Across My Hearts Window (Chapter 2)

Govinda’s Point of View (POV)

I saw something ..no… someone running into the woods behind the temple,thoughts raced through my mind.. who would go into the woods, when it is so dangerous? Something was wrong, maybe I should go and check, for someone may be in trouble.I wrapped my angavastram (upper cloth) tightly and headed in the woods with a flashlight I walked carefully and reached very dark area, with tall trees and lots of bushes I gently pushed a branch away and found a piece of cloth stuck on the branches colored peach, I tucked it in my bag thinking it may be a clue. The closer I went I saw a young girl weeping in fear under a tree,her head bent down, and her hands were marked with scratch marks. It was certain that something wrong had happened to her. I walked forward and saw her going backwards as if I was a threat to her, I turned off the flashlight and patted her shoulder as I was about to ask her what her problem was, she shouted loudly in English at me ” Stay away you idiot!,don’t you dare try touching me!”and with that she shrugged my hand off of her. I told her ” See, I really don’t know who you really are, I am just a visitor in this temple, and my aunt’s husband is the temple manager over here.” After saying that I turned on the flashlight and shined it on my face so she could understand that I was not, obviously the ‘Idiot’ whom she was thought I was. then she lifted her head up and I saw her face, she was of an olive complexion and her eyeliner mixed with her tears was streaming down her face , her lips were dark red due to anger.

Haripriya’s POV

Someone was there in the bushes, and I hoped that it was just the wind, making the the bushes rustle. I got up and saw the figure of a man in the very scarce light, Oh no..Oh no. It surely must be one of those perverts coming here to exact revenge. I bent my head and stood still hoping they would not be able to see me, but woes of woes,he had a flashlight. My tears were unleashed and I felt anger rising as heat through my face.He patted my shoulder, which made me extremely furious..so I shouted at him loudly “Stay away you idiot!,don’t you dare try touching me!” and I shrugged his hand off me.

But then I realized he was a different person, as he spoke English so clearly, he said “See, I really don’t know who you really are, I am just a visitor in this temple, and my aunt’s husband is a priest over here.” hearing his words I now felt very very very embarrassed at my behavior, even if I said those things ignorantly. After saying that he flashed the light on his own face and when I saw him my heart fluttered,He was tan in complexion had a strong jaw and light brown eyes, his wavy black hair was neatly combed except for some fly aways which made him look even more handsome, his face tilted to the side with one hand on his waist and the other holding the flashlight. I suddenly felt so conscious of my face and started to wipe my tears away. I wanted to tell this boy what had happened, but words were not coming out of my mouth. I finally squeaked a ” I am so sorry.” and he nodded his head, saying that it was okay. He slowly told me that I had scratches on my hand. I hadn’t even noticed my sad state, Oh great…now what will I tell my parents when they ask me about the scratches. I said that my parents were in the temple and I wanted to cover them up, then he told me that since I was a girl, I might know that cosmetics can cover up blemishes, and his sister used it a lot. He said ” My Aunt’s house is right here behind the temple, uh,If you don’t mind you can come with me and my sister will apply that on your arms.” I looked at my watch and told him it was already 8:15, and my Amma(mom) and Appa (dad) will be ready to leave in another 15 minutes,He said “That is the reason why I am requesting you to come with me quickly,please do not feel afraid, I understand your problem.”

I took a deep breath, and well I feel like trusting him.

We quickly ran and he made sure that I should not getting more scratches by clearing the way. and while we were going trough the forest, I nervously blabbered about my unfortunate experience.

We finally reached his Aunt’s home, and he knocked on the door. I quickly checked my self, and covered my arms with the pallu, and tried to look a little normal.

A young girl,around my age, with light brown hair opened the door with a smile, but it slowly vanished and became a expression of curiosity. I was sure it was because of my presence, this surely must be the sister he was talking about.

She bit her lip, and looked at me and then looked at her brother questioningly, I quickly told her “It is nothing like what you think, I really need your help quickly, please?” She laughed and asked me “How did you know what I was thinking? Do not worry, My brother texted me about this I already have the concealer.” I sighed with much relief and she applied it quickly with much expertise, she also quickly retouched my kajal and ran a comb through my hair I said a lot of thank you’s to them both and as I was going around the house to the temple I saw her come along with me, surprised I asked her why she was coming with me, she said “Govinda’s sister is very smart, what will you tell your parents when they ask you the reason for your long disappearance?” Right,she is smart, Govinda’s sister .. His, name was Govinda…if she comes with me I will be able to give a reason for my absence.

“Yes, you have a great idea!Anyways, what is your name?” I said as we walked and reached the entrance of the temple. She said “My name is Lalita, since I was born in Ashvini Nakshatram, my name was kept as Lalita.” cool, so she knows a bit about Vedic astrology too,my father is expert in Vedic astrology.

I felt more comfortable with her as we spoke for some more time, I learnt that their mother was not Indian, but a Parisian (from France) whose grandparents settled in Pondicherry. I now realized why she had a very light shade of brown as her hair color.

Then finally my parents came out of the door, and my mother started to ask where I was all this while, etc and my mom somehow became great friends with Lalita, and they were speaking for about 10 more minutes and my Father was getting quite annoyed, He told me “Your mother talks so much,it is probably the only reason why we never go anywhere early and never come back early.”

I laughed and nudged my mom , while Lalita passed me a note with her email id on it.

With a lot of byes I waved to her and started to gobble up whatever Prasada was left when we were in the car.The only thing which bothered me was that I did not get to see Govinda again,and I think I have a crush on him now. Ugh.

When we reached home I went upstairs without talking to anyone and fell on the bed with great exhaust, wondering about how strange the day was.