***PART 32***
After that emotionally draining incident, Manvi tried to talk to him but he had disappeared back into his study with the lawyer and Rahul asking her to give Abhi company.
Manvi and Abhi both sit on the stairs outside the house. Manvi was looking into the sky. Abhi was trying to figure out what Manvi was doing.
"Why is everyone shouting?" Abhi asks her.
"Grown-ups are crazy." Manvi tells him.
"You look grown-up." he points out.
"That is an illusion. I never want to grow up." she shakes her head.
"What's an illusion?" he asks, pronouncing 'illusion' in a funny way.
"Well...anything that seems like a certain thing but is a completely different thing."
"You are weird." he observes.
"HEY!" she snaps.
Abhi rolled his eyes.
"You see the sun in the sky." she gathers her inner patience.
"Yeaaah?" he says highly doubting that she would make sense this time around.
"You see it rise everyday morning and set in the evening?"
"I am not blind!" he says in 'duh!' tone.
"You are a smartass though!" she objects.
"You talk a lot!" he says as if that were a bad thing.
"Sooo..." she starts again "...you see the sun go up and down the sky every day?"
"Ahaaa!"
"But, the truth is, it is not the sun but 'us' going up and down the sun. It is an illusion. Similarly, I look like a grown-up but in reality, I have the brain of a little kid. Illusion!"
"You are really weird. I am going to the lady with ice cream." he runs inside.
Manvi looks at him running, offended. "I am boring to a 3 year old?" Manvi wonders aloud. "I need a personality change."
"Mannu, I got to rush to the office. Can you keep an eye on Abhi?" Virat runs down the stairs wearing a suit.
"You dress quick! Of course. I took a two day leave." she tells him proudly.
"That doesn't surprise me. Got to go." he pecks her and rushes out.
"BUT VIRAT!! I wanted to ..."
"Later baby...I got a really important meeting waiting in the office."
Manvi looks at his car dejected. He cannot just leave after such a big break-down. What is wrong with him?? "You are the weird one!" she shouts at Virat.
"Bye Mannu..." Rahul runs out of the house; the lawyer guy follows him.
Manvi shakes her head and goes inside.
~
After that morning, Manvi was really torn in deciding whom to support. She knew Simmy was trying and needed a chance. But, she witnessed the fire in her husband. She realized that it would not be put out but her convincing or calming strategies. It is too huge for her to even understand the amount of trauma Virat had undergone in the last few days after getting to know about his son. That it had stirred inside him the memories of himself as a child after his parents had died in a car crash.
She was amazed at how cool he seemed outwardly up until that morning.
Simmy withdrew from Manvi. She would not talk to her. She was destroyed and shaken out of her mortal soul by Virat's words. It was true that karma has a way of keeping tally of all the things you had done wrong. Today, she saw the face of it all. They all added up to become this ugly tornado that had come back to hit her in the gut. It was brutal. She had resigned to a corner in her room.
"Simmy?" Manvi tried to talk to her.
"Virat is right Manvi. It is better if you do not come in the line of fire. I will handle it. It's fine." she said.
So Manvi spent the entire day with Abhi trying to make him understand that she was not weird.
"You are so much more sensible then your mom and dad. You are content with playing with these leggos." she told him, lying flat on the ground watching him build a leggo house and smiling in triumph in the end, just before dismantling them all.
~
Virat did not speak much on the phone other than mono word syllables.
"Whatchu doing?" She asked.
"Work."
"Did you eat?"
"Yes."
"Is Rahul with you?"
"Yes."
"Will speak with you in the evening Mannu. Got to go." He brushed her off.
"I doubt it." she said hanging up.
She waited for him to come home. She was standing in the balcony of her bedroom when he did.
"Hi!" she went to him. His face carried all the scars that she saw in the morning. She wanted him to talk. She wanted to calm him, take care of him, erase all the hurt from his heart. She had seen that day that there were many unhealed wounds in the man she loved.
She removed his jacket and loosened his tie.
"Umm..." He looked at her raising his brows as she had never done that for him. She stood up on her toes and with her hands around his neck and kissed him softly. It took him a moment to kiss back. His kisses were not soft like always, they were urgent and aggressive. He removed his tie and holding the rim of her t-shirt, she pulled it over her head in a rushed manner.
"Viraaat..." she inquired gasping. She did not expect this. He ignored her surprise. He turned her around in one swift moment so that her back crashed hard on his chest. He kissed her neck making her moan and his arms went around her waist. He fiddled with the buttons on her jeans, opening them. She squirmed, letting herself lose in his arms.
Even before she realized that he wanted her, he got her out of her jeans and pressed her against the wall with his body. His kisses began to get more aggressive and violent. She threw her head back and closed her eyes. His hands moved up her curves and reached to cup her face. He lowered her face so that her eyes met his.
She did not understand what he was feeling. There was desire, hurt and maybe pain. He stepped away a bit as he unbuttoned his shirt, he looked at her convulsing on the wall. His lips curved into a sexy smirk. "Take those off for me baby..." he asked her looking at the remains sheaths of garment on her. He gasped as he saw her remove them slowly. He lifted her up in one fluid wave of his hand, taking her by surprise yet again. "Ow!" she squealed. He placed her on the bed and before she knew it, he was inside her groaning her name.
~
He lay on top of her consumed and relaxed. "You okay?" he asked raising himself up and getting dressed.
"Virat?" she sat up the bed clutching the sheet around her, opening her arms for him. There were tears in her eyes. She had never seen him like this, so close, yet so distant.
"Heeey..Why are you crying?" he asked, sitting in front of her, putting him arms around her. "Was I rough?" he asked worried.
"No..I am worried about you." she says. "Talk to me. Please."
"There is nothing to talk, sweetheart. I just needed to take my mind of everything. Losing myself in you is the one thing that does that does the trick." he smiles, shyly.
"Okay. I know there is romance in there somewhere." she replies, sniffing.
He laughs loudly. "I am sorry about morning. I wish you hadn't heard all that." he passes his hand over her hair pushing some behind her ears, while looking down at her lovingly.
"I wish you talked to me about all that." she tells him, peeking up.
"I didn't think you would understand."
"You can atleast try."
"I will. I love you." he kisses her tenderly, holding her chin.
"Abhi thinks I am weird." she goes off on a tangent.
"I knew he was smart kid." he laughs.
"Shut up!"
"You are weird but you are also my love. Get dressed. I want to eat something." he tells her.
"Interesting priorities, you have." she blushes.
He laughs and disappears to freshen up.
~
"Why don't you get joint custody. That way both of you will be in control." She tells him later, while eating.
"Manvi, I really don't want to talk about this."
"But, Virat, if I were in Simmy's position, I would not have agreed to it either. Give her a chance. Please."
"I have given her enough chances for a lifetime. And baby, you would never be in her position, trust me. Joint custody is tedious, I do not want to fight her on every stupid decision she makes."
She looked at how firm he was and finally resigned herself from talking to him about it.
Later in the night, as he was searching for some of his files in their closet, he finds a familiar bottle of red pills that was recently filled from a day ago.
"Manvi?" he shouts for her.
"I am right here." she yells back, walking to him. "Why are you shouting?"
"I thought we decided you will get off the pill?" he showed her the bottle.
Manvi bites her finger nervously. She turns away not wanting to be confronted. He pulls her back by her elbow, and looks at her demanding an answer.
"You don't want to have a baby anymore?" he asks.
"Erm..we already have a brand new baby at home." she murmurs in a low voice.
He looks at her disbelievingly. He finally understands what she is implying. He shakes his head. "Sweetheart...you don't have to do that."
She shrugs. "All I am saying is he needs our complete attention now. We can wait an year or two for the next one."
"Manvi, I am not comfortable with you making that sacrifice. I promised that..."
"Why do you have to call it a sacrifice. I want to know him better. And make sure he be a good big brother. Shake off that grumpiness a little bit."
He sighs looking at her face. "Oh God!" He closes his eyes and pulls her closer, leaning his forehead on hers. "What did I ever do to deserve you, angel?" he wonders out aloud looking into her eyes.
"Probably same thing I did to deserve you." she smiles shyly.
"We will have a truck-load of kids. Soon." he tells her in a tone of guilt but also full of promise.
"Woah! Truck-load? Slow down, tiger." Manvi looks at him shocked. "I thought you wanted a boy and a girl. You got to marry more than two people to make you a truck load of kids."
Virat moves back and stares at her offended.
"Joke." she giggles.
"No jokes about my failed marriage and resulting off-springs please. They are not funny."
"Aw, Sorry." she laughs, hugging him back.
~
The next day morning, Abhi was on the bed playing with Virat. Abhi did not get used to Virat, but he did get used to his laptop and the videos on it. Manvi was in the front of the mirror in the bathroom, getting ready.
"Were you quiet as a kid?" Manvi pops her head out and asks Virat.
"Umm.." he says showing Abhi how to burst balloons on the screen.
"You are still quiet. You only talk when I make you talk. He is like you. What do I do with two 'you-s?" she complains.
"He talks fine with me." Virat tells her distractedly.
"You wouldn't know the difference between talking and not talking." she snapped.
"I have you for reference." he turns to her with a grin.
"What does that mean?" she folds her hands.
Simmy walks in, knocking.
"Can I speak with you for a second?"
Virat sighs and walks out of the room saying "Stay with him."
Downstairs, at the dining table were seated Mom and Dad. Simmy sat down beside them and signaled Virat to do the same.
"I signed the papers." she gave him the file.
"Wonderful." he takes the file and looks through it.
"I have one condition."
"Ofcourse." he looks up at her knowingly, after checking if all the relevant papers were signed.
"An year from now, if mom, dad and you feel that I am being a responsible mother, you will think about joint custody."
He looked at Mom and Dad and Manvi who was watching them from above.
"You will think about it. That is all I am asking."
He looked at her sternly without replying for a few moments. Her eyes are bulged out from crying and her face pale. She seemed like a very weak patient trying to fight for her life.
"Okay. I will think about it." he said getting up from the table.
After walking a few steps, he stops and turns around with a question mark face. "Even if you were a responsible mother, why do you trust me to give you joint custody at that point. I will have no reason to." he asks her.
"Coz you are a good guy Virat. I know you will do the right thing for Abhi." she said confidently.
~~~
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