Loving Her

A Perfect Gentleman

Well, isn't Prem regretting his decision now. He carries a diaper bag, a hand bag, a suit case, while holding every door open for Sai and Vinayak. The receptionists giggle at his condition, one even calling out to him, "will you carry something for me too?".

Imagine his relief when he stuffed them into the trunk, and was finally relieved of the amount of her things. He can handle the weight, and would probably carry the child if she demanded it. But luckily she did not, and he finally relaxed. The child is in a car-seat much to his surprise, accounting for the fact they can be more expensive than other things. 

"So, no dad?" Prem asks, genuinely curious. Sai, who is at the moment scrolling through whatsapp, immediately freezes. 

"He doesn't deserve to be called a father." Sai snaps, looking up. 

Prem purses his lips awkwardly. Well, that was unexpected. 

"Well... I won't ask again." Prem states bluntly, his face with the most awkward expression on it. 

"I'm sorry... it's just a bit tough to talk about him..." Sai sighs, guilt in her voice. "I just... um. Veenu's father... he's verbally abusive. As was his family... and honestly this past month has been the most adventurous, and normal I've had in nearly a decade."

Prem looks at her for a moment to see she has put her phone away and is instead watching the world move outside the window. "I understand. I've been where you are... except it was my wife. She cheated on me constantly, and even got an abortion. Not my kid but, it bothered me you know. Then we got divorced, and now she has skin cancer, so I have been paying all her bills."

"That is wrong of her. And why are you paying for her treatment?"

"Because her boyfriend dumped her, and she doesn't have a job. So I'm paying for everything, from her water bill to chemotherapy. And that too in the United States. It's expensive to say the least."

"Well it's not your responsibility," Sai points out. 

"True." Prem agrees, turning into a large street. He rolls down Sai's window, revealing to her the large complexes of flats spanning out across the neighborhood. She is in awe, sticking her face out of the window. 

"It's beautiful!" she laughs, Prem practically shoving her back down to her seat. 

"Careful there Dr Joshi. I don't want to waste more gas on taking you to the hospital for a major concussion and maybe even some skull injuries."

"Oh, I didn't know you were boring." Sai rolls her eyes, placing her wrist on the window.

"I'm not boring, I am sensible." Prem quips, turning the radio on. "Try not to fracture your hand."

No one speaks after that, as the weird reality of their situation set in. She's a divorced, single mother, and he is a divorced man paying for his ex's bills. And now they are technically roommates... flatmates. Whatever you want to call them.

"Ok-" they both begin in unison. "We need to/I need to get something straight-"

The accidental overlapping of their words causes them to burst out in laughter. All hearty and excited, Prem says, "How are we splitting chores?"

"Man, and I was going to ask you whether or not you want to be the one who takes out the trash."

"50-50?"

"50-50." 

Mutually agreeing, they finally sit back in their seats. The car sputters off, and Prem, much like a gentleman, opens the door and helps Sai out. 

"I can take the-"

"Take your son and go upstairs, I'll bring your things." Prem interrupts. "And maybe, the bag full of the baby's things will go with you."

She smiles, and takes the bag. "Thank you Dr Kapoor."

He sighs in response, shaking his head in disappointment. "Of all the things, you say thank you Dr Kapoor?"

"Gracias, Dr Kapoor." Sai repeats in Spanish with a grin plastered to her face. 

"Prem. Its Prem after work is over."

...

Ashwini stares at Pakhi in admiration as she types rigorously on her laptop.

"Look at how hard she is working." she points out to Virat, who is walking past them. "She is launching a business, cooking, cleaning, and stays up all night to take care of the child you decided to bring home after your mission."

"The child has a name Aai." Virat states, walking over to Pakhi with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Just about as well as you would think." she smiles at him. "Krishnaa's asleep. Don't you dare try to wake her."

"I won't. I saw what happened last time." Virat assures, squeezing her shoulder. "When will you be done?"

"I'll try to come upstairs as soon as possible." Pakhi states, passing him a smile. Virat reciprocates and goes upstairs.

"Well, we'll be waiting."

If you would simply walk into Chavan Niwas right now, you would never figure out whether Sai had ever been here or not. With Pakhi and Virat's platonic marriage, and their constant mention of Krishnaa, would fool you into believing they are an ideal couple with a child.

But they are not.

It is a show to the family that they are fine with each other, but in truth they often stay on different sides of the room, always quiet. Every time Virat went in there, he could feel Sai's presence bounce off everything.

He refused to sleep on the bed unless absolutely necessary, and replaced Vinayak's cradle with a new one for Krishnaa, trying his best to save every memory of his previous life as he can.

Sai is dead. And Vinayak with her.

When her last known location blew up into flames the same night she left, killing everyone in the building, he lost hope in ever reuniting with her and their son. Not like it was possible otherwise. Especially after he blindly signed the divorce papers, and handed them to his lawyer without another thought.

Aimless, he found himself agreeing to his family's request to marry Pakhi, followed by the adoption of a newborn he found dying in a dumpster outside a drug house.

Krishnaa brought a new meaning to his life, a new purpose and reason to live for. She's the light in the dark for him. And she allows for Virat to stay away from Pakhi. He still loves Sai... at least he thinks he does.

No one in his family does for sure, especially after she went AWOL without a single trace except for the tracker in her phone. And then that too, became an unusable asset. Every day he awaits its location to change.

Closing the door of his room behind him, he walks over to the crib and gazes at his daughter sleeping in there. 

He genuinely smiles for the first time in the entire day, and reaches down, cradling her in his arms lovingly. 

"It's just you and me is it my little marshmallow?" Virat whispers, kissing the baby's forehead. 

Her eyes flutter open, and stares up at the man, curiously. Silently.

...

Ok, there's the update. 

Next one will be here after we get more votes than the last chapter. (More than 28)