Limping to wellbeing
She moaned so much in fever, couple hours later, Dadu checked on her and called Akash, Piyush arrived and stayed until 1 AM, when the family arrived
Piyush was asleep too, so they left them alone and took her to the Doc the next morning
Flu had no meds, so she was sent home, Anu took the day off to deal with a headache, and Vivekaâs health
MIL was adamantly returning to Rohini after every visit to Buaâs much to Maâs chagrin. A large care basket arrived around 2 PM, when Papa returned early from work
There was no apology tendered, but he plied gifts and keepsakes
It had fruits and fruit juices and ginger and chamomile teas and some phoren looking health stuff, in the bottom there was a layer of Harlequin paperbacks, packets of M&Ms and Lindt truffles
She was asleep Anu actually blushed when she saw the âbed of novelsâ underneath the boxes of teas and bathing salts
An hour later a âlargishâ bouquet arrived
Viveka slept through all of it, Naina returned from work to be extremely unhappy at looking at the whole thing spread everywhere in the living room, Diya raided it and grabbed all the bath salts
âCan we get a bathtub Papa⌠dude it would so totally be worth itâ she shook the salts
âshhhhâ âso rahi hai babuâ Anu scolded
âAND theyâve bought the whole familyâ Naina waved mocking
âNaina!!!â Akash was furious
âwhat? You donât like it?â
âWhen I was going away to Jaipur and such sabko itna gussa aa gaya, she was here with him na?â Naina was getting unreasonably upset
âFever tha usko kal jab hum gaye, 99.8 thaâ
Naina went into her room and locked the door
Dadu and Dadi had gone walking with the house help
âKal kuch kaha usne raat ko?â
âUmm.. she told me, they talked about stuffâ akash mumbled
âPata nahi how to get from here to there Akashâ
âI donât either⌠its like he is the only one with ⌠I shudnt say that Satyen is too⌠but who will bell the cat?â
âKal dekha Varsha ke Papa ko?â Anu sighed leaning on Akashâs shoulder
âHe doesnât even eat or drink in our house, kal who ruk jaata to Piyush ko lautna nahi padtaâ
âUmm.. yeah that was bad⌠beti hamari hai Akash we should have returnedâ
âshaadi honey waali hai us se aur who ruka hi nahiâ
Anu was unsettled
How does one tell their own daughter to break off?
So unfairâŚ
âMain baat karoonâ Akash asked
âKya baat karogey aap?â
âYahiâŚ. Suna hai uske 1000 dost hain, he is a social animal, but hamare ghar mein pair kyon nahi tik taâ
âU know why? We donât live in Aurangazeb Rdâ
âIN SAB ka kya matlab hai?â Akash waved cynically at the large gift wrapped basket, now open partially
âHe LOVES HERâ âBas⌠donât read anything more into itâ
âHow can she go on pretending she is the only Mathur connected to his house?â
âPata nahiâ
They heard Viveka coughing
Akash picked up the basket and brought it in
Dadi saw it too
âYou give me the kind of feelings people write novels about!â he had inserted between the pages of a paperback
Viveka turned crimson when she read it
It was cheesy and funny to have stuck it inside a paperback
Clever as always lawyer
âAayega aaj?â Anu asked silkily feeling her forehead
âUmm.. I donât know⌠I want to go back to work Ma, I saw on my phone I might get to present on a topic thatâs been very dear to me for a whileâ she whispered
âNobody is able to understand what you are saying? KAISE jaoogi?â
âMrs Gulati ki replacement hoon, if I am sick they will give the job awayâ Viveka was upset
âSorry betaâ
She went on her phone and texted âThanks for the care basketâ
âYou are welcomeâ he texted
She took a picture of that note and sent it to him
âCleverâ
âU think so?â
âI have told you many times you are shrewdâ
âCan I look at you, can you facetime?â he asked
She leaned back and shut her eyes
What was it about him?, whether it was 2 AM or 4 AM she lay in bed thinking about him
That smile⌠he didnât cross her mind, he lived in it!!
Haha⌠she laughed out loud
Realization slowly dawned on her on how they had parted last night, she opened her eyes and stared at all the books beside her
Why was it so goddamn difficult for him to say sorry and acknowledge Nainaâs hurt
That did not take away anything from Inder right?
âI realized last nightâ
(she saw a âŚâŚ for the longest time)
And then nothing
And then a âŚâŚ.
And then nothing
âI am going to looking at Nainaâs situation differentlyâ he said after almost an hour
She was eating her dal chawal
âis that an apology?â she asked with her forthrightness
âI donât know Vivekaâ
âI donât want to arm twist you into anything Raanavâ she said politely
âI know thatâ
âI will have to figure out more stuff than youâ she discreetly reminded him that she had the tougher end of the bargain
âI am sure my mother will be fine about youâ
âUfffffâ she sighed shutting her eyes and letting go of her phone
It was impossible to persuade him to see the truth
âthere is a difference between being fine and acceptingâ
Again a series of âŚâŚâŚâŚ.
And then nothing
âI donât want to push you to embrace Naina Raanavâ she said before turning in for the night
âCan we talk about how we need to stop talking about anything other than usâ he countered
âToo many conditionsâ she said cryptically
âHow are you feeling today?â
âI went to the Doctorâ
âGood!â
âWe donât live in the dark ages Raanavâ she taunted him gently for his âWhy is not going to the Doctorâ
âDid that what it sounded like?â he asked silkily without admitting any wrong doing
âYou have to be completely open and willing to marry a middle class girlâ
âI thought I proposed alreadyâ he mocked her
âI should have said WOMAN not girlâ she explained candidly
âI am fine with eitherâ
(Fine with me any which way) âJust not the family?â she asked
Why were all the âideal dreamboatsâ all flawed? âWhat have I gotten myself intoâ
At least I donât have a fever⌠if thatâs worth something
âHow do you know I love cheesy romance stories?â she asked forgetting her question was hanging in thin air
âI must be a good guesserâ
âCan I call you?â he begged
âIve lost my voice remember?â she texted
âGod forbid!â he flirted indicating he could never imagine her not speaking up
âClever!â
comment:
p_commentcount