AsHlok FF~Love Finds Its Way~ Chapter 12 Pg 134 *up28May14* - Page 54

Originally posted by: Aishaa3

i wl write later tonight😛

ohkay means we can get an update today or perhaps tom...kool

Originally posted by: AshesToDust

ohkay means we can get an update today or perhaps tom...kool

unbelievable u r waitng fr my update😆

Originally posted by: Aishaa3

unbelievable u r waitng fr my update😆

😆 yeah my last chance is so gripping!😛

Originally posted by: AshesToDust

😆yeah my last chance is so gripping!😛

🤔 if u say so..

Originally posted by: AshesToDust

oh thuankua! actuallly itt wasnt the animal in real Shlok made that sound to scare her. you see he was supressing his laughter towards the end😆

Oh yeh haah i was wondering why he was laughing 😉

Precap:-

The tyre got punctured, going to the services area we left a Km back to get it fixed. In case you wake up, stay inside the car. Dont step outside, there are wild boars around. I will be back soon.'

She heard something snort from near the woods to her side. Astha shrieked and almost ran back to the car, hitting a granite frame in her way, she lost her balance. He held her before she could make a fall. Seeing Shlok there, the scared Astha barely stopped herself from embracing him.

"There is something there..." She pointed timidly.

"Told you to stay inside..." He said making her sit inside. She obediently followed. Shlok went back to the tyre to fix it, holding his laughter all the time.

Chapter 9

The Dream

The site seeing and notes filing took them the entire day. The other side had arranged a dinner festivity at the ravishing, resort island located amidst the purple see. Of course it was a treat after the frenzied days work. The team was principally in high spirits about the progress of their work and everyone chanted about, more or less, the project over the dinner. After the dinner everyone, tired and exhausted, retired to their rooms. Astha, not drowsy at all, decided to have a walk on the sand of the tiny beach the island supported.

She strolled out in the open. Welcomed by the mystic murmur of the sea she lost herself to the beauty of the place. Under the intense luminosity of the moon the water streaked with silver floating silk. Everything drowned in the deep reticence of the sea. She did not realize how long she had been out sitting on the jagged rocks, gazing at the vastness of the water that extended in its depths. Sometimes its vastness gave her a feeling of ease as if her troubles would also drown in it. The splashing waves were like measured, passionate and unfathomable melodies.

***

It was near midnight, Astha stared at the shells lying near her. She picked up one and held it close to her ear, as if trying to listen to something inside it. She closed her eyes to concentrate, there was nothing, even if there was she could not hear it.

"What are you doing?" A voice broke the silence.

Petrified by the sudden intrusion in the impenetrable passivity of the night Astha gasped in apprehension. In the diffused lights coming from the resorts exterior she saw his face, a little weary but fresh out of sleep.

"Sir?"

He raised his brow waiting for his reply.

"Ah..i was looking at this shell." Astha, who couldn't think of any sane reason, said extending the shell in front of him. He narrowed his eyes.

"Really?" He was still skeptical. Astha got up. Time to save the grace.

"Yes sir... I was wondering if these shells here have things inside them." She mused aloud and started walking, he walked beside her.

"Things like..."

"Those creepy insects..." He completed.

"No.. pearls."

"Pearls? Are you serious?"

"Of course... it could be... what if someone finds it for real? Wont it be so special for him?"

"What's so special about a pearl? One can get a dozen of them from a jeweler."

"Yes, one can, but that would be buying em. And this one would be a gift... gift from the nature."

"I still don't understand." He said.

"And I cant make you..." was her forlorn rejoinder.

"you came here this late at night to do some research on sea shells?"

"No... I came here after dinner... dint feel like going back."

"And people are done with half of their sleep..."

Is he talking about himself.' Astha thought. What is he doing out here this late?'

"What brought you here...?"

Why the question?' Shlok thought. "Was sleepy no more." He said calmly.His tone still serious as it always had been. Astha shook her head and stopped to face him.

"Are you always like this?" She asked much to his surprise.

"Like what?" He did his usual brow thing, she had started to admire now.

"I mean... all sombre, grave and I-mind-my-own-nose type?"

"Ahan? What if i say yes?"

"Oh God!" She made a miserable face. "How do you manage to live with yourself?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you don't smile when you look at your reflection in the mirror in the morning?" He shook his head.

No wonder he doesn't know how to smile.' Astha wondered.

"You don't talk to yourself when very happy or frustrated?" He shook his head again; these things were so alien to him.

"Don't fast drives thrill you? Don't high music make you ecstatic? Doesn't dancing make you euphoric? Aint there a face you see every night before sleeping?" Astha abruptly stopped at her last question. The fluttering started again; she flushed red and slowly started walking away from him to avoid any contact of eyes. Shlok who in utter astonishment was listening to her questioned saw her slowly start walking.

Incredulous...' His mind sang.

"No...nothing of that sort. Do these things happen for real?" She nodded. "Are you insane?".He asked following behind her. But in reality there indeed was a crazier side to him, as there is to everyone living. A side, people like him do not expose so habitually. A side hidden inside them, buried deep inside. The one locked and the one waiting for a key to open it. That's what reserved people are like. A whole new world lies inside them, only if they allow you to enter it, you see things you never imagined you'd see.

"Perhaps... because all that happens to me." She shuddered imagining what her life would be if she wasn't she.

He scuffed and laughed at the same time. These were the rare occasions she saw him laugh. But they were so short lived. Gone almost as instantly as they came. She wondered what it would be like to see him smile or laugh like normal people did all the time. Indeed you crave for thing out of your reach.

"How boring!" Astha rolled her eyes. He was so hopeless.

Her conversation made them forget their professional relationship. The night grew darker, with its stars and dews and perfumes. The air with innumerable starlings cloveing the air, felt unreal. Shlok turned toward the water and started strolling near it. Astha followed until the waves made their feet wet.

"Have you ever walked in wet sands?" He said taking off his shoes. She nodded a no. "Take off your sandals." He ordered. Astha obeyed reluctantly. Shlok slowly paced towards the roaring waves. A few yards and Astha thought the next step would tak her into the depth of the sea.

"How much more?" She asked hesitantly. He saw trouble in her eyes. Astha saw the tiny curl around his lips.

"Scared?" She shook her head not wanting to admit. Shlok took her hand in his much to her surprise. She gaped at their locked hands in utter bafflement. He had already started walking ahead. She realised her hand was so small in comparison to his, but it fitted appositely. His grip was like iron around her tiny hand, yet it was tender and gentle. She wondered how could it be both at the same time. Astha kept walking in a trance until she realised that the water was now reaching their knees their knees.

"Oh my God...oh my God! Shlok i'll drown ...i'll drown." Astha yelled, almost clinging to him. Shlok startled for a minute told her to calm down but she wont. A huge wave came splashing more water on them. He sighed and took her in his arms and finally saw relief in her eyes. The look, adorable, and funny at the same time made him laugh hard. The air cracked with his laughter.

"No one drowns in three feet of water Astha..." he said amidst his laughter.

Astha stared at him laughing. Was it only a while ago she had wished inwardly to see him laugh; were wishes really becoming horses. She gazed at the twinkle in his deep dark eyes, their playfulness and vivacity, the sudden elevation of charm, the augmenting warmth. It could not be real.

Shlok walked back, still laughing, Astha still staring. Near their shoes he lost his balance, both landed on the sand. Traces of his laughter were still in the air.

"You laughed..." Astha said aloud as if trying to confirm for herself. He shrugged.

"Doesnt happen that often." He admitted. She smiled her fullest, what his smile given her she did not know, but whatever it was it had elevated her spirits in her blood and soul. It felt like a dream, quite like the one she had a few days back, or was it only a day back.

The air blew few strands of her hair on her face. Very tenderly his hands pushed them aside. Her already erratic heartbeats accelerated another score of miles. The eyes locked and everything else stopped. There was so much to read in them, so much which was otherwise invisible.

"You wanted to know the face i see before sleep every night?" He whispered in the huskiest tone she could have imagined. His hand instinctively found hers. There were so many emotions in the air, but she was not the only one radiating them. Splashes of another wave broke their trance. Astha realised the position they were in, sitting mere inches away from each other with her hand in his. His question ringed in her mind. A scarlet flame flushed across her cheeks. She got up immediately so did Shlok.

"It's getting late... i better go." She said in a haste and turned around to leave. Just when she was about to enter the main hotel block he called from behind,

"Astha?"

She turned around.

"You want to open your Shells?"

What was wrong with him? Was it the same Shlok Agnihotri?' She thought she would collapse. A slight nod was all she could manage.

"The Cafe." He said leaving for his room. Leaving a baffled Astha behind. She rushed towards the room not wanting to waste a trice. It was a dream she wanted to go on forever.

***

Hello people!

First of all dont mistake it for a dream... THIS WAS NOT A DREAM!😛

Secondly in the last update when Shlok laughed in the end it was because HE had actually deliberately snorted to scare Astha because she was out of the car even when he had told her not to. 😆 see?

Now for this update... throw back you review!😃

I'm going to cry... Can I? Is it okay to?

Originally posted by: AshesToDust

Farah. Always the first one!🤗