Destiny's Play!!

Chapter - 15

Avni gave up all pretenses of sleeping somewhere after midnight. She was restless and her head ached. It hadn't reached the level of being called a migraine but it was getting closer. She just couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep. What should she do? She wasn't sure. Her medicine hadn't helped at all. Was there too much on her mind? But she hadn't done anything today except go to college come home, work on her project and then have dinner. She was wrong. It wasn't just today's events she hadn't slept well last night either after her talk to Shalini. Past events had surfaced again to haunt her. She had relived her life of the past one and a half year again through her dreams and again today with so much tension in the air no wonder she was a mess. How could she forget the tension and the numbness that had become her constant companions in the past few months before she had been forced to start a new life. She was still trying to find a footing somewhere. This would take her nowhere. She would be thinking in circles. Again and again till she brought on that migraine she so dreaded.

She threw away the covers and got off the bed. She was perspiring and it was not even hot the opposite actually. She opened the windows and took deep breaths of fresh crisp cool air outside. She felt a bit better. Maybe a walk in the garden would do her good. She quickly turned the light on and took out a light cardigan. It was very warm she had been told when she had bought it yesterday and wearing that she opened the door to the lawn outside and left. She felt better as the fog that clouded her mind lifted. It was dark but it was full moon tonight and because the sky was clear the light illuminated everything around her in its faint white hue. Thankfully she wasn't scared of the dark. She could hear the river gurgling past the property and of her own accord she went towards it. At first she wasn't sure if she should just stand safely on the firm flat ground of the lawn or move towards the boulders and sit there. Then she decided for the boulders. Following the path she had taken the other day she carefully picked her way around the rocks and boulders then finding a spot sat there hugging her legs to herself. The gentle flow of the river helped. She couldn't see much but the valley was cast in a white glow and shadows. Wherever the moonlight couldn't penetrate there were shadows and it looked so serene and beautiful she wished she could sleep here with the stars overlooking her from far away in the sky. She remembered how enamored she had been with the stars when she had been young. Always wishing upon one every time she looked up in the sky. Growing up for her hadn't been much fun either. The constant struggle for everyday basics from water to electricity to food on the table had taken away most of her childhood. She had never had much time to play with other kids or do what girls her age were doing or even study. She had to help out in the house with chores and her sisters. But she had never given up studying. To her it had been an escape from the harsh realities of life. Books gave her hope and let her imagine what her life could be like if she did really well with them. Though all her hopes and dreams had come crashing down when reality had finally caught up with her again and in the harshest way possible.

Avni tried to block out those thoughts. They always made her feel uneasy. She took in a deep breath. How wonderful it would be if she could just stay in this one moment like this? Wishful thinking she told herself. Life had never been easy on her and with her luck it wasn't going to ease on her anytime soon either. She was not like Manya, she was lucky with a wonderful family, good background, no harsh realities waiting round the corner for her and best of all she had the courage to stand tall and look her problems in the eye. Though Avni hadn't seen her in that mode but something told her she wouldn't shy away from calling an ace an ace. Avni envied her, maybe but she wasn't jealous. After all life never dealt everyone the same hand besides she was also being given a chance to do something for herself now so instead of cursing she should be grateful. How many chances did life give everyone? One. Only one in many got a second chance and here it was for her to make something of herself. And she should.

"Are you planning to sleep here?" a voice asked from behind her.

Avni had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard someone come up behind her. The voice startled her and she let out a yelp which was somewhere between a scream and a screech. But she knew the voice. She could recognize it anywhere now she knew it that well. What the hell was Karan doing here? Shouldn't he be sleeping or something? How did he even know she was here? And then a different worry took over. Technically it was against the rules of the house to go out after bed time especially if you were supposed to be sleeping. And it was well after midnight she didn't even know how long she had been sitting here? What if he told Tej uncle about her little stint in the night? Just this evening she had been praised for following the discipline in the house. What will uncle do then? Oh man, this was not good, so not good. She stared at the dark face of the man who stood towering above her. Why did he have to be so tall? She couldn't make out one expression on his hard face. How could anyone control their expressions this well? For the life of her she had never learnt that trick.

"Did you lose your voice somewhere coming down here?" he asked sarcastically.

And that brought her out of her stupor. She immediately stood up and in her haste didn't realize she had been sitting on a smooth rock her slipper slipped on the surface and she lost her balance. A look of horror came over her as she realized she would fall backwards against the rocks and who knew what else she would break besides her bones. But it was too late. She was totally out of balance. She almost shrieked then felt a strong hand on her left wrist pulling her back. She fell against Karan's chest with a thud. Her breath left her lungs and she forgot to breathe for a few seconds. She could have gotten badly hurt. She heard the steady rhythm of Karan's heartbeat where her ear had landed. What would he think? She somewhere knew what he would say and then he did.

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