..
Cooked
“Ma kaisi hain aapki?”
“she is fine Dad” she nodded
“Papa?”
“I know they both cannot stay put” she laughed
Satyen served more koftas on her plate, he had ordered take out from a really popular Gurgaon joint where people literally waited from 11 AM to 2 PM to geta spot
“This is the best koftas” Viveka’s speech slurred as she dug in
“How is Raanav?”
“Great”
“He made me cut my hair” she felt the back of her high ponytail
“U look 16” he chuckled
“He must have had a GF in high school that had hair like this’ she winked at her FIL
“Usee ko poocchti aap”
“I asked him”
“Umm?”
“He said he loves short hair”
“Aappko ko bhi u shud have made him change his appearance” Satyen urged
“I had no demands” she shrugged smiling
“Did u have a good time? Did u go meet the Dhamijas?”
“Hmm” she swallowed and suddenly looked at her plate
“Nice”
“Just Mamiji and Sid, and Cleo” she smiled
“Is that in order of likeability?”
“Sid and Cleo” she laughed
“Oh”
“I mean all three” she quickly corrected herself
“Viveka Mathur I expect honesty from you, I give you honesty I am hoping I can receive it”
She nodded
“I don’t like how you are always so guarded, unless u have something to hide” he smiled looking at her from under his lashes
“Its embarrassing and pointless” she smiled
“We all have something mera matlab” he nodded scratching his head
“I speak up and say what I don’t like”
“Jaanta hoon beta I have told ur Dad I LOVE that about you”
“Then secrecy?”
“I find you are guarded about things you think are inappropriate”
“ My opinion is not important”
“aap ek baat samajh lo beta, if you are serious about making the marriage work phir to aapko sach kehna padega aur humse sach sun na padega
“Raanav se nahi?” she mocked him
“Who aapki marzi beta, how much honesty u have in ur marriage” he sighed
They both were quiet
“I realize this family did u wrong…”
“No they didn’t Dad”
“Phir jhooth?”
She was quiet
“Naina aur aap dono ne meri family mein kisi se interaction shuru kiya, even after 8 months things are still on shaky ground”
“No, not for me” she defended herself a little too quickly
“Yes for u and for Naina… Naina ended her relationship”
Viveka tried to hide
“This has nothing to do with you, stop being guilty, stop feeling guilty” he said firmly
“Umm.. nahi… mera matlab”
“As a sibling u feel responsible…. It should have never been this way” Satyen was merciless
“U cannot police everyone or everything”
“But I expect to be told by YOU ki kya situation hai” he pleaded
“Aap is ghar ke ho beta, OWN IT…. Batao hamey humse kya galti hui, Smrita se kya hui”
“Hmm” she nodded
“You have held positions of power and authority at the university, you know what it is to be objective… u can be objective, you are smart… we are not ending relationships by being honest, we are helping”
She nodded
“Mujhe EK BAAR aapne bataya hota Naina Inder ke beech kya chal raha hai, what is YOUR take, what does Naina think Naina feel… I reached out to her unhoney mana kar diya”
She looked distraught
“this cud have been two people in love, there was an opportunity for intervention, either support the idea or stop before something reckless had happened”
“Even she did not know she had married him in Dubai usko laga mazaak hoga”
“In a way I should be happy how it turned out Inder is not worthy of her”
Her eyes filled up
“Raanav would never do such a thing, I have never seen him get drunk and lose his sense of self”
Her eyes sparkled with pride
“He never forgets who he is” Satyen’s tone indicated condemnation
“You should hang around for 20 minutes, mujhe ghar se order aaya hai I cannot be at work past 2, its already 3, if I go with you I wont get blasted” he laughed
Viveka stared at him speechless
The man let Smrita have the upper hand when it came to his health
He willfully let her take the lead
He wanted to be involved, wanted to make decisions for everyone else but allowed Smrita to dictate what he should do about his health
“Raanav said ur tests were great for blood sugar”
“Hafta ruk jaayen beta aap Ive had 4 gulabjamuns at lunch today” he rubbed his belly
“Oh no!” “I thought you only had one”
“I ate THREE” he showed his fingers and winked
“Its not funny” she was upset
He watched her face turn red
“You have no idea how much everyone worries” “The mere fact that you are even able to walk by yourself after the wreck is a miracle, why would you jeopardize your health like this
What is the use of returning home after doing what you want at lunch time?” and on and on and on she went
“Raanav’s right… you are all about standing up for whats right”
“Mujhe chalna chahiye” she tidied the table and the office assistant
When the table was cleared of the lunch dishes, he stood up wobbly at first, being seated for hours
She helped him to his stick
“I like your proprietary rant, I am happy you care enough about me to scold me beta”
He tapped her cheek
“I scold people at home frequently Dad, I can do it more often” she smiled
Smrita’s expression was worthy of photographing when they entered the atrium together
“You are back… I did not know” she approached her husband but bothered enough to give her a cursory peck on the cheek
“Raanav didn’t tell me you returned” she lied
“I asked him to keep it a secret” she smiled back
“Oh? “Um”
“And… its back to normal” Satyen sat down and chuckled softly
“BTW Smri main inke saath later by the end of the week Nasik ja raha hoon, she has agreed to help me out”
“Oh that’s what it is?” Viveka smiled joyously
“Abhi Economists hire karne ki hamari auqaat kaha beta, I am not a multinational conglomerate”
“U are giving her an official role?” Smrita had to know what the young girl had cooked up while eating a cooked meal
Edited by Nisha0604 - 3 years ago
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