Caught In The Cyclone Of Love (COMPLETED)

Chapter - 48

I woke up to the sound of a ringtone, blaring somewhere near me. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around me. Oh, I am in a car? How? Shit, now I remember. I tried to sneak out of the mansion, and I nearly succeeded in it, had it not been for Karthik. But I would not have been able to come out unscathed without him. All the adrenaline rush caused by sneaking out and chasing must have taken a toll on me; I must have slept while we were travelling. Speaking of which, we are still travelling! Where did they hold me hostage? When I sneaked out of the house last night, it was past midnight. We are still driving, which means I was held by my father in a very remote place. All the untamed plants, trees and a lonely mud road were enough proof, when I looked outside my window.

I turned to my right to see Karthik; his full concentration was on the road ahead of us. But his shoulders looked tensed and his eyes flitted from the road to me ever so slightly. When he saw that I was awake, he gave me a small smile. He can smile! I smiled back and turned my head towards the window. The sky looked a dull gray, the remnants of the night, fading away as the streaks of sunlight came into view. I heard the same song and looked at the dash board to see Karthik's phone ringing. He looked at the caller id and his face tensed. Who is that on the other end, who can make the grumpy man even grumpier? I can see why he and Ajju were best friends in high school. After all they have the same grumpy attitude.

"Hello bro. Yes we are on our way", he spoke into the phone rather begrudgingly. Almost as if the person on the other end, irritates him. Then his eyes widened and he looked at me frantically. What happened to him? Then he spoke hurriedly into the phone in a hushed voice, so that I won't be hearing anything. All of a sudden he is behaving like a shy girl who is talking to her crush on the phone for the very first time. God, he is definitely bipolar. One time he looks all rough and rude and now he is bloody flustered.

He quickly cut the call and concentrated too much on driving, so much that his hands that were gripping the steering wheels seemed rigid and his knuckles turned white. I looked at his profile; his jaw was clenched, even though he was looking at the road ahead, his eyes seemed distant, as if living somewhere else. I did not dare ask what is bothering him. What if he becomes angry and throws me out on the road? But where am I? What if he is taking me somewhere to get rid of me? He would definitely do that, but I have not done anything to avert him at all. Still all he ever did whenever we saw each other was glare at me. God, all these thoughts are giving me a head ache. I over think everything whenever I have slept too much or whenever I am sleep deprived.

I finally mustered up enough courage and turned to him. He still had that faraway look in his eyes and he looked slightly wary. "Um, Karthik. Where are we?", I asked slowly as I looked at our surrounding which looked bright and lively under the rising sun. He did not say anything at first, so I thought he did not hear me. When I opened my mouth to call him again, he turned his head towards me. Shocked I backed away in my seat until I hit the door. His eyes widened and he immediately apologized, "Hey I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you", he said, his voice unusually soft, as he changed the gear softly. But I did not miss the look of loneliness and grief that crossed his eyes when he turned to me. I observed him keenly to find any traces of that look, but it was gone as soon as I had seen it.

"We are on our way back to Bangalore. We will reach home in about an hour. So relax", he said and diverted his concentration back to the road. But I could not get that look out of my head. It was like his strangely familiar eyes were compelling their way into my brain, and how much I may try they would not just go away. I have definitely seen that look somewhere else. I just cannot put my finger on where I have seen it. He looked broken and vulnerable, like a child who had lost his parents in a huge fair. His eyes let their guard down only for a minute, but that was enough for me to figure out that he is not the tough guy, he portrays himself to be. I am now determined to find out what he is hiding within himself. After all I have to find out why he came to the mansion in the first place and he helped me get out of there too. That is something I want to know about.