A random thought that came to my mind and I decided to pen it down in form of an OS.
Set up: This is a scene from the everyday life of Devakshi after their marriage.
Dev was sitting in his room, reading the quarterly reports of his company that his manager had mailed him that evening while waiting for Sonakshi to come home. She had called to inform him that she was stuck with some work and would be late today. The call had come around 7 pm and a glance at the wall clock told him that it had been almost 5 hours since the call. He was about to pick his phone to call her when he heard the door bell ring. He went downstairs to open the door and found a pale and tired looking Sonakshi.
"Hello Mr Obhodro", she smiled on seeing her husband after a long tiring day. Even after one year of marriage, one glance at him had the ability to make her heart flutter .He smiled and shook his head, her addressing him as Mr Obhodro never failed to amuse him. He took her bag and ushered her inside. "You look exhausted baby. Did you even have dinner at the hospital?" "No, I didn't get time to have anything and I feel so worn out that I'll fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed. It's a miracle I didn't fall asleep during the drive home". "You should have called the driver to pick you if you were so tired Sonakshi." "Don't worry Dev, I was ok enough to drive, otherwise I would have called the driver." "Ok. You go on and change, I'll get some food for you."
Sonakshi nodded and went upstairs to freshen up. Dev was waiting with a plate of food for her when she stepped out of the bathroom. "Have you eaten?"She asked knowing that he often forgot to eat when he was immersed in work. "Yes, I did. Now stop worrying about me and eat something. You are good at taking care of everybody's health but yourself."
"Ok baba, I am eating. So how was your day? You had a meeting with the foreign delegates today na? How did it go? Sonakshi asked. "It was good, they were happy with our company's proposals and are willing to invest. We will be finalising some aspects of the contract within a few days and then will sign the documents. In fact, I even invited them for dinner tomorrow. They are excited to meet my beautiful wife and family." Sonakshi smiled at the compliment. " That's great. I will make sure all the arrangements are made for the dinner and will instruct Kichu bhaiya for all the dishes he needs to prepare. I will even bake those chocolate brownies that you love so much."
"In that case, I doubt they will get to taste the dessert. " Sonakshi laughed at that. She was still as clueless as before when it came to cooking but had learned to bake brownies to surprise Dev on his birthday and he had loved them so much that he jumps even at the mention of them now. "I will make plenty." She yawned and told him. "It's very late, we should sleep now. "Dev said and kissed her on the forehead. He then switched off the light and cuddled next to Sonakshi . Sonakshi turned towards him and found him asleep ,she stroked his hair and murmured "I love you so much, I can't imagine my life without you."She closed her eyes and fell asleep. Beside her Dev smiled into the dark.
Barely an hour would have passed when Sonakshi's phone began to ring. She quickly fumbled around for her phone so as to not wake up Dev and picked up the call. "Hello" she whispered . "This is Dr Sharma speaking Dr Bose. Sorry to disturb you at this time but we have just received an accident case and the patient's son, Akshay informed me that you are his mother's nutritionist. I need all the reports of that patient on an immediate basis to treat her in accordance with her case history." "Of course, Dr Sharma, I will reach the hospital in twenty minutes. All my patient reports are kept there." "Alright, meet me in my cabin as soon as you reach" Sonakshi hurriedly got up and changed. "Dev" she tried to wake him up by lightly shaking him. He woke up with a startle." Sona?" he blinked in confusion" What's wrong, why are you awake ?" " I will have to go to the hospital right now to discuss a patient's case Dev. She met with an accident and I need to go." It was then that Dev noticed that she had changed and was ready to leave. "It's very late. I'll drop you" he said shoving aside the sheets wrapped around him. " No, no. You stay here. I have already called the driver." " Ok baby, but call me when you reach, ok?" "I will. You go back to sleep. I will lock the door from outside" she pecked his lips and hurried away. Dev tried to go back to sleep but his worry for Sonakshi, didn't let him. He knew how dangerous this city could be especially in the middle of the night. He was able to doze off only after he received a call from Sonakshi informing him that she had reached safely.
Sonakshi had just finished discussing her patient,Mrs Riya's files with Dr Sharma.She stepped out of his cabin to take a much needed coffee break. She was bone tired. She had barely gotten any sleep last night and the discussion on further treatment and diets and explaining them to Akshay had taken hours. Now it was morning and her first appointment for the day would be arriving within 30 minutes so she had no choice but to stay at the hospital. She had messaged Dev when she realised that she would not be able to go back home that night. Dev, being the sweetheart he is had just told her to take care of herself and not worry about anything at home. The entire family had gone to a relative's home to attend a function two days back and would be returning by afternoon. Her phone pinged signalling a message. She clicked it open to find a message from Dev. -Good Morning Beautiful. Missed seeing you by my side this morning-xoxo. She smiled and replied back -Good Morning Handsome. Missing you too. Love you-xoxo
Dev had just sat down to have breakfast when he received Sonakshi's message. He missed her this morning but knew that in her line of work this type of situation was unavoidable at times. He made some calls to make arrangements for tonight's dinner and proceeded towards his office. He planned to finish work early so that he could reach home timely to oversee the dinner arrangements and help if needed.
It was 5 pm and Sonakshi was more than ready to leave for home and have a relaxing evening. She reached home within thirty minutes and was surprised to see Dev at home. "Dev? What are you doing home this early? Dev turned around and answered "I wrapped up my work earlier today to help with the dinner arrangements." "Oh no! It completely skipped my mind. I am so sorry. I promised to oversee everything and make the dessert as well and I didn't even remember it."
"It's ok Sonakshi. I ordered the food and everything else is also done I think. But if you don't feel up to it today, I can postpone the dinner plans" Dev said when he saw her rubbing her forehead, probably due to a headache. "What? No, no. I am fine. There's still some time to prepare the dessert, I'll get started with that. " "Sonakshi, you can barely stand and you are talking about cooking? No. I won't postpone the dinner but you Mrs Dixit are going straight to bed to have some rest. Take a nap, get back some energy." "But how will..." Dev stepped closer and put a finger to her lips "Shhh, I manage an entire company, I am pretty sure, I can handle a dinner. " "Ok, Mr Dixit, as you say. By the way, where are Maa and Nikki? They were supposed to be back by noon na?" "Yes, they were but Maa wanted to attend a pooja at the temple today in afternoon so they will be coming in another hour or so I guess." " Oh,ok. I will go take a nap now and wake me up if you need anything. " " I will."
Ishwari had just entered home with Nikki. She saw Dev typing away at his laptop and felt a surge of pride on seeing him working hard as always. Dev went and touched his mother's feet as soon as he saw her. " Maa, I am so happy to see you back home. Did you enjoy the function?" "Of course beta, what is not to enjoy when family members gather to celebrate." "Haan, bhaiya, it was so much fun. You and Sona bhabhi should have been there." "Next time Nikki" Ishwari looked around but didn't see Sona. " Maa, what are you looking for?" Dev asked on seeing his mother's searching glances. " Beta, I was just wondering where Sonakshi is. She must be busy with preparing for tonight." " Maa she is sleeping right now" "Sleeping! How can she sleep at this time. So much work to do and she is relaxing, leaving you to do all the work? Doesn't she understand her responsibilities?" Ishwari exclaimed loudly.
Sonakshi was just coming down the stairs feeling relatively better than before when she heard Ishwari and grew pensive. Would maa never be able to fully accept me. She was used to hearing complains about herself from Ishwari but had thought that gradually Ishwari will see her as her daughter. But whenever she heard such comments she only felt sad and hopeless.
Dev stopped his mother before she could continue " Maa, when has Sonakshi ever shied away from her responsibilities? She was at the hospital the entire night and day. She worked for almost 32 hours with barely an hour to sleep at night yesterday and she was still happy to work for the dinner tonight. I insisted her to rest for some time." Ishwari was still not satisfied "She should have managed her time at work when she knew such important clients of yours are going to be coming today. This is no excuse. Is this how she loves you?" Dev was shocked to hear such words. "Maa, what are you saying? It was an emergency, she was helping her patients. The life of a person is any day more important than a casual dinner. She doesn't need to compromise with her profession to prove her love for me. Her being here is what matters, who prepared the food or made the arrangements doesn't. Have you forgotten how much time and efforts she put in Riya's wedding? When I was busy with my work , how she handled everything singlehandedly then? How she stayed awake with me all night to help any way she can when my company was in crisis? " Dev didn't want to fight with his mother but it pained him to see his mother questioning Sonakshi's love. Ishwari was silent but she could not deny the truth in Dev's words. Perhaps she had been too harsh and judgemental. "Yes, beta I remember, you are right. We should go get ready now before your clients arrive." She started to walk off when dev held her hand "Maa, I hope you know that I meant no disrespect to you." "Of course beta, I know. I was wrong .I am sorry" "Stop maa, you don't need to say sorry, you agreed and understood, that's enough for me. Ishwari smiled " Acha , acha this is not the time to get emotional. Let's go and get ready now." Dev nodded.
Sonakshi was standing at the stairs, hidden from their view and heard every word. She had tears in her eyes. Dev had stood up for her against his mother. She felt loved and cherished. She could face the world with a smile if Dev stands by her side. She could wait for acceptance from Ishwari if Dev is by her side.
Note: I have some ideas to add another short chapter but it all depends on whether you guys want me to continue. Let it remain an OS or add another chapter? So please let me know your views and opinions. Liked it? Hated it?
Part 2 updated on page 3
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
