• Seven Days •

Day 3

Ram hated everything about airports. Whether it was the long layovers, the erratic timings, the dry, stuffy air in the aeroplanes, the anticipation of a new destination or the sadness of leaving something behind; it all overwhelmed him. He hated the crowds. He hated the mindless interaction one had to do in such places. He hated the clinical, detached pleasantries exchanged there. He hated the turbulence. He hated the bland, tasteless food served there. He...

"How do you tie this belt?" asked Pihu. 

Ram threw a sideways glance. Because of Sandy's inane marketing schemes, they all were travelling in the economy class. Ram had got aisle seats and that too in the middle row. 

After the showdown they had last night, Ram didn't understand why Priya had made Pihu sit next to him. It was difficult to ignore the little girl when she was centimetres away from him and asking inquisitive questions that even Priya couldn't answer.

Ram's hands itched to help out Pihu. He even raised his hand slightly and turned towards Pihu but then saw Priya do the needful. It was clear that he didn't belong. Neither had Pihu asked him for help nor did Priya need his help for anything.  

"I will help you..." smiled Priya. "It's so simple, Baby. Look at how Mumma does it, okay?"

Ram snatched his hand back and looked away. He tried to focus elsewhere, anything would do. His brain was already in overdrive since the time the fake allegation against him had broken out. He already wanted to shut up himself up and not deal with anything. He didn't need to see Priya and Pihu behave like that in front of him. Yes, they were related by blood. He wasn't. He could have shared it with them. But it was taken away from him. He felt a surge of explosive anger run through his veins. 

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to look at the people who were still boarding the plane. It was a thing that he did to distract himself. He had spent a good five minutes observing everyone when a young girl walked in.

Ram's skin turned cold. Right from her poker straight hair that she wore in a middle parting, to her loose jeans, to her top, and the way her gaze was dancing around; she looked like his sister Shivina. Ram sucked in a breath again. The resemblance was so strong that it almost felt like Shivina was back for two blessed seconds. 

As the girl in question struggled with her carry-on bag, Ram leapt into action to help her. He rushed to take the bag from her hands and carefully stuffed it in the overhead compartment. But he couldn't bring himself to look at her. Ram knew that if she spoke to him, he was going to lose his mind and do something weird. So even though he heard her say thank you, he rushed back to his seat. 

Fastening his seat belt, he closed his eyes and just pretended to go to sleep. He didn't want to deal with anything.

The loss that Shivina had left behind was devastating. He didn't think that anything could be worse than his father dying. Turned out, he was wrong. Ram still had to see Shivina die in his arms. 

The visuals of Shivina mumbling a last I love you to him and then going slack flashed before his eyes. Ram's eyes flew open in a second. He didn't want to see it again and again. Ridiculously, he had been robbed of the luxury of sleep too. 

Instinctively, he reached out for his wallet. Ram had put a smiling picture of Shivina in it. She looked insanely beautiful and happy in it. He had clicked it right after she had received her Raksha Bandhan gift. He had no one to spoil, gift, pamper, to protect for the last five years. Ram had failed. He couldn't protect his sister.   

Ram's eyes moisten. He was not supposed to get this anxious and emotional in the economy class of a plan and definitely not in front of Priya of all people.