Krishna woke up, her eyes fluttering open. She casually observed that the curtains were drawn wide open, then she froze. ‘If the curtains were open, then how come there was a shadow on her face?’ She whipped around, the sudden movement hurting her neck, to notice there was a large German Sheppard sitting on her bed, panting heavily. She let out a small scream, sitting up and gathering the blanket in her hands, as if to shield herself from the dog. ‘What was it doing here?’ she thought desperately, scrambling out of the bed.
At that moment, Sayyam, who’d been walking down the hall, searching for Tiger, poked his head inside the room. “Tiger!” relief filled his voice, “What were you doing here?” he asked fondly, hugging the dog. He stood up and at once, seemed to notice Krishna, who was at the time, wearing a knee length, sleeveless nightdress. He immediately diverted his gaze. His heart was racing and his palms were sweaty all of a sudden. He looked up again at her for a second and his heart almost stopped. He’d always seen her as ‘Girnewali’, but suddenly, something about her seemed different. She looked ethereal, almost angel-like. A few strands of her hair fell across her face; and Sayyam felt the urge to push them back. Her eyes were wide open and she was still breathing heavily.
He whispered a quick apology, trying to quell the havoc she was causing to his senses, and started to walk out, taking long strides.
“Wait! Sayyam…” Krishna stopped him, immediately biting her tongue after she did so. ‘What are you doing Krishna?’ she berated herself.
Sayyam’s eyes widened, hearing her use his name for the first time. No one had ever said his name that way before, a sudden emotion rose up in him; he swore he could hear the fast-paced beating of his heart. Something was happening to him- and he didn’t know what- It honestly scared him. He’d never felt this way before.
“Umm…” Krishna stalled, rocking back and forth on her toes “What’s his name?” she pointed at the dog, realizing that she still didn’t know its name.
Sayyam remembered to breathe again. “Oh. His name? It’s Tiger’ he petted the dog awkwardly. His brain was freaking out, pleading him to escape from the room and the girl- while his heart urged him to get closer. He stepped back, ignoring his heart. “See you around…” he gave her an inelegant wave; not really waiting for a reply and turned around to walk out, pulling Tiger out along with him. Krishna stood where she was for a while, watching his retreating figure, a hint of a smile on her face.
——
Sayyam paced back and forth in the outhouse, glaring at Tiger lightly every now and then. “You know what Tiger?” he made up his mind, “I’ve got to be more reserved and detached…every time I think I’ve gotten far enough from her something always happens. I can’t let her get into my head, right?” He glanced at Tiger for assurance, not receiving any.
“What am I doing!?” he struck his forehead with his palm. “Letting a dog help me with my issues?” He shook his head. “From now on she’s just Yuvaan’s girlfriend for me; no one less, no one more…and me? She’ll just see me as an emotionless, indifferent guy”. Tiger simply cocked his head, giving Sayyam a look of disbelief and let out a short yelp, as if to tell his owner how bad the plan was.
“Shut up Tiger” Sayyam put his hands in his pockets, convincing himself that he was doing the right thing. Tiger could only shake himself out and lie on the ground, assured by now that humans had the strangest problems, especially the one standing in front of him.
*****
Hey guys, I’m back! The chapters might be getting slightly dull, but I’ve got a lot planned for the coming ones 😉
All your guys’ questions will be answered soon…
With love,
-Shreya <3