She had seen her father in anger a thousand times but the rage and fury in his voice was unrecognizable to her.

Piyush however didn't look affected by the outburst but rather seemed pleased with himself now that her father was present. This couldn't be a better opportunity to demean her.

After seeing her in the hospital and learning the truth, he could hardly believe it. How could Sakshi have been pregnant?

When he saw the name of the spouse in the register, he wasted no time in finding out more.

And then the blow hit hard when he learnt that Aman Shrivastav was none other than her dead fiancee Amit's twin brother who was a good for nothing painter.

She had gone ahead and started an affair with that loser even when he had clearly given her a hint that he was still interested in her. Why couldn't she see him even now?

His pride was crushed and he was a man ready to avenge her rejection. This was the perfect occasion.

Seeing her father only kindled his hopes and he politely greeted the old man  "I'm glad you're here uncle...I'm sure you're oblivious to what's been going on?"

"You were pretty much louder Piyush" Ranjit said in an authoritative voice "I'm sure even the patients in their ward must have heard. Do you need a loudspeaker to announce it to the whole world?"

There was a snort from Yuvika which Piyush ignored and turned to the older man "I didn't mean to be loud.. but it is the truth. You have no idea what your daughter did behind your back..she shamed you".

Ranjit took a step further until he faced Piyush and stared at him with fire in his eyes "she's my daughter! My pride and always will be. Not even your third class accusations can change that fact!"he spat angrily "I know what happened and I'm aware that she was a victim of a cruel situation. She would never do anything that would jeopardize our relationship. So stop cussing her and leave her alone!"

Piyush felt like he was slapped on the face but Ranjit wasn't done and looked at the other few staffs who were watching them "this is a hospital and you are all professionals. Instead of doing your job and handling such cheap gossip in a mature way, you all acted like some market vendors. Even they would have more dignity than you".

They could only hang their head down at the stinging insult. Sakshi was tongue tied and could only gape at her father who had defended her by shutting everyone down. Was this a dream? The man who had hit her, called her names and even shunned her was now protecting her honour.

"Sakshi? Let's go" Ranjit called her softly "you resign from this disgusting workplace at this instant..I'll be waiting for you outside".

◇◇◇◇◇

No words were spoken as he drove the car. Sakshi didn't have the heart to refuse when he called her home.

Even though she was glad he had raised his voice against the maniac, she was not ready to trust him yet. The words he had spoken to her out of anger was still ringing in her ears.

They reached the apartment parking lot and he stopped the car. He turned to her and she realized his expression was soft "you go upstairs...I'll be right back".

She simply nodded and took the elevator to reach her house.

The door was locked and she rang the bell after quickly texting Aman. I'm at home. Please tell Shirin. Will let you in  the details later. I'm fine. The message was undelivered and she realized he must have switched off during work.

Soumya opened the door and gaped at her in shock "Sakshi?"she gasped and before Sakshi could speak, hugged her tight "oh thank God! Are you okay beta?"

Sakshi smiled despite herself and held her mother "I'm fine mama...relax. You're suffocating me".

Soumya led her in happily "you won't believe how scared I was...there wasn't a single day I didn't pray for you" she suddenly raised her eyes in horror "your father....he said he's coming now. But you don't worry..this time you're not going anywhere. I'll make sure".

Sakshi patted her hand "I came with papa". Her mother's eyes widened even more "what? I can hardly believe it!" Even when she said it, she remembered the conversation with her husband. Had that melted his stony heart?

"Yeah...even I couldn't believe it" Sakshi admitted sheepishly "it was as if he was an entirely different person. I was astounded at the way he kept defending me at the hospital".

She narrated the incident at the hospital while her mother listened in amazement "what a disgusting man!"she cursed "but I'm happy your father showed him his place".

Sakshi didn't smile but her thought drifted farther "will it stop mama?" she winced "now that I think about it, I realized how hurt papa must be...I never put myself in his shoes. What if everyone laughs at him and mock him when they get to know? He was such a conservative man and the society will call him a hypocrite!"

Soumya stroked her head "don't worry about us...as long as you find your happiness, we won't care about the society or the world. We want you to be safe".

Happiness and safety were far from imagination, thought Sakshi; her life wasn't the same. Only moving on mattered. Nothing else.

The door clicked open and her father peeped in with a large paper bag in his hand which looked like grocery.  He looked at his wife "let her rest, she must be tired. Prepare her soup or something.." before they could reply, he walked out.

Soumya cast an understanding smile at her daughter and slowly walked out leaving the door closed.

◇◇◇◇◇

The sea looked calm and silent. The boy standing near the seashore waited with baited breath for the water to touch his feet but alas! The sea stayed put.

The boy struggled not to cry as he waited one last time for the water to flow his body...to sway him away. He cried out to the sea and threw his arms into the air. He planted his feet firm on the sandy ground and stood still.

As if by premonition, the first gigantic wave hit his soft body, engulfing him on all sides and he screamed in ecstasy as the water filled from all sides. He finally became free....

Aman opened his eyes and smiled as he brushed the last stroke. The brush glided into the smooth and soft canvas like a flowing stream.

He let his entire imagination into the canvas which he treated like a newborn.

After the last stroke of brush touched the canvas, he looked at his new creation.

"Aman?" He turned to see his assistant and receptionist  Kriti calling him "there's someone waiting to see you".

"Who?" Aman asked in slight surprise as he wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. It was closing time but he stayed at the gallery whereas Debu had already left.

"I don't know...I told her you're busy and not to be disturbed" Kriti gave a guilty look "she looked important".

He kept the brush down and nodded "I'll be back after cleaning up". She glanced at the painting and beamed "it's breathtaking!"she said in awe "welcome back". He shrugged "yeah..it was about time".

"Debu will be glad" she replied "what are you going to name it?"

Kriti had been working for him ever since he had set up the art gallery and was close to him.

"Waves" he said with pride as he disappeared into the rest room "suits well".

When he came to the gallery, he saw  Deepa wandering around and checking out his paintings.

Although elated at the sight of her, he didn't show it "hey! What's going on?"he asked, feigning innocence.

She turned her attention to him and gave a shy smile "I was in the surrounding...thought of seeing you".

He frowned "come on! You've got to do better than that". She gave a hearty laugh "okay...I wanted to see you" she shrugged "does that satisfy your ego?" He smirked "very much".

She was dressed in a total ethnic attire as opposed to her western outfit. She wore a large ear ring and he wondered if it would tear her ears apart. Girls were weird sometimes.

"You look like a bride" he teased, unable to come up with in the similar lines. She toyed with the veil "I came to attend a wedding of one of my clients...I used to be her stylist and now she's settled here".

"I'm sure no one saw her" he said and she giggled "thanks for the compliment Aman..if that is".

"Oh it is" he assured her as they sat on one of the benches. "So how are everyone at home? Things back to normal?"she asked, her tone serious.

"Er..yeah..you could say that" he forced a smile. Ever since the call from his sister, he hadn't bothered to contact his family. They were better off without him and he from them.

"How long are you planning to stay here?"he asked when a brief silence fell between them. She placed a hand over his "couple of days...I have a few formalities regarding this new salon and then I'll be taking a short break".

"I'm happy for you" he smiled at her I'm affection "you're going to go a long way".

"I've not stopped thinking about you" she admitted slowly and he met her intense gaze "me neither. Although I tried to, a lot of times"he said.

She gave a deep sigh "my parents are adamant about me getting married. They even hooked me to this matchmaker" she chuckled "that's why I avoided coming back to Mumbai...there's a whole lot of pressure".

He nodded in understanding "even mine when my brother was engaged" he remembered with a smile "I can relate to the drama".

"I haven't forgotten what you said that night at the party" she looked around before continuing "do we have a shot Aman?"

He clasped her hand "Deepa? I'm not exactly cut out for marriage....you're going to be disappointed in me one point in life...I'm not an easy man..I have a lot of baggage which I can't explain...I can't share all of that burden with someone and expect them to understand...I don't want to make your life miserable by tying you to my complicated life".

Deepa stared at him and softly touched his cheek "then let me in" she said "I know it's silly and stupid that we're hanging on to something that happened when we were teenagers but we're consenting adults now. Make me understand Aman".

He looked at her with emotion, feeling the urge to kiss her then and there but controlled it with all his heart. Instead, he clasped her hand "give me some time" he said.

"Fine..give me your phone..I'll feed my new number just in case you change your mind" she said and he took it from his pocket.

She saved her number and got up "I've to go to my parents' for dinner" she kissed his cheek lightly and walked away.

Aman watched her go but frowned at the sight of his friend who had witnessed the romantic exchange.

"Who was that?" Debu quipped in excitement "she's hot...and I've never seen her before!"

"She's an old friend" Aman explained in futile because Debu had a mischievous smile "old friends don't lean on each other's shoulders and kiss. Come on! Give me more!"

Aman rolled his eyes "sorry pal..you're not getting any". Debu winced "I really don't understand how you manage to have girls pining for you" he shrugged "you're not that even good looking".

Aman checked his phone for messages leaving Debu to grumble "must be the hair..that awful hair".

Aman laughed but soon his smile faded "shit!"he swore when he saw the text message from Sakshi.

This girl is hell bent on pissing me off! He mused.

◇◇◇◇◇

Sakshi lay in bed when the phone rang. Seeing Aman's name on screen didn't add to her spirit as she prepared for the outburst and received the call.

"What the hell?"he snapped "when did you go home?"

She had expected the reaction "this afternoon" she replied calmly "I texted you earlier...you were probably busy".

"Yeah...I was" he explained "why did you go home? Did something happen with Shirin?"

"Of course not!"she said hastily, afraid he might think the otherwise "she has been nothing but nice to me..and I'll never forget her".

"Then what happened? Did your father force you? Threaten you?"he demanded.

Sakshi wondered if she should tell him what had conspired at her workplace but couldn't bring herself to do it. He might get furious and she didn't want to complicate things.

"When I went back to the hospital, papa was already there" she decided to lie "he asked me to come home".

"Just like that?"he was surprised at the old man's attitude..few days back he was screaming as if apocalypse had occurred and now he accepted his daughter "did he create a ruckus again?"

She chuckled at his question "no. He didn't say a word but he brought fruits and stuff for me".

"Did he apologize for hitting you? Did he hit you again?"he asked and she wondered if this was the same person who had rebuked her earlier. One couldn't find a more confused soul than Aman Shrivastav.

"No he didn't" she said softly "I told you he's changed". A brief silence followed her statement "well..if he changes his mind again and decides to be a jerk...tell me".

She laughed "I'll keep it in mind but he's my father Aman. He must have had some conscience".

"So you won't be coming back?"he teased "my cheetah will miss you. He had already booked you for a meal".

"He doesn't like me anyway" she goaded "say hi to him though".

"So..um...if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask" he said in a soft tone.

She could feel the friendliness in his tone and pondered if they would be friends; it was hard to pin point their relationship but he had already indicated that he was helping her out of humanity, nothing more. Let it stay that way, she thought.

"Sure...thanks for everything you did for me" she said, meaning it "I called Shirin and she was happy for me..I could never forget the both of you".

After saying a strained goodbye, she hung up, feeling lighter. It was good to have his back, she thought but not exactly knowing why.

"Sakshi?" She raised her head to see Yuvika approaching her room and smiled at her "hi".

Yuvika returned the smile and settled on the bed next to her "I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you properly back there..with everything that happened" she shrugged "but I'm glad what your father did...to shut that jerk. I'm so happy he supported you in front of everyone".

Sakshi nodded, feeling proud of her father. Atleast for once, he had taken a stand against her.

"You won't believe what happened later" Yuvika leaned in "after you left, Piyush wasn't done...he went straight to Dr Shah's cabin and told him everything..that you've been misusing the leave of absence and he said things about you. Dr Shah was furious and came to the pharmacy to ask in detail about you".

Sakshi shuddered at that; if Dr Shah had known, he would terminate her before she could resign and would give a bad reference. She won't be able to find a good hospital to work on later with the poor remark.

"He must have prepared the termination letter" she shook her head warily. Yuvika laughed "no he didn't. Because there was no one to back his claim..what your father said back there affected them so much they complained against Piyush for defaming a colleague and dishonoring her reputation. Piyush had no one to support him".

Sakshi couldn't believe it! She beamed "I'm so glad..what did he say?" Yuvika nodded in amusement "he's given Piyush a final ultimatum and a warning. But he also asked you to meet him to discuss the future. He wants to listen to you after all".

Sakshi felt a lot of weight dissolved from her shoulders. She hugged Yuvika, overcome with emotion "thank you for the support Yuvi...I'm partly relieved at the events that occured". After chatting a while, Yuvika left.

Sakshi didn't find her father at the dinner table and turned to her mother "did papa have dinner?"

Soumya, who had prepared all of her daughter's favorite dishes nodded "he said he'll have it in his room.."

"It's because of me isn't it?" Sakshi said with a frown. Soumya smiled "no...he wasn't well..said he's got slight fever. He ate very early".

After they finished the dinner in silence, Sakshi helped her mother clean up the dishes and gave a start when her father called her name from behind.

"I've to talk to you" he said addressing her "come to my room".

Sakshi glanced briefly at her mother who looked clueless and left the kitchen wordlessly...

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