Devakshi One-shots/Drabbles/Short stories

Building bridges (Part 3)

Sonakshi adjusted the pallu of the saree for the umpteenth time. She was too nervous and it showed. She brushed her hair once more and retouched her lip color. That woman at the café was so chic, so gorgeous. If those are the kind of women Dev has been into these seven years, is there any chance he would find her attractive? Perhaps she should change, wear that gown she had bought in Mumbai.

"Hey, I think Dev is waiting downstairs, I saw his ca.....WOW." Jatin gave a low whistle as he appraised her. "Sona, you look fantastic!"

"Please Jatin. Don't I look too plain?" She continued checking herself in the mirror.

"What are you talking about? You look like a million bucks! I can assure you, you look amazing!"

"I am not sure. Maybe I should cancel. Maybe this isn't such a good idea." She walked over to her window and peaked out. Dev was there, pacing the pavement restlessly, his hair bouncing with each step. He was wearing his faded blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a brown leather jacket, that seems to be his trademark these days and sunglasses on. She stared at him, how does he look this good? She could just stand here all day looking at him. Was it any wonder women found him attractive?

"Sona, what in the world are you talking about?" Jatin sounded genuinely puzzled.

"Baba isn't happy about all this." She closed the curtains and sat down on her bed.

"Didn't you say that he took back his promise?"

"Yes, he did, but he is upset and disappointed. He won't say anything, but I know. He has the same worried look that he had when Dev and I were getting married. At least, at that time I could say, it was my life. But now, Suhana is involved too. What if this all goes south one more time?"

"Sona, stop it. You are doing this for you, not for anyone else. Bijoy Kaka is your father, he loves you very much. So he wants you to be with someone perfect, and be a perfect couple. That is never going to be possible, because whoever you choose will come with their own set of flaws. Perfection is an illusion."

"Baba wants me to marry you." She looked up at him.

"Yes, I know. But you aren't in love with me, you won't be happy with me, so we won't be a good couple, and then he would hate me like he hates Dev!" He walked over to her, holding her by her shoulders, making her look at him. "Listen, just go, have fun. Stop thinking so much. Follow your heart this once. And Bijoy Kaka loves you, so once he sees you happy, all his apprehensions will disappear. What time are you supposed to meet Dev?"

"6pm."

"Its 6.30pm already! Come on, when did you become one of those people who are always late?! Time for you to go on and have some fun!"

Dev checked his watch for the thousandth time, 6.30pm. She hadn't come yet. He really hoped she hadn't changed her mind. She used to be late when they were dating too. In fact, even on that double date he went with her and that fake boyfriend she had conjured up, she had been late. Her reason always used to be that she needed time to get dressed up to meet her boyfriend. A smile crept up to his face just at the memory. Boyfriend. Those days had been so innocent and beautiful, untouched by the harsh realities of families, cultural differences, egos.

He wondered how this evening is going to be. It hadn't started out great. As he was leaving, he had been intercepted by his mother and uncle, admonishing him for going out with random women, especially now that Suhana was in life. What kind of impression would that leave on her, they questioned him. Dev hadn't planned to talk about Sonakshi to anyone. At least not yet, but that wasn't meant to be. His mother was getting so worked up and upset about his dinner plans that he had to reveal that he was meeting Sonakshi, which then started a different kind of excitement. This time, she was thrilled! Ma went on to tell him about how she has waiting for them to get back together and that she was planning a grand wedding! And this is where things got very uncomfortable for him, because he himself didn't know where he and Sonakshi stood as a couple. All he knew was that he was madly in love with her. He wasn't ready for wedding talks and all the politics that came with it.