𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴

• 24 I •

Hola...First of all, I am sorry for taking such a long break. My new semester classes had made the schedule pretty hectic.

Anyways, the update is here. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for your patience.

Also, there might be some errors since I couldn't edit it thoroughly. Hope you understand.

Happy reading ;)
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Sameer emerged out from the bathroom after freshening up and glanced at the wall clock. His eyes rounded when he realized he was extremely late for the office. He walked towards his closet and opened the cupboard to take out his clothes for the day. Just then, his stomach growled in need to be fed. He decided to have his breakfast first and get ready for the office later on though he wanted to take an off for the day. Yesterday's arduous events had left his brain too tiresome to deal with a huge pile of files and paperwork in the office.

Downstairs, Naina was in the kitchen. Although she was physically present, her mental state had been completely thrown out of balance, still reeling from the effect of what happened a few minutes ago. Every nerve of her body was tingling. The way his broad and stiff muscles had felt against her soft and petite frame sent chills down her whole system. It had felt so content that she didn't know how to describe it.

"Bhabhi, aap yeh kya kar rahi hain?" Ramdhari's voice broke her trance. She looked up and found him watching her with a confused expression on his face.

"Aap isey fridge mein rakh rahi hain?" He gestured down towards her hand.

She gazed down and came back to her senses when she realized what she was going to do. She was holding the white porcelain serving bowl which contained the freshly cooked sabzi for their breakfast. It was supposed to be kept on the table but here she was standing in a daze in front of the fridge with its door open. 'Kya kar rahi hai Naina...pagal ho gayi hai kya...' She chided herself inwardly for her stupidity.

"Nahi...woh...main bas dekh rahi thi ki butter hai ki nahi...Sameer lete hain na kabhi kabhi paranthe ke saath..." She stuttered as she tried to conceal her folly. Ramdhari nodded believing in her words and went back to his task of making Paranthas.

Keeping it on the table, she took a deep breath to calm her thudding heart. The sound of footsteps coming from the staircase announced his arrival. He looked much better now but still, his face held weariness. She could empathize with him, knowing how it feels when you find yourself alone in this tangled game of life. His friends too weren't there with him, his self-confidence was faltering, people were cooking stories outside how the only grandson of Jaiprakash Maheshwari was lagging, but no one was seeing the pain he must be going through. No matter what, her heart would always be full of pride for this man. She would always be by his side.

Sameer came taking quick steps going in the direction of the kitchen, checking his phone for any important calls or messages.

"Itne missed calls aaye huye hain Aarav ke...office ke liye bhi itna late ho gaye...Naina tumne mujhe jagaya kyun nahi...?" He put forward his concern.

She placed a plate in front of him and said, "Aaj subah aap bohot gehri neend mein the...mujhe laga hi tha ki kal ke baad aap...matlab...aap subah jaldi nahi uth paate. Toh isiliye maine bhi aapko nahi jagaya..." She fumbled to use the right words.

He rubbed his neck after comprehending what she meant. Oh god...he had been a fool to drink. His senses had definitely been lost somewhere. Anything could have happened, the worse that he could have misbehaved with her. If it wasn't for her patience, even he didn't know what would have gone on. How could he let himself fall so weak that he had to go for alcohol to find solace?