Devakshi One-shots/Drabbles/Short stories

Waiting forever

This one-shot is set after the dinner is over, S1(post leap), when Ishwari insists that Dev escort Sonakshi to her office and then home. 

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"Buckle up!" ordered Dev as soon as Sonakshi got inside the car.

"Please! You don't have to remind me, Grandpa!" she retorted as Dev grinned. It was fun needling her over little things!

"Thanks for driving me to the office. You didn't have to, I could have taken a cab." She felt oddly formal and had to express her gratitude.

"Wow, so much manners, Ms. Bose. When did you learn them? Aaahh ouch!!!" He shouted as she smacked him hard on the arm. "Okay okay relax. It is not big deal, you know that. It is late night, so it's safer to not travel alone."

"I know. So, thank you. Learn to take it gracefully."

"Yes ma'm!"

Silence ensued, but a comfortable one. The one where just being around the other person was enough, where words weren't actually required to fill every gap. The one which couples who have been together for a very long time possess.

"This feels so familiar, doesn't it? This late night, your car, us driving together?" Sona was in a mood to reminisce. So perfect those days were, so beautiful, so innocent. The world had been so rosy.

"Yeah, I know. What do they call it? Déjà vu? Right?" Dev searched for the right word, as his mind went back to those nights, those long drives, those never-ending conversations, those endless cups of coffee, those make-out sessions in the car. Where did they all go away?

"No, Déjà vu is when you feel something familiar happening, but have actually never experienced it. What we are feeling, what we are experiencing are memories. Which have happened to us before." She enlightened him.

"Okay, thank you, Ms. Know-It-All. Will this lecture be available online as well so I can revise?" He bowed his head to her as she laughed.

"Shut up!" The car filled up with the sounds of their hearty laughter. It had been a long time since this vehicle had heard any laughter. Sonakshi opened the window and let the cool breeze of the night in. She closed her eyes, feeling sheer bliss that she hadn't in a long time. Her peaceful moment was broken when Dev wanted to talk.

"Can I ask you something Sonakshi?" It didn't sound easy or light-hearted anymore.

"Yes, of course." She sat up, looking at him, waiting.

He was somber now. "You felt bad today, didn't you? When that lady and her daughter, Aarti berated you for the failure of our marriage? I am so sorry that happened, she should not have talked that way."

"Dev, it's okay. Don't feel bad. I am used to it." Sonakshi dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

Dev frowned, displeased at that statement, but at the same time curious. "What? What do you mean, you are used to it? Has someone else spoken to you this way before?"

She looked at him. "Dev, in the past seven years, there have been innumerable instances where I have heard these kinds of snide comments about my relationship status from distant relatives to rank strangers. Haven't you ever had to face any such accusation or comments during these years? That is not surprising. This is the reality of our society." She was talking very matter-of-factly now, no emotions. Just giving some reality checks, as he could see. But he could sense she was hurting, somewhere deep inside.

Dev was quiet for a long time. How many times had this happened? Random strangers insulting her? Did she think of him when people pointed out their failed marriage? No one had ever dared to say one word to him, but to her....? Did she always try to have this wall around her when it happened? What else happened to her in these past seven years? Did she have any moment to heal or the wound lay bare for anyone to come and probe all this time, just like his own?

Sonakshi watched him process her words. His knuckles, tightened at the wheel, his clenched jaw and that vein throbbing incessantly on his forehead. Anger was trying to take over, but he was trying hard to keep it away. She knew him very well, so she waited for him to traverse the shadows of the past.

He eventually breathed out. "I am so sorry Sonakshi."

"Why are you sorry? You don't have to be. I am fine, Dev. My mother has always said, 'We should only be concerned about those people who are pained when we are hurt. The rest of society will only talk.' So I have learnt to not care about those people." She declared with conviction.

Dev didn't believe one word of it. He knew her very well too. "Nice lying."

She was incensed at the confrontational accusation, but huffingly conceded. "Okay fine. My mother does say this and I am learning to not let it affect me. I am doing a lot better, but I still have some ground to cover! Happy?" She folded her hands across her chest and looked outside.

"Yes, very much. Your mother is very wise." He held out a truce. And she was like a little child, her face flushed in annoyance, stubbornly looking outside. Not very different from Suhana.

Pacified, she turned to look back at him. "Yes, she is. Mothers are, aren't they? I think wisdom is in the Motherhood Instruction Booklet, comes with the territory, you know."

"If you are fishing for compliments because you are a mother, then I will let you know, you will be waiting for a long time." He teased, as she rolled her eyes, smiling, her mood cheering, the air between them lightening.

They reached her office and Sonakshi turned towards him, only to be interrupted. "Please don't say Thanks again, its tiring me out!"

She laughed. "I won't, don't worry. I was just going to say, you can go. I will finish my work and take a cab back home."

"And get scolded by my mother again for not being a gracious host?" His hand gestures while showcasing a pretense of indignation was comical and she tried hard to not burst our laughing. "No way, Sonakshi, I am going to stay right here until you finish and chauffeur you back home safely, so I can answer my mother when she asks." Sure, like obedience was his middle name!

"Dev, I will take long... how long will you wait? It can take me an hour, two hours even!" protested Sonakshi.

"I have waited five hours for you, in case you have forgotten." He reminded her. Another time flashed through her mind: a coffee house, a boss waiting for an employee, drinking gallons of coffee, as he continued. "So go ahead, take your time, one or two hours is nothing."

She shook her head, he was just as obstinate as always. "Fine. Wait there." She pointed to a couch and sat down at her own desk, opening her laptop and immersing herself in her work. He settled down on the couch comfortably and watched her: her nose scrunched, eyes narrowed in concentration, fingers tapping away furiously at her laptop. He smiled to himself, I have waited seven long years for you, Ms.Bose. What's a couple extra hours? Yes. This evening was progressing much better than he had expected.