Janvi woke up in the morning feeling dull. She felt that the bleary day loomed ahead of her. She shrugged it off. Veer needed her. She tried calling him but he didn't pick up.
She prepared breakfast as usual for herself and the kids and she preapared something extra for Veer and Sakshi too.
When she reached the hospital, she found that Veer was settled in one of the extra rooms in the wing. She found him curled up in a bed. His eyes held dark shadows underneath. She quietly walked inside the room and shut the door as quiet as possible.
It was all in vain as she saw him stirring and he groaned and sat up.
"You look horrible." She said as he rubbed his tired eyes.
"I feel horrible. I am so tired." He yawned and she walked to his bedside.
"You should sleep. How is your dad faring?"
"He's still in critical condition. I don't want to sleep incase I miss something."
Janvi's heart tugged at his words and she sat across from him and took his hands in hers. "I understand."
But he seemed alone and she wanted to fill every bit of space in his life.
"Are you hungry? I brought breakfast."
He didn't let go of her hands. "Not yet." He said.
"Gross! Get a room!" Sakshi said walking in the room.
Janvi didn't know why they jumped apart. Especially her, she stood up from the bed.
"We're in the room, you weirdo! You walked in!" Veer hissed.
"Whatever loser...Just shut up...your voice is annoying." Sakshi whined slumping on the couch on the corner of the room.
If Janvi thought Veer looked horrible, Sakshi looked worse. She was so used to seeing Sakshi put together that the woman with her hair in a loose braid and in a t-shirt and sweats was a stranger to her.
"Why are you here?" Veer asked.
"I wanted to meet Janvi. I wanted her to run some errands for me."
"Sure. Just tell me." Janvi said but Veer held her hand.
"I don't get why you're making an employee of my office run errands. Just hire a personal assistant."
Sakshi scoffed. "Do you have a death wish? She agreed so what is your problem. Stop being an ahole!"
Janvi felt deja vu creep in. The way they fought was very similar to Asha and Usha fighting. She assumed that this is where they got it from.
"Run your own errands!"
"I don't want to leave the hospital incase...incase..." The words died down in Sakshi's throat.
The air grew awkward and Janvi wanted to escape the room. The tension in the room disappeared as Sakshi's phone rang. She looked at the caller id and walked out of the room to take it.
"I have no problem is running errands, you know." She said after Sakshi left the room.
"I know that. But I don't want you to be taken advantage of like that."
"You two fight a lot like Asha and Usha." She laughed. She wanted to tell him the truth. She promised herself that after all this was over she would.
***
Sakshi moved out of the room. She picked up the phone. "Hey. I'm sorry I had to cancel our meetings. I am just busy at the moment."
"No worries." Dhruv's voice echoed from the phone. "I just called to check upon you."
"I am okay." She lied. She was not. Work was the only thing that distracted her from the fact that she had literally pushed her father to his deathbed. She had so many feelings swirling inside her, that she felt nauseous all the time.
"That's good. Just let me know if you need any help. I'm always up for a coffee."
"Thanks Dhruv. It means a lot to me." She sighed and ran smack into her husband.
She stepped back and saw that his eyes were dark. Was he angry? A tremble ran through her body. Angry men were always scary to her.
She stood her ground and didn't let it show. He said nothing and walked around her.
She breathed out a sigh of relief and ended the call with Dhruv.
Her stomach rumbled after she ended the call. She felt yucky in her clothes. She desperately needed a bath and a change of clothes and some food and a coffee.
She had thought of calling Vikram but the things she needed were not something she wanted a strange man to bring her.
That's why she sought out Janvi but her brother had to butt in there. Feeling irritated from the lack of sleep and a little bit of everything she walked to her assigned room.
When she entered the room, two things caught her attention. Siddharth was on the sofa sipping coffee from a his mug and the duffel bag on the bed.
The smell of coffee lingered about the room and her stomach rumbled again. Ignoring her husband as he was ignoring her she walked towards the duffel bag. She opened it and it had her clothes. A fresh set of comfy clothes, another set of her work clothes.
She also found her make up pouch and a couple of pairs of her underwear. She also dug in her and took out her make up bag and another bag which contained her toiletries. It also contained a plain white salwar kameez.
A smile crept on her face. She hadn't called anyone to bring her this stuff. She froze and her head snapped up to the person on the couch. He was still there, his demeanor carved out of ice, sipping from his mug, his other hand scrolling through the iPad.
She refused to believe he had brought her this. And she refused to accept the wave of emotions crashing against her heart for a duffel bag.
He was in a fresh set of clothes which were different from yesterday. His hair was still wet but combed neatly. She bit her bottom lip. She was grateful for his help but she didn't know how to say Thank You. They were just two words but the miles and miles of distance between them were something that two words can never bridge over.
Ultimately she decided to say nothing and grabbed her stuff and entered the bathroom.
***
Janvi dropped by Sakshi's room, she wanted to drop her breakfast box and also ask her if she needed something. She knocked on the door but it was Siddharth who opened the door.
"Hey...um..I just wanted to see Sakshi."
"She's in the washroom. Anything urgent?"
She didn't know why Sakshi's husband made her nervous. He was so cold and distant.
"No. I just wanted to drop off her breakfast."
He looked at the bag that she held and he grabbed it. "Thank you." He said and shut the door.
Janvi stood there awkardly and then only returned to the present moment when her phone rang.
"Hey Vikram. What's up?" She picked up the phone.
"Janvi, can you check your WhatsApp? A video of you and Veer is doing rounds around social media and it's not good. I have sent you the video."
"Yeah sure." She said.
She opened her WhatsApp and it was a blurry video of them. She knew it was them. What shocked her was the video was from last night. It was them beside his car and the video captured them kissing and talking. There was no idea.
Her hands shook. She immediately called Vikram and told him to call an emergency meeting. She stopped by Veer's door but she decided to not tell him yet. She didn't want to bother him when his father was on his deathbed.
She quickly walked to the car and drove to the office.
***
It took her the whole day to resolve the issue. By nightfall, after putting the twins to bed, she was exhausted throughly. She called Veer afterwards but he didn't pick up her call.
She called Sakshi and she picked up the call. "Sakshi, hey. I tried calling Veer and-"
"Our dad....he's gone...he died."
"I am so sorry. I was dealing with something else."
"The video issue? Yeah Vikram told me. I'm glad you resolved it because right now such a video would make things messy."
"Yeah....Veer and I. We-" She didn't know how to explain.
"It's okay. I don't have an issue but be careful. You should keep your distance for a few days. He's going to be right in media's eye. And trust me, he cannot afford a scandal right now."
"I understand." She sighed.
After the call, she wrote a message to Veer explaining him everything. After a few minutes her phone rang.
"You think that explains it?! Why you're not here?!"
Janvi was taken aback. His voice was so cold. She didn't recognize him at all.
"Veer...please understand. There's a lot of press there. I cannot get photographed."
She was wary of Nikhil seeing those photos. The news was running prime time in all channels. She was going to get captured in a video or a photo if she was next to him. And with the video which leaked last night, it would take the press seconds to connect the dots.
She was a married woman with children who had got caught kissing a political figure. And that too so close to elections. It would ruin him and it ruin her more.
"I want you here. Please." His voice tore and with that her heart tore too. But someone had to be pragmatic and it had to be her.
"I can't. It would ruin you. Elections are in a few months. This will utterly ruin you."
"Oh god." He groaned. "I literally do not care. I don't care about that. At all. Why doesn't anyone get it! I don't want to run in this campaign. I don't want this! I want you."
"And I'm not going anywhere. I am here. Just a phone call away."
The line was silent for a long time. "Fine." His voice was low and icy.
"Veer...I'm right here and I -" She couldn't say it. She knew it would make him feel better. And she knew she had fallen for him a long time before she had even realised. But not like this.
"I want you too." She said and she wished and hoped he understood the depth of what she felt for him.
The line rang dead after she heard a click. Her chest constricted and she wanted to cry so badly.
She felt deja vu, she felt like she was back at the airport where they met before he tried to leave. She had betrayed him then for money. And she felt like she was betraying him again.
***
A/N: Vote and comment.