Hasi Ban Gaye (On Hold)

SMILE!

"Daughters are the only people able to soften the hearts of strong men." -Unknown

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Sai could feel how tense Satya was the entire ride to Chavan Niwas. Maybe she had told him too much... she shouldn't have said anything. Now his mood seems ruined. He shuts off his motorbike, and watches as she walks on, getting Savi for the little treat she demanded, and Satya so readily agreed to provide.

He remained behind, staring at the wall hiding the home just beyond it from the world. His father was once tied to this home, after he abandoned his mother for this very family. The frown on his grows even more, imagining him walking out of that gate, the hand of his other child in his own, replacing his Madhura and Satya. How he had once admired and loved that man beyond belief, all shattered in that one move. His Baba was no longer his own. And now he's dead, gone from this world forever, forgotten.

"Dr Headache!" Savi's sweet cheerful voice calls out for him. Satya breaks out of his trance as a little girl comes running out of the gate, straight for him. She throws out her tiny hand for a handshake. "Hello!"

Satya smiles seeing her greet him so warmly, gently shaking her hand. "Hello Lady Savi. How are you?"

"Thank you for taking me to the ice cream stand. Aai wouldn't let me!" she tells him.

Her personality is just as energetic and cheerful as Sai's is when she is excited. A little ball of sunshine in a day full of tiring work. That's when a car emerges from the gate, Sai driving it. Her face is displaying annoyance so clearly, Satya wonders whether somebody managed to irritate her more than he does on a daily basis.

"Seems like Dr Chidku has marked her return." Satya quips, waving at Sai. "What happened?"

"Oh nothing." she shakes her head dismissively. "Come along now. We need to be back before the clock rings 8."

Satya nods, and helps Savi into the backseat, before sitting in the passenger one himself. Sai hands her phone to Savi, alongside a pair of headphones, and huffs.

"Now, tell me." Satya requests, making eye contact with her. "Did anyone say something?"

"I had to sneak Savi out of the window." Sai blurts, slightly surprised she could pull that off. "And I took the keys without them looking. Kaku had decided to throw thousands of questions at me because Virat wasn't with me. I'm not his mom, that I would take him everywhere like Savi."

"Your Kaku sounds like an interesting character." he chuckles. "What is her name?"

"Bhavani. And she is the most basic of them all." Sai laughs. "I've learned to fend her off."

Once again, his face darkens. She's the worst of them all. Worse than his father was
...

Savi sat in a chair, aggressively munching on the ice cream cone, her face covered in the chocolate ice cream. Satya, just the same, has vanilla ice cream lightly dabbed on his nose.

"Goodness, why are you eating like that?" Sai scolds, finishing her dish of ice cream like the sophisticated young woman she is.

Satya turns his head to look at Savi, and begins laughing with his mouth closed, as Savi does the same and begins laughing. Since the comment had not clearly been directed at either of them, they thought it was the other one with the ice cream all over their faces.

"Wait. Let me take a picture of this. SMILE!" Sai says, pulling her phone out. She takes it, and grins lovingly at the two biggest idiots she knows. Imagine her disappointment, when they traded napkins to clean off the ice cream.