Dev was sitting on the swing in the lawn and seemed lost in thoughts. Ashok came in the lawn and saw him. He sighed, thinking that he needs to drill some senses to his head. He walked towards him and sat on the swing beside him.

"What did you talk to Mr. Bose?"

Dev looked at him and sighed.

"He was talking about an Avenger based theme wedding."

Ashok laughed loudly as this while Dev chuckled.

"What? Are you serious?"

He managed to say this in between his laughter while Dev nodded in a yes.

"Then what did you say?"

"Luckily, I didn't get a chance to reply. Sonakshi came there and rescued me."

Ashok smiled when he heard him.

"Sonakshi was a very nice girl."

Dev looked at him but didn't say anything. But Ashok knew that it meant Dev was agreeing with him. He has to take matter in his own hands.

"Her Father is an enthu cutlet."

Ashok furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he heard Dev.

"What is that?"

"You know when we put a cutlet on the pan, it immediately makes a sound. That is an enthusiastic cutlet."

Ashok nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Your Mother has always been an enthu cutlet."

Dev chuckled while Ashok too let out a chuckle.

"You know whenever we had a function at our house, your Maa always keeps saying that we have to invite Sonakshi."

Dev looked at his feet, feeling a bit guilty. Sonakshi and his Maa had a very beautiful relation. They were more closer than Dev was with Ishwari or Sonakshi was with Asha. He had no rights to break that relation.

"You know when I fell in love with your Maa, our Families didn't support our relationship. But we were determined that we wanted to stay with each other. That was the reason that we eloped."

Dev smiled when he heard Ashok. Though he had heard his Parents' love stories many times, he cannot help but smile everytime he listens to it.

"I feel so lucky to have true love in my life."

Dev smiled as he saw Ashok wiping his tears. He had got emotional on reminiscing the old times.

"I wasn't this rich earlier. Even I was reluctant to start a new life with Ishwari but she had more faith in me than I had in myself. She never left my side."

Dev remembered Sonakshi's words when he heard this.

'Dev never left my side. He had faith in me, knowing that I would succeed in whatever I do. It's because of him that I am at this stage in my career.'

"Anyways, I'll go and see what your Mother is upto."

Dev nodded and Ashok went in the House.

***

Sonakshi hastily added the clothes in her suitcase. Tears were rolling down her cheeks but she didn't bother to wipe them. She was tired of wiping her tears and hiding them from everyone. No matter how many times she cried, her tears didn't seem to end. Asha stood at the door of Sonakshi's room and saw the messed up condition of the room.

"Shona, why you messed up your room? Is this the way to pack?"

"Maa, I'll clean it later."

"But you could have been more tidier."

"Then why don't you pack my bag?"

Seeing Sonakshi angry, Asha was taken aback.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes! And I want to sleep for sometime. Please leave me alone for sometime."

Though reluctant, Asha nodded in a yes and left the room. More tears fell down from Sonakshi's orbs who refused to wipe them. Her eyes fell on the photo of her and Dev that was hanging on the wall of her room. She hated him! She chuckled at her own thoughts. She knew that no matter how hard she tries, she would never be able to unlove Dev, let alone hate him. She closed her eyes for sometime and herself didn't know when she fell asleep.

***

Dev was whistling a random tune when Ishwari came and sat beside him on the couch. He knew that her eyes were on him but he didn't look at her. He knew that she was there to talk to him but he didn't want to. He wasn't a kid to get lectured like this.

"Dev, I want to tell you something."

Dev sighed and sat up straight on the couch.

"Maa, if you are here to talk about Sonakshi then..."

Ishwari cut him off in between.

"Why do you always think that I come to you to talk about Sonakshi? I might have some other work as well."

Dev looked down embarrassed while Ishwari controlled her chuckles.

"Anyways, we have planned a surprise for your Father and I need your help in it."

Dev nodded, indicating her to go ahead.

"But for what? Is the lovesick wife planning to surprise her husband on their wedding anniversary?"

Ishwari frowned and hit his arm. Dev chuckled while Ishwari smiled. She was happy on seeing him smiling again.

"Okay. Sorry. What I have to do?"

"All you have to do is to keep your Father busy. We will manage everything else."

Dev furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"We? As in?"

He just hoped that it wasn't Sonakshi. Before Ishwari could reply, the doorbell rang.

"Our Partners are here!"

She exclaimed and immediately went to open the door. Dev banged his head on the couch and followed his Mother. As soon as she opened the door, Dev saw a few of his Father's friends.

"I am so glad that you all aren't late."

"How can we even afford to be late? We are going to fulfill our friend's wish."

Dev narrowed his eyes in confusion. What were they even talking about?

"Hold on. May I come to know what is going on here?"

"Ishwari, you haven't told him anything yet?"

Ishwari nodded in a no and shrugged her shoulders, as if it wasn't important to tell him. Dev gasped and kept looking at her with his mouth wide open.

"What? You really don't find it necessary to tell me about this? Are you serious?"

Ishwari gave him a look and he knew that he had to be quiet. He grunted in irritation and mumbled some incoherent words.

"Anyways, Dev, just keep your Father busy. We will manage the rest."

"Fine! But atleast tell me what you all are going to do."

"I am sure that you will get the hint once you talk to your Father and keep him busy. Now go and let us do our work."

Dev grunted in irritation and Ishwari smiled in her cheeks.

"Fine! I am going."

As soon as he left from there, Ishwari started chuckling.

***

Dev entered the study room where his Father was busy reading a novel.

"You! Young man! Don't you have any manners? One shouldn't enter a room without knocking."

Dev rolled his eyes at Ashok.

"Papa, it isn't like I entered your bedroom without knocking. It's just our study room."

"Whatever!"

Dev hopped on the table and settled himself on it.

"What are you reading?"

"Nothing much. You tell me."

"What should I tell you?"

"Be very honest with me. You spent a day without Sonakshi, that too after 2 years. How did it feel like?"

Dev looked down, thinking deeply. Even he wanted to think about it. His day was miserable. He had thought that it would be easy like he had imagined. But it turned out to be the worst day in his life. A lot of things went wrong. So not knowing the answer himself, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I can understand. I know that you are not a little child but you are my son and it's my responsibility to tell you about your well-being. You know that Sonakshi was integral part of not only your life, but our lives as well. Whenever we had any function at our House, your Mother's first words would have always been 'Don't forget to remind me to invite Sonakshi.' She always had a special place in your Mother's heart. It was actually since the day she saw you both together. She was very happy that now she won't have to search a bride for you as you had finally found the perfect girl for you. She had told me that she was happy that she won't have to visit matrimonial sites and marriage bureau."

Dev and Ashok chuckled at this and Dev sighed. He now realised that how this decision of his would affect his Mother.

"Papa, how come you and Maa never had any disagreements? It's been more than 25 years since you both are married and I have never seen you both fighting, or even arguing."

Ashok smiled and got up from the chair. He walked to Dev and sat on the table beside Dev.

"It's not like we never fought with each other. We had our own shares of struggles and disagreements. We have had many arguments. But then we realised that this only makes our relationship stronger. We never gave up on each other, not even when we were dating. You know how we got married, right? No one from our family supported our decision. In the earlier stages of our life, we both had a lot of arguments. I didn't have a job and I wasn't financially stable. But then we somehow managed to get a loan. Then I started a small business of spectacles. Then I felt that slowly, things were getting better again. It was then you entered our life. We both were very happy when you cried for the first time, I mean when you entered the world. Dev, you are our only child. We can never think bad for you. You know that we weren't very happy when you decided to quit your job and followed your passion, photography. But it was Sonakshi who convinced us. I know you are smart enough to take your own decisions, but think wisely and don't take a decision that you regret later. I still regret that I wasn't able to marry your Mother in a grand ceremony. I wanted to ride a horse. But it wasn't possible. Now I think that had we waited for a while, we could have convinced our families and then, we would have married with a prompt."

Dev listened to him carefully and thought about all the moments that he had spent with Sonakshi. She showed immense trust in him when he decided to follow his passion. She was always there for him whenever he needed her, and at times, he didn't even realise that how much he needed her. But her presence made him feel safe, secure. The day that he spent without her was filled with chaos. He immediately got to know what he wanted.