Trupti racked her brain as she tried to figure out a way to stop Dhruv from telling Dhvani about his meeting with Shaurya. There a was a huge chance that Dhruv would never meet Shaurya again because what are the odds of that happening again, but she was just worried about how Dhvani would take it.
"Massssssiiiiii!!!!" Dhruv yelled from the near the elevator.
Trupti was mentally preparing herself for the impending emotional drama at home as she walked over to Dhruv.
The entire elevator ride up to their floor, Dhruv was bubbling with energy and excitement. Had he already forgotten about him getting angry on Shaurya? If only his parents had the same span of memory when holding grudges.
Dhruv pushed the door open immediately after Trupti unlocked it. "Mummaaa!!!" He screamed and ran into the house, but he stopped short when he saw Dhvani sitting on the dining table, clutching her head. "Are you okay?" He asked, walking over to her.
"No, Dhruv. Don't come near me." Dhvani demanded before an onslaught of sneezes attacked her.
Trupti too looked at Dhvani in concern. "What happened?"
"It was just a headache in the morning, and by the end of the day, it became worse with stupid cold and cough."
"Dhvani, do you need to go to the doctor?"
"No, I'll be fine." She said, blowing her nose. "I just need some medication and sleep."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive!" Dhvani replied in her nasal voice.
"It was probably because you forgot to take your umbrella and got wet in the rain the other day," Trupti said, shaking her head.
Dhvani gave a warning look to Trupti because she knew as soon as Dhruv heard his mother wasn't taking care of herself, he would chew her ear off.
"You always tell me 'Dhruv, don't get wet in the rain; otherwise you will fall sick.' But you always go out in the rain and fall sick." Dhruv scolded with his hands on his hips.
Dhvani smiled at his protectiveness. On days like these, when she was feeling absolutely terrible, all she wanted to do was cuddle with her son, but today she couldn't because she didn't want him to fall sick too. He had after all inherited his weak immune system from her.
"How was your first day at the camp?"
Trupti and Dhruv looked at each other with a guilty look on their faces, but Dhvani was too busy cleaning up her mess to notice it.
"Good," Trupti answered for Dhruv.
"Really?" Dhvani asked with a smile. The camp was expensive and to afford it Dhavni would have to cut down a lot of her expenses, but she would do anything and everything in her power to make her son happy.
"You go and sleep." Trupti instructed. "I'll take care of Dhruv's dinner and homework. Let him sleep with me in my room."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now go!" Trupti said and quickly added, "And yes, he will be in bed by 9 PM because he needs to follow his timetable." before Dhvani could.
"Okay." Dhvani conceded. "You have to tell me everything about it tomorrow." She said to Dhruv and began walking to her room, but stopped and stepped back. "Do you have some brandy? She whispered to Trupti.
"I'll go get it." She whispered back.
Dhruv watched suspiciously as his mother and aunt whispered something to each other, and then a small bottle was exchanged. "What is that?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Medicine." Both Trupti and Dhvani spoke together.
"How come only you both get it? Does it taste sweet?"
"No." Dhvani shook her head. "9 PM bedtime and don't trouble Maasi."
"Pizza!" Both Trupti and Dhruv said with a curt nod after Dhvani had retired to her room.
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Dhruv sauntered over to Trupti's bed that night and sat beside her. Laying his head against her arm, he looked at the magazine she was reading. "What is she wearing? She looks funny." Dhruv said, pointing at a picture of a bride.
"She is a bride," Trupti said, turning the magazine's page.
"A bride? What's that?"
"When a girl and boy get married, the girl is called a bride."
"What is married?"
"Ummmmm... When a boy and girl like eachother, they get married."
"And then?"
"Then.... God gives them a cute baby." Oh God, why was she the one having this conversation with him?
"Did Mumma and Papa get married too?" He asked, sitting up on the bed so he could face Trupti.
She gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded.
"Did Mumma dress like that?" He asked, pointing at the magazine.
Shaurya and Dhvani got married a few days after Dhvani had turned eighteen. Shaurya, Dhvani, Trupti and Lucky had headed to the registry not knowing what to do. They were petrified of their parents, but also a sense of excitement filled their young and naive hearts. The simple times!
"No. Don't tell me," Dhruv demanded. "I am going to ask Papa!"
"What?" She looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah! When my Papa comes to my birthday party, I will ask him everything. I am going to ask him so many questions that he won't be able to ever leave Mumma or me." He sighed dramatically and lay his head on Trupti's arm again.
Trupti's heart broke for the young child. He didn't even know what he wished for would never happen. At least not until Shaurya and Dhvani could begin to put their ego's aside and started working together as a team.
"Do you like a boy that you will marry?" He asked with a mischievous smile.
"A long time ago." She answered distractedly. "I wanted to be an actress and his parents wanted him to go to the States. So, when the time came to choose, he chose his parent's dreams over mine."
Dhruv watched Trupti in confusion.
"It means that the boy didn't want to marry me." Trupti casually lifted her one shoulder casually. 'It has been so many years that there is no reason for me to feel upset about it,' she told herself.
"I can see why. You look really scary." He said, pointing at her sheet mask.
That got Trupti's attention, so she put down the magazine and narrowed her eyes at him.
"And funny too." He laughed with his hands covering his mouth.
"Oh yeah?" She leaned closer to him, wiggling her fingers.
Dhruv shrieked as he tried to dislodge Trupti while she tickled him. He screamed louder when he felt the slimy sheet mask fall on his arm.
"Okay! Stop." Trupti raised her hands in defeat. "It's already 9:10. If your strict rule-following mom finds out, we are both going to be dead." She deposited the mask on the side table and turned off the lights.
Dhruv panted as he nodded and got under the blanket. "Maasi, why did mumma and Shaurya fight?"
She sighed and pulled Dhruv closer to her. "For lots of reasons that your mumma will tell you when the time comes."
"But he made my mom cry." He growled.
"Even you make her cry when you don't listen to her." She tapped his nose.
"But....but..." he tried to figure out what he could say in his defence.
"We all fight with people for stupid reasons, but it doesn't always mean we want to make them cry or hurt them." She explained.
"So does mumma want to be friends with Shaurya again?" Dhruv asked tugging at Trupti's hand.
"I think she misses him," Trupti answered honestly.
"Then I'll tell her about Shaurya, and then they can become friends again." He said excitedly, getting ready to jump out of bed again, but Trupti pulled him back.
"I have an idea. If you want Shaurya and mumma to be friends again, then you have to listen to me."
Dhruv nodded his head enthusiastically.
Trupti didn't have a plan. All she wanted was for Dhruv and Shaurya to bond. In between Dhvani's ego and Shaurya's anger, she didn't want Dhruv to miss out on only chance to spend time with his father. Even if there was a minuscule chance that they would meet again. So, all she told him was that he couldn't tell Shaurya about Dhvani and Dhvani about Shaurya.
"Done!" Dhruv said with his eyes twinkling in mirth.
"Now, go to sleep." Trupti kissed him on his forehead.
"Did Mumma and Papa fight too?" He whispered after a long silence.
"Baby," Trupti sighed.
"Fine!" Dhruv huffed, "I am going to ask my Papa." He grumbled and hid under the covers.
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Dhvani scolded herself when she saw that she had forgotten to charge her phone last night.
Good thing she used an alarm clock so at least she woke up on time. The brandy and a good night sleep had really helped. She felt awake and ready to conquer her task at hand- photoshoot with Shaurya Gupta for his website.
She dragged her feet to her charger and plugged it in. With no patience and in true Dhvani style, she turned her phone at 1%.
15 missed calls from Kritika
1 Text message- Watch the news NOW!!
That's about how far she got before her phone died again. She slapped the phone on the table and quickly made her way to the living room to call Kritika from the landline.
If Kritika had called her so many times, then it definitely meant it was about Shaurya.
Why couldn't this man let her live in peace?
"Good morning!" She wished when she saw Trupti sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.
"Hey!" Trupti said quickly and hid the newspaper behind her.
"What's wrong? What did Shaurya do now?" Dhvani asked as she held out her hand for the newspaper, but Trupti didn't give it to her.
"How do you know it is about Shaurya?"
"Kritika Ma'am called me 15 times, so it definitely has to be about him." Dhvani huffed as she slumped on the couch where Trupti was standing.
"Trupti, give me the newspaper! Kritika Ma'am is probably fuming because I didn't pick up her phone calls last night."
"Dhvani, this could be a misunderstanding-"
"Just give it to me!" She snapped and Trupti acquiesced.
She opened to the Page 3 news, and an entire page was dedicated to Shaurya's story.
Love birds Shaurya Gupta and Priya Sinha caught together in a room.
The headline was accompanied by several photos of the duo trying to get through the sea of paparazzi. Shaurya had his arms wrapped securely around Priya as he tried to shield her from the media while she was hugging him with her face burrowed into his chest. Dhvani noticed that Priya had a jacket draped around her shoulders. Shaurya's jacket.
"Dhvani..." Trupti began.
"He made my job easier," Dhvani said swallowing the lump in her throat. "Let me go call Kritika Ma'am. Can you please wake Dhruv up and help him get ready? I'll finish the call and make breakfast."
When Trupti nodded, Dhavni gave her a tight-lipped smile and hurriedly walked to her room and closed the door.
What do you think? Is Shaurya really having an affair with Priya? Is Trupti right in trying to get Dhruv to spend time with his father?
Author's note: I hope you guys like the chapter. Please vote and comment if you think this story deserves some love because votes and comments are what helps the books' ranking. ❤
Also, do you guys enjoy the flashbacks? If so, then I'll add more of those.