FF : Dil Ibaadat

Chapter - 98 | An Empty Promise?

*edited*

Anokhi quietly kept looking at him as he approached.

"Main khila deta hoon Princess ko..."

"Mujhe do vo..."

Anokhi appeared puzzled for a split second. She soon realized he was asking for the lunchbox so he could feed her baby girl.

"N... Nhi..."

"Koi baat nhi..."

"Main theek hoon... Main khila doongi Mimi ko..." Though taken aback, she felt warmth in the way he said it.

"Maine kaha na... Main khilaaunga Princess ko..."

"Laao mujhe do..." This time, he extended his hand to reach for the box.

Mimi kept shuffling her glances between her Mumma and Laddoo.

"Aap muje khilaaoge Laddoo?..." She asked with hopeful shining eyes. She was too happy for it.

Shaurya looked over at his sweet Princess, who was all too eager to be fed by him. Looking at her, a smile formed on his lips.

"Yes Princess..."

"Main khilaaunga aapko..." he said softly.

"Yayyyy!!!... Mumma aul Laddoo dono khilaayenge aaj muje!!..." Little Mimi was too elated.

Shaurya and Anokhi exchanged looks when they heard this. The baby girl wanted both of them to feed her. How can they deprive her of this? No. They simply cannot.

Anokhi was now in a quandary about what to do. She couldn't even bring herself to resist him because she knew how stubborn he was, and her Shona wanted it as well.

She found him looking at her, waiting to hold the box. Eventually, she passed it on to him. He gently took it from her grasp and crouched down in front of the chair where his Princess was seated. Anokhi raised her voice after a brief pause.

"Sir... Aap vha chair par baith jaaiye..." she said, referring to the empty chair next to Mimi's.

"Nhi main yhi theek hoon..." came the reply as he began tearing the morsel. He purposefully left the chair empty so she could sit in it. 

But he forgot that if he was stubborn, so was she. The next thing he knew was her presence beside him. He was taken aback upon turning sideways only to discover she didn't sit on the chair. With her next to him, he felt strangely at ease. Despite the small gap between them, having her close by made him feel eerily comforted.

Within a few moments, consciousness began to creep up on him, slamming him with the realization that he was needlessly thinking about their proximity. She was beside him only to feed his Princess and nothing else. He was pointlessly overthinking and steering his thoughts elsewhere. He immediately redirected his attention back towards the lunchbox and forwarded it towards her. He kept it in the middle of the space between him and her to make it easy for both of them to tear the pieces.

Anokhi once cast a sidelong glance at him before reaching out to the box to take a piece of roti. She then reached out to Shona to feed her. Mimi happily took that in from her Mumma's hand. Next was Shaurya's turn to feed his Princess. With a giddy delight in his heart, he tore off the piece and endearingly forwarded it towards Mimi, not before dipping it in jam. Unaware that his act was being captured by a pair of emotional eyes.