Solace

Chapter 31

"It's a beautiful day and I can't stop myself from smiling.."

The song playing in the car caught Haseena's attention as the volume went up. Although listening to english songs at high volume was not to her taste, it sounded nice to her anyway. The afternoon glow was illuminating with cool breezes replacing the intense heat. The serenity of nature engulfed her as she looked through the window.

"Sachme ajka din bohut suhana hai", Haseena thought with a dimple smile that reached her eyes.

As the car approached their house her eyes fell on her mother, who was about to go somewhere.

"Ammi, kahi ja rahi thi ap?" Haseena asked, getting out of the car.

"Accha hua tu jaldi agayi", Salma took a relief breath. "Hum Chameli ki taraf ja rahe hai, uski beti ki delivery hai. Shayad hum raat ko na loute", she said before leaving in a hurry.

"Kya baat hai! Aj humare alava har koi masroof hai", Haseena murmured, walking towards the house.
.
.
.
.
Vijay Singh wore a proud smile as they finished the meeting with their clients Ratanlal Maheshwari and his son Ishan in a pleasant note. Along with the prospect of the project being successful, Santosh's decision to join the company filled him with contentment. He didn't know what made her change her mind but he was glad that she did. He glanced at his three children who were sitting together in the backseat of the car, they looked tired but happy. He couldn't help but think how great it would be if Santosh permanently moved to the haveli.

"Accha toh mai chalti hu", Santosh said, getting out of the car as she waved her hand at them with a smile.

"Dhyan se beta", Vijay Singh uttered in a concerned tone, while Santosh gave him an assuring smile.

"Maine Maheshwari ji ko unke ladke se kehte huye suna hai ke kyuna woh tumhe approach kare", Amar whispered to Karishma, not wanting to be heard by their father.

"Only if he knew", Karishma said with a smirk, "and anyway mai Haseena se pyar karti hu."

"What!" Amar was stunned, "and?" he asked.

"And we are together", Karishma replied nonchalantly while Amar gave her a puzzled look.
.
.
.
.
"Apki drawing kitni acchi bani hai Haseena!", Ashu said to Haseena who was drawing something on the colour book.

"Haseena? Ap toh hume Hasi bulati thi, apke bua sa ki tarah", Haseena asked the reason behind this sudden change, shifting her gaze at him.

"Lekin bua sa ne mana kar dia tha mujhe!" Ashu replied, busy looking at the drawing.

"Aur woh kyu?" Haseena wondered.

"Unhone kaha ke woh apse sabse jayda pyar karti hai isliye apko kisise share nahi karengi. Ittu sa bhi nahi", Ashu repeated Karishma's words from the other day. Haseena widened her eyes at this revelation, being too spellbounded to react.

"Chalo bohut masti hogayi ajke liye. Sona nahi hai kya?", a sound came from behind them, urging them to look back. Shivani stood near the door as she was instructing Malaika about something. "Haseena tum yahi ho! mujhe laga Karu ke saath hogi", she said, picking up Ashu in her arms.

"Karishma agayi hai!" Haseena looked a bit surprised as she glanced at the clock that showed 11 pm. Obviously Karishma should be home by then. "Hum bhi na!" she smacked her forehead before moving towards Karishma's room.
.
.
.
.
Karishma entered her room all worn out and just threw herself on the bed, after changing into comfortable clothes. She was working a lot these days, which is not really her forte. When you are a pampered child of a wealthy family, you tend to get used to comfort a bit too much. This was also applicable for Karishma. But today it was not just work that exhausted her, the conversation with Santosh had drained her more. That time she sidelined her emotions before Santosh but now she felt the haunting nightmares of her mother's death coming back, even though it was not about her. It's just whenever she witnessed anyone going through emotional turmoil, it would trigger her own vulnerabilities.