Bonded by Fate *Completed*

23. The Dreamer's Struggle

Four months into their marriage and one week into her classes, things seemed to be going well. Her camaraderie with Lakshmi was terrific and Akshat and her relation had started smoothening too.

But as Guddan stepped out of her room, with her mini bag hoisted over her shoulders, she was quite lost and had no realization of her surroundings. She failed to realize the oncoming dip of stairs and in a daze, put her right foot forward when a hand caught her elbow and barely prevented her fall.

Snapping out of her stupor, Guddan looked up into Parv's large dark pupils that certainly didn't hold a pleasant emotion. She wasn't pleased either and probably still clueless about the teeth shattering fall he had saved her from and so she opened her mouth and bit down on his wrist. Parv pulled his hand back on reflex which caused Guddan to stumble back a bit and lose her step. She flailed her hands and he was quick. He caught both her wrist and jerked her away from the stairs, towards the opposite wall.

Guddan turned around, seething in rage but before she could open her mouth, Parv opened his and started blasting her, "Have you lost your mind or what?! And why the hell did you bite me! You could have fallen down and injured yourself!" Parv shouted, pissed.

"Mind your own business!" Guddan retorted back, which didn't bode well with Parv.

"And minding you is my bu..." But before Parv could complete his sentence, a huge palm came to rest on his shoulder as he looked up to see AJ staring him down, with a cool look in his eyes.

"Got something to say, Parv?!" He asked, while Parv glared at Guddan who glared back and passed by the duo in a hurry.

Once Guddan was out of sight, Parv caught hold of AJ's palm on his shoulder and pressed it with as much intensity as possible.

"I do have something to say, AJ! If only you would concentrate more on Guddan than on me then such things would not be happening...." And with that, Parv slapped Akshat's hand away and left.

Akshat stood frozen to his spot, taken aback. Parv had retaliated today and in a very different manner. And what was he insinuating at?!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Guddan stepped inside their room, Akshat looked up, expecting her to share her 'happenings of the day' with him as she had been doing since the past two weeks but silence greeted him as Guddan kept her bag on the table and didn't throw it on the bed! Before he could open his lips, she escaped into the bathroom while he looked on. Something was fishy! Guddan was behaving so-not- Guddanish since the past week when he had encountered Parv. But Parv was actually out of the town due to some work. Now that he thought about it, she had stopped talking about her classes altogether.

As Guddan stepped out of the washroom, patting her face dry, Akshat called her.
"How are your classes going? I expect that you're working hard?!" He asked 
sarcastically, on purpose.

Usually, Guddan would have glared at him with a childish pout and then started an all out war with him but today, she just looked up and smiling slightly, just nodded her head, "Ji!"

That smile was forced. It didn't reach his eyes. Heck! It didn't reach her eyes.

Quick to his feet, AJ got off the bed and blocked her way as she tried to leave the room. "What is it, Guddan?! Why the long face! Is there any problem in college?!" AJ asked.

"Nothing like that, uncle! You worry too much, I am just a bit tired and nothing else.."  Guddan smiled another dry smile and started leaving, when he caught her wrist and stopped her.

"Don't lie to me! Your eyes and your excuses don't match!" Akshat spoke and then turned her around by her shoulders.

"Tell me if you have any problems?! I am listening...." Akshat suggested softly, as he cupped her right cheek.

Guddan found her resolve breaking. Looking into his eyes made her want to break down but as she gathered her thoughts, Durga's uninvited appearance cut their conversation off.

"AJ! Some Mr. Prajwal Qureshi from Tim..." Durga paused as looked at the duo 
and then, they moved away.

"What is it, Durga bahu?" AJ enquired, cutting off Durga's glare directed towards Guddan.

"AJ, Mr Qureshi from Times is waiting in the hall for you", She replied to which AJ nodded and asked her to inform him that he'll be right there.

As Durga left, Akshat looked at Guddan and gave her we-are-going-to-talk look and then rushed out of the room.

Guddan waited and waited until the clock struck 11 and her eyelids found it difficult to keep open any longer and before long sleep ensnared her whilst she escaped into dreams.

It was half past 12 when AJ entered the room, flexing his muscles.Why the hell people take such long interviews?! He thought annoyed with the brainstorming session.

As his eyes fell on Guddan, he remembered his promise and looked at the watch to realize it was way past her bedtime. Shaking his head at her odd sleeping position, he straightened her onto the bed and adjusted the pillow comfortably under her head. Once done, he proceeded to pull out a mattress from his closet and laid it down on the floor on her side of bed, for he knew...she was going to roll off the bed anytime soon and kiss floor, yet again!

Indeed! She had a strange habit of falling off the bed and sleeping it through! And then in the morning, she had the habit of waking up and blaming his huge' build for snatching her share of space and pushing her off the bed!

Chuckling, as AJ adjusted the pillows in between, his eyes locked over her face and remembered the tears that were threatening to spill few hours back. What exactly was happening in the college?! He needed to know!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Guddan entered the class, which apparently was a large hall with a magnanimous mirror covering an entire wall, the teacher, a man in his 30s looked up and shaking his head, approached her.

"Didn't I tell you not to come in this class?!" He asked, as guys and girls who were dancing salsa started snickering.

"But sir..." Guddan tried to intervene when a guy from behind spoke up.

"Haven't you done enough by stomping on our feet and leaving us with throbbing toes!" The guy asked.

Guddan's face fell as she scrambled for words but failed. After all, he was right.

Their course offered quite a few subjects, like literature, acting, voice modulation, solo dance and couple dance sessions. She had managed to handle everything but when it came to couple dancing, she just couldn't sync with anyone. A feeling of fear and unease would crawl up her spine every time a guy would come close and she ended up losing her confidence. No matter how hard she or her partner tried, some or the other way she ended up ruining the performance, of hers and other's too...

And thus, she had been asked to sit this class out since it required people to dance in pairs and no one was willing to take the risk of getting their foot hammered!

As an aspiring actor, she needed to be able to dance with a member of opposite gender and therefore, no matter how badly she wanted to escape those whispers of useless' good-for-nothing' and wimp', she could not.

She just could not accept defeat and disappoint. Her father. Dadi. Chutki. Lakshmi. Herself.
And HIM!

I apologise for the late update folks. I was out of town on a trip and thus couldn't update on the scheduled date(*_*;

Hope you will enjoy this part(^^♪