Hey guys! I had written this a few days ago. I didn't know that kinda the same concept would be used in today's episode. However, I still want to post this. Hope you guys like it.
Soumya paced her room worriedly. Rudra, who had come to take his shorts from the cupboard, halted in the doorway, staring at her. It looked like Soumya would drill holes into the floor by walking so much and for once it wasn't a joke on her weight but genuine concern.
"Soumya? Kya hua? Tum aise idhar se udhar kyun bhatak rahi ho?" Rudra asked.
Soumya blinked, surprised at finding him there. She had been too lost in thought.
"Kya?" She asked him confused.
Rudra was legitimately concerned now. He stepped into the room and stopped at an arm's length from his Sumo. He caught hold of her shoulders to stop her from fidgeting on spot as she seemed quite restless.
"Hua kya hain, Soumya? Abh toh hum friends hain na? Toh tum mujhse apni dil ki baat share kar sakti ho." He pacified her with his child like innocence. She mustered up a smile and opened her mouth to reply just as her cell phone rang. She threw an apologetic look at Rudra before turning to look at the caller ID. However, she went pale as soon as she read the name of the caller. Rihaan.
Rudra peeked from over her shoulder to know the reason behind her sudden rigidity and scowled as soon as he read the name. The guy didn't sit right with him ever since Soumya had introduced him as her ex boyfriend and now that he was calling her, Rudra felt irritation creep up on him.
But before he could think what to do to make sure Soumya doesn't answer the call, she did exactly that.
"Hello." Soumya uttered with as much venom as she could. Rudra used to think that the sweet girl hated only him and talked to him rudely, but he now realised that her chilly personality was reserved only for Rihaan and he wanted to strangle the guy for bringing her down.
He could hear faint murmurs from the cell phone and folded his arms on his chest, waiting for her to hang up so he could barrel her with questions.
She sighed deeply, as if trying to throw off a heavy burden from her body and then nodded subconsciously as she agreed to whatever Rihaan had said on the other line and abruptly hung up.
"Kya chahiye usse?! Yeh tumhe call kyun kar raha hai?" Rudra started firing questions and only faltered when her expression of utter defeat registered in his mind. In the however short span that he had spent with Soumya he had never seen the gutsy girl bow down to any difficulty and now seeing this change made him want to wrap her up in his arms.
He extended his arm and gently shook her shoulder to bring her out of her trance and when she looked up at him, he asked her what happened with his expressions.
"Rihaan mujhse milna chahta hai. Toh main aaj usse milne jaa rahi hu." She whispered in the tiniest voice.
Watching her getting scared of something was so unusual that even Rudra forget to joke for an instant and pulled her to him in a bone crushing hug. He couldn't understand what he was doing but in the moment all he wanted to do was comfort Soumya. He pulled back a little to look her in the eye.
"Par Soumya," Rudra started before Soumya shook his head. Her perceptive nature helped her figure out his request before he voiced it out loud.
"Nahi, Rudra. Mujhe jaana padhega. Mujhe yeh chapter hamesha hamesha ke liye close karna hai aur main nhi chahti ke voh ladhka mujhe abh aur effect kare." She looked at him with such pleading eyes that all he could do was nod, despite his qualms about Rihaan's intentions. But there was nobody who could stop him from accompanying her.
"Par ek shart par," Rudra told her.
"Kya?" Soumya asked, lost in her thoughts again, was looking at the floor.
"Main tumhare saath chalunga." Rudra declared more than requested and to Soumya's surprise she was relieved to have some company for this encounter. Even if that company was dumbbell Oberoi, it would do. Or maybe she had agreed so quickly for the very reason that it was dumbbell Oberoi.
They got dressed and left for the meeting without running into anyone of the family, which was a miracle in itself. That was much to Soumya's relief as she didn't want to explain anything to anyone at the moment and would've absolutely hated to lie to the family that had accepted her as their own.
As soon as they reached the venue Rudra tried stepping infront of Soumya to shield her from any harm possible. But Soumya, unaware of his intentions, quietly interlaced her fingers with his, almost subconsciously. Rudra looked down at their connected hands and realised that Soumya didn't require him to fight her battles for her but to just provide strength and support in her weak moments. He looked at her proudly as she looked up at him for reassurance and his nod gave her everything she needed.
Walking up to her living nightmare, she braced herself for the last heartbreak Rihaan would ever provide her.
"Soumya, I'm glad you came. I really wanted to talk..." Rihaan stood up from his chair upon her sight but slowly trailed off when he noticed another presence beside her.
Rudra glared at him with unabated fury. It was extremely difficult for him to wrap his head around the fact that someone could play his Sumo the way this a**hole had. Had it not been for Soumya needing closure, Rudra was sure he would done something he regretted after meeting Rihaan.
"Humara akele milne ka plan tha na?" He asked softly, lines of confusion etched on his face, as he continued looking from Rudra to Soumya and then to their interlocked hands.
"Kyun? Taaki tum..." Rudra started but the gentle squeezing of his hand by Soumya's shut him up. He looked off to the side and took a calming breath, trying his best to leave the conversation to Soumya till intervening became absolutely necessary.
"Tumhe mujhe jo bolna hai voh tum Rudra ke saamne bol sakte ho." Soumya replied while shooting him a level gaze.
"Please sit." Rihaan relented after finding no other way out.
"Soumya, maine jo kiya voh acha nhi kiya. Actually, main tumhe message karke batane hi valah tha..." Rihaan tried explaining but Soumya intervened.
"Kya batane vale the? Ki tum mujhe chod rahe ho? Ki tumhe koi problem nahi hui mujhe bhulne mein? Aur kabh batane vale the?" She started off with her rant and Rudra rubbed circles on the back of her hand with his thumb to soothe her.
"Aisi baat nhi hai, I just didn't know how to face you.." Rihaan trailed off and Soumya lost it.
"Tum jaise cheapos ki vajah se boys ko itna bad name milta hai! How dare you?!" She got up and threw the glass of water kept on the table on Rihaan's face.
"You! Tum samajhti kya ho apne aap ko? Tumhe jaise bahut time laga na move on hone mein? I can clearly see how the breakup affected you. You ran off into the next guy's arms." He shot a dirty look at Rudra and Rudra couldn't stay silent anymore.
"Shut up! How dare you? Do you not know how to respect women? If you say one more word about Soumya, I will not leave you!" Rudra declared and Rihaan took one quick look at his muscular body before fear seeped into his eyes.
"Whatever. I'm out of here." He declared, trying to save face before scrambling out of the cafe.
Rudra looked at Soumya, who was still fuming and gently placed his hands on her shoulders to turn her around so she would face him.
"Tumhe uski baatein sunne ki koi zarurat nhi hai. Tum cute ho, smart ho, sweet ho, understanding ho, tumhe kissi ladhke ki zarurat nhi hai. You deserve much better than guys like him. Someone who would treat you right and always keep you happy." Rudra looked her in the eyes and the sincerity in his tone brought Soumya to tears. She couldn't believe that Rudra was saying all this.
Overcoming with emotions she barrelled into his chest, and Rudra encircled his arms around her waist. Holding her to himself tightly, all he could think about was protecting her forever. He had meant every word he said. She didn't deserve a womaniser. She deserved the world and he was going to make sure she got it.
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