LIFE AS WE KNEW IT

Shot 3

"Where is your wife??" Devangana asked casually, looking around to see if the baby's momma was anywhere around.

"Wife? I don't have a wife." Sathvik said, startled at that question. Everyone in the office knows he isn't married.

"You don't?" Devangana asked with her eyes wide.

"No." Sathvik said, shaking his head.

"You have a baby without marriage?" Devangana asked, wondering how he did IT without marriage. The thought brought colours to her cheeks.

"She is my niece," Sathvik said, offended at her assumption.

"Oh okay," Devangana said, her cheeks still red.

'She embarrassed me and she is sitting there and blushing!! Weird girl,' Sathvik thought.

"You are the new errand girl right?" Sathvik asked and Devangana nodded.

"Sathvik Acharya," he introduced himself.

"Boss?" Devangana asked in surprise. In the chaos of consoling the crying baby, she totally forgot she was inside the boss' cabin.

"Yes," Sathvik chuckled.

"Your coffee, Sir." Devangana pointed at the now cold coffee she kept on his desk a while ago.

"Great! I needed one." Sathvik said in gratitude.

He took a sip of the coffee and spat it out in the next second.

"What the hell!!" He muttered making a face.

"Why? You didn't like it?"

"It's bitter. So bitter. No milk. No sugar." Sathvik said, making a face at the black concoction in the mug.

"Uh!! You like milk and sugar in coffee?" Devangana asked in confusion.

"Why?? Did anyone tell you that I need my coffee black?"

"Aren't all bosses supposed to drink black coffee with no sugar??" Devangana asked, remembering all the harlequin novels she has read in her life.

"What kind of logic is that?? I like my coffee with milk and sugar." Sathvik said, shaking his head in disbelief.

The HR department has hired a girl with some screws loose. Hopefully she is on probation.

"Okay. Noted Sir," Devangana said.

"Sathvik," he prompted.

"Pardon?"

"Sathvik. My name. I prefer to be called by my name rather than Sir or Mr Acharya." Sathvik said with a smile.

"Sure Sathvik ji." Devangana said and Sathvik smiled at that added ji.

"Well. It was nice meeting you Devangana. Now get going. I suppose you have some work? Hmm?" He asked.

"Oh god. I was supposed to meet Tom ji after giving you your coffee. He wanted me to take some xerox copies. Micky started crying and I forgot everything." Angana said.

"Micky?"

"Is it a Minnie??" She asked in confusion.

"What nonsense??" He asked.

"I don't know if she is a she or a he!!" Devangana said with a sheepish smile.

"I mentioned she is my NIECE."

"Oh I forgot." Devangana said sheepishly.

"And her name is Muskaan."

"Aww. What an adorable name for an adorable baby." Devangana cooed.

"Crazy," Sathvik muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Okay then. See you later, boss." Devangana said and ran out.

Sathvik breathed in relief.

"Get back to work, Sathvik," he murmured and opened his laptop and started working.

His phone rang after a while.

It was his dad, Charan Acharya.

"Hello, Dad."

"Sathvik. How is everything over there?" Charan asked.

"Good going, dad."

"How is Muskaan?"

"Sleeping," Sathvik said with a smile.

"Are you able to manage alone, Sathvik? We will be back soon." Charan said apologetically.

"It's okay Dad. Let Mom adjust to reality. Give her some time. I will manage." Sathvik said.

Nilima had mentally broken down after Priyanka's death and every time she saw Muskaan, she broke into anguished sobs.

So Sathvik suggested his father take her on a short vacation.

As a result Sathvik had to bring Muskaan to the office and he couldn't leave the baby alone at home with the maids.

Maybe he should hire a nanny!!

But the thought of handing over Muskaan to a stranger felt so wrong.

Sathvik stood up from his chair and walked over to the couch where the baby was sleeping.

He touched her cheeks with his index finger.

She's so soft. Like a cuddly doll.

"I love you. I will always love you. Just like your momma would have." Sathvik whispered to the baby.

***

Devangana called Pallavi, her best friend during her lunch break to share the news of the baby and uncle.

"Can you believe it?? He was so nice. I thought all bosses in the world would be arrogant like in those harlequin novels." Devangana said.

"And the baby??"

"The baby is really adorable." Devangana said. "When she is not crying," she added as an afterthought.

"How is work? Will you make enough money soon?" Pallavi teased.

"I will. They offered a good salary. I will work for a year. Make loads of money. And I can get a loan if I get recommendations from a big company like this. Then I can start my own cafe." Devangana said dreamily.

Opening her own cafe is her dream. Since childhood.

She remembers her mother pinching her lightly when she cried for sweets when she was a little girl.

Her mother was a health conscious woman. So too much of anything was restricted at home. Her father used to sneak in sweets for her.

And the determined little girl that she was, had made the decision of opening her own bakery so that she could eat sweets to her heart's content.

The innocent dream had grown on her as she grew up.

"Yeah yeah. If your mother doesn't marry you before that." Pallavi said and Devangana huffed in annoyance.

Being born in a conservative Indian family, she never had the freedom to choose her man. Even though they have been living in the Mumbai city now, their lifestyle remains the same as how it had been when they were in their hometown far from the city. She knew she would have to bow down to her family one day soon.

"I will only marry someone who will support my dream," Devangana declared.

A/N

Here goes the next shot..

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SF❤️