The Life Changing Bet

3. 'Birthday wishes'

Dev and Ritwik went to bed after deciding on the terms of their bet. Sonakshi tried to go to bed in her room:

DEV: He was looking forward to the challenge now. He knew it would not be easy, as Sonakshi had not shown any interest in him so far. She seemed aloof and particularly annoyed at him-was it due to the incident with the car, or was it a general disapproval of his wealth and status? He would have to test the waters before he did anything drastic with her. He was confident that he would win the bet, as he had never lost a bet before; also he had never failed with women before...he knew how to make women go crazy for him...

RITWIK: Lay in bed wide awake, "kya mainey bet lagaakar theek kiya? Aakhir Dev bet jeetney ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hai...par mujhey Sonakshi par trust hai...usey Dev jaise log bilkul pasand nahin hai...wo logon ko acchi tarah pehchaanti hai...wo jaldi hi samajh jaayegi ki Dev serious nahin hai...she will never fall for his tactics...aur jab Dev frustrate ho kar haar maan jaayega...tab main Sonakshi ko apne dil ki baat bataa doonga...usey phir pataa bhi chal jaayega ki main Dev se kitna accha hoon aur kitna alag hoon...phir Sonakshi meri ho jaayegi..." Ritwik thought this was the best way to get Sonakshi on his side...she would see the difference between Dev, the brat and Ritwik, the gentleman!

SONAKSHI: Lay in bed and thought about her meetings with Dev that day, "main kyon uskey baarey mein soch rahi hoon? Wo toh bas Ritwik ka friend hai...par main itna naaraz kyon hoon us sey? Shayad mamma theek kehti hain...ek meeting mein kya pata chalta hai...par har cheez mein showoff karta hai...aise log mujhey bilkul pasand nahin...aur meri taraf ghoor ghoor ke kyon dekhta hai, jaise pehley koyi ladki dekhi na ho...aaj tak kisi aadmi ne mujhey aise nahin dekha...main itni uncomfortable kyon hoon? Shayad wo sabhi ladkiyon ko aise hi dekhta hoga...afterall bade baap ka bigda beta jo hai..." She covered her face with her pillow and tried to fall asleep.

NEXT MORNING:

Ritwik left for work early. Dev got up and looked around, "lagta hai Ritwik toh chala gaya...ab breakfast ka arrangement khud karna hoga..."

He peeked outside the window and saw that the Bose's house was a stone throw's away. Their curtains were drawn, but if they were not, he would be able to see everything inside their house. He got ready and knocked on the Bose's door.

"namaste aunty...goodmorning!"

"Aao beta...Ritwik toh chala gaya hoga....breakfast kiya tumney?"

"aapkey ghar se itni acchi khushboo aa rahi thi toh socha aap logon ko hi pareshaan kar doon...mujhey toh khana banana aata nahin hai..."

"accha kiya jo aa gaye...ab jab tak yahan ho...roz subah yahin breakfast karna...Sonakshi ne aaj uncle ke favorite poha banaya hain...khaaogey?"

"ab toh mujhey aur zyada bhook lag rahi hai...I love poha.."

"Sonakshi! Beta zara ek cup chai toh laana...aur poha bhi..."

"aayi mamma..." Sonakshi answered from the kitchen

"uncle kahan hai?"Dev asked, as he picked the newspaper

"wo morning walk par gaye hain...aatey hi hongey...wo breakfast baad mein karengey..." Asha said.

"arre aunty...aap ke yahan English newspaper nahin aata?"

"beta chote jagahon mein zyada tar hindi newspaper hi padtey hain..." Asha smiled

"OH..." Dev was disappointed and just folded the newspaper; he had not read a hindi newspaper in ages!

Sonakshi came out of the kitchen and paused when she saw Dev sitting at the table.