Adjustments?

Penance

Sameer was resting on the bed, tensed. Then suddenly a wave of realization passed through again. He recalled all those memories when he used to work till late night, sitting on the small sofa near their bed. He always kept the lights on, since it was difficult for him to type in the dark. Naina again used to ADJUST in this as she had to sleep in the brightness. But never did she complain this to him, never did she asked him to do his work in the office room, downstairs. She was indeed the quintessense of ADJUSTMENTS.

He again thought how she must have felt while making all these ADJUSTMENTS. From staying in a comparatively smaller house till making their separate snacks, from speaking in Hindi with him till eating alone, from adapting the habit of eating the breakfast of his choice till tolerating his fussiness, from their lack of communication till his silliness of not supporting her, from accepting his every flaw till forgiving him for his every blunder, and most importantly from accepting the fact of being as NAINPREET ARORA in the office till allowing Zoe to stay in their home. She must have felt so unpleasent, unwelcomed, objectionable, unfortunate and unwanted. She knocked herself out to do her best, for him. But what did she get from his side? He wasn't even capable of solving her compact problems. What more could she expect from him? He never expressed any of his feelings to her, and on the top of that, he didn't even feel sorry or guilty after performing his mistakes. He was accountable and blameworthy for everything, but still the one who suffered the most was her. His guilt and deplore were growing with each passing second. He had to apologize her more than enough to get her back in his life.

He spent a sleepless night, as his heart was full with regret and repentence. He kept holding her dupatta close to him all the while. The same dupatta that he kept with himself after the incident at Munna's party.

His parents were worried as well. Although they wanted Naina to nat forgibe him easily, but at the same they didn't want their kids to suffer.

JALANDHAR, PUNJAB, INDIA

Naina hurriedly went to the washroom as soon as Preeti left. She was on her periods. Suddenly she took a trip down memory lane, when Sameer gave her the silk oreo and took care of her. She was pleased at that time, but their relation had changed now. As she soaked herself in the reality, she cried and cried, cried at the circumstances, cried at her condition, cried at her fate, cried at her helplessness, and a lil bit missed him too that she denied everytime. 

But she had to compose herself for the sake of her family and friends. She didn't wanna ruin their happiness. If tonight was sleepless for Sameer, then the last night was stressful for her.

Soon the dawn was replaced by the dusk. Naina was tried her best to feel happy throughout the day, but failed miserably. Either thankfully or unfortunately, no one could notice her gloom spread all around her soul, maybe she could pretend well. The day ended smoothly, at least for others. 

She put on some heartbreak songs sung by Arijit Singh, and somehow was able to sleep due to tiredness and cramps. Although her cusion remained wet with tears.

The next arrived, and Naina was again listening to those heartbreak songs while Preeti entered her room without knocking, as usual. 

"Waah ji Waah, yeh toh wohi baat ho gyi ki 'Tohada Kutta Tommy, Sadha Kutta Kutta'?". Preeti spoke in a sarcastic way.

"Arey waah Preeti..mere peeche se toh tune badi Punjabi seekh li" Naina raised her brows in appreciation.

"Vo chod tu meri baat ka jawab de pehle, matlab heartbreak song agar Arijit Singh ka ho toh acha, aur agar Neha Kakkar ka ho toh bakwaas?!" She scrunched her nose.

"Vo kal mai thaki hui thi boht..upar se ye dates wale mood swings aur irritation..isliye frustrated thi thodi.. tu bhi kya baatein leke baith gyi..chal tv lagate hain, koi achi movie hogi toh dekh lenge" Naina tried again to divert her mind with melancholic thoughts.

Preeti settled herself and both of them started looking for a good movie. The first one was of Shahrukh Khan, the favourite actor of Naina. "Preeti, chal yeh dekhte hain na, isme Shahrukh kitna hot lag rha hai.." Naina said while adoring him.

"Acha ji, nhi mujhe Shahrukh Khan nhi pasand!! Kitna buddha lagta hai ab!!" Preeti replied while looking for other movies.

"Naina, yeh film dekhte hain, Salman Khan ki..kitna handsome lag rha hai iss age me bhi..Par mujhe tera SRK ke liye aaj tak ye fascination samajh nhi aya..pta nhi kya dikha tujhe usme" Preeti spoke up as she found a movie of Salman Khan.

"Waah ji waah, yeh toh wohi baat ho gyi ki 'Tohada crush crush, sadha crush hormonal rush'?" She mocked in the same tone as Preeti.

Boht of them burst out in laughter while Preeti said in an appreciative tone, "Waah behn, tu toh Canada jaake tubelight se seedha LED ban gyi!" 

The sadness was back at the mention of Canada, but she didn't let that be visible on her fake smile.

CHESTERMERE, ALBERTA, CANADA

Sameer was awake the next night too, missing her badly. Her dupatta was still sticked to his chest with his hands as he was trying to get soaked in her presence. He could only see that crying Naina whenever he closed his eyes. He cursed himself even more for making his happy and chirpy Naina ji turn into a completely broken lady.

He then remembered the conversation with his parents a day ago.

Flashback starts

"Sameer, tu khud sochke bta, jitne ADJUSTMENTS humari bacchi ne tere liye kiye hain, kya tu kabhi karta ya kar paata?" his mom ased with him, and he shook his head in the reply.

"Toh fir tujhe kaise yeh sab kuch nhi dikha? kabhi socha hai tune use kaisa feel hota hoga? kabhi socha hai vo kitna akela feel karti hogi?" Simran asked.

"Sameer kya tune kabhi yeh socha hai ki agar teri jagah Naina hoti toh tujhe kaisa lagta? Agar uski wajah se tujhe akale rehna padhta jab tu sab kuch chodke uske liye uske saath do country me rehne lage, agar uski wajah se tujhe insulted feel ho, agar uske liye sab kuch karke bhi vo teri value na kare, agar vo tujhe support na kare tab jab tujhe uski sabse zyada zaroorat ho? Aur tune kabhi yeh socha ki agar teri jagah Naina apne kisi male friend ko ghar rehne deti, jo tujhe har waqt neecha dikhata rahe? and most importantly, tujhe kaisa lagta gar vo apne usi friend ko ghar laati voh bhi tab jab uska friend nashe ki haalat me ho?!" Vivekdeep spoke, and raised his voice in the end.

Another wave of guilt and realization passed through his regretfilled soul. He had done so wrong with his wife, his love. He started crying bitterly. Both his parents hugged him, to comfort him.

"Aap dono bilkul theek keh rhe ho, Maine boht bura kiya Naina ji ke saath. Mai boht bura hu.." Sameer chocked.

"Kaam toh tune galat kiya hi hai, aur hum bhi tujhse abhi tak gussa hain, but you have the last chance Sameer, India jaake boht kuch ho sakta hai, aur ab hum bhi tujhse tabhi baat karenge jab Naina khushi khushi vapas iss ghar me tere saath ayegi. Aur haan, jab India jaayega toh kam se kam dus baar sorry maangna meri beti se" Simran declared.

"Nhi, Dus nhi, mai Naina ji se dus hazaar baar sorry maangu ga, agar agar zaroorat paid toh usse bhi zyada" He declared too.

"Sameer, tera sab kuch itna high standard ka kyu hota hai? Gussa karo toh high, Aur sorry bolo toh vo bhi high" His father laughed

He left to his room, after promising both his parents for the same.

Flashback ends

He inhaled the sweet fragnence of her dupatta, while speaking, "I Love You Naina Ji, please forgive me".

Hola!! Hope you liked this unedited chappy..

The first two paragraphs were specially for ya __melomaniac__

And the flashback is dedicated to pahul_gpk

Hope both of you got satisfied with what I wrote!

Stay safe and healthy❣.