-~-~-~-
"When you find someone who breaks you open and makes you feel things; you fight for them."
--Tarryn Fisher
"Dev!" Sonakshi called out to him as she saw him enter her bedroom. He looked exhausted and even emotionally drained. His eyes were sleep-ridden and bloodshot.
Constantly looking down, he sat on the bed. Sonakshi went to him and held his face in her hands.
"What happened? What's wrong? Ma is alright, na? I called Nikki and she told me everything. But why didn't you call me? I should have been there with you. No, wait.. Why did aunty Take sleeping pills? Did she take them herself? Answer me, goddamit!" Sonakshi kept asking him and patting his cheeks.
"You were right." He finally spoke.
"What?" She asked him, confusedly.
"You were right. And your Dad was right too." He inhaled sharply and continued with a choking voice, "Son..Sonakshi, Ma doesn't..like you. I mean, she does, but not as her daughter-in-law. She.. She doesn't approves of our relationship. And that's why she.. she overdosed on the sleeping pills."
Sonakshi didn't know what to say. Why would Ma hate her this much to commit suicide? What would she do now? What would Dev do now?
Dev continued talking like a madman, "she says she didn't want to suicide and she took so much of them by mistake.. By Mistake, Sona! Just.. just how ridiculous does that sound?! And she says that she did it because she is not a good mother! How can she say that? Arey, she is my mother, she has done everything for me, she sacrificed so much... There is nothing bad in her. She is.. She is thinking too much. She is taking it all wrong. She knows... She knows how amazing person you are, she does. Trust me. Mamaji told me. He said that she feels alone. That I have stopped taking care of her.. That I have neglected her..." His voice trailed off and he stayed silent for a minute.
Sonakshi was dreading this silence. She didn't know what to say, what to expect, what to do. She caressed his cheek to calm him down. He took that hand and kissed it.
He looked at her with tear-filled eyes.
"I have been a bad son. I have been so ungrateful to the woman who did everything she could do for me... How can I not see the agony of the person, who always feels my pain? How can I be this blind to my own mother? My God?" Dev continues in frustration as tear drops fall one by one from his eyes.
"That's not true. You are a great son. It's just the missing communication between Ma and you. Don't worry.. once we both talk to her.."
"Mamaji asked to not talk to her." Dev cuts Sona off, "and I agree. That won't be of any purpose. She would pretend she is fine, just like she did last night and then indulge herself in more isolation. No..No.. she may try to harm herself. She may go back to her chulha, torture herself, neglect her health. Just, just what has she not tried yet? No.. I can't take the chance."
"But Dev, we can't just sit here.."
"I know!" Dev cuts her off again, "but I f**king don't know what I should do. I just.. I can't understand when did Ma and I distance ourselves from each other so much, that she prefers harming herself to get my attention rather than talking. Sona.. I have.. I have no idea where I lacked. And how do I fill that gap up!"
Sonakshi didn't respond as he started sobbing while putting his head in his hands. Her mind was buzzing with so many negative thought, that it just became numb to the man sitting in front of her who was muttering disjointed sentences between sobs.
She was not Ma's choice. She had clearly stated that before. And she didn't quite like that fact. But, how was it her fault? She loved Dev, and only him. She may think that this is an infatuation, but it was not.
Would she ever understand that? Would she ever accept her? What if she doesn't? What if she is never happy with this relationship? Will Dev leave her?
Sonakshi was brought back from her reverie when Dev collapsed on the bed.
"Dev.. Dev, you need to drink water. Have you even eaten anything since yesterday?" Sonakshi made him sit and drink water. She looked at him carefully for the first time since he had come. He looked as if he was completemy lost. Guilt, helplessness and shame were completely inscribed on his face. He looked as if he would just break apart.
And she couldn't let that happen. She would not let herself become weak when he needed her. She had to stay strong. For him.
"Dev.. Dev, look here. Look at me." Sonakshi held his face in her hands, "I have a solution. I will stop coming to your house for nutritionist's job."
"You would leave the job?" He asked.
"No. I won't leave it. I would just work at the hospital and give you the food chart for her to follow. Like I did with all my patients, before." Sonakshi explained.
"You can work at my company." Dev offered.
"No. It's okay. Anyways, I need to work under Dr. Sinha for some time to open my own clinic. Dev," she said caressing his face, " I'd even stop Ma-Baba to go to your house. It's okay if we are not able to meet often. I know what you are going through. I know how confused you are, as Ma is refusing to talk about her insecurities. But like I said, it is nothing big. You are her son, the person closest to her. If you are there for her, she would be okay. We need to give her time. We need to give her space. We need to tell her that her approval matters, to both of us. I get our mistake.. I get it now. We were acting too fast, for it maybe normal for us, but it is not to her. And with Neha going away after marriage, it would have been worse. It may take time, but she will come on terms with this relationship. You just tell her that nothing has changed between you and her. Spend time with her. And I promise, no one from our side will interfere. If that helps..."
She looked at Dev hopefully as Dev looked back at her with awe.
This woman loved her so much. She knew that this was a huge gamble. She knew that too much was at stake. Yet she decided to be on his side. To support him in a battle, he wasn't even sure whom was he fighting with.
Amidst of all this turmoil inside him, he hadn't thought about Sonakshi since yesterday.
But of course he had. That's why he was here. For where the hell else could he go, to find solace, if not in her arms.
His mother may not know that Sonakshi was the person who loved him like no one else could, who was ready to go to any extent to gain her love, who had argued with her to make him sit at the Puja, so that her biggest wish could come true, who had given her son his lost childhood, who called her Ma.
But, he did.
And so, with his shaky hands, he reached out to Sona's steady ones. He took them to his lips and kissed them softly.
"I-I'll make every thing right.." He said as a tear dropped from his eye, "soon. I promise."
"I know." Sona nodded, "I trust our love."
She held his hands and touched his forehead with hers.
With a sudden desperation, Dev pulled her in a tight embrace.
His hands wrapped around her waist tightly and he bent himself to breathe in her soothing fragrance.
Sonakshi ran her hand through his hair, as she patted his back with the other. He was hers. She was his. Nothing else mattered.
Feeling indescribably at peace, Dev pulled Sona even closer.
What he had done to deserve her, he didn't know. But he knew that he would do anything to keep her.
-~-~-~-
I don't know why am I posting this after so long. Maybe because I like writing here. Or maybe because DevAkshi have become so repulsive that it made me go back to the day it all started.
I knew there had to be a compromise. But if anything, I didn't want to compromise on the beautiful story I was promised. But clearly cvs don't care.
So, I tried to write something that matches with the initial promos. Or did it come out bad? I am sorry if it did.