************Part 23************
He held her face between his hands and wiped her tears with his thumb. "I know" Dev said wrapping his arm around her and taking her towards the bed "be careful, we don't want you stepping on the broken pieces" Dev said as he carefully guided his still terrified wife towards the bed.
Dev furrowed his brow when he saw a glass filled with water materialize in front of him, he shifted his head and peered over his shoulder only to find Muskaan's probing gaze fixated on Radhika. Dev shook his head and took the glass form Muskaan's hand and turned back to his wife.
"Here, drink some water" Dev said forwarding the glass to his wife's lips and waited till she took few sips. He heard the low noise of the door closing but knew that Muskaan still stood by the door, her eyes studying every single motion made by Radhika….
"You gonna whip Radhika?" Radhika asked again shakily, stepping back from the embrace.
Dev sighed in exasperation, took a step back, placed the glass on the side table and slumped down on the bed, his fingers threaded in his hair as he took deep breaths to calm his frustration at hearing his wife question the same thing again. Why the he** was she asking him the same question again and again! "No Radhika, I am not going to whip you. I don't whip my wife. I told you that once" Dev said only to receive a blank stare from his wife.
"I will not hurt you, do you understand that? I am not going to whip you" Dev said to his disbelieving wife, who quickly nodded her head at his declaration.
Radhika cringed at pati's loud voice as he once again told her he won't be whipping her, too scared to question him again she timidly nodded her head. She rubbed her nose on her sleeve, looked at the broken pieces and then back at him, uncertainty clouded in her eyes.
"Don't worry, maid will clean that up" Radhika heard pati say.
"I am sorry…. Radhika do be sorry" tears stung her eyes as she apologized to pati once again.
"It's okay Radhika, it wasn't your fault. Accidents happen" Dev for the umpteenth time assured his wife. "I will just go and tell the maid to clean this out" Dev said but was stopped as he made to get up.
He looked down to see Radhika clutching his arm tightly, her moist eyes uncertain and frightened. Dev sat back and stared at his wife, standing before him; her thin body wrapped in that not so decent white kurta, her long hair no longer held tightly by the black lace, her shoulders hunched down, her teeth biting down on her lower lip, and her eyes red from all the crying. She looked freighted and tired.
"Radhika?"
"You gonna whip Radhika?" Dev shook his head, highly irritated at hearing the question for the thousandth time!
"Come here…." Dev called, beckoning his wife but Radhika stayed still too scared to move. Dev sighed at her reluctance, he had enough of her frightened and scared self, he had given her no reason to be scared of him but her behavior was making him feel guilty about something he hadn't even done. He was going to clear this assumption of hers, he was going to make her believe his words and he knew he couldn't do that by sitting patiently and waiting for her to come to him.
"Come here… please?" He whispered and without waiting leaned over, reaching out his arm for her, grabbed her by the waist and quickly pulled her up into his lap. No difficult task for she was light as a feather bird and too shocked to resist his hold. He glided his free hand up her arm and felt her little body tense at his touch but he still continued on with his ministration….. rubbing her arms and back with his hand…. trying to sooth out the tensed muscles in her body. She would just have to get used to his touch because he did not plan on waiting for her to get over her fear of him. No, he had never waited on anyone and he definitely wasn't going to wait patiently for his wife to get over her fears! Nope! He planned on finding the cause of her fears, clearing the mistaken assumptions she had of him and gaining her trust!....
She stayed still on his lap, her eyes unmoving and unblinking but silent tears still spilled out from them as Dev continued to rub her arms and back. His touch was light as his palms pressed on her back; she looked so very fragile to him that he was afraid to put too much pressure on her arms, too afraid to tighten his hold on her…..
"Nirendra bhaiyaji said you would whip Radhika" Dev heard his wife whisper as she turned to face him. Dev stilled the second Radhika's eyes landed on his, there was such vulnerability, such sadness and pain in her eyes that his eyes stung to stare into those eyes. He averted his gaze not able to see the pain in her eyes, his eyes hardened as anger engulfed him, anger that he wanted to unleash on the person who caused his wife such pain….
"I won't hurt you, Radhika" He whispered softly staring at the broken pieces on the floor.
"He l-li-lied to R-Radhika?" Radhika asked, her voice quivered as she spoke the question afraid of getting punished for voicing such a thing but she had to ask, she needed to know….
Dev turned as he heard Radhika's soft voice question him; he did not know what to answer. Should he agree and tell her that her brother lied to her but would she believe him? he did not want to disrupt the trust she had on her brother but he also didn't want to lose this one chance of clearing her assumptions of him and her fear of him.
"Yes, he did" Dev answered staring deeply into her eyes.
Radhika blinked at pati, his answer repeating in her mind. Was it possible? Did her Nirendra bhaiyaji truly lied to her, were all the things he had told her about pati lies?..... had she been living all her life fearing all the things about pati when they weren't even true….. if all those things were lies then what was true?.... what was she to expect from pati?.... should she believe him?... should she believe him and accept that he will not hurt her?....... she was unsure, not knowing who and what to believe.
"I will not hurt you, Radhika" Dev said in a low voice as he stared into his wife's doubtful eyes.
Radhika simply nodded her head, her arms encircling around pati's neck as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was the exhaustion that caused such a bold action from her; she was tired and exhausted from her panic attack that disabled her to think. She didn't know why she had done that…. maybe it was the concern and care she saw in his eyes for herself…. Or maybe it was the gentle caresses he had been giving her to sooth her tensed muscles…. Or maybe she for once wanted to feel the comfort and love she had often received from her mother…. Maybe she wanted to live that moment again where she sat on her mother's lap, had the privilege to hug and seek the physical comfort she always offered….. she couldn't resist the temptation to feel that acceptance and love again, not when pati freely gave her that chance….
Dev wrapped his arms around his wife protectively, gently holding her to himself, his fingers brushing through her hair, messaging her scalp, her breath fanning on his neck. But then she moved her head, a shiver passed through his body when he felt her lips on his skin…. He tightened his hold on her in an attempt to control his lustful urges…. he breathed in deeply… he knew it was impossible to not think about how perfectly she fit in his arms, how good her body felt pressed against his, how her body was effective his….
"Mannee said you would not hurt Radhika" Radhika stated breaking the long silence and the ongoing turmoil in her mind whether to accept the fact that Nirendra Bhaiyaji had been lying to her all these years, he had promised it was all true, he had promised her that pati would whip her, hurt her and make her do all the work.
"You did not believe him?" he asked as he continued on with his ministration; one hand caressing her back and arms while the other was tangled in her long smooth curls.
Radhika lifted her head from pati's shoulder to look at him. She stared at him, uncertainty clouding her eyes…
"Why didn't you believe him?" Dev asked as his finger toyed with his wife's loose strand. He suddenly wondered who this "mannee" was, he had heard that name too many times, his wife called out to this mannee while in sleep…. was he her brother? cousin? friend?.
"He wouldn't promise Radhika!" his wife confessed to him and her eyes filled with tears.
"He said he couldn't…" Radhika added before breaking into sobs again.
Dev sighed and tried to calm his wife down…. he briefly wondered if he was married to a woman or a child…. Her behavior made him think she was only a young girl…. "It's okay Radhika, please don't cry"
"Why couldn't he promise Radhika?" Radhika asked as she looked up at pati through her tears. She wanted to know why! She had spent many years over this question… why did Mannee never promise her anything… he always said so many things to her but never promised her any… always saying that he couldn't…
Dev didn't know what to answer her, how was he to know why this 'mannee' couldn't promise her. "I don't know why he didn't, Radhika but I promise I will never hurt you"
Radhika wiped her nose on her sleeve and stared at pati doubtfully, not completely believing him.
"I promise you I will never hurt you" She heard pati say again… her head swirled with his promise…he was promising her he would never hurt her… a promise means he truly means it… he really will not hurt her…. she knew she had to believe him now… there was no way to doubt his words when he was promising her!
Dev realized he had done something good, something very good the instant Radhika's tear filled eyes brightened and her lips lifted into that same shy smile she had given him only once.
He hugged her to himself, tugging the strands behind her ear, planting a kiss on her temple as he rubbed his hands on her arms, to ease her tensed muscles, all the while whispering her reassuring words. Within minutes he felt her body relax and heard her even breathing, she had fallen back to sleep. Dev waited for few more minutes, simply relishing the feel of her form pressed against his before he lifted her off him and moved her body on the bed, tucked the comforter around her "Sleep now, my wife" he whispered dropping a kiss on her forehead. He simply sat there and watched her for few minutes, making sure that she was deeply in sleep before he got off the bed and headed towards his walk in closet to change into his night clothes.
*******************
He slid the glass door and stepped out of his walk-in closet, his steps halted when his eyes fell on the figure leaning down by the bed side. "Muskaan!" Dev frowned startled to find her on her knees by the bed and silently picking up the broken glass pieces. Hadn't she left a while back, he had thought she was gone after giving him the glass of water… although he had the doubt that she was lurking by the nearly closed door of his bedroom, peaking in to watch the actions of his wife…
"Shhh" Muskaan admonished him with an angry glare and pointed at Radhika to indicate him of his sleeping wife.
Dev glared at the annoying woman who did not help him when he needed her! "What are you doing here?" He hissed barely controlling his anger. The woman had some nerve to barge into his room and pick up the pieces after everything was over and done… why had she not come in to help him when Radhika was having the panic attack…. NO! At that time she chose to lurk by the door and watch everything as if a spectator watching a climax of the movie!
"Shhh… can't you see Radhika is sleeping" Muskaan snapped rising up, her hand holding the bag that she had just filled up of the broken glass pieces.
"Don't you dare use that tone with me!" Dev growled sharply.
"Yes, yes, you can tell me all that once we are outside this room…" Muskaan whispered before walking out of the room and headed towards the next room not bothering to wait for Dev.
"Have a seat, Dev bhai" Muskaan invited, indicating to the cozy loveseat that had always been Dev's seat, it was only then he realized that they were in the old study room. He hadn't entered this room ever since they had shifted the study room downstairs with the library. He quickly surveyed the room to notice that it was not the same anymore, the interior had been completely changed suiting to Muskaan's taste… obviously since now Muskaan used the room as her study!
"Before we begin, I would like to state that anything that you will reveal to me about Radhika will stay between you and me… well and this notebook" Muskaan spoke breaking the long silence that had descended once they both sat down in their respectable seats.
"So care to tell me about Radhika's nightmare?" Muskaan suggested, as the seconds dragged on and it became clear to her that Dev would not make any move to proceed.
"And what makes you think I will disclose anything to you?" Dev asked raising his brow, he did not trust Muskaan not after the way she had stood watching the whole scene rather than helping him…
"Maybe the fact that I happen to be Radhika's therapist?" Muskaan pointed out.
"And where was this therapist few moments ago when I was trying to calm Radhika?" Dev questioned with a scowl on his face.
"I didn't want to intervene by taking away your chance to form a bond with your wife" Muskaan stated, twirling the pen between her fingers.
"What?"
"Listen Dev bhai, I certainly could have come in and calmed Radhika from her nightmare but you were there and you handled her quite well…. You do realize that you have managed to get close to Radhika by being there for her at such crucial time…. You were there for her, you held her, you cared for her and you assured her that you will always be there for her" Muskaan stated looking at Dev but he still seemed angry at her for being a mare spectator rather than assisting him in calming Radhika. She understood his point, he was right in being angry at her but he wasn't willing to see her point of view, she hadn't stepped in because she knew it wouldn't be the right thing. She saw the way he was handling Radhika, calming her and the way Radhika was responding to him. Muskaan didn't want to ruin their moment, even though her assistance was needed at that time but she had guided Dev bhai without interrupting the bond that was slowly forming.
"Tell me this, Dev Bhai, what would you like more; to see Radhika free of all her fears or would you like to see your relationship with her moving forward?" Muskaan questioned once again breaking the silence that surrounded them because Dev bhai refused to cooperate with her....
******Preview******
"That boy! I swear he is going to get it real good from me today… I have had enough of his disobedience! Let me just get my hands on him" Muskaan muttered as she stepped back and made to turn around but stopped midway when she saw her son's head peeking out from behind Radhika, his hands tightly gripping onto his KakiMa's kameez.
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