Dev woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. He groaned in pain as he held his head with his hands.

'Why did I even drink that much when I knew that I won't be able to handle it the next morning?'

As he was busy in his thoughts, he heard a knock on the door of his room.

"Dev! Get up! It's 10 in the morning."

His Father, Adarsh Dixit was knocking on the door. He was about to go but then he realised that he was drunk and he needed a mouth fresher. He saw a small bottle at the dressing table and sprayed it in his mouth, thinking that it was a mouth fresher. But he felt the taste very odd and when he saw the name on the bottle, he realised that he had actually sprayed perfume in his mouth.

"Dev, will you open the door today or should I book an appointment?"

Thinking that the purpose was solved of covering the smell of alcohol, he rushed and opened the door.

"Finally! You woke up! Brush your teeth and come fast. Your Maa has made dosa."

Dev frowned at this piece of information. Was he really getting dosa for breakfast?

"Seriously? Who eats dosa for breakfast?"

"I had got batter yesterday to make idli. The batter is still left, so your Maa is making dosa. Come fast."

Dev nodded with a sigh and his Father left from there. Dev simply brushed his teeth and walked to the dining table to have his breakfast. Neither his Father was sitting there nor his Mother. He knew that they both would be busy in romancing.

"I need food!"

After two to three minutes of his yelling, his Father came and sat on the couch of the living room instead of the dining table.

"It will take time to get the breakfast ready. Your Mother is watching Sonakshi's video."

Dev controlled the urge to roll his eyes at this. Soon, his Mother, Ishwari Dixit, came there and sat beside them on the couch with a few boiled potatoes in a bowl to peel them off. Dev narrowed his eyes at this and scoffed.

"Maa, Papa told me that the breakfast is ready. But here you are still peeling the potatoes for the filling of dosa."

Ishwari looked at him and frowned.

"Why are you so cranky? Do you have a headache?"

"Yes! I have a really bad headache."

Adarsh leaned closer to Dev and whispered in his ears.

"I am able to smell alcohol on your clothes."

Dev started coughing at this and sneakily smelled the collars of his shirt. He gulped when he really was able to smell the alcohol. He had completely forgotten that yesterday when he was chugging down the drinks in the pub, a glass had poured down on his clothes. Not bothering about it at that time, he had continued drinking. But his dumb brain forgot to change the clothes last night or even in the morning. His thoughts were broken by Ishwari.

"I loved Sonakshi's stand up comedy. I enjoyed it a lot."

Adarsh nodded in agreement with a huge smile while Dev rolled his eyes at this. Why his Parents were so fond of Sonakshi? Well, he was also fond of her at one time. He still remembers their first meeting which was a very clear memory in his mind.

x-x-x

Sonakshi was standing on a small stage which was in a café and she was cracking jokes. No one enjoyed it and everyone was getting bored. But one person laughed hard at every single joke that she cracked.

There were only 5-6 tables occupied in the café. Sonakshi tried to crack better jokes but one man loudly told the waiter to put on some songs. This made Sonakshi angry and she stepped down the stage.

The waiter started playing songs and Sonakshi childishly glared at the man who ordered him to do so. She saw the man who was laughing at her jokes coming to her with a glass of water in his hands.

"Have this!"

He offered her the glass of water which she denied.

"I am not thirsty. Thanks."

"This is not for drinking. Whenever you are angry, you should gargle. It helps you reduce your anger."

Sonakshi frowned at this new piece of information. He saw her confusion and chuckled lightly.

"Trust me, you will feel better."

She took the glass from his hands and gargled for a few seconds. She then looked at him with her questioning eyes, as if asking where to spit this water. He looked for a place to spit it out but on not finding any, he smiled sheepishly at her.

"Gulp it down."

She gulped it down and looked at him.

"I am sure you must have felt better."

She nodded in a yes as she was actually feeling a bit calm after doing this stupidity. What she didn't know that he was doing this to divert her mind!

"By the way, I am DD."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion as she heard his name. Who has this weird name?

"DD?"

He nodded in a yes with a smile.

"Devrath Dixit! Dev Dixit! My Mother is ID while my Father is AD! Ishwari Dixit and Ashok Dixit."

She chuckled on hearing the abbreviations that he had for his family. He too chuckled when he saw her chuckling.

"Sonakshi Bose!"

"That's a nice name."

"Thank you. By the way, why were you laughing on the jokes at which no one was laughing?"

"I found them really funny."

"What's the use of it? No one else liked it."

With this, a pout formed on her face. He shook his head with a smile.

"I can surely see that you are giving your best. Soon, everyone will laugh at your jokes and only a person or two won't be laughing at this. Well, those would be stupid. Don't mind them."

Sonakshi smiled at him while he smiled back at her.

x-x-x

Little did he know that after an year or two, he would be the stupid person who wouldn't be laughing when the entire world would be laughing and cheering her for her success.

"Dev, within a few minutes I'll serve the breakfast. If you want you can take a shower."

Ishwari went in the kitchen while Ashok went to water the plants in the garden. Dev was too lazy to take a shower now so he simply decided to change his clothes because he knew that Ishwari won't leave him if she smells alcohol on his shirt.

***

Sonakshi woke up and was feeling quite light after the relaxing sleep. She stretched her arms and smiled, feeling fresh. She took her mobile phone in her hands and her eyes fell on the date.

Something clicked in her mind and she mentally slapped herself.

'Duffer Sona! How can you forget this?'

She instantly messaged someone and kept the phone aside with a smile. She waited for Dev's message which usually said Good morning. But when she didn't get any message, she realised that they had a fight a day before and this was huge than any of the fights that they had in the last few weeks.

She wanted to initiate and message him but decided against it. She had had enough! He was so used to pour out his anger on her that now he didn't even feel guilty. But he needed to know that no one is against him.

Everyone supports him and will continue doing so. She decided on not thinking about him. She knew that yesterday, he hinted about a break-up. Was she ready for it?

It wasn't even a casual relationship. They both were engaged and were going to get married at the end of the year.

'Screw him! If he doesn't care then I don't give a shit to it. Sona, focus on your career. You have to make it to Mumbai and become a famous stand up comedian, just like Kapil Sharma.'

Just by thinking this, her eyes shone with a brightness and an excited grin adorned her beautiful face. Though she was quite famous in Bengal, she wanted to be known at a national level.

For that, she had been working hard since years and will continue doing so until she fulfills her dream. Smiling, she got up and went to take a shower.

***

"Dev, you have still not taken a shower! Look at you! You look so dirty. Will Sonakshi like this when you will be roaming around like this even after getting married?"

On listening to his Mother, he threw his head back on the couch, thinking that it might help him escape the situation.

"Let me tell you that shrinking in the couch is not going to help you. You need to learn something from Sonakshi. Look at that child! You need to learn a lot from her."

Dev got fed up on hearing her name more than his in his own House.

"Maa, we had a break-up."

Within a few seconds, he heard Ishwari's footsteps and he knew that she was coming out of the kitchen. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at him.

"What is break-up?"

Ashok too came there and heard her asking this question.

"Why are you asking about this? Do you want to break-up with me at this age? No one would accept you or me at this age."

Ishwari was quite miffed at his joke.

"Dev, are you telling me or not? First get up!"

Dev immediately sat up on the couch and looked at Ishwari.

"When two people are in a relationship and they decide to separate, it's called a break-up."

"Break off? Are you breaking off with Sonakshi?"

"Yes! She is now quite successful and now nothing matches, neither our standards nor our thinking."

Ishwari and Ashok looked at each other and then again at their stubborn son.

"There might be a reason for it, right? What is the reason?"

As Ashok asked this, Dev closed his eyes in frustration.

"Isn't this reason enough that I don't want to be with her?"

"But atleast tell us a reason, Dev. Without knowing the reason, how will your Father or I help you?"

"Maa, I don't want to marry her and that's final. I don't want any more discussion on this matter."

Saying so, he made his way to his room. Ishwari looked at her with a questioning gaze, indicating whether he knew anything about this. But he simply shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had no idea.

Ishwari sighed and even thought of calling Sonakshi but then dropped the idea, thinking that Dev might not appreciate this move of hers.

***

"Sona! You are here! I saw the video on YouTube. I must say that it was really good."

Sonakshi smiled when she heard her Father's words. No matter how successful a person might get, but Parents' appreciation always remains special.

"Why are you still standing? Come and have breakfast. I have got chocolate pastry for you."

She nodded at Asha and even though she sat on the table to have breakfast, her mind was drifting to a very loving memory.

x-x-x

Dev and Sonakshi were in a café, having their coffee. It happened that Dev spotted Sonakshi in an engagement party and he initiated friendship. She had smiled at him and accepted the friendship. As a result, they both were sitting in a café, having a very "casual date."

"I love chocolate pastries."

She smiled when he said this. He was like a little child, getting excited at little things.

"Want to try some?"

She nodded in a no and he shrugged his shoulders, continuing eating. She had her pineapple pastry while they both continued talking on various topics.

"What do you do?"

"Well, as of now I work as a mechanical engineer but I want to be a photographer. That's my real passion."

She was able to see dreams shining in his hazel eyes.

"I am sure you would be a very successful photographer one day."

"Let's hope the same."

Unknown to even herself, she started eating chocolate pastries very often since that day. She ate that to an extent where her Mother had even to warn her to limit its intake or she would be forced to cut it down from her daughter's life permanently.

x-x-x

She came back to the present and this time, she wasn't willing to eat the chocolate pastry. Maybe, something don't stay with you forever.