Blessed: The Abandoned Wife

Song of the heart

Viren thought his brother needed some fun in his life and dragged Daivik to his business acquaintance Amish's wedding. It was when they reached the venue that Daivik realized that this was the wedding of Shubhi's sister! When Viren offered a choice to Daivik to leave, he decided to stay. He wanted to mingle and observe- to know the enemy better! He had already run into her more than three times in the past four weeks and the possibility of that happening was increasing by the day. He had not much of a belief in fate till then, but this was getting weird.

Daivik: I know you did not intend it bro, but I have run into her again!

Viren: Of all the places in the world!

Daivik: Did you know that this is her sister's wedding?

Viren: Actually, I had declined that invite, I knew Anita and even Dheemant and others were attending but for your sake I decided not to attend.... Only now to realize that we have been invited by the other side as well.

Daivik: Wow! talk about coincidence! But do not tell Rajan about this! (mimicking Rajan) Even when you run away from her...you run into her...

Viren: (joining in the laughter) We can look for the Baba Bangali later for you, but tell me if you want to return home?

Daivik: No, I think I will accept my fate here, if we must meet socially, we have to learn to be civil at least.

Viren: (smiling and winking) Then here is your first civil duty- please look after this bunch of kids as we get the photo session done.

Viren smiled and left an irritated yet relieved Daivik with the kids. The kids are playing together, and Daivik grudgingly took up the babysitting duty while everyone was busy with teasing and getting the photographs clicked. Daivik, having been away for so many years, was uncomfortable around this gang that consisted of family and friends. So, he was relieved to take up these duties. Importantly, with Viren and Dheemant around it was not that awkward, but he felt something weird in the vibe women gave him, not that he believed in all the vibe and energy work business. It was such a surprise that she and her daughter were part of his brother and cousin's close circle. Perhaps that was why he kept on running into her?

Both Soumya and Anita had been part of the festivities for the past few days. They had been accepted by the extended family wholeheartedly and were enjoying the happy occasion. For Anita, she wore the warmth of this family like a blanket on her heart which was still recovering from the cold betrayal she had experienced in her personal life, so many years back. Soumya had blossomed from a shy unassuming sweet girl to a more carefree person. She could no longer be a wallflower in this family even if she wanted to be. They saw from a distance that Viren had assigned his brother as in charge of the kids and thought it was not significant as the gang focused on getting all the pictures clicked.

There were many kids he had to handle, and Daivik was not sure which one was whose. However, he thought it was a matter of a mere hour or less so there was no point fretting. The kids were a bundle of energy and Daivik had fun running around with them, so he was happy to help. The past few weeks with Veni had helped him cope with the pack. The energetic lot around him meant that he could not even take a good look at his ex-wife. Not that he was complaining, he was happy spending time with kids.

Finally, after a full fifteen minutes of chiding, collaborating and giving up on the kids he got a breather. And then he spotted Shubhi from a distance, and she looked mesmerizing in a Red and Green lehenga. He had stared at her for full two minutes when Dheemant's son had barreled into him and brought him out of his stupor. Daivik felt a connection with a little girl, similar in age to Veni. He found her to be very sweet and cute, almost like Veni.