Chapter 19

Devakshi FF: Reaching Out

Part 17

Dev held his head in his hands and tried to calm himself by taking deep breaths.

He didn't remember how he exited the store. All he remembered was Sonakshi leaving on her scooty and the empty feeling after wards. As his car rolled to a stop in front of his house, Mohan turned around and said, " Sahab, ghar aa gaya. Dev didn't look up. Continuing to take deep breaths he softly said, "Samaan uttar dijiye aur phir office chaliye. Ma poochey toh kehna aapne mujhey pehley hi office chhor diya. Mohan nodded and got to work.

The moment Mohan finished unloading all the groceries and walked into the house, Dev removed his hands from his face and took out his phone. He dialled Sonakshi's number and held it to his ear. She had no right to leave the penthouse. Where would she go? What would she do? And she didn't say a word when she saw him. His scenario was different. He could do whatever he wished with the penthouse. He owned it. And besides, when he left, he knew what he was doing. Sonakshi didn't know what she was doing!

He would have to talk to her, immediately. He would have to break the no contact rule this once. But she didn't receive his call. So he tried again. But, nothing. He threw his phone on the seat beside him. What had he expected? Wasn't he the one to tell her to stay away from him? She was merely listening to what he said. But he never asked her to leave! Why was she doing this to him? Dev rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming.

 If he couldn't contact Sonakshi, he would have to do the next best thing, talk to Tina. He needed to get to his office, as soon as possible. Mohan came back at that moment. The moment he settled into the driver's seat Dev ordered, " Jaldi chaliye.

Twenty minutes later he was on his way up to his cabin when Tina called him again, " Sir, aap kahan hai?  Dev didn't need to answer the question as he found Tina on the other side of the elevator doors as he stepped out. Tina immediately hung up and walked to Dev, "Sir Dr. Bose.. Dev held up his hand, " Pata hai. Mujhey yeh batao ki unhoney penthouse chhorney ka reason kya diya? Tina sighed, " Unhoney kahan ki penthouse unke liye bohot extravagant hogaya hai. By this time Dev and Tina were standing near Tina's table.

Dev spotted Sonakshi's rent agreement file on her desk and said, "Toh ab woh kahan rahegi? Tina nodded her head gravely and said, " Pata nahin Sir. Woh toh kal raat ko hi mujhsey milna chahti thi. Par main uss time free nahin thi sir. Aaj subah jab woh ayi thi, unki baton se aisa laga ki kal raat ko hi unhoney Penthouse chhor diya tha.

Dev's head snapped up, "kal raat ko? Par kal toh main hi kaafi der se nikla tha. Tina scrunched up her brows, "Wahin main soch rahi thi Sir. Agar woh kal raat ko nikal gayi, aapko kaise nahin pata chala. Dr. Bose ki baton se bhi yahi laga ki aap ke absence me unhone yeh sab kiya. Aap kahan the Sir? Dev said nothing. He picked up Sonakshi's agreement file and said, " Pata lagao ki Sonakshi kahan reh rahi hai.

Tina wanted to ask a lot of questions. But when Dev had clearly given her the signal that he didn't want to talk about it, she couldn't say a word against it. As Dev shut his cabin door, Tina sat down to make some phone calls in order to find out Sonakshi's location. Dev on the other hand, threw the file onto his table and sat on his chair. After staring blankly for a few seconds he whipped out his phone and started scrolling. Once he arrived at the contact named Goenka hospital', he dialled it.

After a couple of rings, he heard the Receptionist pick it up. "Goenka Hospital, How may I help you? Dev cleared his throat, " Dev Dixit here. Mujhey aapke ek Doctor ki details chahiye. The receptionist on the other end grew flustered, " Oh Dev Sir. Haan boliye, hum abhi aapko batate hai. Kaunse Doctor? Dev rubbed his temple lightly, " Dr. Sonakshi Bose.

"Theek hai Sir. Thoda hold kijiye. Dev literally held his breathe till the person on the other end came back. Hearing moving sounds, Dev grew alert, " Mila? The person on the other end didn't say anything for a few seconds and then he heard another voice, a familiar one. " Dev, aap please inhey dobara phone karke meri koi bhi details mat mangiyega. Maine apni details lene ki permission kisi ko nahin diya hai, chahey woh Hospital ke Board of Directors me se koi hi kyun na ho.I hope you'll respect my privacy. Thank you. Before he could say a word in reply to that, he heard the distinct click on the other end indicating that Sonakshi had hung up.

Dev removed the phone from his ear and stared at it for a few seconds before slapping it down on his table. He spotted a crack forming on its screen but he didn't care. Here he was waiting to hear her voice all morning, to ask her why she left, to demand how she dare leave without letting him know. " Mera kya hoga yeh usne ek baar bhi nahin socha? he asked himself softly. He fisted his hands, " Aur woh mujhsey privacy maang rahi hai! Like I'm some random person! he exclaimed in disbelief. Dev stood up, " Woh kya sochti hai, ki main pata nahin laga paunga? Walking to his balcony he said, "Main Dev Dixit hoon. Pata toh main lagakar rahunga.

In the course of the next few days, Dev scoured every possible place he thought Sonakshi could be. He talked to all those that he thought would know where Sonakshi was staying. The only people he couldn't talk to were Sonakshi's family. He didn't know if Sonakshi had told them about her shifting. He didn't want to alarm them.

By the end of the third day he was desperate. He had lost sleep. All he could think of was her. Where was she? What she was doing? Was she thinking about him? Even Tina wasn't able to find anything, which according to Dev was very unlike her. Tina was exceptional in tracking people. But every time he asked her, she would quietly say, " Sir, aisa lagta hai ki woh nahin chahti hum unhey dhonde. But Dev wouldn't listen to all that. He would have to find her.

In all this, he forgot to eat properly, he had become extremely absent-minded. And most of all, he had all his loved ones worried. Tina would check on him every hour, when he was in the Office and Ishwari would keep an eye out for him at home. Riya, Neha, Ranveer and Nikki would keep calling him at odd hours to see if he was functioning normally. They tried to sound normal during their checkups, but Dev was not stupid. He understood everything, but he didn't have the energy left to bother about it. He was mostly preoccupied with Sonakshi. When not, he would throw himself into work.

A few days later, one evening when Tina walked into Dev's cabin with a file, she found him sitting on his desk, with a packet of his Diabetes tablets in his hand. There were a few files strewn across his table and his laptop was on as well. But Dev seemed to be in a world of his own. He was staring at the tablets, but he was definitely thinking of something else.

Tina's eyes then landed on something else. There on Dev's left side, was his unopened lunch box. But because the box was partially transparent, Tina could see that it contained Rajma Chawal, Dev's favourite dish. She grew alarmed. Because Dev never seemed to hear her enter, Tina took the chance and slowly backed out of the room. She went straight to her phone and dialled Ranveer's number. To her utter relief he picked up on the second ring, "Ranveer Sir, aap please jaldi yahan aa jaiye!

Ranveer didn't question Tina. He quickly agreed and made his way to Dev's office. He had clearly gauged that the distress in Tina's voice must have been due to something that Dev did. Fifteen minutes later he was parking his car outside Dev's office. He rode the elevator up to Dev's floor and hurried to Tina's desk. There he found her sitting and typing something.

On seeing Ranveer she jumped up, " Sir, Dev Sir ne khana nahin khaya. Subah se teen files de chuki hoon unhey, ek bhi has not been checked by him. Aur ab dawai bhi nahin le rahey hai. Sir aisa chalta raha toh woh bohot bimaar padh jayengey. Ranveer listened to everything quietly. " Ab kya kar raha hai woh? Tina looked sad, " Chup chap baithe hai sir. Kuch nahin kar rahey hai. Maine unheye kabhi aise nahin dekha sir. Ranveer sighed.

Right then the elevator doors opened once again to reveal Riya and Neha. "Bhaiyya kahan hai Tina? Tina's eyes travelled to Riya and Neha. She pointed to his cabin door. Neha spotted Ranveer, " Tum kab aye? Ranveer turned to his girlfriend, " Abhi kuch der pehley. Tum log yahan kya kar rahey ho?  Before Neha could answer Tina said, " Maine unhey bhi phone kiya. Actually aapko aney me der ho rahi thi, toh panic me maine inhey bhi bula liya. Ranveer nodded understandingly, " Tum ghabrao mat. Dev se hum baat karengey.

Tina nodded slowly, but then she suddenly said, "Kya woh aap logo ki baat manengey? Kyunki woh jis halat me hai, woh toh kisi ki bhi baatein nahin sunte. In fact sunna toh duur ki baat hai, ajkal koi Dev sir se baat karte hai toh woh unki taraf  theek se dekhtey bhi nahin sir.

Neha sat down on the couch beside Tina's table, " Tina theek keh rahi hai Ranveer. Woh ajkal kisiki bhi baat nahin sunte. Apne hi duniya me rehte hai. Riya sat beside her sister, " Par Ranveer bhaiyya ko try toh karne do Di. Kuch nahin toh atleast Bhaiyya ko khana khaneke liye toh convince karwaye.  Ranveer kneeled in front of Neha and Riya, " Haan koshish karne do. Aisi halaat me Dev ko chhor nahin saktey. He then frowned, " Aur phir agar Dev ko pata chala ki hum uske baarein me itne alarmed hai, woh uska tension bhi apney sar le lega.

Tina watched them debate among themselves. This was going nowhere. She had to do something and soon. So she made up her mind and walked up to them, "Mujhey lagta hai, humein doosra option use karna chahiye. The three of them turned to look at Tina, " Par Tina, humein toh mana kiya gaya tha naah? Tina sighed, " Par hum aur kar bhi kya sakte ha? Situation hi aisa hai. Riya stood up, " Haan Tina. Theek keh rahi ho tum. We have to do this.

Inside the cabin, Dev went through the last file. His head was throbbing. He had taken a lot of pain to go through these files, especially when his head seemed like it would burst at any moment. The files which he usually read in a couple of hours now took him an entire day. He couldn't take it anymore. He wished he could run away. Away from the pain, the heartache, the problems.

He held his head in his hands. He couldn't even have lunch. " Ma ko aaj hi Rajma Chawal banana tha. He sighed. When would everything stop reminding him of her? He decided that he had had enough for today. He needed to go home and think things through. Just as he gathered his things he heard voices from outside his cabin.  On concentrating he realised that his sisters were outside, along with Ranveer. Dev sighed, " Phir meri jasoosi karne aa gaye sab. Taang aa gaya hoon main. Main koi bachha thodi hoon ki har waqt meri khabar lete rahey yeh?

Thrusting his laptop into the bag, he made his way to the door. Switching off the lights he stepped out of his cabin to find, Riya, Tina, Neha and Ranveer huddled around Tina's desk. With one hand on the knob of his cabin door he got ready to call out to them. But he stopped when he heard Ranveer say, "Theek hai Dr. Sonakshi. Hearing him say those words Dev's hand slipped from the door knob and the door clicked shut with a loud sound. Hearing the noise, all four of them jumped. Wide-eyed they stared at Dev, not knowing what they should do.

But Dev didn't see their expressions. There was only one thought in his mind.

They had known where Sonakshi was. They had known all along.

But they didn't bother to tell him.

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