This is set after the Holi episode.
“I am asking you for the last time, Mrs. Shergill. What has happened? Dare you give me that nothing has happened crap. I am not buying that. Look at your condition, this cough, this pale face, that hand clutching that stomach and you want me to believe that you are fine? I am giving you a choice. Either tell me everything in a minute or else, I’ll call everyone down and get the truth out my way. You have one minute to decide.”
“You are doing no such thing, Mr. Shergill.”
“Try me.”
Drishti pulled herself into a sitting position, resting her back against the headboard of the bed, and got the comforter closer to her chest. “I drank vinegar.” She blurted out with her downcast eyes.
“You drank what?” He asked in disbelief, refusing to believe what his ears had just heard. His brain took a while to process the information. “A bit of vinegar shouldn’t harm. How much did you consume?”
“More than I should,” she mumbled, in a low, tired voice. The discomfort that was visible on her face put him at unease.
“What do you even mean by that? Were you out of your mind? Mrs. Shergill, thank you for giving me the confirmation that you truly, really, and honestly are crazy. I -” His frustration was at its peak but beholding the mere sight of her suffering was enough for him to shut his mouth up. The scolding could wait. He walked up to her, and stood beside the bed. “Come with me.”
Baffled, she raised her brows at him, silently questioning where. He didn’t seem in the mood to entertain her any queries. He had a more important matter to deal with than letting her have her answers. Besides, when he wasn’t getting his answers, why should she get hers? He was yet to be unenlightened about the backstory behind her condition.
“Though I am not really dying to hold you in my arms, I wouldn’t think twice if you force me to do that. Get on your feet right at this instant. I’ll do the honors, otherwise.”
She gave him a short wide eyed stare before she jumped out of the bed.
Drishti being Drishti would ask every five minutes as to where he was taking her and Rakshit being Rakshit would ignore her question like most men ignore things and people when engrossed in watching Cricket World Cup.
“Ice cream,” she muttered to herself as he stopped the car near an ice-cream vendor.
He got out without allowing her a chance to throw any more questions at him and made a quick walk to the vendor. She had stepped out and stood near the car by the time he returned with a butterscotch ice-cream cup and handed it to her.
“What is this?” She asked, shifting her gaze from the ice cream in his hand to him.
“My brain, that you desperately want to eat. Eyes aren’t working? Ice cream.”
She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm.
He placed the cup in her hand, unaffected by her curious eyes demanding to know what they were doing on the road with an ice-cream cup in the middle of the night. Feeling her gaze still stuck on him, he moved a step away from her. “Eat. This will make you feel better. I have read that ice cream helps in this situation.”
Too astonished to react, she couldn’t bring herself to speak. It was a few seconds later, she asked in almost a whisper. “When did you read?”
“When you were telling me about the vinegar. Now if the questionnaire is done, do me a favor and have the ice cream?”
His concern for her, though not too loud, touched a chord with her. Mr. Shergill wasn’t as callous and stone-hearted as she had thought of him to be. The fact that he was being so thoughtful about her to step out of the home in the middle of the night just for the sake of her, just to get her some ice cream so that it could put her at some relief and ease, was worth appreciating. It definitely was. There was no way on the earth she could deny the same.
Feeding herself a spoon of ice cream, she leaned against the car, savoring her favorite ice cream. She realized after a couple of more spoons went in her mouth that he was standing empty-handed, stealing glances at her every now and then. “Where is your ice cream?” She asked after peering at him for a while.
He just shrugged his shoulders, looking away from her. “I don’t like it. Besides, my throat isn’t burning.”
“Predictable, boring, Mr. Shergill,” she murmured, pushing another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
He glared, narrowing his eyes at her. “Care to repeat?”
“Predictable, boring, Mr. Shergill,” she said aloud, as a matter of fact, unmoved by the scowl on his face.
Amazed by the courage she just showed to say it on his face, he mentally smacked himself for being nice enough to her to bring her out at that hour of the night but he wasn’t at fault either. He hadn’t done it all on his own rather he was forced by an insane part of his body, many called heart.
His heart had refused to let him sit in peace when she was suffering. You are losing it, Mr. Shergill. Annoyed with his own self, he continued to give himsef a silent earful.
“I don’t know why I feel that you have said this to me earlier as well.” His face acquired a knowingly confused look. He felt he had heard her say the same words earlier but he failed to recall when.
She stilled in her place, her hand holding the spoon stayed in the air. Strangely, even she thought that she indeed had a similar conversation with him earlier. “Maybe. You are boring and unpredictable. I wouldn’t be surprised if I remember having said this earlier.” She put the spoon back in the cup and fed herself with another spoonful of ice cream.
His phone’s ring broke the silence in the air. He excused himself to attend the call. He stopped in his track when he was approaching her after finishing his call. She was lost in her own world, busy relishing the butterscotch flavor.
How could he not adore the beautiful sight? His legs refused to take a step ahead for he didn’t want to be a reason for her to become conscious. Anything that would break the beautiful moment wasn’t just worth it. The calm in the air was serene. He had not seen her so relaxed ever since he had met her.
Ice cream puts her mood back to good. Mentally making a note of the point, he saved it in his mind for future use.
“Mr. Shergill,” she called, breaking his trance.
Slightly disappointed for getting out of the moment that he would have liked to watch for a little longer, he strode toward her.
“Can I have one more, please?”
Why so cute? Could he get a grip on himself, please? He wished he could. His heart was getting out of his control and he wouldn’t be able to afford it for a long time. For how long he would be able to conceal his emotions, he didn’t know. His heart always held a soft corner towards her, though he hardly made it visible. He quietly got her another cup of ice cream.
“Feeling better?” He asked, standing beside her, keeping his gaze fixed at the front.
She hummed in response.
“Alright, so tell me now.” He turned his head toward her.
“Tell you what?” She repeated after him while dropping the ice-cream cup in the dustbin.
“How did you manage to get vinegar in your system?”
He was still stuck there.
He wouldn’t let it go, would he? She was sure that he wouldn’t. She couldn’t narrate to him how she ended up drinking vinegar. She thought about giving him a good excuse but her intelligent brain ditched her and she couldn’t come up with any.
“I am waiting, Mrs. Shergill.”
“By mistake. My stomach still hurts. Let’s go back. I think I need some rest.” She quickly sat inside the car, without waiting to even hear his response.
He was sure that she was hiding something. What could it be? He let go of it for the time being and drove them back home.
Saying that she needed rest seemed to have worked a bit too well on him.
•
“Hey, how are you feeling now?” Divya stopped Drishti who was heading toward her room along with Rakshit.
Drishti gave her a hesitating smile, nodding positively. She sincerely hoped that Divya would not say a word more in front of Rakshit but to her surprise, Rakshit himself left the place.
“You are crazy, Mrs. P.A. Lavanya is undoubtedly mad but you… Just because she put forward a challenge for you to drink vinegar for Rakshit, you actually did it?”
Drishti smiled at the hidden concern in Divya’s words. She couldn’t say much but gave her a reassuring smile that she was fine.
Though it was a fact that Lavanya’s words never affected Drishti but one more fact was that she didn’t like Lavanya. Not even a bit. She had been going on and on and on about Rakshit and her and it annoyed Drishti. Not that she wasn’t capable of giving it back to Lavanya but still, she wasn’t too pleased to hear her and that was why, when Lavanya put up the challenge of drinking vinegar to prove that Rakshit and Drishti’s marriage was in a good space and she could go to that extent if it was about him, she didn’t think before gulping down the vinegar.
Drishti made her way toward her room and lay on the bed, clutching her stomach. Ice cream momentarily did help but it was back to worse after a while. She closed her eyes, in hope that a good sleep will help put her back to being normal.
Rakshit settled on the couch in his room, bemused and dumbfounded.
You are crazy, Mrs. P.A.
Lavanya is undoubtedly mad but you…
Just because she put forward a challenge for you to drink vinegar for Rakshit, you actually did it?
He certainly didn’t regret overhearing his wife’s conversation with Divya. He would have never known otherwise. He still wasn’t aware of the entire thing but one thing was clear – he was the reason, she drank vinegar because of.
He wondered if Lavanya was capable of irking Mrs. Shergill enough to make her lose her cool and do something as stupid as drinking vinegar. He was struck by something else as well. It was a good question to think over as to why Lavanya would make any such thing happen in the first place. She anyway had been giving him weird vibes ever since she had returned as Snny’s wife. He would need to keep an eye on Lavanya, he realized.
Deciding that he would deal with it later, he slowly slipped on the couch, staring at his sleeping wife. His lips broke into a soft smile thinking how he could do the staring session at her without getting accused of staring at her.
Everything else was long forgotten. Having her peacefully sleeping in front of his eyes had him brightened up, though probably he would never admit it verbally. He didn’t realize when he slipped into slumber while gazing at her, dreaming about his Mrs. Shergill who seemed to have captivated his mind, heart, and soul.
I hope, you enjoyed reading. It has been so long since I wrote this. Almost two years if I am not wrong but reading this today to edit brought back memories. Beautiful memories.
Do let me know how you found this.
Much love.
This is absolutely beautiful. Thanks to you. I could relish them after such a long time.💜
I am glad you enjoyed reading, Rukiya. 💜