CREDIT: Afiya
Wind-chill, Ailment, and Nuisance
100 Maspeth Avenue at Olive St, Brooklyn
It's quite a chilly start to the week for pre-scholars as they rush in to the classroom and get welcomed by Miss.K's warm and welcoming smile. Manhattan is experiencing it's third cold front this winter and it makes mornings extremely difficult for kiddos who tend not to care for bundling themselves in coats and sweaters. Shaantanu Sachdev had made sure his daughter did what was needed to keep warm as he carried her in towards her classroom.
"Oh..! Hey there…someone is sleepy…" Khanak notices walking up to the father-daughter pair at her classroom's door frame. Her turtle neck snow-white sweater and denim jeans paired with black leather boots are making her look ravishing to say the least.
"Yeah…we had trouble crawling out of the bed…and then the car seat…" He answers in a sudden good mood and an unexpected smile.
"Dari waana seeep…" A meek voice over Shaantanu's shoulders surfaces and Khanak tries to get a gist of Darya Sachdev's innocence filled face.
"She is really sleeping…" Khanak comments finding the little one with her bright eyes closed.
"Hmm…She is…"
"I'll get her…umm you must be running late…"
"I already am…" He admits gently handing over his precious Munchkin over to Khanak.
"I'll let her sleep some more…kids are running late this morning…"
"Thanks…" He is grateful and then turns to leave.
"Jus…just a minute…" Khanak had called out to him from behind.
"Yeah…?" He stops and turns. There are other kids being dropped off at the classroom door but she finds a way to step up right in front of him.
"Umm…I.."
"Are you okay..?"
"Yeah…yeah I am fine…I just…that coffee…"
"Coffee…??"
"Hmm…that day at the pier…what was it…called.??"
"Oh! Yeah…umm… Espresso Macchiato, from the corner Star Bucks…" He answers surprised at his exact memory of her beverage that he had treated her with.
"Thanks…"
"You're Welcome…I should get going…" His gaze in locked in hers yet he is consciously aware of his tardiness to work this morning.
"Of course…"
"Bye…" A small smile and then he is turned to walk away.
She stays in the hall watching the tall man in his dark charcoal trench coat make his way out through the crowd of parents and kids without turning back.
……………
Sachdev's Residence…Upper East Side
"Raina…utho beta…Kya baat hain…? ajj itni dair kaisay hogayi tumhay…?" Madhavi genuine concern brings a drowsy Raina out of a hazy trance. Her head felt like a thousands of pounding tons, she keeps her eyes closed and mumbles in sleep.
"Tumhari tabiyaat toh theek hain…?" Madhavi notices her daughter-in-law's somewhat place face as she returns to her bedside after drawing the curtains.
"Ugh…! Can you please…uhhh!" Raina's disdain over Madhavi's act of allowing sunlight in the room is displayed by her tossing and turning in her bed and finall covering herself under the comforter.
Madhavi takes a note of Shaantanu's side of the bed; it appears to have not been used. The room is disorganized with Raina's belongings strewn all over. Her dresses and garments are lying out randomly and the room is missing the very fact that it supposed to be shared between man and wife. Madhavi is quick to note such obvious dissociation between her son and her daughter-in-law.
"Raina…?"
"Au..Anuty…??"
"Yeah, it's me…Madhavi Aunty…beta let me check…are you running a fever…?" Madhavi's concern is motherly and she realizes that Raina has been under her drowsy spell all this while but has finally came to recognize her.
Raina's burning forehead makes Madhavi certain of her doubts. She is refusing to keep the comforter off as her fever chills won't allow her yet her skin is burning hot. It upsets Madhavi to see her in such a condition even more than the bedroom did on its own.
"I'll go get some medicines for you…kuch khaya hai? Breakfast…??"
"No…I… I have to...get to work..."
"You'll have to get better for it first….main breakfast laati hoon…" Madhavi says giving her hand an assuring squeeze.
"Thanks Aunty…"
"Rest karo…I'll call Shaantanu."
Lacking the energy to protest against Madhavi's comment, Raina watches her leave the bedroom and then turns herself away on the bed so that the neat and vacant side is no longer disturbing her peace of mind.
……………..
Midtown Manhattan around Noon
Armaan Malik is seen lost in deep thoughts facing the Manhattan skyline from his office's second highest floor where he just wrapped up a board meeting with some foreign clients. He is doing such an outstanding job under his father's guidance that nothing seems impossible for him to achieve on all of his professional grounds. Everything he had dreamt of becoming is coming true one day at a time and like his success, he too often felt invincible to the world. But the moment he steps out of his professional world he is intersected with his personal one, and finds it opposite in all mannerisms. The way every little thing contrasted on that front made him angry; it frustrated him to an indescribable extent. He'd been a good son agreeing to his father's wishes, but being a good husband to a person he barely knows is not easy…not easy at all.
"Armaan…??...Son…?"
"Huh…?"
"Your Dad…Yuvraaj Malik…??"
"Of course Dad…come…come on in…" Armaan shakes off his confusion and gestures Yuvraaj Malik to step in his huge office.
"Everything Alright…? You seem a little…"
"Off…?" Armaan completes his father's sentence as he settles down in his chair with a small smile.
"Yes…that would be the right word…"
"Just got my mind wrapped in a few things…"
"And you were just now unwrapping…?"
"Maybe…forget this metaphoric talk Dad…I am famished, any lunch plans on your mind…?" Armaan switches his mood gear to normalcy and questions with a smile.
"I had plans for a working lunch but won't mind if you'll be joining in…"
"Then let's get my new intern Becky to fetch us something good for lunch…"
"I hope this intern like you as her Boss…" Yuvraaj comments conveying his compliance for lunch plans with Armaan who quickly arranges it all over the intercom with Becky.
NOTE: Yes i know i am SUPERRR LATE with the updates... Had exams at first so couldn't find the time, then there were vacations that were spent in my cousin's wedding festivities and traveling...I AM SOOO SORRRYYY girlies...being an impatient person myself i hate it when the wait is so unbearable but my apologies are sincere and i WILL try my POSSIBLE BEST to make the next update longer and more on time...this story shall continue now. I know excuses are super annoying but please EXCUSE my tardiness this time...Please check out the update and let me know how this comeback is looking for you...THANK YOU.
P.S: Feel free to scold and virtually lash out...tamatar and taliyaan are both equally welcome here!
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