Devakshi One-shots/Drabbles/Short stories

From hurt to healing (Part 7)

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Sonakshi woke with a start. She had slept fitfully and missed her alarm and was probably going to be very late for work. She threw the covers off and swung her legs out when it hit her. It was a Saturday. She had the day off. Plus, it was her birthday.

Calmer now, she settled back into her blanket, wanting a few minutes to herself before her family burst in. As loving as her family was, sometimes she just wanted this 'alone time', without having to explain herself. Ever since her breakup with Dev, these precious moments had become far more valuable, like a world inside of her.

Birthday. While dating, she had been anticipating what he was planning for her. He had been so mysterious, asking offhand questions suddenly about likes and dislikes, but refusing to part with one hint, even when she had nagged.

It didn't matter anymore now. They were over.

Were they, though? She asked herself.

The past few weeks had been a strange, indeterminate state of affairs. It all had started with Dev dropping by to ask a question within her professional capacity. Of course, she couldn't refuse an answer. The next time he dropped by to return her pen. Or so he said. His excuses were flimsy at best, like Saurabh Dada's diet plan. She laughed out loud at the memory. The great Dev Dixit, the young entrepreneur, owner of Ishwari Dixit Communications Pvt Ltd, turns up to return her pen, of all things. You couldn't come up with anything better, could you, Dev? They had ended up spending hours talking about everything and nothing at all. By the next couple times he dropped in at her office, he didn't even bother coming up with an excuse. He would never text or call or inform her. Instead, he would just come in, she would order coffee, they would talk about everything, doing a fantastic job of ignoring the elephant in the room. Sonakshi wondered what was going to become of these coffee chats, how long will they go on, how long did he think this will go on?
Probably not long, but for now, they were both content with this. Sporadic meetings, every once in a while.

Yesterday, she knew he was hurt when she spoke about her birthday plans with Ritwik and his family. She could read him easily, he wore his pain on his sleeve. It was as visible as daylight. That's why she wondered how his mother couldn't see his hurt. How was it possible? Didn't she look at him, into his eyes? Some days he looked so ragged. She remembered the last time she had met his mother. Auntyji has insisted that Dev was doing very well, successful and happy. Sonakshi wondered if she had been lying to her or to her own self.

There was a commotion downstairs, and she knew she had to be up soon. She stretched, freshened up and went down to be met with the loudest cheers of "Happy Birthday Shona". Sonakshi couldn't help but laugh. They all hugged her affectionately, wishing with so much love.

And then she noticed her parents, scowling at each other.

"All right Ma, Baba..what is going on. Are you two arguing about tonight's menu again? We have already decided it! That's it, no more changes!"

"No, it's not that. The newspaper guy hasn't delivered the newspaper today and you know your father. He is throwing a fit. I already said, it's been raining, so it's possible he got late. Can your father not function without the newspaper one day?" Asha huffed.
"I don't understand why I should. I pay for the guy to deliver the paper, so he should. Why am I the bad guy here!" Bijoy was never the one to relent.
"Bijoy, I am done here, if you cannot see basic reason." Asha rolled her eyes and walked off.
"Wait, what does that mean, 'you are done'. How can you be done. We are talking here.. Asha....." Sonakshi shook her head in amusement as her father followed her mother out of the room.
She announced loudly, "let me go check outside if the paper has been delivered now."

Sonakshi walked outside her house. It had stopped raining, but there were puddles everywhere. The world was looking greener, as if washed. She looked around and there was the newspaper, just beyond the doorstep. Wet and soggy, looking pathetic.
She bent down, picked it up and stood there for a minute, wondering if there was any way to salvage this mess. Her father was going to be so mad now. But what was the poor delivery guy going to do if the weather doesn't cooperate?
She flicked the paper in her hand as it disintegrated further.

Words from a long time ago jogged into her thoughts. 'I used to leave at the crack of dawn to distribute newspapers.'
How had he managed during the rains? Had people been angry at him also for not getting their newspapers on time? Or did he manage to get it them on time despite the rain, the bad weather? She would never get the answers now.

Sonakshi stood there, a sodden newspaper in hand, lost in a memory that wasn't hers, eyes wandering around her surroundings but not quite seeing anything.

That is when it registered into her consciousness, without warning.

Lying there, where everyone could see it, but no one could until they actually saw it, was a small red rose. Obscured from view but hard to miss once you noticed it.

Sonakshi bent down and picked it up. Vibrant red, beautiful petals, the perfect bloom. No thorns. A small tag attached to the thornless stem. She flipped it and saw the words. 'Happy birthday'. That's it.
Nothing else. No sign of who it was from or who it was for.
Just 'Happy Birthday'...in his neat handwriting.

Sonakshi felt her heart speed up as she glanced all around now. Nothing unusual. Just her neighbors slowly waking up on a murky morning. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except this. She glanced at the rose in her hand, slowly bringing it up to get a whiff of it.

Dev sat in his car and watched her from afar. She was in her pajamas, disheveled hair pulled up into a bun on top of her head, sleep ridden eyes, alert once she found the rose, as she tried to locate him. He scoffed at his own destiny. For all his previous grand plans, he had been reduced to this, unable to even wish her in person. He did hope the innocent flower in her hand had successfully conveyed all of his love to her.