As Krishna put on her eyeliner that morning, she checked the room once more to see if she had forgotten anything … “Oh shoot!” she ran over to her nightstand, her golden-brown hair flying all around her, and pulled the drawer open hurriedly, relieved to see that the drawing was still there.
At the bottom of the drawing, there was a signature, and Krishna fondly remembered the girl, Anjali, who’d gifted her the drawing last time they had met at the orphanage. Anjali was an orphan, just like Krishna herself, but she still managed to find happiness in the smallest things.
The drawing was of Krishna, Yuvaan, and Anjali. For some reason, though, Anjali had drawn Yuvaan taller than he was, with black hair and dark eyes. True, Anjali had never seen Yuvaan before, but when Krishna had reminded Anjali that Yuvaan had brown hair, she just smiled innocently and said… “But my jiju (brother-in-law) looks better like this”, which had resulted in Krishna chasing Anjali around the room for an hour.
That was three years ago though, and Anjali was seven at the time…Krishna was lost in her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder; she jumped, craning her neck to see who it was. “Yuvaan!” Krishna’s eyes flew up to the clock on the wall, it was 11:15; she was late.
“Sorry Yuvaan! God, I’m so sorry- I know much you hate it when I’m late. It’ll never happen again-” she fumbled with her words.
“Okay, Okay! Stop! Just stop talking – you’re giving me headache; you always make the same mistake and then say sorry. Lucky for you, I was also a little late today anyway” Yuvaan was frowning, but his eyes were darting around. If Krishna wasn’t focusing so much on how he had scolded her, she would’ve noticed how nervous he looked – like he was hiding something.
Krishna felt a little stung by Yuvaan’s words, but immediately shook her head, thinking to herself ‘Yuvaan loves me, and whatever he says is for my good, right?’ She glanced down at the drawing still in her hands. She turned to Yuvaan and smiled brightly “but look at the bright side Yuvaan, I’ve finally finished my degree, now I can stay with Suhani aunty and you; It’s been such a long time since I met her.”
Yuvaan grinned “I know, finally you can come home, besides, I always hated this dorm of yours, and your roommates were so boring…you can come stay in your room too, like you used too…” his eyes darkened over.
“What happened Yuvaan?’ Krishna tilted her head to the side “Something wrong?”
“I’ll tell you at the café, come with me.” Yuvaan tugged her out the door, as she hurriedly grabbed at her suitcase and dragged it out the door with her.
——
Suhani shifted in her sleep, waking Sayyam, who was still on her lap. He looked at his mother and felt a warm feeling in his heart; she looked so peaceful in her sleep. After all the stress she was taking these days, this was good for her, he mused. He was about to get up when he saw her stirring in her sleep. “Maa” he softly called out, the word rolling off his tongue so naturally. He grasped her hand in his as her eyes fluttered open.
Suhani stared at Sayyam in confusion, then glanced down at her hand, tightly enclosed in his. She felt a headache coming over her and tightly closed her eyes, trying to keep a memory out.
***
‘“Suhani, Suhani…” Sambhav smirked, “Come, dance with me” Sambhav grabbed Suhani’s hand and pulled her closer to him. Suhani desperately tried to free herself, but could feel herself becoming weak, as she was overpowered by those dark eyes’
***
Suhani’s eyes widened, and she yanked her hand out of Sayyam’s. “No, NO!!” she crawled back frantically, trying to get away; but all she could see were those dark eyes again.
Sayyam reached out for Suhani again, only to see fear flare up in her eyes. “No, Sambhav!!” she tripped over to the wall, leaning heavily against it, “Don’t touch me, please” her voice cracked. Sayyam was shocked…Suhani saw that man in him; tears welled up in his eyes but he blinked them back.
“Maa, please listen; it’s me…” he tried to calm her down, but she had started sobbing uncontrollably. Yuvraaj ran into the room just as she sank down onto her knees and engulfed her in a hug, whispering soothingly to her. Sayyam sat there motionless, unsure of what to do now. Every breath he took was a struggle for him – He was responsible for this. No matter what Suhani had said, he didn’t belong here. He was just a burden.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and finally turned around to face the owner of the hand. He glanced at the clock. It was 11:15, he’d been sitting frozen like this for who knew how long. He looked up at Yuvraaj, who looked sympathetically down at him.
“Sayyam” Yuvraaj took a seat next to him on the bed. “You’ve been here for three hours…Suhani’s worried about you, she wants to talk. Freshen up and come soon, okay?” Yuvraaj tried to smile encouragingly, but Sayyam was still too dazed to respond. He mindlessly got up and walked into the washroom. He looked at himself in the mirror after splashing his face with water. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair a mess. He gave himself a weak smile.
‘Maa, from now on, I’ll be strong for you, I’ll always strive to make you happy. I won’t let myself cause any more pain for you…this is a promise from a son to his mother’
—–
So guys, why do you think Yuvaan was so nervous? Comment below, I’d love to see your guesses 😉
Also, there is one more introductory chapter left before I officially begin the story.
On another note, some of you might be getting confused with the dialogues, but I can’t write like this:
“Sayyam:
Krishna:”
Cause it disrupts the flow of my writing…Nevertheless, I’ll try to make it clear who’s saying what…
Until next time 😉
-Shreya