the door open only to find Dev and a woman, whom she assumed was Natasha, sitting side by side on the couch talking quietly while Natasha kept her head on his shoulder. It was like her whole world shattered around her. She stood unmoving with her eyes wide. A piercing pain started in her heart. Silently a tear rolled down her eye. She quietly closed the door, turned around and came back to Tina's table and kept the coffee on it saying, "Tina, tum hi dekar aana. Abhi Mr. Dixit busy hai, thodi der baad jaana." Sona explained when Tina made a confused face. Suddenly Tina gave a knowing look to Sona and said "Ohh. Apney kuch ulta seedha dekh liya kya?" she asked laughing, "woh actually Natasha Ma'am Dev Sir ki fianc hai naah. Yahi time milti hai unhey bond karney ke liye" Tina added with a wink. Tina had no idea what these words were doing to Sonakshi because her face betrayed nothing while her mind and heart were a different story all together.

She just gave a curt nod along with a tight smile and walked towards her cabin saying "Agar koi zaroorat ho toh mujhey bol dena, main file padh leti hoon after which I can talk to the remaining employees. Main Mr. Dixit se baad mein mil loongi." Once she shut the door and was in the safety of her cabin, she sat down on her chair.

"Meri fairytale phirse adhuri reh gayi" she thought to herself and put her head down and let the tears flow freely.

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Toh kaisa laga aap sabko yeh chapter?

Once again Flowers ya chappal?

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