~Life Without You~ - VS ff - Chp 9, pg 7!

Veer watched on helplessly as soni bawled her eyes out. he had never seen his wife so distraught before & frankly the sight of her sobbing so pitifully wrenched veer's heart out. "hush.. hush.. don't cry soni.. please don't cry.." veer stroked soni's hair. That action of his seemed to calm her down slightly & soni's tears ceased. She stared at veer with red-rimmed eyes, mascara streaming down her cheeks in two small rivets. Despite that, veer felt that soni looked more vulnerable & beautiful than she had ever had, at that moment.

Taking out his freshly laundered handkerchief that he didn't use, veer dabbed at soni's cheeks trying his best to remove the black streak from her cheeks but to no avail. The mascara seemed to have melted right into soni's soft skin. Veer thought of telling his wife how she looked but then thought better of it. Telling soni that she looked like a miniature panda wasn't going to help lift her mood in any way.

After soni had considerably calmed down veer probed her as to find out what was bugging his lovely wife. "do you mind telling me what's bothering you soni? Maybe sharing it with someone might make you feel better.." he smiled at her comfortingly. Soni looked at him for a moment then shook her head. "no veer.. there's nothing bothering me.. I just felt alone & I was also remembering daddy-ji and mummy-ji. Our diwalis at the malhotra household cannot be forgotten so easily.. I was just missing home & there was no one here I could talk to.. you had already left for your duty.. who could I talk to?"soni lamented.

Veer felt a surge of affection for soni. So she thought he was the only one in the house she could talk to? That was news for veer. he thought he'd never hear his importance in her life right from soni's mouth. "is that all that is bothering you?" veer felt himself asking the question aloud. Soni still looked somewhat unsettled. "veer.. it's cherry.. I feel mummy-ji.." she faltered trying to find the right words to tell veer how she felt about the whole situation.

"I'm sure she's a nice girl. if mamma chose her for jeet, she has to be good na?" veer smiled at soni as if to ally her fears. "you mean you haven't met her yet?" soni was a little taken aback. "no.. I haven't. mamma said cherry left with jeet for a dinner date or something like that. And I came straight up here to meet you after I reached home." Veer added with a grin on his handsome face. Soni turned away from him & let the light breeze caress her face gently. It was a futile effort trying to explain durga's efforts in putting her down before cherry.

Soni felt really tired. It was as if crying had emptied her of all her energy. She leaned back on the swing, gave veer a small smile & unknowingly fell asleep. Meanwhile veer was watching soni intently, she looked beautiful in the soft moonlight with or without the ugly mascara streaks. When the wind whipped through her loose hair veer wanted more than anything to reach out & grab soni & kiss her without stopping. He saw her eyes flutter close & unmistakably she was asleep.

Veer watched soni sleeping for a while then gazed up at the sky, admiring the millions of stars that graced the velvety blue horizon. He felt soni turn in her sleep & soon found her head resting against his shoulder. His gaze reverted back to soni's sleeping face, veer let his eyes run over her dozing profile for a few minutes. Plagued by a sudden bout of courage veer put his arm around soni's shoulder & pulled her closer to him. She snuggled closer to him & let out a light soft snore. Unable to control his laughter, veer grinned like a madman & sighed contentedly.

That night was nearly over yet veer felt like it was only beginning. He felt his eyes close & he too dozed off, his head lying perfectly in sync with soni's. "veer puttar!! Veer puttar!" durga's loud obnoxious voice echoed like a loud clap of thunder jolting veer from his slumber. He stared up with sleep filled eyes at his mother who looked positively murderous at the sight of soni sleeping on his shoulder. "sshh mamma.. you'll wake soni up.. she's so tired that she fell asleep.." veer smiled at soni tenderly whilst durga rolled her eyes. "but puttar.. we have beds in the house.. why is this girl using your shoulder as a bed?" durga's sarcastic comment made veer wince but he didn't retort. He knew better than to argue with his mum.

Durga realizing that her grumblings were falling on deaf ears shoved a shawl into veer's hands & turned to leave. "mamma.." veer called out to her. She whipped around hopefully to hear him tell her that he'll send soni off to bed soon but instead veer just thanked his mother & wrapped the shawl around soni's shoulder gently. "hmphh.. so far for the model son.." durga muttered as she descended the steps down to the living room.

The cheery rays of the early morning sun woke veer up. It was a beautiful morning & the warmth the sun was spreading gave him a new form of energy. Veer tried to stretch his arms but felt that he couldn't move it.

Realizing that soni was still fast asleep on his shoulder, veer quickly drew back his arm not wanting to wake her up. That little jerk however woke soni up. Her head jerked back slightly & her eyes opened slightly.

"veer.. what are you doing here?" she asked him in a rather groggy voice. She seemed unfocused for a few moments then regained her composure & stiffened immediately. "was I asleep on your shoulder for the entire night? Did anyone see me sleeping this way?" soni actually sounded scared.

"yes mamma came to give me this shawl but she didn't say anything.." veer added as soni looked positively aghast. He wanted to tell her how very close he felt to her the previous night but veer couldn't find the right words to express his feelings to soni.

As if on cue, soni caught his eye & they gazed at each other without breaking eye contact. The brief intoxicating spell was broken when they heard durga's shouts coming from the living room below. "who asked you to place this flowers here? Don't you have any brains?" her voice boomed & veer and soni couldn't help but break into grins. Some things never changed at the khurana household.

"so shall we go down & face mamma's music?" veer asked soni in a teasing tone & regretted the instant he uttered those words. Soni had turned serious again & her smile had disappeared. Veer realized how much soni feared durga & made up his mind to ease the tension between his mother and wife as soon as possible. As they climbed down the stairs a rather astonishing sight greeted them.

The whole living room was strewn with almost flower ever known to man. Sitting right in the middle of living room with an annoyed expression on her aged face was durga khurana. Soni had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as durga's eyes narrowed into slits upon spotting veer & soni standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"oh so finally you had the heart to come down eh soni? You should know that for a good daughter in-law helping her mother in-law is more important than romancing with your hubby.." durga glared at soni pointedly. Veer on the other had turned slightly red & was looking elsewhere than at soni.

"no mummy-ji.. actually i.." soni started to explain but was rudely interrupted by durga. "forget it soni.. you should have known better than to actually let me lecture you.. but what to do? That's the way you've been brought up.." the biting sarcasm in durga's voice made tears sting the back of soni's eyes.

Veer realizing that his mother was again picking on soni nicely allied the situation by asking her what the occasion was that there were so much of flowers surrounding the whole living room. Durga then adopted a sickly sweet voice that could give sugar a run for it's money.

"veer puttar.. you know jyoti's friend is coming from Canada as well. She & cherry were friends so I asked cherry to ask apple to come along as well. Nice name na? Apple. It's so unique.."😆😆 durga gushed on not realizing how silly she sounded.

"cherry's friend apple?" veer thought trying his best to hold back the urge to laugh.😆😆 He turned to soni to find that she was also trying her best to control her laughter. "what's so funny puttar?" durga's sharp eyes had picked up the change in the atmosphere. It seemed that durga was being laughed at & durga was one person who fancy being laughed at.

"nothing mamma.." veer somehow hid his grin & adopted a serious tone. Durga eyed him & soni suspiciously for a moment before taking on the fake saccharine tone again. "so veer puttar.. I want you to go to the airport to receive apple.. will you do your mamma this favour?" durga smiled at veer serenely.

"sure mamma.. I was thinking of bringing soni to that tandoor restaurant which has only one branch at the airport. This is a good time to go there na soni?" veer asked his wife but durga didn't let soni reply.

"no puttar.. I think it's best that you went alone.. what is soni going to do in the airport? It's not like she's traveled by plane for her entire life. Poor girl.. even the bus was a privilege for her.." durga smirked at soni evilly.