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Chapter 6 - Your Eyes Say It All
Astha changed into the clothes that Shlok had given her, a shirt and a track pant. The shirt was literally dancing on her, and the pant, it was cleaning the floor. She didn't care to notice how hideous she looked. She was still lost in thought, thinking about what Shlok had told her, and she walked out of the washroom.
"Don't you have something a little smaller in size?" She asked, while he giggled looking at her.
"I have na, your pink sweater!" He blurted out...and suddenly realizing what he had said and trying to cover up "I mean, urm, you think I'll have small clothes, do I look small to you from any angle!?" She looked at him and walked off, unconvinced.
Shlok felt like smacking himself. 'When will this habit of mine go!' He thought to himself, angry at himself.
Astha, out of the blue, asked him, "If it was any other girl in place of me, would you save her too?". Her question shocked him. He didn't have an answer to it. He didn't know how to answer her.
He just stared at her. She looked at him, trying to read his face. During her examination, her eyes met with his. She couldn't stop herself from staring. His eyes were familiar to her.
They were walking in the park as usual, on their usual timing, like how they did it everyday.
"Shlok, you know how expressive your eyes are? Anyone can figure out what you've done, how you feel...everything through your eyes. You have the most expressive eyes" She told him.
"I know...but the one who has to realize how I feel hasn't realized anything yet" he told her, looking at her smile plastered face, her mind now realizing what he was hinting, and her features softened. Astha looked at him. She didn't want to admit, to him, she knew what he meant, and she knew she had feelings for him, and she even knew their feelings were mutual. But this was the first time, in her whole life, she actually had liked someone. But she wasn't sure of her feelings, whether it was love or no, or just attraction. She had no idea. She didn't want to make a fool out of herself, since she knew the type of guy Shlok was, always cracking jokes. Heck , you would never know when he was being serious, and when he was making you a fool. So the better option she thought was to ignore his question. "Don't start again Shlok! Your questions confuse me every time! Sometimes I wonder when are you actually serious, and when not!" She told her "best friend". He gave a small laugh and a smile, a sad one. It didn't suit him. He was always the happy guy of the town types.
"I'll leave now, or else Baba will to let me enter the house today." He told her. "Don't go so soon! We just came, please stay?" She pleaded but he didn't listen but gave a her a weird reply "I'm not going to stay for long now, Astha, don't make it a habit. I won't be around for long" . She stared at him confusingly, but then she remembered his exams were near and she let him go. He gave a side hug, told her a small bye, and walked off. While walking, he turned around looking at her, walking backwards, still waving, gave her a small flying kiss and vanished.
And that was the last time she had seen him, 9 years ago. Then she had realized what he had meant when he wasn't going to stay for long.
Astha was brought back to reality due to the lightning outside, but she continued looking at him.
He was not able to tear his eyes off her face. He was admiring her face, the change of expressions, everything. "Typical" he thought to himself. Astha never admitted the fact that her face expressed all the possible feelings she had. Anyone and everyone could read her face. Her eyes... The most beautiful feature, of her beautiful face of course, was another way to express all her emotions and feelings when she wore a mask on her face.
He was brought back by her voice. "Agnihotri?" She asked him confused, still staring at his face, looking into his eyes. She saw everything. His face going from pale, shocked, surprised, startled..everything. His eyes expressed the same too.
"Who Aginihotri?" His mask back again, he asked her, trying to make a confused face.
"Who are you trying to fool Agnihotri?" She emphasized on the word 'Agnihotri', and to her surprise, she saw the same changes in his face again. He realized she was staring at him, into his eyes, and he started looking everywhere possible, but her.
She walked towards him. He stood up.
"Look at me Shlok..." But he refused to look. He couldn't, or else he would be caught. "Who are you trying to fool, trying to fool me, out of all the people ME?" She asked him, tears starting to form in her eyes.
He looked at her helplessly, since he knew he was caught. "Astha... I'm sorry." That was all he said.
"What sorry huh? Why are you being sorry now? You didn't feel sorry while leaving me like that? You didn't care to inform me, anyone? You called me your best friend yea? You didn't care to tell your so called best friend anything? Why aren't you saying anything now? Or now also you have no plans on telling me anything?" She was literally shouting at him. Her eyes looked like dams, filled with water, not released yet though.
"I'm sorry Astha. At that time, I couldn't tell you anything. Astha...no one knows where am I. Not even my family. I'll tell you, tell you everything ,when the right time comes." Astha was shocked to listen to that. She wasn't shocked at the fact no one knows, she knew that, but at the fact that "the right time" never came in the last 9 years?
"Oh, so you plan to tell me when!? After 9 more years? Do you have any idea what had happened to me after you left? I searched for you everywhere! Everywhere possible!" She said pushing him, hitting him on the chest, and her dams had released too.
Shlok held her hands and pulled her towards himself hugging her tightly, and she didn't resist. They hugged tight. Pouring out all their emotions in that one hug, and after no one knows how long, they moved away from each other. His hug felt like a warm blanket, when you come out from the bed.
Astha was still crying looking at his face... She missed it... Memorizing each and every feature in her mind, she looked at him with tear filled eyes, and asked him "Why did you become a caveman?" And she smiled at him, touching his beard. He gave a small laugh, with tears in his eyes too. "Caveman? Seriously? Time changes everyone Astha..." He said sadly.
"You've really changed so much Shlok... I couldn't recognize you.." She said softly.
"You haven't really changed at all. You still look the same, but at the same time more beautiful" he gave a genuine smile.
"I missed you idiot" she said placing her head on his arm, and crying softly.
"I wonder what my mom and dad must be doing right now. Aai must be really scared, I don't know how to tell her I'm in safe hands. I don't want anything happening to her Shlok, she is already very protective for me. What if something happens to her Shlok? You know she is very sensitive." Astha told Shlok. All negative thoughts were running in her mind.
The only source of support she has is her parents. They had done everything for her, that she could afford to let them be worried at all. She knows how her mom is.
"What if something happens to them Shlok?" She asked him worriedly. Realization dawning her "What if the goons reach my house Shlok? What if they do so something to my parents?" She was literally screaming and crying out loudly! "Shh Astha, don't worry! I've already arranged someone to guard Uncle and Aunty. I know the people who kidnapped you would go to any extent to get you, even hurt your parents, since you know their secret location." She was scared just thinking of the fact that her parents could be hurt, because of her. She couldn't control her sobs. She placed her head back again on his shoulder, this time directly landing on his wound.
"Thank you so much Shlok. You don't know how much this means to me." She continued after a pause, "You know, you've already started to pamper me. Don't do this... You never know when you'd leave me and go away...again." She said crying. He was guilty. He didn't know that his secret departure had affected her so much.
Astha was crying on Shlok's shoulder loudly and saying something between which he couldn't understand because of the pain he was experiencing.
Astha suddenly felt something on her face. It wasn't her tears. It was something warm. She touched her face, and was shocked. It was blood! Shlok's wound was not treated and now he is bleeding! She looked up at Shlok's face, and saw pain clearly written on his face.
"I'm so sorry Shlok... I didn't know that... I'm sorry!" She literally ran around frantically searching for a piece of cloth to tie on his wound. "Calm down Astha...I'm used to this... Nothing new...it'll be find on it's own" but Astha refused to listen. "You are still hopeless! Don't you know how to take care of yourself?" Said Astha returning back with some old piece of cloth that was laying somewhere around. She tore it into smaller pieces, so she could change it every now and then.
Shlok's next words surprised her "Why do you care? Don't pamper me so much, I'll get used to it. And once you're gone, no one would be there to take care of me". She smiled. She realized he was recalling her own words.
She had finished cleaning his wound, ever so gently, trying to not hurt him.
"Don't worry, I'm not leaving you anywhere alone and..." she realized what she just said and saw Shlok staring at her. "I'm not going to keep you anywhere around me Astha...I don't want you to get hurt. I'm with you only till I leave you to your parents...safe" he told her sadly, yet smiling,
Astha's stopped whatever she was doing, she walked towards the cottage door, and left. Shlok shocked, ran towards the door, and saw her walking towards the sea. Her walk, her posture could tell that she was very angry. But why? "Astha! Wait! Where are you going? ASTHA!!"
xxx
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