Chapter 12

It had been fifteen minutes since Sonakshi had last looked at Dev. Agreeing to his idea of keeping her hand in his for the entire flight was proving to be a bad idea. "Pata nahin kyun maan gayi main" Sonakshi thought crossly. Agreeing to the idea had brought new problems along. Initially if her heart had been beating out of fear of flying and for Kushal, now she was absolutely sure that none of those reasons would apply to her racing heart at this moment. It was solely because of Dev. Yes, she was sitting with her face towards the window, pretending to look at the clouds outside but in reality her entire attention was on Dev. She might not have been looking at him, but she understood even the smallest of his movements. Like now she knew that Dev was reading the newspaper holding it in his other hand. Occasionally when she would become too stiff Dev would gently squeeze her hand as a reassurance assuming that she felt scared due to the slight jerkings of the plane. But in reality, her stiffness was actually a result of the close proximity between the two of them.  

Sonakshi slowly turned her head towards Dev. He seemed to be lost in the newspaper and his grip had loosened slightly. Now was the perfect time to slip her hand away. So she slowly started pulling it out of his grasp. Halfway through her act, Dev's fingers curled around her fingers. Sonakshi's head snapped up only to find that Dev was looking right at her with an amused smile on his face. She turned a bright shade of red and started stuttering "Woh..woh main.. Woh mujhey..." Dev's smile grew wider and narrowing his eyes he asked "Dr. Bose...aapko kya?" Sonakshi looked down at her hand saying, "Woh mujhey... washroom jana hai." Dev tried to control his laughter and said "Haan toh kiska wait kar rahi hain aap? Jaiye naah" but he made no move to let her hand go.  Sonakshi looked at Dev helplessly and then back at their entwined hands, "Par main kaise jaun?" She asked softly. Dev kept his newspaper aside, "Kyun? Kisiney punishment di hai aapko?" he asked as his eyes twinkled. 

Looking at him she realized that he knew exactly why she couldn't go and was just having fun at her plight. That glint in his eyes was enough to spark the fiery Sonakshi in a moment."Dekhiye Mr. Dixit, mujhey washroom jaana hai. Aap mera haath chodengey please" But that just ended up amusing him even more. "Buss itna hi toh kehna tha aapko, Dr. Bose. Lijiye, chhor diya." He slowly let her hand go and folded them before his chest and continued to look at Sonakshi. Aware of his eyes on her she stood up and waited for him to do the same so that she could go out. Dev took his own sweet time only to irk Sonakshi and it seemed to work because if Sonakshi had been about to hug Dev out of happiness a while back, she wanted to strangle him at this moment. She stepped out into the aisle and made her way towards the washroom but she hadn't even taken two steps when Dev called out "Dr. Bose, apna phone leti jaiye. Raasta bhatak gayi toh aap mujhey call kar sakti hai", he extended his hand to give her the phone. Sonakshi glared at Dev and almost snatched the phone away and literally stomped off towards the washroom while Dev silently laughed at her.  

After freshening up Sonakshi carefully stepped out of the washroom. She felt extremely scared walking on flight, but she would never say that to Dev. "Yeh Mr. Obhodro apney aap ko samjhtey kya hai. Mere flight ke darr ki baat kya jaanli, mujhey chain se baithney hi nahin dengey yeh toh " she thought to herself as she carefully made her way back to her seat. But as her eyes landed on Kushal on the seat behind hers and her eyes met his piercing cold gaze she thought that Mr. Dixit was no short of a blessing to her. By the time she came back, Dev had taken out his laptop and had started going through emails. Letting Sonakshi get back to her seat he asked her "darr toh nahin laga Dr. Bose?" Even though he asked playfully he was concerned. He had kept his eyes towards the washroom door the entire time Sonakshi was gone. He would never let her go out his sight, a promise which he had already made. Sonakshi pursued her lips and replied with her head held high "Bilkul nahin" which made Dev nod his head in amusement, but he refrained from replying.  

As Dev started answering emails, Sonakshi settled into her seat comfortably. Her fear of flying had subsided a little for now. But they still had an hour before the plane landed.  "Agar main aise hi baithi rahi toh darr badh jayega." Plus Dev seemed immersed in work at the moment, so she had nothing to do. So the best way was to go off to sleep. "Haan. Yeh achha idea hai. Soo jaati hoon. Darr bhi nahin lagega, bore bhi nahin hongi." Happy with that thought, sat back and closed her eyes. Whether it was the exhaustion caused by the fear, or the fact that she had to wake up super early for the tour, Sonakshi instantly fell asleep. On the other hand Dev was lost in the world of emails. Answering one after the other, he didn't notice that Sonakshi had grown quiet beside him. Only when the plane jerked lightly and Sonakshi's head landed on his shoulder, did he notice that she had fallen asleep. In fact it was such a deep sleep that the jerking of the plane failed to awaken her.  Dev then turned sideways and looked at Sonakshi's sleeping form. Adjusting her head on his shoulder, he put his arm around her so that she wouldn't fall over. Dev continued to look at her. He was mesmerized yet again.  

He didn't know what it was that pulled him like a magnet towards her. But since the day he had met her for the first time, each day his need to see her grew. One day without talking to her now seemed  impossible for him and he wondered why. He didn't want to think about what would happen when he would have to marry Natasha. No, he absolutely did not want to think of that. He refused to think about the days where he would have to stay away from Sonakshi. He was suddenly seized with the urge to never let her go. Keeping his eyes on her face he traced her nose with his finger. Then he slowly reached up to her eyes and then her forehead. Sonakshi stirred slightly and instantly Dev snatched his hand back. But he kept looking at her.  

When he saw that she had settled back into her deep slumber he reached for her face once more but before he could an air hostess appeared before him saying "Sir, the flight is about to land, could you please wake ma'am up?" Nodding quickly Dev turned to Sonakshi. "Dr. Bose, uthiye, The plane is about to land. Aapko seedhey hokar baithna padega" he coaxed her softly. Sonakshi heard his voice, but didn't understand why Dev was the one waking her up instead of her mother. Slowly opening her eyes she quickly looked her surroundings and ultimately her eyes fell on Dev. She continued to look at him with a confused expression. "Dr. Bose. Uthkey baithiye. Flight land ho rahi hai" he said pointing towards the front. Registering his words Sonakshi remembered that she was on a flight, with Dev and in the next second she realized her position. 

She had been sleeping with her head on his shoulder.  

The moment she realized that she sat up like her head was on fire. No no no no, how could she be so careless? Snapping her seatbelt on, she thought "Kya Sona, kuch bhi karti rehti ho. Kya zaroorat thi sone ki!" She was so lost in berating herself that she hadn't noticed that Dev had been observing every move she made and seeing her all flustered because of him made Dev strangely happy and he definitely liked this feeling. But amidst all this, the plane had touched down and rolled to a stop and at the moment the pilot along with his crew were thanking the passengers for flying with them. Sonakshi got up from her seat as Dev got out from his. Hurrying past Dev, Sonakshi quickly ran to Riya. "Ab sey main Riya ko ek second bhi nahin chodungi" she decided in her mind. That would be the perfect way to keep Dev away and also avoid Kushal.  

Speed walking towards the luggage area with Riya in tow, Sonakshi was almost ten steps away from Dev. But Dev kept her in sight. He wouldn't let Sonakshi or his sister get lost. Seeing her bag approach Sonakshi leant over slightly to retrieve it. But her bag was heavy. So while tugging it out of the conveyor belt she almost fell over but two strong hands grasped her tightly and stopped her from landing onto the floor face first. She knew who had saved her, but she refused to look up, after all, she had been trying to avoid him. Further embarrassments of this resort would only make things worse. While Riya laughed at Sonakshi's stunt Dev just smiled. Sonakshi kept her eyes on her shoes as she tightly gripped her bag. All three of them waited for Kushal to retrieve his bag and once he was done, they made their way towards the airport exit. 

Kushal tried to make his way between Riya and Sonakshi but failed to do so and that agitated him to no extent. Frustrated he lagged behind and thought of ways which would help him to get Sonakshi alone so that he could tell her what he felt for her. Sonakshi on the other hand had no idea about Kushal's plans. She was only worried about how well she would be able to handle her new patients. Lost in thought about her work Sonakshi didn't notice that Dev had stopped before them and was talking to someone. So she bumped straight into his back. Dev turned around and raised his eyebrows "Dr. Bose?" Sonakshi sighed "Sorry Mr. Dixit. Maine aapko nahin dekha." Dev smiled "Kya aap asmaan ke taraf dekhkar chal rahi thi?"  

But before Sonakshi could reply with a smart comeback she heard a voice interrupt them "Hello Dr. Bose!"  

Sonakshi couldn't believe her luck. This trip was slowly turning out to be the worst and the best trip of her life in different ways because the person who interrupted her conversation with Dev was none other than his fiance, Ms. Natasha Gujaral. Having no other choice but to smile, Sonakshi replied "Hello Natasha, what a surprise." Saying a happy greeting to a person she did not like left a sour taste in her mouth. She did want to like her and she knew how sweet Natasha was. But she was human after all. So as much as she tried she just couldn't bring herself to like Natasha. But she felt worse when instead of Natasha, Dev replied "Haan who Natasha ke company ka bhi ek headquarter yahan Mumbai me hai. So she came to receive us here." Even though Dev said the entire thing with his eyes on Sonakshi, she just couldn't look at him. Hearing him talk about Natasha in anyway made her feel weird. So she looked at Natasha and just smiled. Natasha returned the smile saying "Haan. Aur Dev neye shayad aap logo ko nahin bataya, but jis hotel me aap sab ruk rahey hai, woh bhi humara hi hai. Toh yahan nahin aati, toh wahan toh pakka mil hi jaatey" she finished chirpily. Hearing this Sonakshi's mood worsened. But she couldn't let anyone else know of that. So she kept her smile in place and said "Wow. Yeh toh aur bhi achhi baat hai." 

As they made their way towards the car Sonakshi fell into step beside Riya once again while Dev walked with Natasha, discussing something. As Sonakshi looked at the two of them, she felt a strange sensation in her heart. It felt as if someone had taken a pointed stick and repeatedly put it into her heart. It pained her to see them together. She felt her tears coming to fore. So she quickly looked down and made her way to the back seat of the car. Taking the seat by the window she looked the other way. Riya climbed in after her.  

But at that moment Natasha said, "Main yahan aapni car mein ayi hoon. Aap sab iss gaadi mein jaiye, main apni gaadi mein aati hoon." Sonakshi's mood somewhat lightened when she heard this. But what Dev said next brought her mood back down once again. Looking at Natasha Dev said, "Aap akeli kyun jayengi? Main aur Kushal aapki car mein aatey hai aapkey saath. Riya aur Dr. Bose humarey bags ke saath iss car mein aa jayengey. Jaana toh ek hi jagah hai naah" he decided, unaware that he had hurt Sonakshi through this decision. Sonakshi on one hand was grateful that Dev did not leave Kushal alone with her and Riya but on the other hand her bubble of growing closer to Dev popped in an instant. Before leaving Natasha turned to her and Riya and said "Who main aap logo ko batana bhool gayi, aaj sham ko hotel ke ballroom me ek choti si party hai in honour of humarey ek employee ka promotion, app sabko bhi aana hai. So Riya and Dr.Bose, by 7:30 aap dono neechey aa jana." Sonakshi barely nodded while Riya replied with an excited "Haan bilkul."  

Closing the car door Dev looked at Sonakshi through the window and said, "Don't be late Dr. Bose" and walked off with a smile. But he had no clue that one small thoughtless decision had made things worse for him. The car with Sonakshi and Riya in it reached the hotel first. Not wanting to see Dev again at that moment, Sonakshi hurriedly finished the check in process and helped Riya do the same. Once done Sonakshi said to Riya "Chalo Riya, room mein chaltey hai. Mr. Dixit aur baaki sab toh aa jayengey. Party bhi hai naah. Toh thoda relax kar letey hai." She was actually happy that she would be sharing her room with Riya, while Kushal and Dev would be getting a room each. She didn't want to be alone at this moment or her thoughts would be stuck at Dev and Natsha. So tagging Riya along the both of them entered their room and settled in.  

Barely five minutes after they went in Dev arrived with Natasha and Kushal. He was surprised to know that Sonakshi and Riya had gone up without waiting for him. But Natasha reasoned "Who log thak gaye hongey. Aap log bhi rest kar lijiye." With that she took her leave giving Dev a side hug, which Dev half heartedly returned. His attention was only on one thing, "Dr. Bose ne mere liye wait kyun nahin kiya?" But then he agreed with Natasha's theory that she must have been tired. But he was excited about the fact that he would see her at lunch in about thirty minutes. But even there he was disappointed because Riya and Sonakshi ended up ordering their lunch in their room. 

Dev grew restless and almost decided to go knocking on their door. "Par main kahunga kya?" he thought, frustrated. He had no other choice but to wait till seven thirty to see her again "aur tabh main Dr. Bose ko bilkul chain se baithne nahin dunga, jaise who mujhey abhi nahin de rahi" he decided firmly. As Seven o'clock rolled in Sonakshi panicked. She realized that she hadn't packed proper party clothing. "Ab main kya pehnungi" she said unhappily. But Riya had a solution to her problem. She had packed some extra party dresses because she knew sometimes these tours would involve formal parties and luckily her size and Sonakshi's were very close. Choosing the simplest dress out of the lot she gave it to Sonakshi saying, "yeh aap pey bohot achha lagega Dr. Bose. It's simple, just like you!" Sonakshi was touched that Riya had noticed so much about her. "Riya, tum mujhey Dr. Bose bulana bandh karo. Ab toh hum achhey dost hai naah. So call me Sona di, theek hai?" Riya smiled saying "Okay Sona di" Taking the dress from Riya she thanked her a million times and on Riya's insistence, finally went ahead and put it on. It was a black dress which went past her knees. It had three quarter sleeves and simple brown belt near the waist. Matching it with the black ankle boots she had brought along she completed her outfit with a small silver heart shaped pendant and matching heart shaped earrings. Riya on the other hand had worn a floor length dress, maroon in colour and was full sleeved.  

Looking at Riya Sonakshi said, "Wow Riya, tum toh bohot hi pretty lag rahi ho!" Riya took a bow at her comment and then both broke into peals of laughter. By the time they were finished it was eight and they hurried to the ballroom. Dev had been pacing the floor impatiently and had been avoiding talking to anyone. "Yeh Riya aur Dr. Bose aaney me itni der kyun kar rahey hai?" He thought agitated. "Kya hua Dev, aap pareshaan lag rahey hai" he turned to find Natasha looking at him with concern. "Kuch nahin. Woh buss thodi kaam ki tension thi" he lied. "Dev, party main toh kaam ki baatein mat sochiye." Dev nodded his head agreeing to her. As he swept his eyes around the room once more, he spotted Kushal leaning against the bar, looking at the entrance to the ballroom with wide eyes. Following his gaze to find what had him so surprised, dev looked at the entrance too only to freeze in position.  

There stood Sonakshi looking like a princess with Riya by her side. But he only noticed Sonakshi. Looking her up and down, his throat suddenly felt to dry. The room felt to hot and it seemed like he needed extra air to breathe properly. While he stood their unmoving, Sonakshi spotted him and Natasha and made her way along with Riya towards them. Upon reaching them she said a soft hello to Natasha and then looked straight at Dev. "Good evening Mr. Dixit" she said with a smile. She had decided to stay happy throughout the trip. She would not let Natasha spoil her mood. But she was surprised when she heard Dev stutter a bit and say, "Hi...I mean Hello Dr. Bose." He seemed unnerved by something, which came as a complete shock to her because she knew that Dev Dixit was never intimidated or unnerved by anything. As she continued to look at him he said "Aap aaj bohot beauti- matlab achhi lag rahi hai" He said clearing his throat and Sonakshi's jaw almost hit the floor. Seeing her reaction Dev realized what he had done and quickly covered it up by saying, "Riya tu bhi achhi lag rahi hai." Snapping her mouth shut Sonakshi sighed in relief. She had almost thought that he was complimenting her specially. She didn't know what she would have done if that had happened, without realizing that is exactly what had happened.  

At that moment the music slowed down and everyone was invited to the dance floor. Sonakshi looked at Dev and waited to see what he would do. She knew he would extend his hand towards Natasha, but when he actually did, it didn't hurt any less. Seeing them dance together made her tears spring back once more, but she refused to let them fall. After a moment, a man in a black suit asked Riya for a dance and on Sonakshi's insistence Riya went ahead and accepted the offer. Seeing Dev and Riya dancing happily, Sonakshi felt sad and alone. Not being able to bear the pain she made her way towards the washroom room. But she couldn't enter the washroom as someone had locked it. Spotting a balcony just a few feet away she hurried their. In the privacy of the balcony she broke down into tears, "Yeh sab mere saath hi kyun hota hai? Main kya ek normal insaan se pyaar nahin kar sakti thi?" She complained to herself. But the moment she realized what she just said, she cried even more. She knew now. She was in love with him. With Dev. Who was already set to marry someone else. The tears flowed more freely now and she kept wiping them away. 

Dev on the other hand had kept his eyes on Sonakshi the whole time. He yearned to place Sonakshi in Natasha's place but he couldn't. Seeing her standing alone in the corner made him feel terrible. But then Natasha had said something and he had looked back at her to listen, but when he looked back at Sonakshi, she was gone. Excusing himself from Natasha saying he had an important call to make, he made his way over to find Sonakshi. He looked around the whole ballroom but came out empty handed. Spotting the washroom he went in that direction but was even more frustrated when he found it locked. But then he looked towards the balcony and something told him she was there. So he hurried over. Sonakshi heard footsteps approach the balcony. Something told her it was Dev, coming to look for her. So she wiped of her tears in happiness and turned around, only to be faced with her worst nightmare. 

Kushal Roy. 

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Aaj buss itna hai!

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Lag jao kaam peye!

Happy reading!