Truly, Madly, Deeply- a Devakshi story.

The wound and the light--- I

All through that day he worked in his room and she periodically visited to make sure he was fine. He was preoccupied but grateful for her presence and the way she had taken over the responsibility of his well-being. He would look up, happy to see her watching him, while her own heart would jump with joy every time she saw him. The mere fact that she could see him when she wanted was so liberating, that all afternoon she would find herself re-tracing her footsteps to his room.

Riya came in a little earlier for the Board meeting and was surprised to find her Bhabhi at that house. Sonakshi explained everything to Riya who was anyway very supportive. Riya told Sonakshi that Ishwari had been very tense as well over the news and it was with difficulty that Riya had dissuaded her mother to visit Dev Bhaiya when he was so absorbed and needed all his energy for the company. That made Sonakshi feel apprehensive what if Ishwari came and found her there? All hell would break loose, she was sure.

At around 4 pm, just before his colleagues came in, Sonakshi took Soha for a visit back to the house to meet her own family and fetch Soha's school bag for the next day was Monday. The entire Bose family had read the newspapers and were worried about Dev. Each one of them, supported Sona's decision to stay back with Dev, even Mr Bose. He too understood that Dev was going to meet every ounce of his resources to fight this battle and Bijoy did not want that Suhana should ever face any embarrassment later on thanks to her father.

Asha : ( speaking to Sona alone) " Sona tu wahan reh rahi hai, Dev ka reaction kaisa tha?"

Sona: " Maa sab theek hai, Dev pareshan hai par Soha ke rehne se aur shayad mere rehne se usko achha lag raha hai. Aaj tak main jab bhi Dev se milti thi toh mujhe apna role samajh nahi aata tha. Aaj pehli baar uske ghar par reh kar mujhe phir se unke liye waise hi feeling aa rahi hai, chinta ho rahi hai. Jaise laga ki woh mere husband hain. "

Asha:" Toh woh tera husband hi hai. Tum dono abhi bhi usi rishte main bandhe ho jaise the. Alag ho jaane se dooriyan aa gayi thi par relationship abhi bhi hai. Tum agar us ko apna logi, toh phir se wah rishta strong hone lagega. Dekh Sona koi rishta kewal naam se strong nahi ho jaata. Kewal uske naam ka sindoor laga lene se, ya uska naam apne naam se jod lene se rishta nahi ban jaata. Rishta banta hai un hazaron pyar ke pal se, sacrifices se, dusre ko apne se jyada chahane se. Agar tu us rishte par mehnat karegi tabhi woh strong hoga. Aur tu mehnat kar rahi hai. Dev ki ek request par us ke liye sab chhod ke chale jaana- kya ye pyaar nahi? Dev bhi samjhata hi hoga."

Sona: " Maa kahin main jaldi toh nahi kar rahi? Kya mujhe Dev ko aur time dena chahiye tha? Kahin kuch gadbad na ho jaaye?"

Asha: " Kya Dev ne aur time maanga? Nahi. Usko jab zaroorat padi use tu aur Soha hi yaad aaye. Iska matlab who bhi taiyar hai. Dekh Sona, tune toh clear kar diya ki teri zindagi mein uski kya ahmiyat hai. Ab jo ho, go with the flow. Zyada overthink mat kar. Kewal apni aur uski feelings recognize kar. Accha sun maine Dev ke liye kuch uski pasand ki Bengali dishes banayi hain tu unhe le ja, kuch change ho jayega."

Sona drove home with her mother's words in her ears. The meeting had ended by the time she reached his home and Natasha, Riya and he were busy finalizing the counter offer to the investors. When he found she and Soha had returned home, Dev got up and came out quickly . Even as he held Suhana, he looked at her with a special light in his eyes, as if there was a secret he shared with her. He told her about the meeting and that they had thrashed out the next step of action. Now they had a plan and after going through the financials, the situation looked salvageable. He looked positive and raring-to-go, and she felt really pleased. 

Natasha looked exhausted and started playing with Soha as a diversion. Riya came out with her and helped Sona set the dinner. Everyone came to the dining table and it was surprisingly cordial over dinner. Riya was ever-supportive of Sona and, made sure she treated her Bhabhi with the respect she deserved, so that Sona should not have any doubts about Natasha's place in Dev's life. However Natasha was also quite warm towards Sonakshi and especially seemed to enjoy Soha's company so all her attention was on the child. For Sona this was the first she was in a social situation with Dev and having supportive people around made her feel more secure. Riya focused all her attention on Sonakshi, asking about her work and interests and the other two also seemed to find the discussion about Sona's work more enjoyable than focusing on their own work.