adhura pyaar ┃abhira (3.0)

papa

4 letters. 1 word.

the effect was tremendous, it brought back life in a dead man. Gave him a purpose and a renewed sense of meaning in his dire life.

as he heard the words come out of his small son, he felt that even if god had taken him away at these moments due to his mistakes, he would be the most grateful. He hadn't expected it, yes he did yearn in the quiet moments at dawn and the calm snippets during twilight but a part of him always knew that he didn't deserve it - but here he was hearing his son consciously call him the one thing his heart beat for -- papa.

***

He doesn't hear the shatter of the crystal as it falls to the ground. He only sees the wine spill out from broken glass, soaking into the rug, spreading in every direction like ink being blown on paper through a straw.

It's a bright, sparkling red in this lighting. He sees the bright red darkening as it seeps through every woven thread.

The whiter the rug, the better the contrast.

It's art.

"Shit" Akshara's panicked voice breaks through his disturbed thoughts and he blinks twice and shakes his head as if to clear them from his head. "Mimi is going to kill me. I knew I shouldn't be the one handing out drinks"

She's dabbing furiously at the stain, pieces of glass scraping her knees, cutting into her skin but she isn't even paying attention.

Blood trickles down her leg, sinks into the stain of red wine until he can't tell them apart.

He bends down on to his knees beside her, stills her hand with his and gently removes the small piece of glass from her leg. She winces, finally noticing the shard slicing skin.

"Akshara, you don't even take care of yourself " he says irritation in his voice, pulling her up with his and seating her down , "It's only wine, not spilt blood. It's not the end of the world."

"Yeah, well, they stain as bad as each other, but," she finishes with a tilt of her head and a conciliatory smile, "I get your point."

She tries again to soak up what she can with the napkin, but gives up with a sigh realizing the futility.

"You need to get that bandaged" He says pointing towards her leg, and he's about to reach down to examine itself before he remembers the circumstances they were in. "I'm sure Aarohi will know what to do, it's a small one but make sure you get it wrapped please"

"Of course, Aarohi will know what to do" She says, and she didn't mean to have a bite in her voice as much as she did. His care annoyed her, especially since he was being distant with it. "It doesn't hurt much but I'll get Aarohi to look at it"

 "Why are you even serving the drinks. There has to be someone else for it" Abhimanyu states, looking around for a server. 

"Bade Papa had some business partners coming inm so he had to serve drinks but the waiters forgot- anyways" She gives up trying to explain, knowing she had to ask him about more pressing matters. 

"You okay?" she asks in her most gentle voice. Well the most gentlest voice she can muster before it sounds a bit too sickly sweet to be actually sweet. "You've been missing for the past two days, ever since we returned from Jaipur"

"You haven't come searching" he countered. Pouring a hefty amount of wine into the glass as if the whole wine spill fiasco wasn't enough yet he doesn't take a sip. "The decorations are nice"

Bade Papa had been adamant to celebrate Akshara recalling all her memories and making a speedy recovery. Luckily for him, a major business win was due too so he grouped both the events together.