Sindhu listened attentively but then stayed quiet for a long time. She just leaned on Gautham's shoulder and Gautham just let her be.
After what seemed like hours Sindhu finally spoke, "I am trying... I am trying not to doubt myself... but it's just so hard." Sindhu paused and shifted her head to look straight into Gautham with clear vulnerable eyes and asked, "Is it really okay to trust myself again??"Looking at Sindhu, Gautham's breath got stuck at his throats. At that moment Sindhu did not look anything like a 27-year-old girl who confidently runs an office by herself. She looked like a little girl asking her parents whether she can accept candies from a stranger.At that moment, Sindhu looked as if she will believe anything Gautham says. And that almost brought him to his knees. Her trust in him humbled him.Gautham simply brought her into his embrace and said, "You can." His voice was firm when he said it without an ounce of doubt. He could not even imagineWhen Gautham reached home, he found his mum and dad still awake and bickering in the living room.As soon as Govind saw Gautham, he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Renu, look your loverboy is back??" You can clearly see the relief in his eyes as soon as Gautham walked in. He even dared to wink at Guatham to play along. But who as his wife...Renuka smirked at Govind and said in a mocking voice, "Shame on you Govind. You are using our son as a distraction. And you thought it's going to work on me. How long have we been married and you still don't know better?"Govind hung his head down and looked pitiful. Renuka's face softened slightly but she still told in a stern voice, "You better call Mr. Arjun tomorrow and sort it out. Or else don't bother coming for dinner tomorrow night."Govind nodded obediently and said, "Yes, mam."Gautham let out an amused chuckle seeing his parent's antics.Govind knew that he was slightly clumsy when it comes to
On the other side of the city, Sindhu had a hard time falling asleep. She kept tossing and turning on her bed. At last, sometime past midnight, she gave up and got up from her bed. She went towards her cupboard and pulled a latch hidden on its side ambiguously. She then stepped back. The cupboard suddenly slid to the side revealing a door. The door had some fancy electronic lock. Sindhu punched in the password and opened the door and stepped inside.It revealed a room as big as the kitchen, living room, and her bedroom put together. It was a rectangular room. The whole apartment was divided into two parts. The front half was the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. And the other half was this room.The wall right opposite the door was painted with a matt dark shade of yellow. And the whole wall was filled with framed paintings. The wall was very big and there were at least 30 paintings covering the whole wall except for the 2inch gaps between each painting. All had the s
John and Steve were the only two people with whom Sindhu was still in contact from Bangalore. Sindhu thought back to how they met and let out a laugh. It was 6 months after she started living in Bangalore. She was in a club with her friends. Her office colleagues practically coerced her to go out with them. She was pretty wild and crazy when she came to Bangalore. She was set on doing everything and anything she ever wanted to do. She did not mind how crazy her idea was, she did it. But she never had the desire for alcohol or loud music even then… She was not interested in that sort of thing. She was a loner who liked weird things… She was curious about everything.She explored the city to its fullest. She went on long drives… she went out for walks. She took public transports without even knowing where she was going half the time. After all, she did not how to read Kannada. And everything in Bangalore was written in Kannada. She had talked to absolute st
Gautham woke up when sunlight came blaring through his windows. When he came to bed last night, he was so tired that he forgot to draw the curtains on his windows. He strolled through his room and drew his curtains and flopped back into his bed. After a while, he searched around his bed for his phone. He knew he can go back to sleep, seeing as today was a Sunday. But he wanted to make sure he did not sleep throughout the day. When he found his phone, he saw that it was just 7.30 am. He was just about to go back to sleep when he noticed that Sindhu had texted. He lazily opened the message but his breath hitched in his throats when he saw the message.Sindhu: Is it okay for me to say yes to the marriage, even when I am such a royal mess? Even when I am not ready to share everything about myself yet?His sleep flew out his windows just like that. He sat up straight on his bed and blinked and rubbed his hands over his eyes several times. He couldn't take his eyes off his p
By the time Sindhu woke up, it was a little before noon. Even when she woke up, she did not bother getting up from the place. She was rolling around on her bed and browsing on her phone when she heard a clinking noise from outside. She hurriedly went outside and she found Gautham in her kitchen."What are you doing??", Sindhu asked. But then, she also vaguely remembered opening the doors for him early in the morning… maybe, not that early but before she woke up. It still did not explain what he was doing in her kitchen…"Oh! You're up. And this... I was going to make something except there was nothing in your apartment to eat. So I ordered takeaway. Go freshen up and come. We will eat.", Gautham said in a warm voice. He seemed at home in someone else’s kitchen for some reason… he behaved as if this was a regular occurrence which it was not.Sindhu just stared at him for a while not knowing how to react to his familiar behavior but then
Sindhu and Gautham were in the art room. Music was blaring throughout the room. Sindhu was extremely preoccupied. Her mind was going chaotic. Everything Gautham said kept playing over and over again on her head like an old record. She did not even know where to start thinking. She knew she felt things… but she did not dare to accept it to herself let alone others.She knew she was many things but she never pegged herself to be a coward until that moment.Sindhu had never shied away from anything since young… When she made a mistake, when she screwed up, she always bravely accepted it. Same way, when she felt something, she had never deterred from it… she never cared about how it might look to others. It was the case when it came to her best friend Aarav or John. She liked their company… strictly speaking, she had heard and seen people give her a peculiar look with the way she got along with both of them… her own mother thought she was
In the afternoon, when the bell rang, Sindhu jumped up from her place and went to open the door. When she opened the door, there stood Steve in all his glory.He was tall with a fair complex. His eyes were blue and piercing. He was slim but looked fit. His hairs were unkempt but short. He had a wide grin plastered on his face and both his arms extended on both sides.Sindhu immediately flung herself on him and hugged Steve in a vigor. Steve lifted her off his feet and circled around with Sindhu still in his arms."I missed you so much, sis. It's soo good to see you. God, I missed you.", Steve said still hugging her tightly. Steve let go of Sindhu only when he heard someone cough behind them. Steve carefully placed Sindhu back at her feet and turned to the source of the voice. "And you are??", Steve asked in a stern, authoritative voice trying to intimidate Gautham. But since he was several years younger than Gautham and Shreya, his naivety showed very apparently
Once they were done with dinner, Gautham left. And Sindhu sat Steve down and asked in a stern voice, "Did you know that pops snuck out again last night?? He was partying god knows where well after midnight!!""What???" Steve asked shocked. "Seriously??"Sindhu simply nodded."Damn the old man. He happily snuck out to party while I was stuck doing my homework. He even conveniently sent that hawk Vijay with me. Don't worry sis. I will teach him a lesson when I get home. The nerve of that guy!!! He went to a party without me..." but he before could continue, Sindhu twisted Steve's ears and Steve let out a wail, "Ah... ah... Ouch. Sindhu it hurts. Leave me.""Steve you are an adult now. Even though barely. Can you act responsibly for once???" Sindhu asked in a stern voice.Steve bobbed his head quietly. Steve turned 20 this year. He was actually doing MBA in IIM Bangalore.In all honesty, Steve was not playful. Growing up as an orphan, he knew w