Kabhi Bhool Naa Jaana
It was frigid; the air was crisp and cold. Dev had never truly adjusted to winter; he hated snow. He remembered the days long ago when Rhea and Arjun would wait and wait for the first snowfall, but now as it crunched softly beneath his feet…
He cursed himself for thinking of Rhea and Arjun. That was another world. Another lifetime.
It had been years since he had spoken to her.
Rhea sighed as she hurriedly packed.
"I'm sorry it's such short notice, Arjun, but I'll only be gone for a week."
"You promised to take me to the movies, mom!" Arjun complained.
"You can go with Jay, he'll take you."
"Mommy!"
Rhea kissed Arjun on his forehead. "Alright, we'll go when I come back. I really do promise."
Arjun smiled. "Love you, mom."
"Love you too, honey."
Dev made his way to his seat. Another dinner alone in another soulless city restaurant. He had shaken off all the offers from two-faced friends and so-called well-wishing colleagues as politely as possible in lieu of some peace and quiet. He preferred loneliness to the company of people who irritated instead of entertained.
"Table for one." He heard a voice request behind him. He smiled slightly. He wasn't the only one who understood the sanity of solitude.
But when he turned to find the voice belonged to none other than Rhea, his ex-wife, he wasn't sure if the emotion he felt was still commiseration.
Rhea was a confident, ambitious, successful woman. She had the world in the palm of her hand. So why was it that this one man could always cause her to stumble and fall?
"Rhea. May I join you?" Dev made no introduction, he made no small talk. Was there really any need? At one time they had shared the same roof, they had shared the same bed, could they not now share a table, a simple meal?
"Dev." She had hoped her voice would have been more sharp, more cold, more unforgiving, but these were emotions she could never conjure when he was present. "Where have you been all of these years?"
He lowered his eyes, reliving the past. "I've been busy. Work can do that to a person, you of all people should know that."
"I haven't heard from you since you left for Toronto. We haven't heard a word, Dev."
Finally, he looked her in the eye. "How is my son?"
She gritted her teeth. "What kind of son is he to you? You aren't his father anymore. Jay is his father now, in every sense of the word." Rhea was surprised at herself, but Dev chose to ignore the bite of her words
"Jay." Dev grumbled. "He makes you happy, Rhea?"
"How is Maya?" She countered. Dev looked away again at the mention of the name. The link to their turbulent past.
"She's fine." His answer was short, clipped. Rhea wouldn't be getting any more from him. She turned away in disgust.
"Look, Rhea, I didn't walk over here to fight with you. If we wanted to do that, we would have stayed married." Rhea shot him an irritated look. "I came here because time has gotten the better of both of us, and whether you believe it or not, I care about you."
Rhea studied him in shock. This was not the Dev she used to know, the man who felt joy and pain were better left unsaid.
"I've had a lot of time to think, Rhea. Maybe us finding each other here was a blessing. You are still my family, and I don't want to lose that."
She looked at him, speechless, her mind blank. But her mouth began to move, began to form words.
"Maya has done you some good."
Dev swallowed hard. "Rhea, Maya is in the hospital."
To be continued...
What did you think? Good? Bad? Hopefully good. :) I'm really weird and have two endings for this story, so for the first time ever, I'm going to post a story with two alternate endings, yay! Hopefully that's not too odd. They will be up...soon. So please, tell me what you thought. All reviews, concrit and the like are highly appreciated. Thanks again!