Swaron FF: Living the dream - Page 102

In my defence, I'm really very sick.

Chapter 29

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival."

--C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Without thinking, she let out a sharp shriek. And then her instincts kicked in.

She shoved her elbow into the person's ribs causing that person to momentarily flinch backwards, giving her just enough time to start running away.

She was now directly under the lamp and she looked over her shoulders to see if she was still being pursued.

Under the dim glow of the light she saw his face, chasing after her. It was him.

She distinctly remembered him from the party. That creep who had wanted to get close to her but she had stopped him before he could. That drunk, obnoxious creep at Swayam's party.

For a second, she wanted to stop and teach him yet another lesson but she looked around the deserted lane and thought better of it. Instead she kept running as fast as she could.

By now she had reached the main road and she once again turned around to see if she was being followed. She couldn't see anyone. Thankfully, this road had better lighting, but was still deserted.

She was still looking behind trying to spot him when suddenly she bumped into someone. She turned towards the person her worst suspicions coming true.

This time he grabbed her roughly and she could see in his eyes a certain sort of evilness that made her extremely uncomfortable. A numb sort of a fear was spreading through her veins threatening to paralyze her.

He smirked, grabbing her even more tightly. That was when her senses kicked in.

She kicked him in the shins and once again tried to free her hands from his clutches. But this time he was prepared. With one powerful shove, he threw her on the ground. A sharp pain made itself apparent on the left side of her body. But she was too high on adrenaline to notice it. Instead she tried to get up.

But it was too late. He now bodily trapped her on the ground, securely holding her hands so that she couldn't try any of her antics.

He brought his face closer to her, his filthy breath bringing vomit to her mouth.

"So you thought you can just get away with what you did to me?" he said, in a malicious tone, as she frantically struggled in her grasp. "You insulted me, humiliated me in front of everyone and thought I'd just let you walk away unscathed. You stupid bitch! You're done for! You hear me? You're done for!"

Saying this he moved his face closer to her, his teeth clenched and his eyes burning with anger. His touch was making her nauseous. And for the first time in her life, she knew what it was like to be truly afraid.

A split moment of hopelessness shrouded her but the next instant she forcefully reminded herself who she was. She was Sharon Raiprakash and no one, no one could force themselves on her! She was not going to give up and let the situation get the better of her. She was a fighter and she'd be damned if she gave up without a fight. Who does he think he is, trying to teach her a lesson? When she is through with him, he is going to regret it for the rest of his life cursing himself for ever crossing paths with her!

Thus encouraging herself, she fought back harder, struggled harder. She almost managed to get him off of her. But somehow he managed to once again overpower her.

In the midst of all this, Swayam's thoughts ran through her head. She didn't know why but she wanted him beside her now, protecting her. She had never asked for anyone's protection. She thought she could handle all kinds of situations on her own. But this time she fervently wished he was there to protect her from this spineless git.

His thoughts rejuvenated her resolution. This time she did manage to shove him off and slide out from underneath him. He was once again crawling towards her, enjoying this little game, as if he wanted her to fight, to struggle.

But before he could once again subdue her, as she tried to get up, a strong pair of hands pulled him off the ground, away from her and without losing a second punched him squarely in the jaw.

She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw him holding that scumbag by the scruff of his mangy neck. For a second she thought she was hallucinating. Just a second ago she was wishing for him to be here and now suddenly out of nowhere he was standing right in front of her.

A second later, she mentally smacked herself on her head. He didn't come out of thin air! His car was parked behind him. She must have not heard it or noticed it with all the confusion going on.

She looked at him as anger poured out of him in thick, destroying waves. She had never been so glad to see him.

But this wasn't his battle to fight. She purposefully strode towards them and before Swayam could land another blow on him, she kicked that jackass hard in the nuts.

A second later, he buckled and fell down flat on the ground.

They both stood there panting, letting the adrenaline run its course.

"What the hell, Sharon? I could have dealt with him!" started Swayam, breaking the silence.

"There was no need!" she shouted back. "I had it under control!"

"No you didn't! If I hadn't shown up when I did..." he couldn't bring himself to complete the sentence.

He sighed and muttered under his breath, "Why won't you ever admit that you need my help..."

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said.

"Speaking of showing up, what are you doing here at this hour?" she asked.

"I was going back home from Dad's warehouse." He said, his face hardening at his father's mention. "He wanted me to supervise an import that had just come in tonight. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I...I...nothing. Just taking a walk." She managed to mumble.

"In this part of the town? In these clothes?" he said, scoffing. "Have you gone completely mental?"

"Apparently." She muttered to herself.

"What was that?" it was his turn to ask.

"Nothing."

At this point, they both looked down at the unconscious figure of that lowlife cur, lying on the ground.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"Yeah. He is that drunk asshole from your party." She said, screwing up her face in disgust.

"What party?" he asked looking up sharply at her.

"The one where you and I talked for the first time?" she said.

"Oh." He said. "But that wasn't the first time we talked."

This time she was the one to look sharply at him. As if on cue, an extremely faint smile appeared on both their faces as they remembered their first encounter.

He came out of the reverie first.

"I don't remember inviting him." He said.

"That's because you had invited the whole college, remember?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Right." He said. "What did he want now?"

"I kinda punched him in the face that day because he was acting like a cheap mutt." She said, a little proudly.

"This is all your fault!" he said, raining on her parade. "Who asked you to pick fights with random people? Couldn't you have just called me or something?"

"Yeah because we were such BFF's at that time!" she said, sarcastically.

"Why are you fighting with me?" she asked, out of the blue unable to stop herself.

"Why are you talking to me?" he retorted.

For a second, or a minute or maybe an hour, they couldn't really tell for how long they looked at each other

The longing, the love, the pain all simultaneously hitting them, making them almost buckle down under the pressure. Both wanted to be with each other and put an end to this seemingly never ending misery. But both had valid reasons or so they thought to stay away from each other, to keep a safe distance between them, lest they gave into their hearts irrepressible desire. Lest they gave into their love.

Both stepped back together, putting an end to the previous conversation.

"I'm calling the police." He said, taking out his cell phone.

She nodded in agreement.

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After giving their statements, they watched as the police cars zoomed away, with a still unconscious prisoner zooming away, along with them.

He turned towards her, only to find her walking down the street.

"Sharon wait." He said, more commanding than requesting.

"What?" she asked, without turning back.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" he said, a little angrily, catching up to her.

"Sharon." He said, catching hold of her arm to make her stop. And just as suddenly dropping it back.

"I'm going home." She said, pretending she hadn't felt anything, a micro-second ago, when he had touched her.

"I can drop you." He said, a little more calmly.

"No thanks. I can go own my own." She said, not wanting to be around him and the pain that had now attached itself to his presence.

"Please Sharon. It's not safe." He tried to reason with her.

"No I..." she said, grasping for a convincing enough excuse.

"You don't even have to talk to me. And I promise I won't talk to you." He said.

These words felt like little stabs through her already bleeding heart.

Is this what they have come down to? Whatever they might say now, she knew deep down that once upon a time they had been friends. Really good friends. They had understood each other, knew each other inside out. Had talked about everything and anything. Had enjoyed each other's companionship. Had found a comfort with the other person which they had never found with anyone else.

And now this is what they have been reduced to?

Not on talking terms? When had it gotten so complicated? It had been so simple before, so easy before. When had all this changed?

Tears once again threatened to burst through her. But this time she controlled them and turning towards him, she gave a slight nod.

At this point, he took off his greyish-black hoodie, revealing a white shirt underneath, handing it to her.

"It's okay Swayam. I'm fine." She said.

"It's cold Sharon. Take it." he said, not looking her in the eyes.

She hesitated for a second before slipping into the warm hoodie.

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He stopped his car in front of her house. They hadn't talked throughout the whole ride.

He had stuck to his promise, never uttering a single word.

And she didn't know what to say to him anymore.

He hadn't even looked at her once. Making her feel all the more guilty.

After all she had been the one to ask him to get out of her life.

She probably deserved his coldness she thought.

She felt as if all this time she had been using him, playing with his emotions, using his love. The more she thought about it the more convinced she became that somehow it was all her fault.

She herself had created all this unwanted mess she thought remembering Kankshita's words.

A short cough brought her back to the cruel face of reality. It had emanated from him.

She looked blankly at him and realized that they had reached home.

Correction she thought they had reached her house.

It was when she was getting out of the car that she once again felt the sharp pain on the left side of her body.

Involuntarily, she winced loudly.

He looked at her, curiously.

"What happened?" he asked, breaking his mum.

For a split second a small ball of unchartered happiness bounced inside of her.

He was talking to her.

The next second the pain once again clouded her momentary happiness.

She was now doubled over, clutching the place where it pained the most.

He got out of the car and bent down beside her.

"Sharon. What's wrong?" he asked, panicking a bit.

"Chill out Barbie. No need to squeal. I'm alright." She said, trying to brush it off.

"For once, Sharon, keep your sarcasm to yourself and tell me what's hurting you!" he said, icily, annoyed at her nonchalant behaviour.

"I don't know. The left side of my body is paining." She said, caught off guard by his bluntness.

"Let's go inside. Where are the keys?" he asked.

"With my neighbour." She said, pointing towards the house next door.

He hurried off toward the house. When the neighbour looked at her to ask if it was okay to give him the keys, she waved reassuringly. A second later he came back with the keys.

He hovered around her, uncertainly.

"Do you need me to...?" he asked.

"No it's fine. I'll manage." She said, still clutching the side of her stomach.

Every time she refused his help, it seemed to incense him further.

This time, he didn't even bother to ask for her permission.

He wrapped one of his hands around her shoulders and took her right hand, which wasn't clutching her stomach, into his.

"Where's Kankshita?" he asked, as they progressed slowly towards her house.

"With my uncle." She said. "He has taken quite a liking towards her. After all, he got another niece to spoil." She said fondly.

They finally reached the door. He unlocked it and helped her inside.