Bonds of Trust

An apology

Ta da guys!!

A new chapter!

"No papa, you are still a cheater. I caught that last fish.", Ovi whined, as Saheer and her were entering their apartment. It was a fun bonding day for the father-daughter duo. As a kid, Saheer simply loved fishing and the fact that Ovi had taken after him and shared his love for fishing elated him to no ends. Whenever he would be stressed, he would take Ovi and they would go fishing. Ovi was very competitive, she always wanted to catch more fishes and win.

"Oh, is it Ovi? And, who helped you to drag all of your fishes?", Saheer was equally competitive. Here, these two seemed more like squabbling siblings than a parent and a daughter.

Hearing the commotion outside, Veera set aside her laptop locking the screen and went out of her room. She saw the two of them whining to each other.

"Of course papa. You have to help me. I am a kid, remember.", Ovi retorted.

"So, now you remember you are a kid, ha? Trying to defeat me!", Saheer scowled at her.

"Papaaaaa", Ovi pouted.

"Now I am tired. Can I take a nap?", she asked.

Saheer's eyes softened.

"Of course, sweet princess. Should I make something for you to eat or directly tuck you in?", he questioned in a gentle tone, immediately assuming his parental role.

Ovi yawned cutely and said, "No, please tuck me in papa."

Saheer picked her up and saw Veera standing at the threshold of the living room. She seemed lost somewhere. What he did not know was that his banter with Ovi had elicited a pang deep inside Veera's heart, for a parent's love she never received.

"Uhm, hey Veera", Saheer called out nervously. He still had to apologize.

His call broke Veera's trail of thoughts. She looked towards him with a questioning look.

"Hi Saheer."

"Can you please wait for me at the dining table? I wanted to speak with you.", he requested her.

Veera nodded at that and moved towards the dining space while Saheer went in Ovi's room.

'What does he want to say now? I followed what he said. Just stayed in my room the whole time. Did not even use his living room. What did I do now?", Veera was quite nervous. She thought that perhaps Saheer would once again find a reason to be rude to her or to warn her of something. She was picking her nails, a very bad habit of hers.

Saheer entered the dining space and saw what she was doing. He cringed at that and was about to reprimand Veera about that, since that's what he did with Ovi to correct her way out of this habit. But then he reminded himself that perhaps he's the reason she's this nervous and that he should apologize first.

"Veera", he called out.

His sudden presence startled Veera and she glanced at him. He took a seat opposite to her, a paper bag in his hand.

"Did you have lunch?", it was three in the afternoon and he wasn't sure if she had anything.

Veera shook her head at that. She didn't really have much of an appetite and was actually caught up in work.

"Oh, here, take this.", he forwarded the paper bag.

"We stopped at McDonalds while returning. Ovi loves their chicken nuggets. Here, I have brought a meal for you too. You eat non-veg right?", he asked her.