章 68: Chapter 67

Charan came to his mum's late that Friday. This weekend they were planning to have a small outing with everyone since Preethi also said she was having the weekend off. He stood in front of the door and rang the bell.

Preethi opened the doors looking exhausted.

"Why do you look like a zombie??" Charan asked looking at her frowning.

"Well, that's what happens when you work for two days straight with little to no sleep." She said yawning. She looked like she would end up falling asleep right there standing at the door. So Charan carefully placed his arms around her shoulders and guided her in. He then came back to close the doors.

When he came back to check up on her, Preethi was actually sleeping sitting on the couch.

Charan shook her awake and asked, "Why are you sleeping here?? Go back to your room and sleep" His voice was considerably soft.

Preethi did not move. Instead, she rubbed her eyes and willed the sleep away. She then looked at Charan and patted the space next to her. Charan sat down quietly and waited for her to start talking patiently.

Preethi just sat there looking her hands deep in thoughts. She seemed hesitant.

Charan extended his hands and rubbed the back of her head and asked softly, "Hey, di. What is it??"

Preethi bit on her lips nervously and asked, "How did you know Shreya was right for you??" She might not have met her in person yet but she could clearly see the changes in Charan and Akira. When they lost Samantha, they actually coped better than one would expect. But there was also a void they did not know how to fill without Sam. They were happy most times I guess. That does not mean they had replaced Sam with Shreya. God! No. Akira still can't sleep with her mom's picture with her. But somehow that void had reduced in size.

Charan pondered hard on the question. In all honesty, he himself did not have an exact answer for that.

"I don't know actually. Call it a gut or an impulse. When she first confessed so straightforwardly without batting an eye, I did not even know what got into me. I just did not like that thought of letting her slip away. She is just very real in ways I don't even know how to explain."

"But if you want a specific thing that made me sure of her… then it's probably how she accepted Akira. She never once told me that she will raise Akira as if she was her own or tried to be her mom. If she did, I don't know. Maybe I wouldn't have believed her so readily. But she did it with her actions. If you asked her to choose between me and Akira, I know for a fact that she will end up choosing Akira over me every single time. I don't even know how I know that. Sometimes, action speaks louder than words."

A small smile spread on his face as she thought of the time when Akira and Shreya both first met, "Without any fuss, she just crept her way into Akira's heart with so much ease that it left me baffled. She understood Akira you know in ways even I never could. She lit up Akira like a Christmas tree just like that."

Preethi just listened to him with a small smile but did not really reply. She just stayed quietly beside him in deep thoughts.

Charan asked after a while, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden??"

Preethi's mind flashed the images of Adam involuntarily. A person has to blind if he cannot decipher his intentions towards her and she was not. But she had no idea how to go about it. She had Akil and years worth of scars. Will anyone be able to put up with all that?? Will anyone be willing?? But as Charan said, she did not want to let slip the opportunity to be with someone in the future because of something that happened in the past.

When Charan saw that Preethi was silent, he pondered for a while. Then he put his arms over her shoulders and he started speaking again very softly.

"I know your marriage had done a number on you. But don't hold back because of it. He is not worth it. You deserve someone beside you. You take your time and go as slowly as you want. But don't avoid it all together okay??"

Preethi, at last, spoke up, "I don't know Charan. For now, all I have is a gut feeling to go with and its scary as hell. It's not just me who will be affected. If it was, I wouldn't be so scared. But there is Akil… He had been through enough already."

"I know. Trust me, I know what you are talking about. I am not asking you to jump ships and runoff. Just take a small step forward and if it is right, everything else will fall into place by itself with time." Charan said gently.

But looking at Preethi, he knew she was not convinced.

"I know you are thinking about Akil. I know you are trying to protect him. Trust me when I say I know exactly how you feel. But kids are not that fragile. Don't make them. Akil's happiness lies in how happy you are. He is not going to be happy no matter how much you try to protect him if you are going to be miserable and alone." Charan said trying to drill some sense into his sister. Because of her ex, she lost confidence in her judgments as well as relationships. She stayed far away from them. But if she is actually asking him about something like this, then he could already decipher how much the person had invaded her thoughts.

"Not everyone is going to be like Shreya you know??" Preethi argued.

"True. But what if he is and you miss the chance of knowing him. More than that, what if you miss the chance of giving Akil someone like that in his life?? And what are you afraid of?? You have your own personal knight in shining armor in the form of Akil. At the slightest sign of unhappiness from you, Akil is going to have his throats." Charan countered.

Preethi smiled at that image. And her son was very much capable of it. But she did not have an answer so she just stayed quiet. Charan looked at her for a while before getting up and pulling her with him. He then shoved her into her room and said, " Go get some sleep now. I don't think zombies are allowed for the outing tomorrow. SO if you want to come tomorrow, you better get some sleep now."

Preethi followed his instructions absentmindedly and sleep engulfed her very quickly.

If his own family was traditional or something, he wouldn't have gone out with Shreya nor would he have advised his own sister as such. But his own family was as open-minded as they could get and so he knew nothing will happen. He was also really really grateful for his own parents for accepting Shreya.

It was not her personality he was worried about. He knew she could sweep them off their feet without them realizing. What he was scared of was her status. Her social standing was intimidating and he was scared as to how his own parents will react when all hell is going to break. But since Shreya was down to earth, things had worked out so far. He had also long decided not to dwell on it until it was absolutely necessary.

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