SS : Raison d'etre (Chapter 13 - P. 53) 25/03 - Page 28

A passing melody entered her hazy brain, when she was somewhere between a dreamland and waking up.

The melody sounded clearer now, and with that the blurred images in her dream became clearer.

"Abhi na Jao chodkar..." the rich voice of his as he rested his chin on top of his hands that rested on the roof of the car, as his eyes held hers in a hypnotic trance came alive.

His form relaxed, his stature somehow bringing the light brown in his eyes, casted an immense light of innocence in his rugged features, that tugged at her heart.

The tough man that and the hard business tycoon her boss was has vanished that moment and there surfaced a man she identified herself with, she was attracted to. The truth she tried to suppress, that burdened her heart no more seemed a burden, as she felt herself revel in the lightness this acceptance bought her.

This time she had not walked away from him, like before. Instead, she stood on the other side of the car, her hand rested at the handle of the car, her gaze not leaving his face, wanting to read everything from the eyes of his.

She did not break the gaze even when she saw him move towards her, the melody that wafted in the air still magical and hypnotic. She saw him stop before her, with his arms crossed and leaning against the car, just a foot away.

Neither moved, cast in the spell of the night.

As they both soaked in the silence that surrounded them as the melody ended, she still distinctly heard the sound of the tune wafting in the winds.

"Meghna"

That was all he had said, and why had it choked her throat, she knew not.

In the guise that protected them, it seemed easy to converse. It was so easy to hide behind a veil, and let the simmering attraction take its course, but she wanted to step off her bounds now. What triggered it, she knew not, might be the sincerity with which his eyes beckoned her, or the chasm that spread before them" both physical and metamorphic; she knew not what it was, but she felt herself take his name. Not the name they had used as a faade; not the name she had given him to hold herself with the thread of reality. It was not Amar; it was his given name instead.

"Arnav"

She saw something in his eyes change, and felt the distance between them decrease, and for a moment she thought he was going to say something. She wanted to hear her name from his lips then, a name which won't be attached with anything, her societal status, or the bonds that would tie her in a far different world from his. In the stolen moments, she just waited for him to reduce that imaginary line that separated them...

She got up with a start, her chest heaving, as her forehead was marred with perspiration.

She closed her eyes and threw her head against the headboard of the room she was staying in. The guest house adjacent to the main mansion, separating them both by beautiful gardens stretched between them greeted her sight as she let her eyes open and roam over the view of the mansion that was visible from the large windows of her room.

The day was yet to begin, she realized as the first traces of sun rays greeted her.

She let herself accustomed to reality, instead of the dreamlike trance she was in, and that was when she realized that she still heard traces of the melody that would never leave her waking conscious.

Slipping off the covers, she followed the melody, until it sounded clearer, more prominent, as much as the escalated heartbeat of hers.

She stopped at the threshold of the living room as her fingers curled against the door, as she watched the old radio that played the song.

She rested her forehead against the cold wooden of the door and felt the tension in her brows reduce, as the sheen of water behind her closed lids waited for an escape.

She touched the old radio gingerly and tuned it off, hoping to tune out the memories of the blurred reality and dreams she have had.

The room turned deathly still, just as she had felt the moment the soothing music stop. She bit her lip as she turned away, ineffectively trying to hold back a wayward tear which slipped off her eye.

A sudden gasp escaped her lips as her form collapsed with something hard and she had backed against the wall, her eyes raised to meet a pair of brown eyes.

Arnav.

Her lips almost let out the whisper of his name, and saw his eyes soften at her face.

The loud thumping of her heart sounded against her ears as she felt time slip, as she stood there, lost to a strange feeling, that couldn't make her break the gaze.

She felt his hand brush her waist, and felt her gaze drop, not able to look she was at the look in his eyes.

Her fingers curled against the door knob, and she felt him coming close, with just a hairbreadth away.

The sudden starting of the song had startled her, making her hand clutch her shirt as a reflex action, and look up at him.

His hand that had tuned the radio back to life, withdrew from it, but hovered around her waist, settling there in a slow, agonizing process.

Awareness spread around them, with him being aware of every missed heartbeat of hers, and her being aware of the crumpling of his shirt in her fist.

She opened her fist to release him and met his gaze, but didn't feel the withdrawing of his arms around her as she had anticipated. They curled firm around her waist, and pulled her close in a sudden unanticipated movement.

She lost her balance momentarily landing her hand on his nape. It was then had she heard. Something that she had wanted to hear in the dream, something she couldn't.

"Khushi" his voice mumbled.

*