Next day
Dadima calls out to Dev......Dev comes out of his room still unfreshened
"Dev yeh kya tu ab tak freshen up bhi nahi huwa hai" Dadima asked a bit angrily.
"hmm.....Dadima well...." he said a bit lazily
"Beta tujhe yaad to hai ke tujhe humare saath panditjee ke yahan jaana hai". Dadima asked him.
"er......woh?" he asked confused. He didn't remember about that.
"Dadima.....I guess Dev is not willing to come. Its better if he takes rest". Mrinalini quips. "He looks tired".
"Bhabhi knows me so well" he said to himself and flashed a sluggish smile at Mrinalini.
Mrinalini smiles back.
"Dev theek hai.....waise bhi hume der ho rahi hai tu yahi reh ja" Dadima adds
"Oh.......theek hai" he said casually
Dadima and others start to leave when she remembers something
"Dev...." she calls
Dev who was going towards his room for catching up some sleep turns around.....
Dadima turns and walks across to her room.....
"Dev tu yahi hai to tu yeh......Deepika ko de de" she said... bringing out a jewellery box from the room.
"yeh kya hai?" He asked sleepily......shifting his gaze to the box.
"Hume shagun ke pehle hone wali bahu yeh khandani jewer dena hai.... jo who us rasm main pehnegi"
"Oh" he said.
"Ab hum sab to bahar ja rahe hai.....Tu jaake use yeh de dena" she added
"Theek hai" he said
Dadima and others start walking to the door.....
After some hours......Dev freshens up.....
"Thank God Dadima ne aaj mujhe chod diya"..... He said to his reflection on the mirror brushing his hairs and tossed the comb. "Warna aaj agar mujhe kahi jaana padta so sota hi rehta....."
He hardly slept the other night. With his thoughts wandering time and again to radhika he hardly got any time to catch sleep.
His thoughts drifted again to her...."Radhika" He sighed slowly.......and smiled to his reflection for a second.
Picking up the jacket lying on the bed, he wears it, rushes down the stairs and takes up the box dadima left on the table.
He drives to Deepika's home......
Dev parks his car and walks towards the door...... But finds it open.
He looks for someone outside but finds noone. So He slowly steps inside.....and finds the house to be quiet.
He looks around.... but the house still remained quiet.
A tumbling sound came from nowhere......making him shudder slightly....and he turns his head to the direction the sound came from
The sound seemed to be of vessels.....and it came from the kitchen, which was on the left corner.
He walks across to the kitchen, and stops near the door when he sees a girl, with her back to him, working there....
Dev takes a step to enter the kitchen and the girl turns around......
His eyes widened a bit.....stunned......as he saw her face......and his feet didn't move any step further......
It was Radhika.
"Tum Sach main Radhika ho......Or is it...." his thoughts trailed.
Whatever...... he didn't mind standing there and ogling at the beautiful sight.
Her hairs tied up......She stood mixing for the dough, her hands wet with the flour
Radhika, oblivious to the fact that he stood there, turned around to look at the vessel on the gas "hey bhagwan......kahi yeh jal to nahi gaya hai" she said to herself as she leaned to look in the vessel.
A nice aroma came out from the food in the vessel and she sniffed it..... smiling.
Her smile faded slowly when She remembered something, "are namak...." saying she kept her floured hands on her forehead unknowingly "bhool gayi namak dalna".
She turned around to take up the bottle of salt on the shelf.
Dev stood near the door watching all this with a smile..... admiring her antics and her beauty......
As Radhika leaned to the shelf......her nose itched and she bought up her hand to rub her nose but.....stopped when she realized her hands were floured and twitched her nose a bit
He wondered "How cute".....
But her twitching was in vain.... when her itching seemed too stubborn to fade....
She sighed and rubbed her floured hands on her nose to relieve herself of the itch.... frowning a bit
Dev smiled again seeing this.......infact struggled a bit from making any sound of laugh as he saw her nose tip with the flour.
She still seemed to look beautiful.....
Reaching for the bottle of salt, Radhika took it and turned around to add a pinch of salt on the food. She mixed it......looking in to the vessel.
Dev still stood there......motionless looking at her....
Radhika still stood stirring the food when she felt that.....she was not alone.....She felt someone else being in the room apart from her and looked up, turned her head sideways....
She was stunned. Dev stood in front of her wearing a black jacket, stripped shirt and dark blue jeans. He was leaning on the door and smiling at her.
His smile and gaze didn't allow her to shift her gaze from him..... And she didn't realize when her fingers touched the hot vessel.
"Aah"..... she moaned feeling the heat, pulled her hand in reflex and Her gaze dropped to her finger.
Dev stops smiling seeing her flinch her hands and comes a few steps ahead to her.....
"Tum theek to ho" he asked with concern in his voice
Radhika avoided looking up at him.....but didn't miss the concern in his voice. "Jee...." she said with her gaze fixed on to her finger..... Her finger wasn't hurt much.
"Lekin aap yahan?" she asked him
"Jee who Deepika ko yeh dena tha....." he said bringing the box up.
She jerked her head up to look at him and then her gaze shifted to the box he held.......
"Dadima ne kaha hai......er....yeh shagun se pehle khandani jewer dena ka koi rasm bhi hota hai........to isiliye dadima ne mujhse kaha ke main de doo...".
"Oh..." she looked up at him once.......but quickly shifted her gaze away.
"Lekin aapne bataya hi nahi.....aap kab aaye" she asked, stirring the food in the vessel kept on the gas.
She tried to be as casual as possible.....She didn't want him know what went within her.....as he stood so close to her. Her heart was already racing.....It started racing the moment she saw him here in the kitchen.
"er.... tum itni busy thi " he said with a smile
"jee?" she asked confused, her gaze still fixed on the vessel.... her hand stirring the food.
"Haan.......agar tumhe bulata aur tum phirse namak dalna bhul jati to?" he said leaning a bit towards her.
Radhika shifts her gaze to him and couldn't hold back a smile. She smiles hearing it..... But quickly shifts her gaze back to the vessel.
"Damn......dont make me mad Radhika......Your smile....will do so........Why do you have such a beautiful smile......" he thought to himself as he looked at her.
"Jee aapne kuch kaha" Radhika looked up.
"er....nahi to....tumne kuch suna kya"...He asked arching his brows a bit, twitching his mouth to form a smile.
"er....nahi...kuch nahi"....she said hastily and looked away.
He sniffed the aroma coming in from the vessel..... "mmm.....Nice smell".... he said.
She looked up for a second and smiled.
"Waise tum yahan...... I mean deepika's home?" he asked curiously
She turns to him "Haan deepika ki tabiyat theek nahi lag rahi thi aur uske ghar wale bahar gaye hai......isiliye main aayi thi"....
"Oh.....abhi who kaise hain?" he asked
She walked across to the shelf on the other side to take some spice "abhi theek hai...." But she wasn't able to reach the spice bottle placed on the top shelf....
"ah..." she gave out a small moan as she tried again but couldn't reach it.
Dev turned his head on hearing her moan and finds her struggling to get the spice bottle.
He walks across to her and stretches his arm to reach the spice bottle she wanted.
Radhika was still struggling....when she felt his chest near her right shoulder. And then sees his hand stretching to reach the bottle.
Radhika stiffens and turns her head sideways to see him.
He feels her stiffening and looks down to her face.... as his hand clutched the spice bottle.
Radhika could feel a small voice asking her not to fall for this. But her eyes didn't hear what her brain said. It only heard what her heart said to her.....
She was again lost in his eyes. He couldn't shift his gaze away from her either.
"If I could always be with you....standing so close to you.....looking in your eyes forever.....forgetting the world".....
They stood transfixed for some moments.
After a few moments
A cracking sound of a glass......made them shiver slightly and bought them back to reality.....Radhika looks away moving a bit aside.
Dev frowned and realized it was his fault. Actually the bottle was at fault. The spice bottle which he held above had slipped out of his hand.
He grimaced at the bottle as if cursing it for interrupting a beautiful moment with her.
Radhika didn't see this......she stood facing away.......feeling a little awkward.
Then she realized something. She hadn't even asked him to get seated. He was here for some work. But she was so busy in hiding her emotions and being casual with him that she forgot that she should have called Deepika.
She turns around to face him "er.....aapko deepika bahar nahi mili.....woh to bahar hi baithi thi" she asked him.
"er....nahi.....mujhe koi bhi nahi mila bahar" he said
"to deepika kaha gayi"......she asked concernedly, but slowly.
"Radhika"....came Deepika's voice.
Radhika feels relieved hearing her voice. Dev and Radhika move out of the kitchen......
"Deepika tu kahan gayi thi?" asked radhika emerging out from the kitchen.
"Are main to andar hi thi.....apne kamre main....." she said.
She saw Dev walking in behind Radhika "Are Dev aap?"
"Namste deepika" he said with a smile
"aaiye baithiye" she said.... "Aur yahan kaise aana huwa"
Radhika quips in quickly "Main aapke liye chai banake laati hoo"......
Saying this she moved towards the kitchen.
Dev and Deepika seat themselves.
"er.....actually dadima ne kaha ke yeh jewer aapko dena hai......khandani jewer hai" he said.
"Oh....." saying she accepted the gift.
She opens and finds a Gold Necklace in it. "Wow" she exclaimed "This is so beautiful".
She looks up at Dev. "Thanks kahiyega dadima ko. Mujhe bahut acha laga".
"er......ab aapki tabiyat kaisi hai?" he asked
"haa....ab theek lag raha hai....aur radhika to hai hi.....mera itna khayal rakhne ke liye...." she said
Hearing her name again bought a smile on his face "Oh".
Radhika enters in with the tea and some snacks.
"Lo chai bhi aa gayi" said deepika.
Dev looks up at Radhika....Radhika places the plate in the center table, picks up the tea cup and gives it to Dev.
Dev smiles and brings his hands forward to take the cup.....again touching his fingers to hers.....unknowingly.
This made her shiver slightly and Her heart skips a beat.
Feeling her slight shiver he smiled faintly, and slowly takes the cup from her.
Taking a sip, he smiles and looks up at her "bahut achi bani hai"..... he said appreciating.
"Jee......shukriya" she smiled, her cheeks felt red.
He quickly finished the tea.
"are aap thodi der aur ruk jayen" Deepika said.
He sighed. He could have stayed here for more time. Radhika was here.
"er.... nahi main chalta hu..... Vivek bhaiya ka kuch kaam hai" he said.
Vivek had called while Dev was on his way...... and asked him to reach home quickly..... since there were some people, Dev had to meet since no one was there at home.
He glanced at Radhika.......and turns, walks towards the car.
Radhika meanwhile goes to the window and watches him walking towards his car. After a moment she looks away...."Yeh main kya kar rahi hoo.....iss tarah unhe......" she asked herself a bit irked.
After some time....... Radhika comes out of the kitchen and seats herself on the couch to get some rest.....
Her gaze shifted to the couch where Dev sat.
Her thoughts drifting again to him
"bahut achi bani hai"..... he said appreciating.
"Jee......shukriya" she smiled, her cheeks felt red.
She smiled for reasons even unknown to her........ It seemed as if She liked him praising her.
Her thoughts drifted to the moment when they were so close and unkowingly....again a smile appeared on her face.
She smiled a bit shyly........
But after a second She realized this and felt a bit awkward.......Her smile faded away.
She was feeling happy..... A small part of heart wanted to her to smile.....to blush.....
Closing her eyes she sighed.... as if to control her emotions.
After a second, she opened her eyes and Her gaze dropped to some paper on the couch....and lingered there for a second with curiousity.
She leans forward to pick the piece of paper and opens the folded paper.
It was some business related paper.
"Shayad yeh Dev ka to nahi....." she said to herself aloud.
It could be. Since it was lying on the same couch, where he sat.
She stood up holding the paper in her hand.
"Agar yeh koi jaroori paper huwa to?" she asked herself. "Mujhe unhe yeh jake dena chahiye"......
Deepika was feeling better so she decides to quickly leave. She anyways had no work over here and she had to return home as well. She tells Deepika and quickly rushes to his home.......
She reaches his home and rings the bell.
The house help opens the door.
"Jee Dev hai?" she asked
"andar aaiye....." he said. "Jee who upar terrace main hai....aap unse jake mil lijeye" he said showing her the direction towards the terrace.
Radhika nods her head and starts walking towards the steps. "Main yeh paper Dev ko khud doon yeh jaroori to nahi....." she muttered slowly to herself.
She decides to give the paper to househelp and turned around. But she doesn't find any househelp. He had moved inside. Sighing she decides to give the paper herself.
Meanwhile In the terrace......
Dev stood thinking about Radhika......The way she smiled at him. The way she twitched her nose.......
They had been so close. Her eyes. Her beautiful smile...... all flashed across.
She goes up to the terrace and enters inside.
It was shady.....but hot breeze flowed in. The terrace had a few plants, a swing on the other corner, a Manjaa (Punjabi traditional bed), and a few old items stocked into the corner.....the floor of the terrace was a bit wet with little water flooded in some places..... It seemed as if someone had cleaned the terrace just now.
He stood far away across the terrace........with hands crossed across his chest wearing blue jeans and stripped shirt.
She moved towards him.....a bit carefully to avoid slipping on the wet flooring.
"er.....Dev." she said softly.
Dev was stunned. Was he imagining? He looked up. Why could he hear her?
He turns around quickly......and finds her standing in front of him.
Is it for real or was he imagining? His gaze fixed on to hers frowned a bit.
"er....Dev"....she said again.
He walked up to her.
"aapka paper.....aap deepika ke ghar bhul aaye the" saying she bought her hand forward to give him the paper.
He realized that he wasn't imagining as she spoke.....she stood there for real.
"er.....Oh" Saying he took the paper from her.
He opens the paper. "Oh....Thanks a lot" He looks up.
"Bhaiiya ke kaam ka paper tha....agar ghum jaata to he would have killed me" saying He smiled.
Her heart skipped a beat again. Why did his smile made her feel like this?
Smiling hesitantly she looks down.... and decides to go home quickly as she didn't want him to affect her more.......
"Main chalti hoon" she said hastily .......and turned around to leave
What so soon......you just came in. He thought to himself.
"Er.....Radhika....." He comes to her.
"Thodi der to ruk jaao" he said to himself..... Hoping she would hear it.
She stops but doesn't turn around. Her gaze fixed on to the Manjaa Bed, beside which she stood.
Meanwhile he came to her and stood behind her. "er.....radhika thanks". He said not knowing what to say.
"er...uski koi jaroorat nahi".....she said turning around.....and found him standing a bit too close to her
She looked up and met his gaze.....His intense gaze fixed on hers.....made her forget everything. They stood with their eyes locked on to each others.
She again felt the same way, she had in Deepika's house......Happy.....She felt happy....a small part of her heart wanted her to blush.....to smile at him.....as he stood so close to her looking so lovely at her.......
Radhika tore her gaze away from him with much effort.... and Her cheeks felt red.
That small part of her heart won and unknowingly a small blush appeared on her face as she looked away.
Seeing her blush for the first time a smile appears on his face.
She realized it.....that probably she was blushing.....she shouldn't. She feels a bit queasy as they stood way too close for comfort and moves a step behind hastily
But tumbles on the Manjaa bed behind and loses her balance. "aah"
Dev sees this and leans forward to stop her from falling, stretching his arms...... but he slips, due to the wet floor, in an attempt to catch her from falling........losing his control too and they both fall down on the Manjaa Bed with a thud.
It was quiet for a moment....the gushing wind making the only sound......
After a second he realized what had happened...... his head spinned a bit.
She lay beneath him. He could hear her heart beats.... racing.
Dev sighed slowly. He lifted his head and shifts his body on to her left so as to get up.
But He couldn't get up from the bed.......He felt his one hand was stuck under her shoulders. He jerked his head to his hand stuck under shoulders.....and his gaze fell on Radhika....
He adjusted himself on his elbows slowly....and lifted his head a bit more to get a good view of her face.
Her eyes were closed tightly. Lips pursed. Her hands folded to her chest. Her breathing was uneven. She was scared a bit.
But she looked beautiful......her flawless skin glowed under the sun and her silky hairs shimmered.
"How Beautiful" He wondered. He couldn't move his eyes away from her as He remained in the position drinking in her beauty......
After a second, Radhika slowly opened her eyes and her gaze fell on the sky. Her eyes finched because of the light and she closed her eyes again in reflex......
Turning her head a bit sideways, she opened her eyes again.
And saw him......
His face close to hers, inches apart, but a bit above her face on to her left. Her eyes widened a bit on seeing this........on realizing that she was lying so close to him.
She could feel his one arm circled across her waist.
She blinked. Her heart paced faster than ever.......so fast that she could even hear them.
His eyes looking deeply into her eyes didn't allow her to look anywhere else.
She didn't want to look anywhere else....didnt want this moment to be interrupted....!! She didn't feel scared......didnt feel bad.....she realized that she liked it!! It wasn't just his gaze forcing her.......but hers too that wanted to remain fixed on to his.
Her cheeks felt red as he kept his gaze fixed on to hers.
A second passed....She felt a small lurch inside. Her lips trembled a bit. And she looked away blushing fully.
Dev smiled on seeing her blush......
He slowly neared her ears and whispered "Tum sharmate huye bahut khubsurat dikhti ho" he said, unknowingly brushing his lips to her ears.
She stopped breathing for a moment as his lips touched her skin. And she closed her eyes tightly. Her skin burnt where his lips touched her.
Thousands of unknown sensations rose in her body.
He felt this as well since she lay close to him. He smiled naughtily as he felt her shiver.
He neared her ears again and this time brushed his lips intentionally........
"Rahdika meri taraf dekho na....."
Her fingers resting on her stomache......moved to his hand across her waist and clenched his sleeves tightly.....
He beamed..... And he slowly placed a small kiss on her ears. She quivered under him and turned her face coyly towards him......blushing fully, fixing her gaze on to the collar of his shirt not looking at him.
Her heart paced faster and faster with each second.....
He bought his hand, lying across her waist, up and put a finger beneath her chin and lifted her face.....
She felt a tingling sensation under her chin where he touched. She didn't meet his eyes.....but blushed and her face reddened under his gaze.
Dev's smile grew on seeing this.
She felt too shy to look up......but her heart ached to meet his gaze.
She knew she cannot win over heart's aching request and looked up; found his gaze fixed on to hers.
His smile faded as he met her gaze....and he kept looking at her lovingly.
"Radhika kaash tum humehsa mere saath aise reh paati.....Main ek pal ke liye bhi tumse dur nahi rehna chahta" he thought to himself
Radhika felt her cheeks getting redder and redder.....She didn't want this to end. She wanted to forget everything else. It felt strange.......but correct!! All that she wanted to remember was Dev and herself and this moment.
They remained so for a few moments.......their eyes transfixed.....They were hardly in this world.....
After a few moments.......Dev sighed not shifting his gaze and smiles
His smile again makes her skip a heart beat. Her smile grew so did her blushing....
Her smile, her eyes, her blushing were making him go crazy...... Only his racing heart knew the effects she was rendering on him.....!
Seeing her smile so beautifully he bought his face a bit closer
"Radhika you smile very beautifully".....he said. His voice as soft as the whispering breeze, reaching inside her heart
What was she supposed to say.....she thought? None of her senses worked. Her brain was numb. She could hardly think of anything other than him. Why was he doing this to her? She didn't know......she didn't want to know....!!
She doesn't say anything and blushed more.....!
After a few moments......
The wind blew lightly on her face and she looked away at the sky.......
Her cheeks still felt red......she still felt him near her.....and smiled again.
As she looked away from the sky towards the parapet wall of the terrace.....something struck her as a bolt of lightening....... she stared at the blank wall for a second.
Horrified her eyes widen a bit........and she turned her face to him, bewildered.
Dev sees a change in her face. Her emotions changed. She had a horrified look on her face.....he frowned a bit, confused.
Her facial muscles tensed and body stiffened. Dev felt puzzled at her sudden change.
As Fear and consternation filled her face, She looked away and Tears started filling her eyes.
It was wrong......She was way too close to him.
She shoves his arm and quickly gets down from the bed.
He kept looking at her confused as she shoved him away. "Radhika" he called
She didn't look back at him. Within a moment she left the terrace.
"Whats with her.......abhi abhi to theek thi".....!!
He calls her but she doesn't stop....... Radhika could feel hot tears flowing down her cheeks as she ran down the stairs and out.
"Radhika" Dev called her again following her.
She heard him calling her...... but her feet didn't stop. She ran quickly quickly out of the gate.
Dev followed her...... worried. He didn't understand what had gone wrong as saw her running out of the gate. He came near the gate and halted.
What had he done? Was there anything wrong? Had he gone a bit too far? But he did nothing as such.
He Paused. He didn't know what happened.
The moments flashed across his mind..... The way she fell..... she blushed.....
But she didn't seem to have any problem. She was so happy. Smiling. Blushing. Then what happened?
Radhika ran across the road, towards her home, rubbing the tears with the back of her hand not wanting anyone to know.... But the tears still filled her eyes......blurring things in front of her.
As she reached her home.....she quickly rushed to the door.......
The door was left open.....Devki stood working on the other corner of the house......and didn't notice Radhika coming in..... Neither did Radhika notice her.
She entered, quickly ran across to her room, closed the door and turned around to her kanha.
She walked across to her Kanha's idol, teary eyed, and sank in front of it.
She sat still for a moment. Tears still rolled down her cheek.
The moments on the terrace flashed in front of her her......and made her shudder.
Her gaze lingered on the idol....... "Aisa kyun huwa kanha......aisa nahi hona chahiye tha......Main apne aap ko kyun nahi sambhal paayi.... unke paas.......itne paas kaise chali gayi?"..... She paused.
Her gaze tightened "Kaise chali gayi kanha" she asked angrily as tears rolled down. "Kaise......." . Her throat choked. "Mujhe unke itne kareeb......jaane se kyun nahi roka kanha......kyun nahi roka?". She asked in the same angry tone.
"aap jante hain na......ke yeh galat tha......galat hai......mere liye unke paas jaana....galat hai......galat hai kanha. To aapne mujh kyun nahi roka!!!!!" her voice raised a bit.
Then Her voice lowered down..... "kyun nahi.....kanha. Mujhe sambhalo kanha......" she said folding her hands....pleading to give her strength.
The idol stood there silently witnessing the surge of pain she went through....
Her hands came down and clenched her kurti tightly...... "mujhe kya ho jaata hai kanha....unke paas apne jazbaton ko kyun nahi sambhal paati main....bolo kanha.....bolo"
"mujhe samjhao kanha.....mujhe iss tarah kamzor na padne do.....agar main isi tarah kamzor padti rahi to....nahi.....nahi kanha....." She said crying as her throat choked.
She kept crying...... letting her emotions drain in front of kanha.
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