"Ahh...ahhhhchoooooo" Krystle's brain shook with the magnitude of that sneeze, which only served to amplify the throbbing in her head. She hated being sick.
"Take the rest of the day off", she turned around to see the concerned face of her director, "we'll shoot scenes that you wouldn't be needed in for the time being, you just go home and take some rest before you get worse." Usually she'd object to something like that, but she felt awful today and knew that working any longer would do no good.
"Achcha theek hai. Thank you sir. I'll be back tomorrow for sure."
As her driver pulled out of the set parking lot all she could think of was how she'd be alone at home in her miserable state. Whenever she was sick her mom or dad used to nurse her back to health. She'd become accustomed to having someone with her during these times. But as luck would have it, both her parents were not away. She thought to call Karan but he was busy working on his Bollywood debut. Knowing how important that was to him, she'll be damned if she interrupted him for something as trivial as her need for company when sick. She supported him too much to do that.
Just before she decided to give up and accept the added misery of being alone, the face of another person popped up in her mind. She knew they'd be home at this time. Pulling out her phone she punched in the digits of their house number as fast as she could.
"Hello?"
"Hiiiii, can I pretty please come over? I'm sick and I don't want to be alone. Pleeeeeeaaaaaassssse." She didn't realize that her face had contorted into her famous puppy face pout.
"You're sick? Since when? How bad is it? Come over I'll make you something to eat in the mean time. Do you have water to drink? Tell the driver not to drive too fast, it might make you nauseous."
Trying to keep up with the fast rambling was making her head pound slightly more, but she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as a bust of affection exploded in her.
"Thank you sooo much. I'm on my way. Love you."
" Love you too. Be safe okay, try to take a nap on the way if you can."
After the call was cut she told the driver her change in route and took that suggested nap.
"Mam we're here..... Mam.... Miss Kryslte."
"Huh?" Getting up, Kryslte noted that her throat was dried out and her fever had risen, but the throbbing in her head had decreased immensely.
"Oh we're here, thank you so much Ajay. Oh and you can take the rest of the day off, I'll probably get a ride home." The words came out hoarsely and her throat burned in objection to being worked so much.
"Thank you mam and I hope you get better soon."
~~~~
One knock was all it took for the door to be pried open.
"You're finally here come inside." Kryslte didn't have a chance to make a move on her own when a hand pulled her inside.
"Oh you're burning up, did you get a chance to sleep. Here lie down I'll get you some soup." Before she could even register the words, Kryslte was already reclined on the couch with a blanket thrown over her, she also had no idea where her purse had gone and could already hear the soup being poured in the kitchen. Once again the jumbled concern had her smiling.
"Eat, I'll go get you some medicine."
Picking up the bowl and spoon set before her she grinned cheekily.
"Have I told you how much I love you lately?"
"Don't flatter me you'll make me blush." The dry sarcastic response made her laugh out loud. Contentment washed over her; she was sick, her throat was sore, her head was pulsing, the heat of her skin felt uncomfortable, and she couldn't even breathe properly out her nose, but she was happy.
~~~~
"So how is that boyfriend of yours treating you? What's his name again? Karen?" Krystle looked up from her position- her head was laying on a pillow on their lap and their fingers were working through her hair, occasionally pressing down to ease her headache. She saw exactly what she expected: amusement covering their features.
"It's Karan. With an a. And he's treating me wonderfully. But between you and me, I love his mother more."
She winked up at them to emphasize her point.
" I don't doubt you. I heard she's quite the woman. People can't help but love her." The room erupted with laughter after that.
" But really, he absolutely amazing. It's difficult living this kind of life, you know? Your privacy is ripped from you and the media is a preying beast. I can see it gets to him sometimes, it gets to me too, because we have to fight most of the natural responses we have towards each other in public so the secrecy becomes hard to keep up. But this is ours you know? This relationship is ours to nurture and grow privately until we're ready to allow the rest of the world to see it." The frown that had unknowingly marred her face was slowly whipped off as she thought of Karan again.
"But he does his absolute best to protect me and our relationship from the media. Sometimes I wonder how I got lucky enough to be loved by him. He's become so much for me. He's my peace. He's my comfort......He's my strength. And I can't thank you enough for giving him to me."
She looked up with clouded eyes at the lady above her. The woman that had become a second mother to her. The woman that welcomed her with open arms into her family. The woman that blessed this world thirty years ago with the man that she was now truly, madly, absolutely deeply in love with.
Veena Tacker stared down at the young woman on her lap. She was in awe, once again, of this precious soul before her. Her son was truly blessed to be loved by this girl. She had prayed since his birth that happiness and love flooded his life, that he would find a nice, genuine girl to love and be loved by. Her prayers were answered beyond that. Krystle D'souza was everything she could hope for and more. She was kind, compassionate, understanding, genuine, strong, protective of her loved ones, gentle but firm, full of life and happiness, and filled with so much love within her, love that she never hesitated to share. No one knew the amount of gratitude she felt knowing that her son was the man to which Krystle's pure heart belonged to.
"Oh beta I should be the one thanking you for loving him so fiercely."
~~~~
Karan's heart was pounding erratically in his chest, so quickly and intensely that the pulsing even reached his ears.
...I wonder how I got lucky enough to be loved by him.
....my peace.....my comfort......he's my strength..
I can't thank you enough for giving him to me.
The words kept replaying in his head.
Words filled with love and conviction.
Words of adoration and gratitude.
Words spoken in the beautiful tune of a voice he knew all too well.
Words spoken by the love of his life meant for the ears of the giver of his life.
This was not what he expected when he quietly made his way towards the laughter he heard upon arriving home. He thought it was Sasha and his mother and had planned to give them a little scare. But before he could push the door open Krystle's voice sounded from the room. Confusion made him stop for a while but the words that she spoke paralyzed everything but his beating heart.
He took a deep breath and braced his back on the wall beside the door.
They've been together for years and still she manages to knock the breath out of him.
If anyone was lucky to be loved by anyone, it was him by her. His mother was right. He was grateful for her fierce love, and would cherish the opportunity to love this amazing woman with all his heart.
Composing himself he stepped back into the living room to put some distance between his voice and the room and called out, "maaaaaa I'm home."
He made his way to the room door once again and pushed it open further. The sight the greeted him was beyond lovely. His mother was sat crossed legged against the headboard with a pillow on her lap which was occupied by Krystle's head and they both sported wide grins, probably from something said while he was back in the living room. His mother and his girl. His heart warmed at the image before him and soon he had a grin of his own.
Karan jumped up unto the bed and laid himself down on his side, his left hand supporting his head, and the right stretched across to tangle his fingers with Krystle's.
"Hi" the breathy greeting, intense eye contact, and the kiss placed on her knuckles were probably not what she had expected him to do in front of his mother, but he couldn't help it. If anything he was holding back, because after hearing her words earlier he wanted nothing more than to kiss her senseless.
"Hi" the deep blush that spread from her neck to her cheeks both amused and exited him.
"What's going on here? Hmm?" Looking between his mother and Krystle he raised a playful eyebrow.
"I'm tending to a patient. She got sick and asked if she could come over."
Concern replaced his playfulness as his eyes immediately shot down to Krystle's.
"Sick? You usually don't leave work when you're sick, how bad is it? Did you take anything for it? Why didn't you call me?"
"Karan calm down. Yes it was bad enough for me to be willing to leave work. But I took a nap in the way here, I had soup to eat, and I took medicine. The fever has gone down, your mom massaged my headache away, and after washing it with some warm salt water my throat is also getting better. And I didn't call you because you were working on the Bollywood project today. I didn't want to distract you from that just because I'm sick."
"But I would have come."
"I know Karan. That's why I didn't call. You would have come. And I support you too much to interrupt such important work."
Karan was still a bit upset that she didn't call to let him know that she was sick but it was trumped by the awe he felt at her support and love and concern for him and his career. He was also calmed by the fact that she came to his mother for help and company. At least she was not alone.
"Achcha, lehkin next time call me."
Krystle made eye contact with his mother and winked before turning back to him with a cheeky grin etched on her face
"I'll have to say no to that. I found someone better to take care of me."