Roommate (ASHAANGI)

Seven

"Parvathi... I'm sorry" Saesha apologizes for the umpteenth time.

"How can you hide this from me? I'm not upset about you being with my brother but you hiding things from me" Parvathi turns her head away from Saesha angrily.

"I thought you'd be mad at me for... Being with your brother. I didn't have the guts to tell you" Saesha pouts, dropping her head on her hands.

"Please forgive me" She adds, looking at her friend in hope.

"Hmmm... I'll consider" Parvathi keeps her index finger on her chin, pretending to think.

"My mind says no. But my heart says yes. Okay, I forgive you" Saesha grins at her best friend and pulls her into a tight hug. Kissing her cheek, she stands up from the couch and bumps into Akshay.

"Uh.. Sorry" She mutters and Parvathi looks between them.

"Bye" Saesha runs to the door and never looks back at the siblings.

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"You're hiding something from me. Nallavey theriyuthu" Satya speaks beside her.

"Uhuh I'm not hiding anything" Saesha looks at the screen in front of her, refusing to meet Satya's eyes.

"Did something happen yesterday?" He pulls her chair closer to him when she doesn't stop tapping her fingers on the keyboard.

"No. Now let me work in peace" She tries to move her chair away from him.

"Look at me Sai, you're lying" He says gently gripping her chin to make her look at him.

"Um.. Yes, I do have something to tell you actually" She swallows the lump forming in her throat.

"Go on" He tilts his head, his hand slowly dropping from her jaw.

"Me and.... Akshay... You met him yesterday right?" She places her wet palms on her thighs and nervously chuckles looking around her cabin.

"Yes. What about him?" Satya narrows his eyes at his friend.

"We... We're in a relationship" She keeps her voice low and looks around the office to see if anyone is overhearing their conversation.

"You what? Uh what? When did this happen?"

"Since the first day he came to the city" She presses her lips thin and watches Satya's unreadable expression.

"I thought you hated him?" he says more in a questioning way.

"Well, I couldn't quite figure out my feelings. I just realized I'm in love with him" She laughs sarcastically under her breath and Satya's jaw ticks.

"Did you hit your head somewhere?"

"No of course not, he makes sure I don't bang my head on the table" She grins at him and he shakes his head.

"But why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"I told you I just realized. I was in my right sense yesterday and he happened to admit his feelings to me yesterday too" She just hopes he doesn't catch her lying and believes her.

Before Satya could reply, someone calls out for saesha, saving her from his questioning.

"I'm coming" She rushes to the door, and never looks back at Satya.

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Saesha ruffles through the files, searching for her important details of her just so she could show those to her boss. When she doesn't find it, she arches her head back and groans loudly remembering it's at her house.

"No. No. No" She covers her face with her hands, letting out soft whimperings

Standing up, she places the piles of folders on the filing cabinet and exits the room, keeping her head low. The thought of going back to her house flashes her mind, making her more stressed. She walks to the restroom and quietly closes the door behind her. Gripping the edge of the vanity, she shuts her eyes and tries to calm down her rapid breathing.

"Breath. Breath" She mumbles before forcefully inhaling and exhaling.

"If you don't want to lose your consciousness, just breathe" She reminds herself and opens the tap, letting the water hit the sink. The sound of water flowing out of the tap echoes through the washroom and she lowers her hand on the sink, trying to calm herself. Splashing the warm water on her face, she shuts her eyes and closes the tap.

"Kadavuley, He shouldn't be at the house today. Please. Not today" she quickly prays before exiting the washroom.

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Not uttering any single word to Satya, saesha quickly exits her office building and was smart enough to book her an Uber to her house. She quickly takes her seat inside the car and doesn't mutter any greetings. If she was in her usual self, she would've made small conversations with the driver here and there. Taking a deep breath, she tells him the address to her house and rolls down the window. Placing her arm on the door, she rests her chin on her arm, watching the trees sprinting.

The cool breeze hits her warm skin and she relaxes for a second. Her phone chimes, indicating she has got new messages, but she was too engrossed in watching the trees sprinting. The phone vibrates against her purse. Fishing her free hand inside her purse, her fingers brush the phone and she takes it out.

The called id flashes, and she sighs, placing it back in her purse. She will tell Satya tomorrow she was out with Akshay and He doesn't need to pick her up anymore. She so wanted to text Satya to not wait for her, but suddenly the idea of lifting her hands and typing on her phone feels very heavy.

The car halts, welcoming her back to reality. Slowly paying the driver, she exits the car and looks at the old house in front of her. Her eyes immediately search for his car, which is not parked. She releases a breath of relief when she realizes he is not home and she can take out her files of college degrees. Looking around her old surrounding, she notices no one is outside their house. Not even the kids are playing outside. The street is scarily silent. It's almost no one lives here. She would've been convinced if not for the clothes drying outside their house.

Taking a deep breath, her feet involuntarily takes her to her old house. The sound of her saddle shoes echoes through the street, making her walk slower. She looks up at the sky and takes another deep breath.

"You've got this," she tells herself and makes it to her front door. She turns the doorknob open but the door doesn't open, indicating no one's home. Her eyes lands on the flower pot placed in front of the door. The leaves are dried, there are no more flowers. She is sure he hasn't been watering the plants. Sighing she crouches down and lifts the pot. Her eyes shines when she finds the keys she has placed there six months ago. Quickly taking the keys, she places the flower pot back to its original position and stands up, running a hand through her wrinkled skirt.

She silently inserts the key and the door creaks open. An unpleasant smell hits her nostrils and she scrunches up her nose, removing her shoes and entering the house. Silently closing the door behind her, she hisses loudly when pain shoots from her feet to her whole body. She looks down to see the shattered glass splattered on the floor. The house is messy and she so wishes she hadn't come here. Kneeling, she picks at the glass which has pierced through her skin and pulls it out. Standing up, she makes sure to never step on the pieces of glass again. 

The lights are on and she stills when she thinks of the worse.

"You're back" He laughs behind her and she freezes. Her feet stay rooted to the surface and her head spins, hearing his voice.