BEYOND THE CLOUDS (Completed)

Chapter 52

She had locked herself in one of the guest rooms, but she was bored of sitting here now.

With her phone forgotten in the ‘Our Room’ she had literally nothing to do in this cold, empty space and it felt like ages had passed by with her holed in there.

She was feeling hungry too. She wanted to go out, grab a bite but then it would be meeting with the unpleasant sight of him again.

She looked around in every drawer and cupboard in the hope of finding something to eat, but all in vain.

She couldn’t even go out of the chalet, as the whole place was covered with knee deep snow with some more falling from the skies above. Her cold was bad enough already and she didn’t want to be more sick.

She stalled for a bit more, but when she felt her headache rising due to hunger and the nagging cold, she finally came out of the room and went in search of the kitchen.

Finding herself a bowl she poured some cereal and cold milk into it and started digging in like a hungry wolf.

After another helping, when she felt sated finally she exited the kitchen and meant to walk up to ‘our room’ to fetch her phone and lock herself in the guest room again, but she meant with a sight which halted her in her tracks.

In the living room, Sidharth was perched on a bar stool with a full bottle of scotch. She wanted to not care, to leave him alone drowning in his misery, but she couldn’t.

Even after repeating to herself a thousand times over that she hated him, she couldn’t stop herself from going to him.

The living room was so wide, that by the time she reached him she had seen him gulp down three shots of the bitter liquid in quick succession and wince every time the supposed elixir burnt his throat.

“Is that your final solution to everything? Alcohol?” she asked, voicing out every bit of the irritation she felt upon abusing himself. He just stared back at her and with a royal smirk, picked up the bottle to pour some more of it into the tumbler.

She held the bottle stopping him and her face scrunched as she applied more force against his resistance. “you say you’re not an alcoholic and look at you drinking in broad daylight” she snickered, her nostrils flaring in anger.

“But how does it matter to me anymore, do what the heck you want” shrugging her shoulders and beating the purpose why she had come to him in the first place, she decided to retreat to the guest room, when she felt his hand fisting into her hair and her body being whirled to him

“Why don’t you just tell me to stop drinking… why don’t you own me like you did before” Sidharth was already on his wits end because of her indifference and with the alcohol added to the mix, he felt enraged but also aroused.

In a fraction of a second, his mouth crashed into hers again, slanting his face on hers. But the taste of whiskey that was transferred from him to her made her stomach churn, triggering an old memory of her fathers inebriated state.

She pulled on his hair harshly and shoved his head away launching a verbal attack on him.

“Are you habitual to just forcing yourself on others? Just how much are you going to push me?” she yelled, sobbing profusely.

“Are you getting some kind of a kick from driving me nuts? I don’t want to be with a callous person like you. I gave you all what you wanted but still you are holding me against my wishes. This is not love, this is just you exerting your power to massage your engorged ego. Why are all you men like that? Why do you think that you have some kind of an upper hand on us? That you can make us feel and do what you would like. And us women, we don’t even have a choice. We just have to oblige you guys, if not by will then by force. Is that how you all are built?” she shouted maniacally, in a way venting out the hatred for her father upon him. “I thought I couldn’t ever hate anybody more than my father, but you have beaten him hands down. I hate you and I hate myself more for choosing to be here” Feeling out of breath in the closed, confined space, she walked out of the chalet for some fresh air.