SS: Second Chance- A Veneer of Hope... (Completed) - Page 36

He felt very warm, rather hot, and he was even sweating in the full blast of the AC. He opened his eyes and blinked several times to make sure what he saw. Hair. Long black silky hair that smelt like lavender, citrus and honey. His head hurt as though a truck ran over it, and a throbbing pulse in his brain felt like someone was hammering a nail into his skull. And what was with the hair? Either his hair grew at a rapid rate overnight, or his pillow had sprouted up some hair. Or...? He carefully turned around as he realised a warm soft body was pressed to his back. Although the room was pitch black, he could see her features in the moonlit night. Aastha was resting against the headrest of the bed and had leaned over to Shlok, her head fallen flat on the pillow. And to top it all, he was sleeping over her luscious hair that spread over his pillow. He gently shifted, trying not to disturb her, for she looked like a baby when she was asleep. Of course, her parted lips that pouted each time she inhaled and exhaled were an exception to her baby look, and for odd reasons, they looked very delicious and inviting to him. Suddenly, he did not feel so warm anymore. He did not feel like moving apart from her and that did feel different. He wanted to move away from her since he had weird thoughts with her sleeping next to him, but since she was leaning against him, he just could not move. He closed his eyes to get back to sleep, trying his level best to forget the feminine scent that engulfed his mind.

Aastha woke up at her usual time, but something felt unusual. She was pressed up against Shlok, whose hands were on her waist, while her hands had held his shirt in a fist. His stubble pricked against her neck and his head rested over her shoulder. She tried getting up and going to the next bedroom, but failed miserably when she found that Shlok's head had been resting over her hair. When she attempted to finally move, Shlok woke up. All they did was look at each other for a few moments. Shlok slowly tucked that single lock of hair behind her ears and inched closer to her. None of them knew or had any control over what was happening. Shlok closed his eyes and increased his hold on her waist, inching dangerously close towards her lips. The alarm clock beeped and both of them sprang apart. Aastha rose and ran out of the room and Shlok only smacked his head for behaving like a jerk.

Minutes later, when Shlok came out of his room clasping his head, he saw Aastha in the kitchen busy with breakfast. Both of them just looked at each other at the same time and immediately looked away. Shlok sank into the sofa, his head still throbbing with pain due to the previous night's hangover. He opened his eyes when a strong smell reached his nostril and he saw Aastha holding out a glass of liquid towards him. He took it from her and sniffed the glass. "Lime juice. It helps with the hangover" When he did not look convinced enough, she walked back to the kitchen counter and without looking at him, she said "I used to make it for my husband every morning, to help him sober up." Shlok felt slightly guilty. He had tried to make things right for her, but it seemed like he ended up reminding her of her horrible past. He remembered last night's events. Swathi's wedding invitation, his drive in anger and agitation, security asking if he needed help, Aastha tucking him into bed, holding her close and asking her not to leave him. "Thanks" he held the glass out to her and mumbled loud enough for her to hear. She looked up and just nodded. He knew he had to apologise. Not only for being drunk, but also for that small uncomfortable, awkward moment they shared in the morning.

"Aastha.." he called out, as he apprehensively walked to the counter, his head still spinning. At one point, he thought he would stumble and hit his jaw against the marble of the counter, but Aastha held out to him and made him lean against the wall. "I'm sorry" he said, while she turned her back to him, busy in making tea for herself. When he saw that she was unresponsive, he decided to just talk, because he knew that although she did not talk, she was listening to him for sure.

"I'm sorry for just walking out last night. My head hurt after I saw her invitation. I can't believe that they had planned it all out. We were supposed to get married within two weeks and I get her wedding invite yesterday!" He laughed at himself, and Aastha simply turned around to face him. "The two of them had been sneaking behind my back for so long" he dumped the glass on the shelf next to him, and punched his fist on the wall. "I just wanted to clear my head out. The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt. So I just went and drank till I couldn't remember anything. Varadh Daada's friend saw me at the bar, and offered to drop me home. And then I was standing in front of you. Drunk." The kettle whistled and both of them were startled at the sudden noise. She turned off the flame and set the kettle aside. "I'm sorry that I forced you to stay back with me last night." He said. Aastha's fingers trembled when she thought of it. It was the first time ever she was so proximately pressed up against a man, and it somehow did not feel wrong or awkward back then. Right now, she felt guilty. Not because she was sleeping next to him for the whole night, but because he was sorry about it and regretted that they were that close. The words that he spoke next simply made it worse.

"And then, this morning..." She shut her eyes. What was she thinking? She was married! Even if she did not believe in that marriage and had never considered herself to be that horrible man's wife, her conscience still pricked her that she was married and that it was her ill-fate that she was Abhay's wife. Shlok was an emotionally wounded man and it would have been a natural reaction for a man to seek a rebound. She opened her eyes with a start. That was what she was. A rebound. Maybe that was why he did not want to leave. He wanted her with him so that he could forget another woman. The woman he loved with all his heart; the woman who broke his heart into pieces; the woman whom he still loved with all the broken pieces of his heart; the woman for whom he was crying at present. She felt her cheek getting wet. And that was when she realised she was crying; Crying for various things, not sure which one was the right reason. Maybe she was crying because she was cursed to be Abhay's wife; maybe she was crying listening to Shlok's story of a broken heart; maybe she was crying that she did not have anyone who loved her so much; maybe she was crying because Shlok treated her like a rebound; maybe she was crying that he regretted making her stay with him; maybe she was crying because she did not regret the so-called awkward moment this morning and it felt too beautiful to be true that she was intimately wrapped in his arms while he wanted to kiss her. She slowly wiped her tears at the realization. She was falling for his care and tenderness. But her tears continued to flow as another realization hit her that his heart belonged to someone else. She immediately focused back to what Shlok was saying.

"I do not know what happened to me this morning. When I woke up, I found you next to me, and then... we... I mean, I ... I'm sorry if I offended you. I did not mean to..." "It's okay Shlok" Aastha cut him off. He looked at her and her eyes seem to be swollen and reddish. But then, he could see two Aasthas in front of him. The hangover had not yet worn off. He groaned as his head ached and swore to himself that he would not drink again. He looked up as she continued speaking. "You need not apologise. I understand" she said looking at him with a blank expression. "You do?" he asked softly, with his hand still massaging his forehead. "Yes, I do understand." She said with a smile, that failed to reach her eyes. "You were drunk because you still could not come to terms with the fact that Dr. Swathi Ahuja is not in your life anymore. In the corner of your heart, you still had a hope that she would come back to you, until you saw the invitation that she was getting married to someone else. And about this morning, I would not blame you. You were too drunk to recognise whom you were about to..." she left the sentence incomplete, and her voice almost cracked. Shlok shook his head in a No. She was getting it all wrong. He knew who she was. He knew he was about to kiss Aastha, and not Swathi, like how Aastha thought. What he wanted to say was that he was sorry for trying to kiss her and frighten her, making her feel uncomfortable and making her run away. "Aastha..." he tried to explain to her, but Aastha's mind had already convinced her that she wore her heart on her sleeve and she was now hurt. He had treated her just like a friend and had expressed the same, when he extended his hand in friendship. She was hurt because of her stupidity in believing that she could fall in love, and that he would love a woman who was married to another as well as abused and tortured by the same.

"It's okay Shlok. It happens" she said, not looking at him. "It's not your fault. Your mind must have played some tricks and forced you into thinking that I was Swathi. Everything is fine. Let's just drop the subject" But Shlok had to let her know that the picture wasn't exactly how she'd thought. "But Aastha..." "Please, Shlok. Can we just drop the topic and continue with the way it was? Whatever happened this morning is not of much importance. So stop treating it like one" For some odd reasons, her last statement affected him very much and sadness engulfed his mind. He knew he had offended her, and to make it worse, she did not make him feel like it was his fault. Moreover, she thought that he was still in love with that heartless woman. He agreed that he was still hurt with her betrayal, but to say that he was still in love with her was far from being true. He needed time to accept the fact that he had been too foolish to trust Swathi, and believe in the farce she put up. He knew Aastha was upset because of him, and considered it best to leave the matter cool down at the minute.

The rest of the day passed in a usual routine. She handed him his tiffin and waved him bye. He spent the whole day being busy at the hospital. When he was back, Aastha was busy teaching Kavya in her own unique way which involved stories of candies and princesses. The only thing that wasn't usual was that they did not talk much, other than monosyllables. The small moment had almost ruined their warm friendship and it felt to him that she was back to being the distant, icy stranger, who was completely different from the glimpse of the bubbly chirpy, witty Aastha he had seen.

The entire week passed by, but things seemed to remain the same. Both of them only spoke when it was needed. It seemed alright with both of them, since they did not have to face each other for a long time in the week, except during dinner where an extremely formal conversation lasted for a mere five minutes. But the next day being a Sunday, it would be quite difficult for them not to communicate since Shlok would be at home for the whole day. Staying mum was not an option. Shlok stayed wide awake and stared absently at the neon clock that screamed 2.30 AM. "What went wrong? Why did Aastha and I just stop talking? Crap! I made such a huge mistake trying to kiss her. But why did I do that?" This was perhaps the umpteenth time the thought struck him in the week. He just couldn't figure out why he was upset with her silence. She did everything as usual; she made him breakfast, lunch and dinner; she took care of his every need, but did not talk to him like she used to, and that annoyed him.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a mild scream from the next room. "Aastha!" he mumbled and rush to the other room. He ran in without even a knock and reached for the dim light in the room. She lay in bed, sweating and wriggling, panting for breath, almost screaming repeatedly "Leave me, Let me go" Shlok rushed next to her, trying to wake her up from her nightmare. But she wouldn't calm down.

She was suffocating. Reaching out, she realized she was in a confined space and it was dark, black dark. She struggled for breath, but there was no air. Then she heard screaming, panicked, horrified screaming. Turning her head a dim light suddenly shone and there was Abhay staring back at her with hollow eyes and wicked laugh as he held out a burning red iron rod at her. Then a voice. "Aastha! Aastha! Wake up, you're having a nightmare." It was Shlok.

Her eyes shot open seeing him hovering above her. She sobbed and immediately threw her arms around his neck and clung to him. Sshhh, it's all right, you're safe." He soothed tightening his arms around her. "You're trembling." He buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply. She smelled like lavender and citrus. He cursed his mind immediately for focusing on the alluring scent her hair rather than her trembling form. "It was just a dream, Aastha." He added feeling her tremble again. "It was horrible." She choked out. "Abhay was there, and he had this wicked laugh as he tried to burn me." She shut her eyes and buried her face in his neck. "It's alright. I'm here now." He ran his hand over her head, brushing away the strands of hair. "Do you want me to stay?" She didn't hesitate and nodded against him. Whenever he spoke, she could feel the vibration from him to her body.

"Okay, I'll stay. But I need to go put some clothes on, I'm in my shorts. Are you going to be okay for a moment?" Suddenly she released him as his words sunk in and she immediately became aware of the warmth from his naked upper half that soaked through her thin night shirt. "Oh God, I'm sorry." She was sure she blushed to her toes. He smoothed the hair out of her face. "It's all right. I'll be right back." He got up and left the room and a thrill shot through her. She tried not to look, but she couldn't help herself. His powerful torso was a sight to behold. He wore jockey shorts that encircled his thighs like a second skin. She looked away, her mind groaning at the sight she just saw.

Within seconds, he was back; wearing a dark pair of pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt but Aastha still couldn't get the image of his half naked form out of her head. She shifted a little to make place for him to sit next to her. The bed shifted with his weight and within seconds he had her next to him. "It must've been a horrible nightmare, you're still trembling." "It's fading." She said. If only he knew that she'd quit shaking from the dream when she saw him in his shorts. It was him she was trembling over now. His large hand rubbed her shoulder and silence fell between them. Soon enough, she heard the familiar rhythm of his breathing, indicating that he had fallen asleep.

Laying there next to him made her realize a whole multitude of things. One, his body was perfect, hard and warm, and it became suddenly clear to her that she wanted him, more than just a friend. She wanted him like this, next to her forever. Two, he was very considerate over her feelings, and he rushed to her when she needed someone, despite the fact that they were on formal-talking terms. Three, she felt safe and secure for the first time since she could remember. Lastly, she was hopelessly in love with him and the affection combined with the tenderness he'd displayed over the past few days made her heart swell even more than she thought possible. Over the following few minutes she found herself desperately trying to ignore the warm body pressed next to hers, and God help her, but he smelled amazing. There was a distinct faint odour of cologne mixed with his own scent and it just added to her attraction toward him. Did he feel the same way? She wondered. She could stay there next to him for the rest of her life. Problem was she wanted more. She wanted her hand, the one that was still on his chest, to start roving so she could explore his body, feel every contour, every muscle that he had under his clothing. Oh God! She had to quit thinking like that. Her body began to ache and it was such a surprising feeling because she'd never thought a woman could respond to a man in such a way. Her stomach tightened, and most surprising, her breasts seemed to swell against him.

His breathing deepened and the grip of his hand round her shoulder loosened. Suddenly, she felt guilty. Here she was, thinking about a man in sinful ways, while he had still not come to terms with the breakup from his ex-girlfriend. But not once did he complain or break emotionally, except when he saw that invitation almost a week back. She shut her eyes, and a lone tear escaped her eye. She was in love with a man who could not love her back. Even if he did come out of Swathi's thoughts, he could never love her. Why would someone love a woman like her, especially when she had such a horrendous past? Gradually she drifted into sleep, right in Shlok's arms, where she felt like she did not have any other care in the world.