Chapter 15

Devakshi FF: Small Moments

Part 15

Sonakshi couldn't wait to leave the building.

The moment the doors to the elevator closed she slumped against the elevator's wall. Immediately Ritwik and Elena kept their hands on each of her shoulders. "Sona tu theek hai?" Sonakshi nodded her head but remained quiet. They realized that things must have not turned out well. They also understood that Sonakshi wanted to leave the building. So they kept quiet for the time being. As the elevator arrived on the ground floor, the three of them stepped out. Sonakshi picked up her pace and made a beeline for the door with Ritwik and Elena right behind her. Her head was bent down because she did not want to stop and talk to anyone.

But this action proved to be a mistake for her because she bumped straight into the person she did not want to see at this moment. "Arey, Dr. Bose! Good morning" Natasha said with a smile. Sonakshi grimaced inwardly but kept her face neutral. "Good morning Natasha" she replied so calmly that if someone didn't know her situation, they would not have a clue that there was a storm going on inside Sonakshi's mind at the moment.

Realizing that this was the girl indirectly responsible for Sonakshi's sadness, Elena and Ritwik glared at her with as much anger as possible. As Natasha'a eyes travelled to them, she was taken aback by the hostility in them, but she did not comment on it. Choosing to ignore it Natasha shifted her focus back to Sonakshi. "Dr. Bose aap itni jaldi me kahan jaa rahi hai?" She asked Sonakshi curiously. Sonakshi debated on telling her about leaving the job and in the end decided to withhold the information. Natasha would anyone find out the moment she met Dev. So she said "Kuch kaam hai" and left it at that.

"Oh. Aap kal shaadi meye toh aa rahi hai naah? I would be very happy agar aap ayi toh." The moment Natasha said this Sonakshi's mind flashbacked to a few minutes back when Dev had said the same thing to her and this just made her situation a whole lot worse. She needed to get out before the dam of her tears broke. So she faced Natasha firmly and said "sorry Natasha. Main nahin aa paungi. But aapko bohot saari good wishes for your knew life. Now if you excuse me, mujhey thoda kaam hai" with what little strength se had and without giving Natasha a chance to react she left the building in a jiffy.

The moment she sat in the car, she let her tears flow. So this was it then. This was goodbye. A goodbye to the first person she really fell in love with. A goodbye to her chance at happiness. A goodbye to her fairytale. As the car rolled out of Ishwari Communications sonakshi looked up towards the balcony to Dev's cabin and her eyes locked with his. At this distance she couldn't read his expression but she knew he saw her tears. Giving one last glimpse to the man she thought she wanted to stay with forever, she turned her head back and sobbed away on Elena's lap.

Ritwik, who was driving the car, looked at the distraught Sonakshi through the rearview mirror and said, "Sona, kya kahan Dev neye?" Sonakshi shut her eyes tightly and replied, "Unheye koi fadak nahin padta Ritwik. Sab jhoot tha. Woh mujhseye bilkul pyaar nahin kartey" as her body wracked once again with violent sobs. "sab khatam ho gaya Ele" she told her sister who desperately tried to comfort her by stroking her hair. "Mere saath kabhi kuch achha hota hi nahin." She abruptly sat up and said, "Mujhey pata tha, kuch aisa hi hone waala hai. Par phir bhi maine unseye pyar ka liya" she said wiping her tears.

"Kushal neye buri yaadein diye the, par Dev neye mujhey sambhala" she said looking out the window sorrowfully. "Par phir beech me hi chhor diya" she said angrily. " Issiliye ab buss. Meye in sab seye duur jana chahti hoon" she said turning her face towards Ritwik and Elena. Taking a turn towards the lane leading to Sonakshi's house, Ritwik said, "Duur matlab?" Sonakshi turned back towards the window again. The car slowly rolled to a stop outside the Bose house. The tears hadn't stopped but she had calmed down a bit. "Duur matlab is sheher se duur." Saying this she quickly got out of the car and speed walked her way into the house still crying, leaving Elena and Ritwik in shock.

Seeing her daughter in this state, Asha rushed over to her. "Shona! Kya hua? Ro kyun rahi hai? Dev se baat nahin hua beta?" She said enveloping her daughter in a hug. Elena answered for Sonakshi saying, "Maashi, Dev ki hsaadi sachmeye kal ho rahi hai. Natasha seye" As the whole family gathered around a crying Sonakshi, she said, "Woh mujhey apna shaadi ki card bhi dena chahtey the aur aaney ko bhi kahan" to which Bijoy furiously roared, "How dare he? Meri beti ko dukkhi karkeye shanti nahin mili ussey. Upar seye invitation!" Saurabh seeing the situation escalate quickly spoke up, "Baba. Shant ho jao. Pehley Sona ko sambhaltey hai. Aap hi gussa karengey toh meri behen ko kaun sambhalega?"

Bijoy wanted to protest. But he knew that his son was right. His daughter needed all the support now and he would give it to her. "Sona beta, ro mat. Tu meri strong beti hai naah?" He said taking a seat on the other side of Sonakshi. Sonakshi nodded her head. "Haan baba, main hoon aapki strong beti. Par Dev neye mujhey kamzor bana diya hai. Mujhey iss sabseye duur jana hai, kuch waqt ke liye, taaki main phirseye strong ho sakoon" she said looking at her father. Ritwik who had been quiet since coming into the house spoke up now, "Kahan jaogi tum?"

Sonakshi kept silent for a bit and then spoke up. "Maine unheye aaj apna resignation de diya" Everybody looked at her wide eyed at this announcement. But before anyone could react she said, "Aapko meri college ki friend Niti yaad hai? She also became a nutritionist" she continues. "Kal raat ko hi maine Niti ko call kiya tha. She works in a hospital Kolkata mein jahan they need another nutritionist. Kal raat ko hi maine unseye baat kar liya tha and unhoneye mujhey job dedi" she said looking at each of them once. All of them kept silent for a while.

Finally Bijoy was the one who broke the silence. "Agar tu yahi chahti hai toh humein koi problem nahin beta. Hum buss tujhey khush dekhna chahtey hai" he said patting her head lovingly. While Asha nodded in agreement, Ritwik said, "Par tum rahogi kahan?" Before Sonakshi could respond, Elena jumped up, "Tu mere ghar peye rahegi Sona. Main abhi mummy papa ko call karti hoon." Sonakshi smiled through her tears. "Main bhi yahi kehti Ele. Mashi ke ghar hi rahungi main." Everybody seemed happy with that. They could see Sonakshi in a broken state but they sincerely hoped that Sonakshi would heal during this time that she would spend away from this city. Away from Dev.

To keep her away from sad thoughts, the entire family once again kept her busy in packing different things and making the preparations for her flight for Kolkata, late that night. Elena's parents would be there to pick her up from the Kolkata airport and therefore Bijoy and Asha were not worried about that. The entire family went to the airport to see Sonakshi off. As she and Ritwik, along with Elena and Saurabh got all her bags on a trolley, Sonakshi turned to bit them goodbye. It was a tearful one, but it was for the best. Both Sonakshi and her family agreed to that. Before she went into the airport Ritwik gave her a hug and said, "Khayal rakhna apna. Aur call karti rehna. Mood achha rahega. Okay naah?" Sonakshi nodded gratefully.

"Thank you for being there Ritwik." Ritwik hit her on the forehead lightly and said, "Pagal. Best friends ko thank you nahin bolteye" and that made Sonakshi giggle slightly. He was happy to see her happy. Sonakshi then pushed her trolley towards the gate. Just before she entered she turned back around and waved to her family and called out to Ritwik saying, "Ritwik, Riya ko achhey seye rakhna okay? Har roz progress poochungi main!" And with that she disappeared into the crowded airport. While Ritwik's cheeks reddened realizing Sonakshi's excellent observation skills, all of them marveled at how Sonakshi had the ability to care about everyone's happiness even when her own was at stake.

As the flight took of Sonakshi's fear returned as she didn't have Dev to rely on this time. But she closed her eyes taking a deep breath and thought about him. While initially she felt a great sense of anger for him, slowly it gave way to just pure pain and sadness. She was so engrossed in his thoughts that she didn't even realize how the time passed by and the plane landed in Kolkata a few hours later. Her tears threatened to resurface when she understood that even though wasn't there in flesh, Dev had once again helped her to fly without dwelling on her fear of it. She didn't want to be grateful to him. But she wasn't that selfish. She knew he played a great role in reducing her fear. And she was happy he had done that for her.

Elena's parents greeted her gleefully. They were meeting her after a good many years and couldn't be happier to have her there. As she reached their house, they immediately presented her with her favorite dishes for dinner. When she protested that they shouldn't have she was commanded to shut up and eat because they didn't always get the opportunity to cook these dishes now that their daughter was living with Sonakshi, away in Delhi. After a hearty chat with her maashi and mesho, Elena retired to the room they had made up for her and made herself comfortable on the bed. Maashi and mesho hadn't asked her about Dev, but she knew that they knew. She had called her family the moment she stepped into this house and they had urged her to forget everything and try to move on.

She vowed to do just that but nothing comes easy. She tossed and turned the whole night and after a point just gave up the pretense and let the tears flow once again. With thoughts of Dev tangled in her mind she finally cried herself to sleep. The next morning rushed by in a blur and by the time the clock struck 12 at noon, she had already met a number of patients at the hospital. She tried to concentrate on her work, but Dev refused to leave her mind.

Taking a break she walked to the window in the corner of the room.  Would she ever be able to forget him? Was it the right thing to just leave the city behind because of him? Why did she ever fall for him? These questions created another storm within her. "Ab yeh sab sochkey kya fayda" she thought dejectedly. "Jo hona tha woh toh ho hi chuka." Picking up a copy of the newspaper, lying beside the window, that had brought her world crashing down two days back she wiped the lone tear that rolled down her cheeks. "Ek do ghantein meye woh mujhseye humesha ke liye duur ho jayengey" she thought giving up completely.

Clutching the newspaper close to her heart she said, "I love you Dev. Aur shayad main aapko kabhi na bhool paun."

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Ruko ruko.

Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!

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