Arranged In Love!

Late Night Outings

The engagement had taken place smoothly and DevAkshi (and their families), could not be happier. After the ceremony ended, everyone retired to their respective homes.

Sonakshi had to undergo a tedious process of removing her make-up as well as the jewelry. She first got her jewelry, moving on to her make-up, and lastly her dress. While she was getting her bangles off, her eyes fell upon her engagement ring. The moment when Dev took her hand in his and slid the ring onto her ring finger flashed across her mind and she blushed to herself! She lovingly and affectionately caressed her ring. Quickly she got changed into her night dress; a cute minion t-shirt and pajama shorts; and sat on her bed, applying moisturizer to her hands, legs, and face.

As soon as they had reached the Dixit Mansion, everyone rushed to their rooms, as they were pretty tired due to the rushes of that day. Dev too went to his room and changed from his Sherwani into a more comfortable outfit - tracks and a t-shirt. He wanted to talk to Sonakshi because amidst all the meets and greets that evening, and with all eyes trained on them, they did not have a proper conversation without being interrupted. He glanced at the clock which showed the time to be 01:05, so instead of calling her, he thought of texting her first to see if she was awake. If she would reply, then he would call up or else he would talk to her the next morning. So Dev immediately sent her a text;

Dev: Umm...are you awake? Can I call you?

Sona who was going through her phone and checking her social networking sites was surprised to see Dev's message and even more surprised at his request. Instead of replying to him, she himself called him. And now it was Dev who was surprised to see her call. However, he answered it without a second thought. "Hey.", he greeted her. "Hi.", Sona mumbled meekly. What followed was a few seconds of silence. "What happened Dev? Why did you want to call? Sab thik hain na?", Sonakshi asked breaking the silence, in a worried tone. "Yes yes. Everything is fine.", he replied, which made her sigh in relief. She waited for him to continue. "Ummm...woh...I...ummm", Dev stammered which earned a light chuckle from the other side of the phone. "Dev, why are you stammering? Whatever it is please don't hesitate to ask.", Sona replied. Mustering up all his courage he said, "Woh I was not sleepy...so I was going on a drive." "Hmmm...and?", asked Sonakshi. He replied, "And I wanted to ask you if you would like to...you know..." "If I would like to accompany you?", Sonakshi asked, completing his question. "Yeah!", he answered almost instantaneously, which made Sona blush to herself, slightly. Realizing his folly, he added, "I mean I would like it if you do accompany me...but if only you are not sleepy or preoccupied." "Ummm...", Sona pretended to think for a while before saying, "I would love to accompany you, Dev. Waise bhi mujhe bhi neend nahi aa rahi hain; I will come with you." He smiled to himself and said, "Perfect! I will come to pick you up in a while. I will text you once I reach there, as usual." She could sense the smile in his voice. But suddenly she remembered something and saw it before Dev said, "Dev, hum gharpe kya bolenge? Kisine dekh liya toh?" Dev smilingly shook his head at her innocence and said, "Sonakshi, relax! Everyone has been so tired that they must have drowned in deep slumber already. So, let's just sneak out. Aise sneak out karke milne ka maza hi kuch aur hota hain, aisa maine suna hain; toh hum bhi try karte hain?" Her eyes widened in surprise, listening to the words coming out of his mouth.
Never in her dreams would she have imagined Dev to be the way he was at that moment.

Keeping aside her thoughts she replied in an affirmative. Dev hung up on the call, informing her that he would be there to pick her up soon. She looked at herself in the mirror to check if she looked presentable, which she did. She first decided to change out of her shorts but decided against it as she was tired. She quickly wrote a note for her mother, letting her know she was with Dev, just in case she found her gone and got worried. She kept the note by her bedside lamp. Pulling out her cardigan from her wardrobe and shrugging into it, she patiently waited for Dev to come. Twenty minutes later she got a message from him saying that he had arrived. She took her phone and set of keys and carefully and silently closed her bedroom door and tip-toed to the main door of the house. Putting on her comfy flip-flops, and again closing the main door silently behind her, she descended the stairs to meet Dev in his car.