Day Three: Part I
He was woken up in the middle of the night by Sanyukta mumbling. Glancing down at her, he noticed that her face was pressed against Randhir's chest, her arm pressed deeply into his stomach, trying to hold on to him for dear life. She looked so weak, so vulnerable.
"Sanyukta," Randhir murmured, stroking her hair, but her grip on him only tightened.
"Randhir, I'm sorry," she replied, her eyes squeezed shut.
He wasn't sure whether she was awake or not, but he continued to stroke her hair softly.
"I'm hiding it from you," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
He brought his hand up to her cheek and gently caressed it. She shivered.
"Why don't you tell me?" he whispered.
"I don't know," she responded, her eyes filling up with tears.
She leaned in closer to him and pressed her lips against his neck. He ran his fingers through her hair until her breathing steadied again and she fell fast asleep.
It was true that he wanted to know what Sanyukta was hiding from him, but the emotional turmoil she was going through by keeping this from him was visible. He couldn't bear to see her like this.
When he woke up in the morning, Sanyukta was nowhere to be seen once again. This frustrated him. While he had softened up towards her last night, he didn't think he could tolerate this for a long time.
After showering quickly, he got dressed and bolted out of the door and ran downstairs to see if Sanyukta happened to be there. But - as he expected - she wasn't there.
This girl was seriously crossing all of her limits now.
He went to the restaurant for breakfast, and noticed her. His mouth nearly dropped open when he saw her sitting in front of Dharam.
"What the heck?" he muttered under his breath.
What was she doing with Dharam? He didn't know whether to walk up to the pair or to just walk away. He was about to walk away when he saw Vardhaan sir and Maya ma'am approach the two.
Curious, Randhir made his way towards them. Once he approached, Sanyukta looked up at him and smiled warmly, but Randhir didn't return her smile.
"Good," Vardhaan sir said, as Dharam's partner approached beside Randhir. "I'm glad we're all here. I was going to talk about this later, but since we're all here, it's better to get this over with now."
Randhir grabbed a chair and pulled it to their table, sitting down next to Sanyukta.
"For the second task," Vardhaan sir stated, "Your job will be to manipulate technology in such a way that you can control a machine with it - you have to configure it yourself. So you can call it remote controlled if you wish... you may start it today, and it will be submitted tomorrow evening for judging."
Randhir nodded and he glanced at Sanyukta, who seemed to be in deep thought - except her thought didn't seem to be related to their task. It seemed to be about something else entirely.
Then with a quick nod to Maya ma'am, Vardhaan sir walked out with her.
Dharam stood up and coughed loudly.
"Well it was nice having breakfast with you Sanyukta," he said, then glanced at his partner before glancing at the door to indicate that they should leave.
As soon as both of them left, Sanyukta stood up too but Randhir grabbed her wrist quickly.
"What's with you Sanyukta?" he asked.
She sat down and pressed her palms against her cheeks, closing her eyes.
"I feel sick," she murmured with a sigh.
Randhir brought his hand up to her forehead to check to see if it was warm - and indeed it was warm.
"Sanyukta I think you should rest," he told her with concern.
"Randhir, but we have to work on the tast," she whispered.
"Leave that to me - you go and rest."
Sanyukta hesitated but Randhir gave her a reassuring nod.
"Randhir, come with me, please?" she asked him, a sense of desperation in her voice that made his heart melt.
"Okay," Randhir said, and laced his fingers through hers before leading the way upstairs.
In the elevator, she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closing, and Randhir stroked her hair affectionately.
He pulled her out of the elevator and dragged her to his room before locking the door behind them.
She walked to his bed and collapsed on it. Concerned, Randhir walked over to her and stroked her hair softly.
"Sanyukta," he murmured, "I think I should call a doctor."
"Noo Randhir," she breathed out, her hands wrapping around his shirt. "Just come here."
He got on the bed beside her and she snuggled in close to him. She lifted her head up and pressed her lips against his softly, before pressing her face in his chest.
"Sorry," she murmured, "I hope I don't get you sick."
"Don't worry," he whispered and stroked her arm softly.
Soon she fell asleep and Randhir pulled her body off him and pulled the covers up to her chin. Kissing her forehead softly, he was about to go, when she stirred in her sleep.
"D - Don't... don't leave me," she whispered.
He went back to the bed and stroked her hair.
"Randhir - don't leave me," she repeated, "I am sorry... so sorry..."
He continued to stroke her hair, wondering why she kept on telling him not to leave her... what made her so insecure? And why was she acting so mysterious lately?
"If he knows about you... I don't know what he'll do," she murmured, "I have to keep you safe... sorry."
Randhir got under the covers with her and pulled her body close to his, holding her tightly as she snuggled into his chest.
"I love you Randhir... I can't let anything happen to you," she continued.
He wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep, or if she had any idea that she was saying this right now, but what he did know was that she was not the kind of person who got insecure easily - if she was this insecure, then there had to be a reason behind it.
"Sanyukta, shhh," Randhir murmured, still stroking her hair affectionately until her breathing got deeper and she fell into a deep sleep.
Randhir needed to find out what was going on with Sanyukta. What was she so worried about? Why did he need to be protected, and from whom? Why couldn't Sanyukta just tell him?
"She always tries to be a man, a hero," Randhir muttered under his breath, slightly annoyed, "She wants to protect me? Can't she act like a woman?"
He held her body closer to his and closed his eyes too, and before he knew it, he fell asleep too, completely forgetting that he had to work on their task.
--
I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! Please forgive me if there are any grammar errors, I haven't edited it.
Edited by ilovepyaar - 10 years ago
Pati Patni Aur Panga
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