Second Chance

Chapter 6 His Past or His Confused Feelings

'Hey! Were you looking for me?' says Mahi as she comes close to Dev.

Dev stops where he was and faces Mahi as he replies,' Not really. I was just wondering where you disappeared.'

'I am right here,' replies Mahi smiling.

Dev simply nods and turns to leave. But, Mahi holds his arm gently to stop him, says,' Dev. Is everything okay?'

'Yes. Why? Do you think something is not okay?' asks Dev returning the smile with a smile.

'No! I just thought...nothing. Can I ask you something?' asks Mahi looking at Dev intently. 

'Anything,' says Dev softly, looking at Mahi.

'Would you mind if I become friends with Kabir?' says Mahi, slowly keeping an observing eye on Dev's expressions. She continues,' I mean, I don't know what your history is with him. And I am not at all intrigued.' She takes a brief pause and says,' What I am saying is I'll be okay if you want me to keep a distance.'

Dev felt an urge to say yes. He would mind a lot. He thinks to himself that he'll be more than glad if Kabir kept his distance from you. But, he doesn't voice these thoughts. He instead says,' It doesn't matter what I want. Because I am no one to tell you who you should be friends with. No one should tell you that. And that's why you never have to ask me. Ever.'

Mahi smiles at his replies and feels glad for Dev for a kind of a person he is. Dev gives her a smile touching her arm as he assures her leaves from there.

Party eventually comes to an end. Dev was just seeing off the last guests before Kabir, Ekta and Rohit. 

'Dev, I am so glad to see you moving forward in life. Mahi is really nice,' says the lady friend as Dev sees her off on the door.

Dev smiles and says,' Thanks, Gagan. It's good to see you too.'

'My pleasure yaar,' replies Gagan and continues as she hesitates a little,' I have something for you. I was asked to give it to you. I was hesitating when I arrived. After seeing you and Mahi, I think I can get rid of this responsibility on my head.'

She takes out a small squared red envelope from her sling bag. She hands it to Dev, saying,' Please don't curse me. I am just a messenger.' She doesn't wait for Dev to open it and leaves immediately.

Dev is all confused at her behaviour and the envelope in hand. He takes the white card out of the envelope and reads it. He freezes as he reads what was written on the piece of paper he was holding. It reads YASHIKA Weds ARMAAN. Everything flashes in front of him. Dev's mind goes back to the day when he thought, was the happiest day of his life. He slips back to the moment to his wedding day before he got to know about Yashika leaving him. She left behind the letter with a small tear on the corner of it. Dev becomes numb again, thinking about that day. The day when he faced the biggest betrayal of his life. He thought that was it. But seeing this makes him question his feelings yet again. He raises his head and looks for the only person who could make him forget about this. The only person who was able to comfort him unknowingly for these past months was Mahi. He instinctively looks at her and feels the ease swept over him. He forgets about the card he is holding. He smiles as he watches her smiling brightly. But he soon loses his smile when he sees the reason for her smile. She is sitting next to Kabir.