BEYOND THE CLOUDS (Completed)

Chapter 26

Rana awaited them in the parking lot and greeted Shehnaaz with a genuine smile this time, surprising her.

Was this somehow connected to their patch up? She wondered and once again marveled inwardly at Rana’s fierce loyalty towards Sidharth.

As the car started, Shehnaaz glanced at their conjoined hands and blushed so hard, she had to actually look away before Sidharth could catch it.

Her dream of having someone of her own, who would love her to no end, who would weigh her feelings equally and who would cherish her love was finally coming true.

She scooted closer, resting her head on his arm and sighed happily, letting out a prayer “Let me live this time god” her thoughts drifted to the Gurudwara she often visited in Punjab with her mother.

“We are home baby” he stated as the car stopped, breaking her chain of thoughts.

Halting near the entrance, he opened a camouflaged console on a side wall.

When she peeked inside, it looked like a panel of some sorts, where he placed his palm and the next moment, the door clicked open.

Woww… that’s some security, she upturned her lips, impressed with the technological wonder.

He extended his arm to walk her in, and she smiled sweetly, reciprocating.

“Actually wait a minute” he stopped midway and pulled her to the console. Clicking a few buttons, he asked her to place her palm on it just like he had.

Furrowing her brows but with the smile intact, she followed him and he again clicked a few buttons, recording her palm print

“There you go, now apart from my staff and me, you also have the keys to this house.” His hand tapped hers gently “And that means, you can come and go as you please. Irrespective of whether I am there or no” he grinned looking at her lip which was clutched into her teeth.

“Leave some for me to eat” he pinched on her chin, making her released the bitten lip and erupting another round of blushes with his tongue in the cheek comment.

Once inside the house, her feet moved in the direction of his room, but his hand on the small of her back, directed her to the opposite direction, confusing her.

“Where are we headed to?” she asked, even as she walked huffily trying to match his pace.

“Patience my darling. The wait is almost over” he said stopping at a door on the top floor of the house.

“Ready” his excitement was piquing her’s too as she nodded her head in agreement.

He pushed the door open and walked her inside, as her palms flew to her mouth, and eyes went wide with amazement.

He had converted one room in his house, into a state of the art Painting Studio, which looked like every painter’s dream come true.

She rushed inside and whirled around drinking in the surroundings amazed at how every little thing has been taken care of.

Everything in the room including the furniture was white, which was ideal as it allows the artist to decide the mood of the palette without being affected by the colors of the surrounding.

There was a huge glass cabinet on one side of the wall, which had a range of paints, paint brushes, canvasses in varied sizes and other painting essentials arranged so neatly it would put a retail store to shame.

The room had plenty of windows, that lit it up with natural light.

She saw there was a terrace extending out of the room and rushed towards it, pushing the door open.