Chapter Twelve
As Dev got back to the car after having a word with the manager he saw Sona resting her head against the window frame looking on to nothing in particular...Dev got in and tried grabbing her attention by caressing her hair..." Cheeku...seatbelt pehenlo...humein ghar jaana haina..."...despite of repeatedly instructing her for around 4-5 times when she didn't respond, he himself fixed up her seat belt with no other option left...his heart ached as he realized that despite of him leaning onto her for fixing the seat belt she didn't notice him...Dev had sent off the driver much earlier as he decided to drive to the airport all by himself...more over because he wanted to spend some time with Sona to check if she would budge off her stance and speak to him.
During the entire journey Sona had not even uttered a single word ...she kept starring into oblivion while Dev stole glances at her at regular intervals...he couldn't help but remember their past days, whenever they would go for an outing Sona would be talking non-stop, cracking nonsensical jokes...her blabbering would just not seem to stop as all Dev would do would be trying his level best to concentrate on the road and not get disturbed by her talks while nodding his head like a bull...not because he would enjoy her jokes and agree with all her points...but because his Cheeku pie would get upset if he failed to respond to her...he could indulge in any foolishness just for the sake of her happiness.
But today the Sona who was sitting next to him was an alien for him...he was completely unaware of her existence...his guilt welled up as tears in his eyes as he realized that he was the sole responsible for this state of hers...yes his mother had back-stabbed him, his so called girlfriend had cheated him...but the fact which couldn't be amended was that he had doubted his bestie ...and now he had to sort out this mess all by himself...and he would do it...he would get his buddy back at any cost...because even he knew that with her being lifeless and unhappy, he will never be able to live happily in his life.
Lost in his thoughts he didn't realize they had already reached the airport...his office correspondent was waiting for them with the tickets...helping Sona match up her steps with him he finally boarded the flight with her...most of the flight journey was also silent as Sona didn't even respond to the airhostess asking her what she would like to have...finally giving up Dev ordered the lunch for her as he didn't want the people around to feel suspicious about her behavior ...citing the reason of her being unwell Dev forcefully fed her the food as she munched it on emotionlessly...as Dev had already informed Jay about their arrival, he had sent the driver to pick them up from the airport...As the car entered the gates of Dixit Niwaas the watchman quickly opened the gate for them and informed Jay over the intercom that Dev and Sona had arrived from their Indore trip.
As the car halted Dev turned towards Sona to see find Sona dozing off peacefully in her position...he couldn't help wonder how cute she looked while sleeping, he simultaneously realized that she must have spent a sleepless night due to his bad behavior...looking on to her creaseless, worriless face he promised himself..." ab se tumhe koi takleef nahin hogi Cheeku...I promise...aaj se tumhare saare dard mere ...main har mumkin koshish karunga tumhe har woh khushi dene ki jo maine hi tumse cheeni hai...tum humesha aise hi bina kisi darr aur fikar ke jindagi guzarogi...yeh jimmedari ab se meri hai..."...getting down from his side, he carefully opened the door and picked her up gently in his arms...instructing the guard to unload the bags from his car he went inside the house.
Jay who was waiting at the entrance to welcome Dev and Sona was worried when he noticed Dev walking in lifting Sona in his arms...quickly walking upto Dev he enquired..." Dev bete, Sona ko kya hua hai...uski tabiyat to theek haina...kahin behosh to nahin ho gayi thakaan se...meri hi galti thi, mujhe use jabardasti tumhare saath bhejna hi nahin chahiye tha...woh mana bhi kar rahi thi par maine uski ek na maani...bichari bacchi phirse bimaar pad gayi na ab..."...Jay's talk made Dev aware of the fact that it was Jay who had insisted on Sona accompanying him for his trip...another lie from his mother, as expected ...he felt ashamed of himself for having trusted his mother over Sona...but at the moment he had to manage the situation as he could see Jay getting tensed about Sona's condition.
"Relax dad...kuch nahin hua hai Sona ko...koi behosh nahin hui hai, bass so rahi hai...woh darasal kya hua na ki kal na party khatam hote hote bohot raat ho gayi thi, to Sona ki neend thik se poori hui nahi...maine kahan tha flight mein thodi der so jaye, par baat hi nahin maani meri...aur ab ghar aate aate gaadi mein so gayi...use uthata toh phir chidchid karti...isiliye... main aisa karta hoon ise kamre mein sulakar aata hoon...phir aaram se baithkar baat karta hoon aapse..."...Jay nodded his head in approval as Dev proceeded towards his room...Ishwari who was watching all this from a distance was getting all the more furious...she had expected Dev to come back all alone may be after dropping Sona at her parents place or possibly even leaving her back at the airport to manage by herself...but here the situation seemed to be different then what she had perceived...instead of dumping Sona, Dev had carried back home all happily.
After tucking Sona in bed comfortably, Dev returned back to have a word with Jay...they both chatted about their new business collaboration and its probable expansion as Ishwari butted in with the excuse of serving tea..." Dev bete, tumne bataya nahin ki tumhari trip kaisi rahi...khaas karke party kaisi thi...bade bade log aaye honge na?...Sona thik se mili na unn sab se...mera matlab hai ki...use aadat nahin hai na inn sab cheejon ki..."...Ishwari corrected herself biting back her few words...but whatever she had spoken was enough to raise a suspicion in Dev's mind...he was already raging remembering Natasha's words about her role in that letter which she had left for him...he just hoped against the hope that his mother shouldn't be involved in the last night's wardrobe disaster...but he decided to confront her later as he didn't want to create a scene infront of his dad..."sab theek hai maa...waise bhi Sona wahaan akeli nahin thi...main uske saath tha...aur Mrs. Dev Dixit ko duniya waaloan ke saamne kaise present karna hai yeh mujhe acche se aata hai...so aapko chinta karne ki jaroorat nahin hai...Sona meri jimmedari hai aur mujhe use sambhalna aata hai..."...his disgust didn't go unnoticed by Jay this time...Ishwari feared the worst...what if Dev had got to know that she had bribed the hotel buoy to send such weird clothes to Sona for the party...she felt it's better to move away from there to avoid any further argument on this matter.
To divert the topic Jay probed Dev with some business related info..."Dev bete woh mujhe 2 dino keliye Delhi se bahar jaana hoga...ek deal ke silsile mein...infact abhi do ghante mein nikalna hoga...to tum yahaan akele office sambhaal loge na?...tum kaho to main Bijoy se keh deta hoon...woh tumhari madad kar dega..."...the sudden mention of Bijoy made Dev realize his yet another blunder...he had turned Bijoy against Sona by feeding him with all the wrong information about his daughter... so much so was his father-in-law's trust on him that he had actually believed that his daughter could stoop down to such a low level...Dev felt ashamed of his deeds yet again...ashamed that he had taken advantage of Bijoy's trust to turn him against his own daughter.
"nahin dad...papa ko takleef dene ki kya jaroorat hai...waise bhi main soch raha tha ki ek-do din mein unse milkar aaunga...iss baar Sona ko bhi saath lekar jaunga...shaadi ke baad ek baar bhi woh apne ghar nahin gayi hai..."...Jay could see the stark difference in Dev's behavior from what it was before this trip...his concern for Sona was genuine this time and not show-off like the last time...he hoped and prayed that this trip did really work for them and they had got back to being best buddies yet again...here Dev had a completely different concern...he had a big uphill task of patching up the estranged father-daughter duo...he had already laid the floor plan for this.
After dropping off Bijoy at the airport Dev decided to visit the office once...Sona had been sleeping back at home and he didn't want to disturb her...infact he even didn't want to scare her off by being the first person to appear infront of her when she wakes up from her slumber...he had to give her some time to accept the happenings of last night...he just wished she gets back to normal after having a peaceful sleep...he had instructed Kichu to serve her food as soon as she wakes up and inform him incase he's not yet back from his office...actually his main motive to visit the office was to catch hold of that buoy who was somehow responsible for the ruckus in his life at the moment...
The buoy who had been waiting for the CEO of Dixit group of hotels for his dream job was shocked to roots as he saw Dev enter the cabin he was asked to wait inside...he was about to make a dash out when Dev caught hold of him...holding him by his collar he asked..."sirf sach sunna chahta hoon main...kiske kehne par yeh sab kiya tha tumne...sirf sach bolna kyunki jhoot sunne keliye mere paas na waqt hai na patience"...the buoy was left with no other option but to confess that he had been asked to do so by none other than Dev's own mother...anger took over him as he summoned his P.A. to employ the buoy in his hotel ..."aisa karo ise aapne saath lekar jaao aur humare laundry department mein bharti karwado...inhe orders follow karne ka aur sabke saamne logon ki ek saaf image banana ka bada shauk hai bada shauk hai...to aisa karo inhe itne order do aur inse itna saare kapde dhulwao ki inke dono shauk poore ho jaye...isse itna kaam karwao ki dubara kabhi bhi yeh koi galat kaam karne ki soch bhi nap aye...aur haan agar yeh bhaagne ki yaa koi hoshiyaari karne ki koshish kare to police complaint kar do...keh dena ki isne mere office se meri keemti cheezein churayi thi...jab 4-5 saaloan ke liye andar jayega tab saari akal thikane aa jayegi... "...the buoy was dragged out by two guards as he pleaded for mercy.
Once done with sentencing his first culprit, he had hardly immersed himself in his work when he was startled by the call he received on his cell phone...it was Ishwari calling him...at first he was reluctant whether to pick it up or not...but then he thought maybe it was something related to Sona, so he decided to give it a try...the information with which he was fed took place was enough to scare him out of his wits.
"Dev beta jaldi se ghar aaja ...pata nahi teri biwi ko kya hogaya hai...paagal si ho gayi hai...jab se uthi hai jor jor se chillaye jaa rahe hai aur kamre ki saari cheejein yahaan wahaan phenk rahi hai...mujhe bada darr lag raha hai...use tu hi aakar sambhaal..."...she concluded...Dev's anger was now building up, moreover after he had the infamous confrontation..."maa please...Sona ke khilaaf ek shabd nahin...agar tune mujhe phone Sona ki burayi karne keliye kiya hai to please mere paas inn sab cheejon keliye bilkul time nahin hai..."...he was about to put the phone down when Ishwari spoke up again..." tujhe agar mujhpar yaakeen nahin hai na to Kichu se pooch le...yeh bhi dekh kar aaya hai uska paagalpan..."...She handed over the phone to Kichu who confirmed the incident to Dev..."haan Dev bhaiyya...pata nahin bhabhi ko kya ho gaya hai...jab se uthi kamre mein baithi ro rahi thi...hum khaana dene gaye to humpe chillane lagi...bohot jyaada gusse mein thi bhabhi...kamre mein sab tod phod kar diya hai...hum darr ke bahar aa gaye aur kamre ko taala laga diya ...bhaiyya aap jaldi ghar aa jayiye...humko darr hai ki woh gusse mein kahin apne aap ko koi nuksaan na pahuncha de..."
Dev sprinted on his feet even before the call ended...driving like a maniac he reached home to calm down an enraged Sona...on reaching Dixit Niwaas all he saw was panicked faces and scared humans...Ishwari was waiting at the door for him to tell him that his wife had turned into a disaster and was not ready to spare anyone...ignoring all their pleas and warnings Dev made a dash into his room only to meet an annoyed Sona...when Sona saw Dev entering the room she was all the more angered...hurling a vase straight into his face, which of course he managed to juggle, she shouted..."kyun lekar aaye ho mujhe yahaan?...maine kahaan tha na ki mujhe ghar jaana hai...samajh mein nahin aata hai tumhe...bahar nikalo mujhe iss kaid se...mujhe apne ghar jaana hai...".
Dev was not exactly scared of her behavior...in fact he was happy that at least she was reacting...his hope had turned true...she had got back to normal after having a sound sleep...she was showing off some sort of emotion even though it was anger...the Sona he had been seeing since this morning was someone else...this was somewhat close to his buddy...he quickly locked the door so as to prevent anyone from entering the room...he had found a way to revive his Sona, and he would not let this opportunity slip out of his hands...he had only moved an inch closer to her to hold her and calm her down when she reacted violently yet again..."mere paas aane ki koshish bhi mat karna...haath mat lagana mujhe...is baar sachmein maar daalungi...dur raho..."...she picked up yet another object from the study table all set to hurl it out a Dev...but Dev being himself smartly managed to divert her attention and catch hold of her before she could understand the situation.
Holding her hands securely so that she was not able to pick up any critical object, he pulled out whatever she was holding from her hand and placed it back in its place...Sona struggled to move out of his hold but was unable to do so as his hold was too strong for her to let go...trying to calm her down he said..."Sona...shant ho jao bacche...itna gussa theek nahin hai...dekho mujhe koi problem nahin hai par takleef tumhe hi hogi...tumhe yaad haina pichli baar tumne jab aise gussa kiya tha to tumhe kitna severe headache ho gaya tha...aaj bhi tum waise hi hyper ho rahi ho...is tarah se tum khud ko hi nuksaan pohunchaogi Sona...please don't do this to yourself...tumhe gussa aa raha haina...tum mujhe daanto, maaro...jo chahe karo...par aise khud ko takleef mat pohunchao...please calm down...mera hoshiyaar Cheeku baccha haina...dekho abhi main haath chod raha hoon...koi violent reaction nahin ok... "...Sona had actually calmed down the moment he had addressed her as Cheeku...how she had longed to hear him address her this way.
Dev slowly let go of her hands one by one to check if she would react otherwise...but to his good luck she didn't...she just stood there starring at him, as if trying to guarantee herself that he had called her Cheeku...that finally she was getting her Bunny back...but that didn't put an end to the fact that she was indeed angry at him...very angry...in his fit of rage her had tried to molest her...and that was not something which she would pardon so easily...getting back to her angered stance, not a violent one though this time...she confronted him..."mujhe yahaan nahin rehna...mujhe mumma-papa ke ghar jaana hai...mujhe apne ghar jaana hai...please jaane do mujhe...please mujhe chod do..."...Dev felt bad viewing the fear masked by anger in her eyes...yes she was angry with him but at the same time guess he had scared her so much that she was just aiming to get out of his clutches.
"Sona woh tumne mujhse kahaan ki tumhe ghar jaana hai to mujhe laga ki yeh ghar, humare ghar jaana hai...par koi baat nahin...tumhe apne ghar jaana haina...theek hai phir hum aisa karte hai, kal subah office jaate waqt main tumhe tumhare ghar drop kar dunga theek hai..."...he tried his best to make peace with her...but she seemed to be in no mood of ceasefire..."nahin kal nahin, aaj, abhi...mujhe abhi jaana hai...main tumhare saath ek minute keliye bhi iss ghar mein nahin reh sakti...mujhe sab pata hai...tum mujhe aaj raat yahaan rok kar mere saath..."...tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of him trying to force her again..."par main aisa nahin hone dungi...tum meri marzi ke khilaaf mujhe haath nahin laga sakte samjhe...jaane do mujhe yahaan se..."...Dev couldn't think of ways to calm her down but still thought of giving it a try..."Cheeku, Bunny sorry hai baba...kal rata jo kuch bhi hua uske liye Bunny dil se sorry hai...tumhe mujhe jo sazaa deni hai do...par please abhi filhaal shaant ho jao...dekho kitni raat ho gayi hai...itni raat ko agar tum mumma-papa ke ghar jaogi to unhe kaisa lagega?...aur woh darr jayenge tumhe aise dekh kar to kya tumhe accha lagega?...nahin na...phir meri baat maano...abhi philhaal so jao...kal subah I swear main tumhe wahan le jaaunga...itna to trust kar lo apne Bunny par Cheeku...I know main tumhare trust ke laayak nahin hoon...phir bhi...please so jaao...".
Sona continued standing in her corner while Dev made the last attempt..."accha chalo ek deal karte hai...tum yahaan kamre mein araam se so jao...main neeche haal mein so jaata hoon...theek hai...aur haan agar maine tumhari permission ke bina iss kamre mein aane ki koshish ki to tum mujhe kuch bhi utha kar maar sakti ho...aur main tumhe kuch nahin kahunga...mujhe dard hoga to bhi nahin...mujhe chot lagegi to bhi nahin...bolo deal manjoor hai?..."...there was a change of expression on Sona's face when he said this to her...taking this as a queue he arranged the pillows properly on the bed, which Sona had scattered all over a while ago and signaled her to lie down...he stood a little away from her till the time he was sure she had indeed fallen asleep...when she had slipped into deep slumber, he slowly moved out of the room...closing the door behind him.
Dev had the entire night for him to ponder on the happenings around him...he sat cuddled on the reclining chair in the living room as he was brought out of his trance with the noise of certain footsteps approaching him steadily...he turned around to see who it was, there stood Ishwari all set for another grilling session...on any other occasion Dev would have ignored her...but today this was much needed...he had a lot of questions in his mind...and tonight he was going to pose them all to his mother...he straightened his posture as she took the place on a chair next to his..." jab main tujhse kehti thi ki yeh ladki sahi nahin hai to har baar tu meri baat kaat deta tha...ulta mujhe chaar baatein sunata tha ki main kaise ise galat samajhti hoon aur kis tarah mujhe ise apni beti samajhna chahiye...aaj dekh liya na tune apne aankhoan se...mujhe to pehle se pata tha ki yeh ladki paagal hai...dekha aaj kaise bartaav kar rahi thi...pichle 15 saaloan se dekhti aayi hoon iska paagalpan...".
"sab dekh aur sun liya hai maine maa...woh bhi jo Sona ne kiya ...aur woh bhi jo tune kiya...Sona ke saath...mere saath...tu aisa kaise kar sakti hai maa...Sona ke liye teri nafrat mujhse chupi nahin thi...par maine tera kya bigaada tha maa...bachpan mein ek kahawat suni thi ki daayan saath ghar chodkar waar karti hai...par tune to apna ghar bhi nahin choda...kyun kiye yeh sab tune maa...kya mile tujhe yeh sab karke..."...Ishwari couldn't make a head and tail out of what Dev was trying to convey to her..." yeh tu kya bole jaa raha hai Dev...maine kya kiya hai ab...jo hua tere saamne hai...tujhe kya lagta hai ki maine Sona ko kuch khila diya hai jisse uski yeh haalat ho gayi hai...main aisa kyun karungi Dev..."...this was the opportunity Dev was looking for...without beating around the bush he decided to arrive straight to the point..."haan maa bilkul...tu kahaan kuch karti hai...cheejein to bass ho jaati hai...jaise Natasha ne woh letter khud se likha tha...tune thodi na use kahaan tha aisa karne keliye...woh wahiyat se kapde bhi Sona ne khud se pehene the...tune thodi na uss ladke ko rishwat dekar yeh saare kaam karwaye the...cheejein to bass ho jaati hai...tu thodi na kuch karti hai...".
Ishwari felt the floor beneath her feet slid off...Dev knew about all her deeds...all what she had done till date to cut off all the ties between him and Sona was known to him now...the look on his face depicted his anger and she knew there was no other way out...she had to confess her crime and own up...she was glad Jay was not around...with a sober look on her face she spoke..."Dev maine jo kuch bhi kiya tere liye kiya...woh ladki Natasha tujhe dhoka de rahi thi...woh tujhse shaadi sirf tere paison keliye karna chahti thi...isiliye maine use dher saare paise dekar bhaga diya...aur Sona, woh bhi kuch kam nahin hai Dev...woh bhi tere saath sirf tujhe nuksaan pohunchaane keliye thi...uska teri jindagi se dur ho jaana hi sahi hai...aur maine jo kiya uska mujhe koi gam nahin hai..."
Dev was all the more annoyed now...first of all she had committed a mistake to top it all she was trying to justify herself by spoiling Sona's image..."tujhe pata hai maa Sona ne aaj aise react kyun kiya...kyun woh itne gusse mein thi ki mujhe ek nazar dekhna tak use manjoor nahin tha...kyunki tere bete ne gunah kiya hai...ek ladki se bina uski marji ke shaadi karne ka gunah...use har pal takleef dene ka gunah...uske saath jabardasti karne ki koshish ki maine maa...teri ek galti ki wajah se aaj main khudse nazrein nahin mila paa raha hoon...kyun kiya tune aisa maa...itni nafrat kyun Sona se?..."
"kyunki usne mujhse meri beti cheeni hai...meri Neha aaj iss duniya mein nahin hai kyunki Sona ne use maar daala... uss din Sona ne woh galti nahin ki hoti to Neha aaj jinda hoti...kya tujhe apni behen ki maut ka jara bhi dukh nahi hai Dev?..."...Ishwari questioned him as he tried to recollect the happenings which had taken place around 15 years back...suddenly he remembered that particular incident which had taken place that day and decided to clear his mother's misunderstanding..."maa kahin tujhe yeh to nahin lagta hai ki Neha ko uss din pool mein Sona ke wajah se giri thi?...ek minute, kahin tu isi wajah se usse nafrat to nahin karti hai na?...maa, kamse kam ek baar mujhse pooch to liya hota ki kya hua tha uss din...wahan sirf Neha aur Sona hi nahin the...main bhi tha unke saath...uss din jo kuch bhi hua hai meri aankhoan ke saamne hua hai...Neha apni marzi se gayi thi pool ke paas...maine aur Sona ne use mana bhi kiya tha...woh to jab Sona ne tujhe wahaan aate dekha to use laga ki tu Neha ko daant lagayegi...isiliye woh use waapas bulaane gayi thi...woh to uski kismet kharaab thi ki jab woh Neha ke paas pohunchi tabhi Neha ka pair phisla aur woh pool mein gir gayi...Sona ne use bachane ki koshish ki thi par bohot chote the hum uss waqt maa...nahin bacha paayi woh Neha ko...isiliye niraash hokar pool ke paas khadi roti rahi aur tune samajh liya ki yeh sab usne kiya hai...maa, ek baar bas ek baar tu mujhe yeh sab bol deti to kam se kam aaj mujhse itni badi galti to nahin hoti...tujhe andaaja bhi hai ki apni nafrat ke chalte tune na sirf Sona ki balki saath hi saath meri bhi jindagi barbaad karke rakh di hai...".
It was like Ishwari was living in an imaginary world of her's for all these years and suddenly her son had pulled her back to reality...was she so stupid enough to blame an innocent child for a cruel play of destiny...was she so cruel herself to spoil a girl's life just for the sake of her revenge...she who always had all the words in this world to blame and accuse Sona for her every small fault...she who had always hated her to the core considering her to be the murderer of her 6 year old daughter Neha, was at a total loss of words today...she couldn't decide if she should cry at her follies or apologize for her misdeeds...she was just lost in the thought process when Dev spoke again to break her train of thoughts..."tune jo kuch bhi kiya haina maa...uske liye main tujhe kabhi maaf nahin karunga...tune yeh sab isiliye kiya na kyunki tu Sona ko mujhse dur karna chahti thi...tu meri aur uski dosti mein daraar daalna chahti thi na...lekin aaj tera beta tujhse waada karta hai...ki main tere iraade kabhi kamyaab nahin hone dunga...chahe tu jo karle, main humesha Sona ko protect karunga...humesha uske saath rahunga...uska dost bankar...aaj bohot kuch chin gaya hai maa... Sona ne apna samman khoya hai aur maine apna sabse accha dost...par hum dono ke alawa tune bhi kuch khoya hai maa...tune apna beta kho diya hai...humesha humesha keliye..."...Dev stomped off out of the house as Ishwari made a defiant attempt to stop him.
Edited by DevakshiCrazy - 8 years ago
Itti Si Khushi Sab TV
Anupamaa
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
Hindi TV Shows
