Chapter 79 Her Past 8

As they were having lunch, a group of students gathered at the entrance of the cafeteria. All of them turned their heads to look in that direction where the commotion is taking place. They knew there is a notice board over there and they thought they must have been an important notice for the people to gather around there leaving their lunch. Manvi wanted to know what it was, when she was about to go see that, Naveen stood up from his chair and said "Madam, I will go and check what it is". Shriya nodded her head and Naveen looked at Brahmini, smiled and left to see what it was. Brahmini stood up, with her plate in her hands and sat beside Shriya at the same table and they were talking among themselves. Naveen returned to their table and said "Mam, It has two important notifications, one regarding the semester examinations and the other regarding the cultural fest of the university. Shriya nodded her head and Manvi said "I have to go see the complete details about the fest, I will see it after the classes", she said excitedly. Naveen said "I took a picture of those notifications on my phone, would you like to see" saying these words, he offered them the phone which he has taken out from his pant pockets. Manvi took the phone from his hands and Shriya observed that Naveen was still standing there, so she asked him sit down beside Brahmini which he obeyed instantly and sat beside his women. They went through all the details of the notification but Shriya and Brahmini were interested only on the examinations. Manvi and Sony were excited about the fest ans their activists. Sony laughed excitedly, she said with a mischievous smile "there will be so many handsome men coming to the fest. Ahhhh, it’s so exciting, don’t you think so," she looked at Brahmini and the latter replied "Yes, I am so excited about it too, it will definitely be a feast to our eyes" they both were so excited that they didnot observe the change in the atmosphere around them turn gloom. Sensing something is wrong Brahmini looked at her friend Shriya who was shaking her head as if she is trying to tell her something and Manvi has a sly smile on her face. She realised the strong gaze on her from her right side and turned to look at Naveen. He had a grave expression on his face and he is staring right Brahmini’s eyes. A chill ran down Brahmini’s spine. She shut her mouth and her expression turned grim. Not analyzing the situation Sony again chimed in excitedly "It will be great if they invite Male superstars to the fest this year, I don’t want this year’s fest be like the last year’s when they invited three scholars and a female star. I was bored to death", she continued her blabbering. Seeing no response from others she looked around and felt something was off. She understood she said something which shouldn’t have been said. Seeing her confused look, everyone laughed out loud and Sony understood they were playing with her. * * * * * Shriya reached home late in the evening at seven. After she came home, living room was empty and the entire house seemed empty. She went her room, just then Preeti came running towards her sister and said "Rahul didn’t come to pick me up from school today and he was not home when I came, I didn’t even see Prince Charming at home, they didn’t even call me," she said it all in one breath and with a disappointed look on her face. Shriya consoled her sister saying that they will be back and asked her go to her room and do her homework. Preeti nodded her head and went back to her room. Seeing Preeti depend on Rahul for every little thing and also their emotional bonding she felt a bit scared. After getting fresh and changing a pair of shorts and a black t shirt , she leaned back on the couch feeling a little tired and she dozed off to sleep. * * * * * * The Internatioanl Airport, Mumbai. Rahul reached the airport on time and he was waiting for his girlfriend at the immigrant terminal. After standing there for a few minutes he saw a familiar person approach him. She wore a pair of blue denim jeans with a loose knitted white sweater. She let her hair loose and had a pair of glasses on. Rahul hugged her as soon as she approached him. He pecked her on her lips and took the luggage his hands. They both didn’t talk much other than asking about each other’s well being on their way to the apartment. When they reached the door, Rahul opened it by pressing the passcode and they were welcomed by a housekeeper. As they both entered inside they saw Abhi who is sitting on the sofa and is talking with Uday. They both looked up to see Gouthami and smiled at her. Gouthami greeted Abhi amd the latter e gave her a hug and Uday did the same. They all sat for a while and talked casually sipping on the tea which the maid has made. After a while both Abhi and Uday left giving the love birds their space. The maid prepared the dinner and left soon after Abhi and Uday left. * * * * * * Abhi reached home at around 7:30. He called Shriya to say that he will be late that day but she didn’t answer her phone. He thought she might be in college and called Naveen and asked him to inform her that he will be late. After reaching the home, when he asked the housekeeper about her, she answered that their young madam has not come down yet for dinner. He decided to go see her himself and when he knocked on the door there was no answer. He entered the room and saw Shriya sleeping soundly on the sofa. Beside her was a book ’The twilight’, he thought she might have fallen asleep while reading the book. He pushed the hair which fell on her face back to her ear and with the sense of touch, Shriya woke up startled. Seeing that it was Abhi she felt relaxed. She straightened and sat comfortably on the couch and Abhi sat beside her and leaned back on the couch. He looked tired and seeing his tired face, Shriya went back of the couch and stood behind it. She started massaging his head so that he could relax. Feeling Shriya’s hands in his hair Abhi looked around to see her face. His expression was calm and gentle, he let her massage his head and asked in a calm voice. "Why do you act so impulsive and startled whenever someone touch you ?". Hearing the question her hands froze in his hand, he was aware of her movements and he could feel her hesitation and he didn’t ask further. He wanted her to answer his question. He thought it might be his guess but he was aware of her reactions whenever someone touched her. He decided not to ask any further because it might hurt her feelings. After a few seconds of silence Shriya again started massaging Abhi’s head. She said in a low voice . Though she seemed calm but he could hear the coldness behind it. "After the accident my maternal uncle took us in. He had two sons and a daughter. During the first week of our stay there, my younger cousin who is one year younger than me....." she stopped talking and Abhi knew she was hesitating to talk to him about this and when he was about to say not to tell him if she isn’t comfortable with it, he heard her take a deep breathe and heard her continue "One night he came to me to ask a few questions in maths. When I was explaining he started touching me with bad intentions. I avoided him that day somehow. After that incident I tried my level best to stay away from him. But later I realised that he is doing the same with Preeti. I talked to my elder cousin about this and he asked his brother in front of all the family members. My aunt then said so many things which I didn’t even want to think about. She blamed me and my sister. She even made a scene as uncle was silent. Though my elder cousin tried to say something his mother didn’t let him". Shriya continued and was talking about her past and herself with him and he just "hummed" in between for her to understand that he was listening to her. He felt bad that he was not there for her when she was going through these problems in her life. But he kept silent and listened to her every word. He didnot want to disturb her.