SAHIL'S POV
*beep beep*
*beep beep*
I immediately jolted out of my own world of concentrating on my files when my alarm rang and by the third beep I shut it off. It was my 10.45 alarm.
That meant that I needed to prepare to take Ragi back to her own place. I turned back to look at her sleeping soundly like a little kid. Thankfully the alarm did not wake her up.
I did what me and my parents had already planned on doing. I would start packing Ragi's stuff up at 10.45 and then at 11 , I will wake her up.
There wasn't much of her stuff lying around. She had this disciplined habit of taking things, and then putting them back to where they were in the first place. So the only thing that I needed to put in the bag was her kurti that she had worn and hanged in my closet as it had become a little bit wet when she was washing her hands after dinner. I went to the bathroom to check if there was any of her stuff there, and it was no surprise that there were none.
I zipped her bag as silently as possible and then went to her to wake her up.
Okay , sooo.............how do I wake her up ?
Should I call out her name? Tap her ? Or shake her hard ?
With Robert, it's always the last one that needs to be done because of how deeply he sleeps , even while napping.
"Ragi, Ragi..." I tried calling out her name . No response.
"Ragiii, Ragiiiii...." I tried calling out her name and tapping her arm. No response.
Lemme try one more time.
"Ragiii, Ra-" She started moving a little bit.
SUCCESS!
I tapped on her arm to make her wake up fully. Though for the first few seconds she looked confused as to what she was doing in my room, or rather -
"Sahil? What are you doing here ? In my room ?" She asked with her eyes squinted.
I chuckled.
"You are in my room baba." I explained to her.
"Huh?"She got up and sat up straight , her back supported by the headboard.
"Um.....remember we got married?"
"Huh? ...........Oh.....OHHHH!!! Yes yes yes! Is it 11 PM already?" she asked with her eyes wide open now.
"Yes , almost. Now just go freshen up, we will leave in 5 minutes." I said as I stood up from the bed .
At sharp 11 PM , I heard 3 knocks on my door , just like how we planned. Cue from my parents that Dadi was officially snoring in her room.
Ragi got out of the bathroom , and I gave her a jacket of mine to wear .
I know it is summer, but it is night and she just got out of bed which means her body will be warm and then if she suddenly went out at night , the temperature outside would be colder than her body temperature which might just result in her falling a teeny tiny bit sick, which I don't want her to. So, yeah.
"Jacket Sahil?" Ragi asked me confused.
"It's a thin one. Just wear it as it might be cool outside."
She shrugged and then wore it .
Then came one more knock on my door, and I went to open it.
I let everyone in - My parents, Chacha-Chachi and Steve. Everyone except my Dadi.
"Wha-What's happening?" Ragi asked seeing everyone in there.
"We are taking you home, that's what is happening." My dad said , taking her bag from the table and going out.
Ragi looked at me wide-eyed. "They-They know?"
In her eyes I saw a fear suggesting that she thought that I might have told them about the fact that she was going for an internship to train as a chef, which I had promised would remain a secret.
And I am a man of my words.
"They know. They know that you have an internship that you need to complete, and that it is a very prestigious internship at your friend's dad's company . And that very rarely people get a chance at an internship like this ." I explained to her, hoping she would understand that I did keep my promise.
I could literally see her heave a sigh of relief, mentally.
"Oh...oh...Thanks." She mumbled to me.
"You are welcome." I said with a smile.
"So Sahil has told us how important this internship is for you , and we completely understand that. This is brilliant Ragini. We all are so proud of you that you got yourself an internship like this. Go, go and complete this internship . And enjoy yourself!" My mom told as she held Ragini's shoulders with pride.
"You .....are okay with it ? WOW!" Ragi exclaimed.
"Of course I am okay with it! If my daughter Shubhi would have gotten an internship, I would do everything in my power to make sure she finished it. So who am I to stop you , huh?
Yes I wished that you stayed with us a little longer, it is a delight to have you around! But, your career is much more important than stupid beliefs of Sahil's Dadi.
So we had decided that after she fell asleep , we will take you home. We did not want you to face any more drama than you have already have. If you would have left in front of her, ofcourse we would have made sure you could leave, but it would be a very negative scenario .
And I did not want my daughter-in-law to leave my house with negativity in her heart .
So, come on. Let's go! Before she wakes up!"
"You ...you all planned this ....for me?" Ragi asked , awestruck. Her eyes wide, just like her smile.
My Chachi spoke up , "Of course we did! But it was mostly Sahil. "
Ragi looked at me and then abruptly dashed to me , wrapped her arms tightly around my neck as she stood on her tip-toes, and hugged me . Tightly . Really tightly.
"Thank you ." I heard her whisper.
We unhugged as I responded, "Anytime . Always."
"Come on , let's go." My mom said pulling Ragi with her .
Ragi hugged everyone : my Chacha-Chachi who gave her their blessings , and Steve who told her to call him in case she needed anything or was in trouble.
I followed my mom and Ragi to the living room, where we tip-toed to the main door.
Dadi's room was the one right adjacent to the main door. So we had to take care of not making any noise while we moved.
My mom slowly opened the door, and let Ragi out.
Ragi turned back and waved to everyone behind, and then mom and I got out too, with my Chachi slowly closing the door.
We walked to the car that was near the stairs . My dad was driving it, and he hadn't yet turned on the headlights. Turning on the headlights might just get the attention of Dadi , in case she was not yet fully asleep.
We got in as fast as possible, closing the car doors as slowly and noiselessly as possible.
Mom was sitting in the front, and me and Ragi in the back.
My Chacha had opened the main gate of bunglow, and as soon as we slowly drove out, he closed it.
All this time Ragi was holding my hand tightly. I could literally feel her get very excited about how we were being so sneaky.
Once we were out of the lane near my house, my dad turned on the lights and drove to the main street.
And that was the cue - We got Ragi out without any drama!
"YES!" My mom and dad cheered along with me , while Ragi - guess what ? Ragi started laughing.
"Thank you . Thank you so so much!" She said.
"No need kid! Just do what you need to do . In today's times your career is the most important!" My dad exclaimed.
"How did you all plan this? Like how did you realize that it would be better to get me out now, rather than tomorrow or something?" She quizzed.
"It was all Sahil's planning, Ragini."My mom said.
"Well I figured that obviously you will be travelling so much , in the next couple of days. I mean, first you need to go to Ahmedabad to pack your stuff. So you leave Delhi tomorrow at 7 in the morning and will reach at like 9-ish. And then you need to pack for your trip, which I know is never easy. And then , that very night you are leaving for Australia. So that would be hectic !
Moreover, if you went home right now, I figured that you will be able to get a good night's sleep, and then wake up a bit early to do any packing that might be left for you to do. Which might not be much, as I have already told your mom to pack up your stuff.
So you will wake up fresh and active in the morning for your journey ahead.
Moreover, you know what, it was better to get you out right now when Dadi was asleep rather than tomorrow early morning, because you never know, she might be awake at that time, and then she will start her quizzing - "Where are you going and why and NO! A newly wed daughter-in-law should not leave the house for atleast 1 day " and all that crap she believes in .
So we planned it like this. " I explained to her.
"But she will ask na, tomorrow when she doesn't see me there tha-..."
"That we will handle . Don't worry about that. We will say that you left in the morning . And whatever she says, we will handle it. You just worry about yourself Ragini."My mom answered looking back.
"I don't know how to thank you all." Ragi said, clearly overwhelmed by everything.
"Just do your best in this internship, and we will be just fine." I stated, with my parents agreeing with me.
We were at the traffic signal. And I had Ragi , looking at me . Her hand holding mine.
The last time I saw her in the same light was when we were coming after having dinner together at Karim's when I was talking about adopting Naomi with Ragi. In that moment then, when we were at the traffic signal and Ragi had held my hand , making me understand the difference between love and attachment , she looked like an angel, with her beautiful face and the flower crown on her head.
Right now, at the traffic signal, with her by my side, she reminded me again how angelic she looked. Just that right now, her eyes were a little moist, overwhelmed by everything that was happening around her. How fast her life was changing.
But when she was looking at me with those moist eyes, and her angelic face, and her beautiful smile, I felt as if, as if even though I was just making sure that she could get enough sleep and was prepared for her travel, it felt as if to her it was like giving her a new life. She was looking at me like that. As if I have given her something huge. I could see the gratitude and the relief in her eyes.
And I thought to myself of the promise that I made myself before I signed the marriage papers -
I am going to do everything in my power to make sure Ragi remains happy , and nothing comes between her and her dreams.
And just right now I saw how happy she is . I can't wait to make sure she remains happy throughout the time we are together.
She smiled to me . Her smile was soft, not wide. But it was beautiful.
And I smiled back. As always.
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DUN DUN DUUUUN
BOOP BOOP BOOOPPP
1. RAGI IS GOING TO ..........AUSTRALIAAAAA
2. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE FALLEN HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH SAHIL ?
3. To the girls who comment , "I need a Sahil in my life", um...well, that will happen in the future, but till then , how about you 'be your own Sahil ' as my dearest Pie_JordanCEW said!
Alright alright! How was the chapter?
Amazing exciting things are gonna happen!
I am so excited to take this book to the next stage!
Vote, comment and shafre!
All the love,
~Inolas.