A/N
A little break from all the sweetheart love stories currently making their rounds. Just a different kind of story.
This one's gonna be a series of OSs, with each chapter, an OS based on different characters.
Some points to be kept in mind for the story-
Daya is a single parent here. He adopted Saara when she was little.
Abhijeet and Tarika are married and have a son who is a bit older than Saara.
The credits of the characters of Saara and Adi go to PR.
MY GIRL
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
A bone-chilling scream rang through the almost-perfectly silent house.
Senior inspector Daya was up within a flash. In one swift moment, he'd grabbed his gun and was running across the hall to the room opposite to his own bedroom. He pushed open the un-locked door with the ease of walking though air.
"Saara! Is everything alright?" he called out, the apprehension in his voice crystal clear. He got no response. Bewildered, he went straight away to the wide-open bathroom door.
"Saara, what happened?" he stood in the doorway of the bathroom, resting his hands on the either side of his stomach to catch his breath.
The girl, standing till then with her back to him, slowly turned around. Her black-brown hair, which came up to her shoulders, was left open and positively looked like it had been host to a tornado. The otherwise big and determined eyes were now small and quivering; threatening to let loose the tears they were holding back. The corners of her mouth, which were capable of holding the most radiant smile, were now turned all the way down to the trembling chin. With a shaky finger, the thirteen-year-old pointed to her cheek.
And that's when he saw it, the cause of the girl's worry.
"Dad, I've got a pimple!"
Daya heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness! I thought something terrible had happen-"
"Thank Goodness?!" the girl fumed.
"No, I mean I thought something had happened to you Saara"
"Dad I've got a pimple! An actual acne!" Now the floodgates opened and the tears finally rushed out. "How am I gonna go to school tomorrow?" the girl whined.
Daya looked at his daughter's face. The pretty visage was in a mess. Not because of the pimple; that little red devil was hardly visible. But the tears and the corners of the eyes and mouth turned in the opposite direction gave it a sense of wrongness.
"Honey, listen to me. It's alright. Everyone gets pimples in this age"
"None of my friends have pimple yet! I donwannagotoskultommoroooo! (I don't want to go to school tomorrow)" the girl screeched.
"Saara, a pimple is not an excuse to bunk scool okay? Besides, it is not even visible! I am sure no one at the school will even notice it! And my princess is still the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world"
"Dad, parents get paid to talk such sugar-coated stuff! I look horrible!"
"Saara…" Daya looked at his daughter and could not hold back a smile.
"What?" the little girl pouted as she went and plopped down on her bed; her arms crossed over her chest.
"Hmm, I did not know my little warrior girl would be scared by a mere pimple. She once told me she wanted to join the CID when she grew up. I doubt they take scaredy cats into CID…"
"Who says I am scared of pimples? Huh! I am not! Look, no big deal!" she said wiping away her tears.
"That's my girl" Daya smiled.
…
"Tasha, are you going to the coffee shop right now?" Daya called out to Tasha who was just going out for her lunch break.
"Yes sir, should I get you a coffee too?" Tasha asked.
"No, thank you, I don't want a coffee; I actually wanted to ask you a personal favour"
"Sure sir" Tasha replied.
"Uhh…can you please get some anti-pimple cream or something?" Daya looked helplessly at Tasha.
"Let me guess, Saara got pimples?" Tasha asked with a grin.
"Oh yes…"
"Don't worry sir, I'll get it for you" Tasha smiled.
"Thank you Tasha" saying so Daya went over to Abhijeet and Tarika.
"So how was the first pimple outbreak?" Tarika asked.
"Don't ask. It was an event" Daya replied.
"I remember when Adi had got his first pimple. He kept scratching it the whole time and spent hours in front of the mirror" Abhijeet said.
"Teenage hormones; our kids are growing up" Tarika remarked shaking her head.
...
"Bye sweetheart. Have a good day and good luck for your project" Daya called from the driver's seat.
"Thanks dad! Bye!" Saara replied as she got down from the passenger seat and closed the door.
Just as Daya was about to take off, he saw Saara's best friend going to her and as she linked her arms with Saara, she pointed out to a group of boys and girls standing at the edge of the school playground. The kids in the group were all standing together laughing at something. They took no notice of Saara and her friend or anyone else for that matter and were quite engrossed in themselves.
Daya looked back at Saara again and saw that she just rolled her eyes at her friend. Daya could not figure out what her friend had said to her but this time, he could see Saara shrug with a smile as her friend nudged her playfully.
Back at the bureau, Daya's mind kept going back to the events of the morning. Saara was fifteen now. He tried to recall the time Saara might have been day dreaming or mentioned anything about any boy, but he could not recollect any such moments.
She did give more than a moment's thought about what she wore now a days but Daya had never seen Saara spend more than the required time in front of the mirror. Well she's grown up and she does care what how she looks when she's with her friends but that's normal for her age, isn't it? Or is it really?
Hmm. Time for some teenage talk.
…
"Hey beta, what are you doing?" Daya tried to sound casual.
"Nothing dad, just packing the school bag" Saara smiled at him.
"Oh, okay. So…how is everything at school?" he said as he sat down on her bed.
"Good; chemisty sucks, though. And on top of that Mr. Alan Rickman (sorry for the rude interruption but I just had to fangirl here for a moment. Potterheads, imagine Snape! Potions-Chemistry, got it? 'Turn to page three hundred and ninety four'! Ha!) is the probably the most sarcastic teacher to walk this planet! D'you dad, today in class Mr. R caught Jay again? He and Jay have a long standing tiff.
And today Mr. R asked Jay a question and he replied 'yes' to which Mr. R said, 'yes sir' Jay thought he was being sarcastic again and so he said, 'no need to call me 'sir', professor' Oh God the entire class cackled like maniacs. Poor Jay though; earned himself a detention"
"Oh…"
"Yeah, but that was a clever answer. And you need guts to stand up to Mr. R"
"Hmm…so any other boys have got 'guts' to stand up to teachers?"
"Nah. No one" Saara said with a shrug. She was not looking at Daya, she was busy rummaging the drawers for her books.
"So I saw this group of kids standing at the edge of the school playground today…you did not go stand with them" Daya tried to slowly approach the subject.
He was searching for his interrogation skills of which he was in a real need; interrogating people at the bureau seemed so very easy at the moment. You first raise your voice and if necessary, you slap. Straight to the point; no formalities. And whatever information you required was pouring out before you knew it. Here, you had to take a looong, winding walk to get to your destination.
Saara turned around at this statement, surprised that Daya had noticed them and tried to guess where the talk was headed. Her dad never asked her something like this, so she took a moment before she said, "They are the popular group of the school. Show-offs, they are. I am telling you, they've got attitude filled to the brim in them"
Daya nodded and said, "Hmm…"
"Oh yeah and Dad, today in school our class teacher was asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up and two of them, Samar and Sasha, said they wanted to become CID cops. Well Sasha wants to become forensic doctor; Samar wants to become a cop" Saara smiled proudly at her father.
"Good. Is there anything more you want to tell me?" Daya asked. He was feeling quite uncomfortable, now that the point was fast-approaching.
"No. That's all" Saara said retying ponytail.
"Is there anybody I should know about? Any…boy?" Daya looked closely at his daughter's face.
A little shade of pink touched her cheeks as she said, "No. Of course not"
Daya really needed a guidebook to read his daughter's facial expressions. She was trying very hard to show that it was not a big deal and he could tell that she was biting her cheeks from within her mouth to not let out an embarrassing smile.
Daya too got up from Saara's bed and said, "Well, okay, if you say so" he cleared his throat and said in an even tone even though he was feeling just as embarrassed as Saara.
"Okay. Good night" Saara said, again opening her already-packed bag and taking out books and keeping them in again, so that she her back was to Daya.
…
"I don't know if any boy has her attention or not. And I…I don't know…" Daya said sipping his coffee as he sat down to discuss the conversation of the previous night with Abhijeet and Tarika.
"Don't worry, she was just embarrassed that you brought up the subject of boys and that was why she blushed. It does not necessarily mean she is interested in any boy" Abhijeet tried to reason with him.
"Well, I hope that's the case" Daya was still unconvinced.
"And besides, even if she does like a boy, it's not a big deal; these teenage crushed are short lived. She'll grow out of them herself, you see. It's a pretty overwhelming stage. You become self-conscious, girls start noticing boys, boys start noticing girls, and peer pressure has a strong hold on you. Daya no doubt, you are protective of her but, trust me, it is the age" Tarika assured him.
Daya really liked Abhijeet's case much more than Tarika's.
...
"Hey, how was your day?" Daya asked Saara as she came home from school and plopped on the couch, exhausted.
"Don't ask. It was terrible; we had a surprise test in History! I am pretty sure I am gonna screw it up"
"Well I told you, you had to be prepared right from the beginning about your studies. Studying just for the terms is not sufficient"
"Dad please, this is not what I want to hear right now?"
"You say that every time after I try to talk about studies!"
"Dad, I am really tired" Saara whined.
"Okay fine, you want anything?"
"No…I just…" Saara got up and put her arms around Daya's shoulder who was seated on a chair, "I just am so tired dad! We've got so much of studies!"
"I know sweet-pie" he said caressing Saara's hair.
Ting-tong
"Who is it now?" Daya said as Saara opened the door.
"HelllO! Saaraaaa! How are you beta? Doing all fine?" a middle-aged lady burst in through the door.
"Hello Mrs. Kapoor" Daya greeted her with a forced smile on his face.
The father daughter pair was not quite happy about the arrival of their neighbor.
"Hello Inspector Daya! Achcha Saaraaa beta listen, our ladies club has arranged a special party for the youth group and you are invited okay? And no bahanas this time, you have to come!" the lady pouted like a little girl, which made the father-daughter throw disgusting glances at each other. Old ladies behaving like little girl was certainly an ugly sight.
"Well I'd love to attend Mrs. Kapoor. If dad permits me that is" she looked at Daya.
Mrs. Kapoor turned to Daya, "Umm…" Daya started He looked at Saara again, surprised that she had accepted the invitation and realized that Saara was mouthing something.
"I would have loved to send her Mrs. Kapoor but umm…she's…she's got a fizzy…fizzy?...physics! yeah, she's got a physics test just around the corner; sorry"
A dejected Mrs. Kapoor went back and Saara let out a huge sigh as she closed the door and leaned her back and head against it.
Daya pointed a finger toward himself and mouthed to Saara 'the best dad in the world'
"That, you are dad! Thanks for the save!"
...
"Dad, when a boy likes you, does he pretend to ignore you and if he does how can you tell that he likes you?"
"What boy likes you?"
Saara sighed. She could not say that this reaction was totally unexpected.
"It's just a question dad; it is about no one in particular"
Daya looked at his daughter. They were the only ones in the bureau. Saara had come to visit everyone and as everyone had gone for lunch, she'd stayed back with Daya. He was surprised at both things, the topic, and the fact that Saara had brought it up herself. It caused a small panic attack as Daya jumped to the conclusion that such a sudden question by Saara might be because she was facing such a situation herself.
Saara was sixteen now and even though he was expecting this question from her, Daya panicked when she actually wandered somewhere close to it.
He was scared. Of what he did not know, but one thing he was sure about, he was not yet ready to let go of Saara, who, he felt was slipping away, growing up. To him she was only still a kid and too young for these sort of feelings.
"Uh-oh here comes puberty" Abhijeet said from the doorway of the bureau.
"Hey Saara, boy troubles started?" Tarika said coming in the bureau with Abhijeet, interrupting his thoughts.
"Tarika auntie!" Saara exclaimed.
"Don't get embarrassed sweetie, it's perfectly normal for people your age to talk about such stuff" Tarika told her with a smile.
"Uhh…okay" Saara just looked at the floor, stammering.
"Saara see, this is not love as you might think it to be. Boys don't want to look like fools or seem over eager so they might pretend to ignore you. But that does not mean they necessarily mean they like you or don't like you" Daya said. He knew he was being over protective here and was trying to rid Saara of the thoughts that any boy who at the moment had a crush on her was right for her.
"So you're saying…what are you saying?" Saara asked.
"He's just trying to say that the boys you think have crushed on you may or may not have a crush on you but it's usually pointless to fuss about such thing in your teenage years because these crushes fizzle out after some time" Abhijeet told his interpretation of Daya's speech.
"Huh?" was Saara's reply.
"See, the thing is, Saara, right now 98 percent of the kids your age who claim to be in love, are in reality just in love with the idea of love. They want to feel the thrill these teenage crushes offer and the attention from a particular person. Attraction to someone in these years is natural. And kids are confused at such a stage, they are too embarrassed to talk about it to their parents, so they turn to their friends who themselves have half knowledge. So if you feel confused, talk to someone elder about it okay?" it was finally Tarika who gave the most acceptable speech.
"Okay" Saara finally said.
"And why this question all of a sudden? Is there any boy who likes you?" Daya came back to his questions now.
He composed a mental note to himself to see all the boys next time he dropped Saara at school.
"Ugghhs dad! It's about no one in particular, I told you! It is just a question. See this is why we kids don't like to talk about such stuff to you guys. You just jump to the conclusions!"
"Are you sure?"
"Dad! I absolutely do not like any guy and I don't think any boy likes me in that way either! God, this is so embarrassing!" Saara exclaimed horrified.
"Okay, okay! I'll take your word for it"
...
"I thought you were reading the other book" Daya said as he found Saara sitting in her reading chair-a large yellow armchair. Her lanky limbs all folded as she put down the book and hugged her knees to her chest and said, "TFIOS?"
"What?"
"You talking about 'The Fault in Our Stars-tfios?" she asked.
"Yeah, the blue book"
"I finished it yesterday. I was reading Harry Potter"
"Again?" Daya asked wearily.
"Dad, no matter what book I read, Harry Potter is my first and one true love. Anyway listen, I wanted to tell you that the Father-Daughter Dance at school has been rescheduled to Saturday. Is that okay with you?"
"I would not miss that dance for anything in the world" Daya smiled at his daughter.
"Thanks dad. And good night, I am too sleepy today"
"Good night dear" Daya said as Saara gave him a good night kiss.
Daya watched her as the tall figure went to her bedroom.
Saara was eighteen now. Her hair which was once totally out of control formed neat waves now.
He picked up both the books Saara had kept on the table. Haary Potter and TFIOS. He read the blurb of the blue book and was amused how the books itself showed that his little girl was growing up. From the fantasies of Harry Potter, she'd grown up to love stories like tfios.
The subject of boys had quite loosened its uncomfortableness and was brought up with much ease than previously. The pimple outbreaks had lost all their hype and were ignored completely.
Saara and Daya had grown inseparably close to each other. They were two peas in a pod. Both knew the other person in and out and could read the other's mind as if reading from a book.
Daya sighed as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His mind reflected his life with Saara. Frankly, he could not remember a time before this little ray of sunshine had illuminated his life.
Her teen years were unforgettable. Those magical years when they'd both learned and both had grown up. Saara for the first time, Daya again with Saara this time. Fun years they seemed now. So long, yet gone by in a blur.
He fingered a framed photo of them together, taken the day after the first pimple outburst. Both of them were pointing at the pimple with funny faces to show that the little red point had lost its devilish aura.
...
"You are looking gorgeous Saara" Daya beamed at his daughter.
"Thanks dad and you are looking quite handsome yourself"
"Well I had to look perfect today. Shall we?" Daya asked putting his hand forward
It was the Father-Daughter Dance. As the pair glided along the halls of the auditorium, Daya studied his daughters face. The chubby cheeks had gone and now revealed hints of high cheekbones.
…
"What is this song and why is the girl whining in the song?" Daya asked.
"Oh my God the singer is not a girl; it's a boy-Justin Bieber! The song is an old hit 'Baby' it was requested by someone so they are playing it"
"Such rubbish music you youngsters like to listen"
"Okay Justin Beiber might be garbage but others are good. You liked the song by five seconds of summer the other day"
"What a name, 5 sos. It sounds like 5 emergency calls"
"Dad get the CID cop in you to shut up for a while. It's an awesome name"
"Can't do that sweet pie"
"I know. Dad! I just realized my birthday is only a month away and then I'll be nineteen! My last year as a teen!"
"Don't worry we'll enjoy your last teen year just as we enjoyed all your teen years"
"Oh yeah, I am glad the boy drama is so much less uncomfortable now"
...
"So, out with Adi again?" Daya asked as Saara got ready to go out.
"Yeah, we're going to the concert" she chirped happily.
"Okay. Umm… Saara you guys…" but he changed his thoughts at the last moment, "By what time will you be back?"
"Oh, in a couple of hours"
"So you guys stay in your limits right? You don't do anything as such do you?"
Saara turned around, positively horrified.
"OH MY GOD DAD! This is ultimately embarrassing!"
"I just want to make sure that you guys are taking care of yourself!" Daya said raising his hands to show surrender.
"Okay, dad" Saara said looking all around hurriedly, "Um…we've not even kissed yet"
"Okay-okay-okay. I am assured!"
"Geez dad, you started it! Bye" saying so the twenty one year old closed the door behind her.
"Hmm. Not even kissed yet" Daya cocked his eyebrow up for a moment and shrugged.
The topic followed a lengthy, uncomfortable discussion the following day.
Teenager or not, somethings would never change.