Hi guys, Part 6 is here. Thank u soo much for the overwhelming response. Love u all.
Let's continue..
*Present Day*
Sonakshi Bose had a sleepless night. She kept tossing and turning throughout the night trying to make sense of her memory. By the time the sun rose the next day, her head hurt from self- flogging. She would have to face Dev now, and she didn't know how she felt about it. She was afraid she'd engage in a confrontation that was so late it bordered on moot. She knew she had to tell him she remembered something, but how could she tell a man who was being an angel to her right now that she remembered him being a jerk. So it was with trepidation that she stepped down to have breakfast.
Dev saw her coming down the stairs and offered her a warm smile. She returned his smile with one of her own. But it didn't seem to reach her eyes. Dev noticed she didn't look very well rested but decided to not comment on it. After all, it was her first night sleeping in his room. She was bound to feel uncomfortable. "Sleep alright?" he asked. "Yes. Well, kindof," she replied. He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "I mean, it just felt a little strange not sleeping in my old room" she added hastily. He gave her an understanding smile. "It'll get better" he said. She nodded with a smile and joined him on the dining table. Ishwari and Nikki joined them too. Ishwari was trying her best to make Sonakshi comfortable, as she had promised herself not to repeat her previous mistakes. Sonakshi was in a dilemma. Both Ishwari and Dev were behaving so nicely with her, she couldn't understand why she remembered her favourite Auntyji being cold towards her. She seemed fine right now.
They engaged in small talk while having breakfast and then Dev turned to leave for office. Sonakshi was still sitting when he rose and gave her a small kiss on her forehead and told her to have a good day. Before she could register what happened, he was gone. The casualness in his gesture, born out of sheer habit of kissing her goodbye everyday before he left sent a warm feeling though her body and she found herself smiling involuntarily.
Later during the day, she was sitting on the sofa lost in her thoughts when Ishwari came and sat beside her. Ishwari noticed that Sonakshi looked a little disturbed since morning. Her first instinct was to not react and let her be. But she reminded herself that she had vowed to be better. They were all given a chance to start afresh. And she was going to make sure that she used it to give back her son's happiness to him, which he seemed to have lost with everything that transpired last year. Her reasons for being cold to Sonakshi and not making an effort seemed so trivial now, the poor girl had been through so much. Sonakshi saw her and gave her a smile. Ishwari smiled back and asked, a bit hesitantly, "Something on your mind,beta? You seem a little lost since morning." Sonakshi shook her head. "No Auntyji, everything's fine" Ishwari sensed that maybe she wasn't comfortable sharing this with her and moved to get up. She was about to leave when Sonakshi called out to her. "Auntyji," she started. Ishwari could see she was nervous. She sat back down and gave her a smile, taking her hand in hers. "What is it, beta? You can tell me," said Ishwari. "I.. I remembered something," said Sonakshi. She immediately felt Ishwari turn rigid next to her. She had an expression of what looked like fear on her face. "Wha- What did you remember?" Ishwari asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer. " Well, I remembered Dev and I having a fight. I mean, we made up afterwards, but we never addressed the real issue. And I.. I don't know how I feel about it. Were we not happy in our marriage Auntyji?" asked Sonakshi. "What exactly did you remember Sonakshi?" asked Ishwari.
Sonakshi had a deer caught in the headlights' look on her face. How could she tell Auntyji that she and Dev had been fighting because of her. She began a little tentatively, "Well, we were ummm.. we kindof.. I mean, I thought that you were being cold to me and Dev thought I was overreacting." A sad look crossed ishwari's face and Sonakshi immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry Auntyji, I don't know why I remembered this." Ishwari squeezed her hand and gave her a sad smile. "You don't need to apologize beta. Its not your fault. I had difficulty in getting used to the fact that my son got married. That there is a new woman in his life who is as important to him as me." Sonakshi kept quite and Ishwari continued. "I know I haven't exactly been very welcoming to you when you first came into this house, Sonakshi. But if you give me a chance, I would like to try. I can't promise that I will be the best mother-in-law in this world, but I do promise to try my best to understand you. You're the most important part of Dev's life, it just took me a while to realize it." She finished as she looked down, unable to meet Sonakshi's eyes. Sonakshi immediately held Ishwari's hand a little tighter and when she glanced up to meet her eyes, she continued, "Don't say that Auntyji. You were and will always be the most important woman in Dev's life. I don't need to lose my memory to know this fact. And infact, why should we engage in this competition of who's more important to Dev. I'm sure he loves us both. I mean, loved." She didn't know if she could say that Dev still loved her, after all, he fell in love with a woman she didn't even remember. He was being so nice to her, but that could just be because he was a nice person. She was lost in her inner monologue when Ishwari interrupted her thoughts. "Dev loves you Sonakshi. There are no ways about it. He has always loved you. And he will always love you. No matter what." said Ishwari, with a determination in her voice. There was a quiet confidence in the way she said it. Sonakshi couldn't help but believe her. She felt better after speaking to Ishwari. She now seemed like the Auntyji she knew, not the one from her memory.
Dev entered to see the two women in his life chatting animatedly. He stood at the doorway for a while, taking it in. Somehow, they seemed more comfortable with each other than he'd seen them be in a long, long time. Maybe Sonakshi losing her memory wasn't such a bad thing after all, he thought. They had dinner together, laughing heartily at Nikki's antics, after which Dev dropped Sonakshi to her room, which was previously their room. As he was about to leave, Sonakshi stopped him. "Why don't you stay for awhile. I wanted to tell you something." said Sonakshi. He looked at her warily and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Sonakshi sat down besides him. " I remembered something." She felt Dev give the exact same reaction Ishwari had when she told her she remembered something, earlier in the day. She wondered why they both seemed so afraid each time they spoke about her remembering. She told herself she was thinking too much and continued, " You remember the time you gave me the rose shaped chocolates.." Relief blanketed his eyes when he realized what she was talking about. Giving her a smile, he said, "I've given you rose shaped chocolates many times over the years sonakshi. You're gonna have to be a little more specific."
She narrated the entire flashback to him and watched as his expressions changed from intrigue to understanding to guilt. "I'm sorry Sonakshi. I tried my best to juggle the relationship between my mom and you, and most of the time I failed miserably. But I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to upset either of you, and as you'd probably know, even with your memory loss, I'm not very good at figuring out emotions." said Dev. He looked down and had such a lost puppy look on his face that made Sonakshi think about his pain. How, his mother and his love having contradicting opinions on everything in his life must've affected him. He lifted his gaze to meet hers and she wanted to hug him, to let him know he was perfect, that clearly she was crazy.
"Please stop," she said, unable to keep the waver out of her voice. "You have to stop." Closing her eyes, she ducked her chin down to her chest. "Hey," he said, reaching out to touch her upper arm. "Hey."
She lifted her chin, moisture clinging to her lashes, but refusing to spill. "You've been so understanding, so nice -"
His fingers trailed down her arm to cover her knuckles. "I don't think anyone's ever accused me of being nice before," he said, his smile wry.
She ignored his attempt at levity, staring down at her hands. Her skin was pale, almost translucent under the light, while his was a warmer gold. The heat from his palm fused through her and she felt her fist slacken. She bit her lip. "You've done so much for me already, please don't do more than I can repay you for."
He was still for a long moment and she kept her eyes trained down on their hands. Then he pulled her to him, cradling her between his torso and arm as he leaned across the bed. Her legs stretched out over the sheet next to his.
Even pointed, her feet were nowhere near his and he was reminded, once again, of how small she was.
"Why," he started after they remained like that for a while, "would you think you owe me something?"
He felt her sigh seep into his skin. "You're letting me stay here, you've given up your room, you're being so great about the Auntyji debacle..all without.." she leaned back to meet his eyes. Swallowing hard, she asked, "You realize I may never remember?"
His fingers tightened around her. He nodded.
"And you're still - "
"This is your home," he interrupted, "There's nothing to repay."
She was quite and he moved away long enough to lean over her so he could read her face "Do you hear me, Sonakshi? Because I don't want this hanging between us."
Nodding mutely, she gazed up at him. The light from the bedside lamp illuminated his face, emphasizing his features. As she stared at his mouth, following the line of his lower lip, she felt something in the pit of her stomach.
He stared down at her and then groaned, letting his head fall against the pillow next to her head.
"Don't look at me like that," he said, his voice muffled.
"I - "
"You're not ready," he continued, head still hidden. She wondered if he was talking to her or himself.
She nodded even though he couldn't see the movement. Moving to get up, she found his arms were still on either side of her, forming an effective cage.
When he finally lifted his head, she had turned the other way, her eyes on the lampshade. He laughed and she felt his breath stir the hair near her temple.
"What?"
He shook his head above her, and chuckled as he said, "Even I remembered something."
"What?" she asked.
"You really were PMS-ing when we had that fight," he said. Her mouth fell open in a soft O' as she realized he was teasing her. She took the pillow beside her and thumped it on his head, effectively starting a pillow fight, as the pillow burst and the feathers flew into the air. After a while, she realized she was going to loose, she hit him once again with another pillow and moved out from under him.
Or tried to. Grabbing her waist, he hauled her back under him. From there, it was the most natural thing in the world to wrap her arms around his neck when he lowered his head to hers. There was nothing out of ordinary in the way they lay on their sides, legs intertwined as they kissed, his lips sipping at her lower lip, hers cradling his upper.
The beginnings of her laughter took even her by surprise. Her mouth shook against his, her lips widening as her eyes opened. He pulled back a fraction, his brow scrunched as he looked at her.
"I'm sorry," she said, still laughing. "It's not you." She laughed harder, rolling on her back to look at the ceiling.
He propped his head on his palm "You don't say"
"It's just that that was my first kiss." Still on her back, she rolled her head on the pillow to meet his eyes. His face was suffused with color, she noticed, even his ears were a bit pink. But he didn't look embarrassed, just.. warm. "I mean, I know it isn't, but it's the only one I can remember."
He thought that one over and decided he liked the sound of those words on her lips. Leaning over to kiss her forehead before dropping back the pillow, he said, "Turn off the light."
She obliged and in the darkness, through some memorized choreography, his arm found her waist. There were a few inches between their bodies, but his palm was flush against her lower abdomen. She rested her own hands atop his and slept, both of them sleeping peacefully for the first time after her accident.
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Author's note : That's all for today. Hope you like it :)
Cricket
