SIDDHARTH'S POV
"I will sleep this way." I let out a sigh, feeling all the tense-ness escaping my body.
Myra's touch was a perfect blend of gentleness and the pressure required to ease the pain. She sat with her legs criss-crossed on the bed.
"Then sleep.." Myra adjusted her position. I could hear the ruffling of the sheets, as she placed my head in the middle of her lap.
Almost involuntarily, as if my body wasn't in the control of my mind, I arched my back and sank down to the ground even more.
Myra's fingers moved in between my hair only but it felt as if she reached every nerve, caressed and smoothened them one by one through some magic.
The slight tingling sound of those two fortunate bangles on her wrist, sounded better than any music I had ever heard.
I just somehow knew that, I would recognize this sound even while half asleep and amidst the most crowded market.
There was a different smile on my face, it shone with a kind of peace, I thought was only a myth till now.
I hated sitting on the floor, I hated oil in my hair, I hated anyone messing with them but I knew I would kick on the door of heaven to live this present moment everyday.
Soon, it felt as if I attained some kind of divine peace and my eyelashes rested. My breathing, beats of the heart, everything slowed down gradually.
Before I could know, a cloud of sleep engulfed me.
I fell asleep right there on the floor, with loads of sticky oil in my head, no alarm for waking up at the right time the next morning but everything put aside, at least my head was placed on her lap!
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I never touched a cloud, never got to sleep on it despite my craving; yet one thing was as clear as crystal that they can't be more comfortable than this.
Than her lap....
A gentle palm was still placed against my forehead. My head felt calm in a way as if it never knew what a headache even was to begin with.
Fluttering my eyes open, I scrunched them to save them from the bright lights that
.... never came. Huh? My brows furrowed as I looked around, the lights were still off.
Everything looked exactly how it looked when I slept, except that instead of the moon, sun was peeking from the window now.
The hand on my forehead, it's not a dream?
It took me a second to come back to the reality from my dreamland and shockingly they were mirror images of each other.
The last thing I remembered from last night was laying my head on her lap, I abruptly stood up from the floor and looked at the bed.
"Pearl.."
Something pricked my heart. The coldness it experienced yesterday took the form of fire and burned at the very bottom of it, my heart; as I stared at the view in front of me.
Myra's legs were still criss-crossed, she was still at the edge of the bed, the very exact spot where she sat to massage my head.
A knot formed in my chest. It twisted as I noticed the innocence casted on her sleeping face.
Myra was still in the sitting position, just with the support of the backrest of the bed now.
That meant...
She sat in this same position the whole night?
The empty bowl of oil too was there on the nightstand and a towel was placed against the boundary of the bed frame, where my back rested, so it won't trouble me.
My blinking slowed down. I sat beside her on the bed for a second, to gather the new swirling emotions in my mind.
Something in me took a fresh breath, after almost feeling like I died yesterday.
Scooting closer, I brushed a few strands of hair off her face and tucked them behind her ear gently.
Morning sunlight falling onto her face, created a lethal combination of peace and beauty, the type people die to experience.
"...and now you expect me to start loving another man?" The slight curve in my lips fell at the brutal reminder by my brain. Those same words.. fuck!
I retrieved my hand back. How could being near her feel like heaven yet also like a sin, a betrayal to everything that's true?
That's when my eyes fell on her hands, that were on her lap and still .....oily?
She didn't even get up to wash them?
The newly discovered side of my brain was begging me to forget about yesterday's storm and see today as a bright rainbow of hope;
But, the leftover rationalism in me screamed, shouted to stop me from doing this 'stupidity'.
I sat there in silence for a few seconds more, fighting the most unexpected battle inside of me.
Heck! If being with her makes me a fool,
I Am a freaking fool then.
"Myra.." I softly tapped on her cheek. If she continued to sleep in this position, her back would definitely start aching.
A shiver suddenly crippled down my spine as I sneezed once again. Though my headache was gone, the heat still hadn't left my skin.
Ignoring the swift weakness in my body, I called her out once again, this out more softly. "Pearl.."
Myra let out a sleepy whine, her eyes still closed. A flutter flapped in my stomach as she, involuntarily, snuggled against my hand.
My already quickened heartbeats raced even more. Was she considering me a pillow or what?
Myra scooted closer, leaned further against my arm, all of this in her sleep and eyes shut.
I should move away but who had the heart to push away a bundle of dreams when it was slipping towards you on its own?
Besides, her sleeping self enchanted me in such a way that she was the one sleeping but it was my senses that weren't working properly.
*ring* *ring*
Both of us frowned deeply. The work I wanted to do delicately, her alarm went for it like how a hammer would strike against hard metal.
Myra groaned, slumped down against the backrest but eventually opened her eyes.
"Good morning madam." I smiled seeing her staring at me with narrowed eyes as if most part of her brain was still fogged with sleep.
"What time is it?" Her morning voice sounded a bit hoarse. The smile didn't slip off my lips, not for a second, as I glimpsed at the clock.
"Nine-" The words were halfway inside my mouth when;
"What!!" She screamed, her eyes dilated in shock. Without wasting another moment, Myra stood up from the bed, throwing the blanket away from her legs.
I bite back a laugh at her rushing self. Well, that didn't work for too long. A low chuckle vibrated my throat when Myra ruffled through her cupboard.
Two seconds later, I sat with my lips shut due to her glare yet a curve was tangled in them.
Just as Myra was about to enter the bathroom, she turned around. I raised my brows. There was a slight pause before she asked, "How is your headache now?"
My blinking slowed down for the second time this morning and it had hardly been one hour since I woke up.
That one question altered something in my system, a spark bolted throughout my body.
The ticking clock on the wall took a sigh, a few beats passed in silence before I answered. "It's fine now.." For some strange reason, my voice came out as a whisper.
Love isn't always expressed in the 'I love yous', not always. I shivered at the thought.
MYRA'S POV
I let out a sigh for the nth time. Spinning around on my swivel chair, the furrow between my brows only grew deeper.
Why does my mind not work at the needed time?
It was lunch time, meaning I had 30 minutes spare for myself and instead of enjoying this free time, my whole attention was apparently stuck in the expecting a certain notification.
How stupid!
After I left home in a hurry, I didn't talk to Siddharth. (And for the love of the lord, it had only been 4 hours)
We had nothing important to discuss or talk about, yet I was tempted to think of a random topic and text him; and I hated this temptation.
There was a strange urge boiling in my stomach, the urge to know what he was doing, how his day was going, if he had eaten, if work had been too hectic.
Fuck! Stop Myra! I shook my head, in the attempt to throw these unnecessary thoughts out before they fully corrupt my mind.
He must be in his office, working his ass off as usual and definitely must haven't thought of me even once while working; because of course Mr. Kapoor hates unprofessionalism and here I was-
"Myra!" A pair of hands shook my shoulders.
"Huh? What?" My voice came out sounding strange as if I just fell from the sky and just landed on my butt.
I abruptly turned towards the unexpected presence in my cabin. Sanvi Tai stared at me suspiciously, her already creased face displayed a deep frown between her brows.
"Kaha kho gayi thi madam?"
I smiled awkwardly, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear while moving my head side to side. "Kahi bhi to nahi, apko kuch kaam tha kya?"
She usually never came during the breaks, unless it was something important. These 30 minutes were supposed to be of absolute peace with no disturbance for everyone.
Well, it would have been the same case with me as well until someone particular, specifically a 5 '11 tall figure with amber eyes wouldn't leave my mind empty.
A sheepish smile formed on her face. Something similar to relief comforted my face, at least nothing bad happened.
"What is it?" Curiosity bubbled in my belly, and patience ran thinner than ever.
"Khud dekh le." She placed a white envelope on my desk. My eyes played between the white paper and her face for a few seconds.
Surprises were scary, for some reason, to me. I chipped on my lower lip and hesitantly picked up the envelope as if it had a bomb in it.
'Please be something good.' I silently prayed and tore it open. Tingles tickled every inch of my skin, a folded paper sat on my palm.
My eyes glanced at Sonia Tai, she seemed happy, for a second before I finally opened the paper and read it.
I wasn't even halfway through the paragraph, when my heart jumped and eyes widened. "I.." Words fumbled on their own in my throat.
I scrunched my eyes shut, opened them and read those lines again. It wasn't a dream. My lips parted, my throat wanted to scream in joy, but not a single sound came out of my system.
The paper shivered between my fingers, the same way my heart was fluttering. A wavering sigh managed to slip out of my lips amidst the high running emotions.
"We got selected..?" I had read the approval letter twice, yet I asked the older lady for confirmation, just in case.
If I was dreaming, I would wake up absolutely devastated.
A warm smile shined on the lady's lips, as she caressed a gentle hand over my head. "Yes, YOU got selected, Myra."
Warm liquid collected at the back of my eyes. It felt as if I was holding the reward of every sweat I ever sweated, every night I stayed up to work or study.
I bit my lower lip, forcing my moist eyes to read the words again. "World's most prestigious conference for dentists." Only a handful of dentists were invited from all over the world.
I was religiously sending my application to the institution annually for the past three years. Guess fourth year was my charm.
"Do I have an important appointment for today?"
"Not really," My assistant was on leave for a week, so Tai was managing my schedule in the meantime. "Nothing too important-"
"Cancel whatever it is." The words had barely left her mouth, when my response already reached her ears and I stood up, eager to leave.
"But why-"
"I need to be somewhere." I was already at the door of my cabin. The precious envelope, a testimony that hard work pays off, I carefully placed it in the pockets of my dress.
My feets refused to stick to the ground, for today felt like the day of flying..
"Siddharth!!" My loud voice echoed in the empty living room of the house, oh wait- maybe not so empty.
Mrs. Kapoor walked out of the kitchen, a large white tray in her hands but the shine in my eyes was too bright to look at the contents of the tray.
"What happened beta?" My beaming smile spilled some of its light onto her lips as well. Oh contagious smiles!, I internally gushed.
"Mumma actually vo-" My eyes flickered to the folded paper in my hand, and next words halted themselves at the tip of my tongue.
She raised her brows, curiosity evident on her face, expecting me to continue my sentence.
But if any more words slipped out of my mouth the whole purpose of cancelling my evening appointments and rushing here would be defeated.
"Ahh..kuch nahi..vo-" Hiding sadness was hard, that I knew, but man! covering this giddy happiness blooming in my chest was harder.
"Eh..Siddharth kaha hai?" I quickly changed the topic; though ideally he should have been in his office.
I was almost already halfway to his office when I called the receptionist, to confirm his availability at the moment.
To my surprise, he didn't go to the company at all today and it was already late afternoon.
Still, without reading much into the situation I managed to make it home with the same excitement and the glowing stars of hopes in my eyes.
"Vo Apne room-" Before she could say anything further, I was already hopping onto the stairs after thanking her.
As I found myself standing outside the locked door of our bedroom, it felt as if small crackers were popping in my belly.
I was failing miserably at keeping a straight face. My legs were jumpy from the rush of emotions. Standing still had never been harder.
Without knocking, I straight up went and opened the door and sneaked my head inside first. My eyes roamed around, eager to find...ah! There he was!
Standing tall in front of the side cabinet of the bed, his back facing me. Without thinking anything, not a second of hesitation, I stepped inside on my toes, shutting the door as silently as possible on my way in.
And in the blink of an eye, I found myself standing right behind his torso. "Guess who?" I wrapped my arms around him with no warning, basically threw myself at him as my giggly voice echoed in the room.
Though I couldn't see him, I felt him smiling as a warm palm rested against my arm which was wrapped around his waist.
"Pearl..," A low, hoarse chuckle rolled his tongue, stirring something in my belly. "I know your perfume."
Goosebumps splattered all around my body, as if something hot caressed every inch of my skin. I was still in a haze, when he turned around and embraced me properly.
A pinkish hue tinted my cheeks as I felt myself melting in the gentle yet consuming grip of his arms that engulfed me properly.
The boiling excitement shimmered down, replaced by a calming wave of ocean that washed over me, softly caressing the corners of my lips to turn upside.
It was hard resisting the urge to nuzzle further in the hug, but I managed and pulled myself away.
Brushing my hair back, I took a deep breath and looked up in those eyes, patience and gentleness dripped off from them, like honey dripping out of a hive.
"I have something to tell you.." I lifted my heels up, barely able to calm my nerves down.
"Hmm, go on." That was the softest whisper I had ever heard. I don't know why, but today his voice sounded like a vintage melody.
"I am going to Singapore." I almost squealed. It was like too much joy was thrown at me at once and I wasn't able to handle it all.
So, I came here to share; to share the joy, with someone who I feel deserves the most of it.
Siddharth's face fell a little paler. "Why?" He breathed out with crushed eyebrows. It was then when I noticed how weak his voice sounded.
"Are you okay Siddharth?" Worry etched my eyes, threatening to dim the light radiating through them.
"Yeah, yeah I am fine." He cleared his throat and displayed a lip tight smile for me. "Why.. Why are you going to Singapore though?" Confusion sandwiched itself between the dullness of his tone.
"I got accepted for an international prestigious dentist conference. It's in Singapore."
"Really?" Siddharth beamed, bright, so bright like he won an award and held my upper arms.
In that second, I saw a more glowing reflection of joy, of my joy, in his eyes.
I nodded my head vigorously, "Yes.. yes."
Suddenly the happiness felt.... complete.
The next thing I felt was a grip low on my back and my feet swiping off the floor.
I was in the air and in the arms of a particular someone who had the power to make earth seem a little more like clouds and stars.
My arms locked around his neck for support as Siddharth twirled around at his place. "I am so happyyyy for you." He deliberately stretched the letter 'y', resulting in a big stretch of my smile blooming on my face.
My lashes fell shut. For those few seconds, I was flying, both metaphorically and quite literally too.
Trails of giggles escaped from both of us, blending to form a beautiful melody.
"I am so proud of you, pearl." Siddharth halted, I took my face out of his neck and our gaze collided, sending a hot current down my back. His arms were still around my waist and my feet off the ground.
"Oh sorry-"
Siddharth and my eyes widened. Panic rushed, cheeks turned bright red as we recognized the familiar voice at the door.
I blinked, whining internally. I would rather want to melt on the ground then look at Mrs. Kapoor, who I knew was standing at the door.
Siddharth quickly and carefully placed me down, back on the ground, and slipped his arms off my waist before taking a step away.
I chewed onto my inner cheeks and hesitantly turned my body in her direction. An awkward smile coined onto my lips.
Despite looking at mrs. Kapoor's way, I avoided direct eye contact with her.
Siddharth stared at the wall 'interestingly' and let out a cough, supposedly to ease the weird situation.
Not a word came out of her mouth, though that faint smile on her face that she was trying to control said a lot.
I just noticed that she was carrying the same tray from earlier. It had a bowl of what looked like vegetable soup and a plate of apples.
I slightly frowned at the bland food that she placed on the bed. "Myra, make sure he," She slightly glared at Siddharth before looking back at me. "Eat all this before taking the medicine."
My face fell. The hot rush of euphoria cooled down, turning into crackable glaciers. The frown on my face deepened.
I looked at the man beside me, who was clearly avoiding eye contact. As far as I knew, fortunately, Siddharth had no such chronic disease to be eating meds daily.
"Wh-What medicines? What happened?" I was so clueless that I felt like an alien. My gaze danced between the mother son duo.
"You don't know?" The older woman was more shocked than how confused I was. "Siddharth.." She took his name like a scolding itself.
Siddharth rubbed the side of his neck, a sign that he was nervous and I was worried now.
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PYAARE READERS,
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The update is not late, it's just that the target on the reel was not completed. Do follow me on instagram, to avoid such things in future..
Tomorrow is my first exam and I will go to college after almost 15 days (kinda nervous)..
Living alone is freaking hard specially after you just spent all these festivals with your family :(
Also, this is the last chapter before my exams. Now I will meet you after my exams only
My last one is on 18th November
So it's around 10 days only, please bear that much.. ♡♡
With love,
~Aarzoo
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