Found you (On Hold)

Reveries

Chris' POV
I take her back to the bench and let her cry in my arms. Her crying has turned into sobbing now, almost after an hour which is equally painful to watch. I have met the girl once but I can tell she's not the type to sit on a bench alone in a park at night and cry over something. What exactly happened? It's weird that I think I know her after one encounter but that's what I'm feeling.
I try to calm her down but she's taking her own time so it's no use. I nervously caress her head with my hands, only thing I'm capable of at the moment.
I, never in a million years, would have thought that I would try finding a girl I met at a club that I know nothing about, except her name, I would go in the direction a stupid bald man is pointing to on the phone and keep walking for 30 minutes. If anyone told me yesterday morning that I would enter the park because my fucking heart told me to do so and I would see her sitting all by herself, crying and I would hold her tightly trying to keep her close and safe, I would have laughed off their face and most probably poured a bucket of ice cold water on them. These things don't happen in real life.
My opinion on the predictability of life has changed forever. The weather at the moment is certainly mimicking the story of my life and hers too, it seems. I've never paid attention to weather but I don't have anything else to compare the situation. It's thunderous and completely out of control.
This girl crying in my arms has been trying to talk but it's not working. She mumbled some words but I could not understand because first, they were mumbled while crying, second, they were in Hindi. I don't know how to comfort a girl. The only thing I know about them is, well, what they like and... Oh yes, I know how to annoy them. I used to annoy my sisters all the time. The only thing they were capable of was, crying. Do all girls do that? That's what Mahi is doing.
Mahi... Damn... I forgot I was supposed to console her.
"Hey... Shhh... Don't cry please..." I softly say to her. So soft that even I don't recognize my own voice. Where did this side of me came from?
"I... I'm..." She speaks in between her sobs.
"My... My house... Chris... My house..."
"What? What happened? Are you lost? I'll take you back. Come on." I say standing up. "But please stop crying. Please." I request her.
"No... My house... Fi... Fire..."
"What??" Fire... House... Shitttt...
"Mahi, please tell me what exactly happened." I beg of her this time. If there's a fire in the house, why the hell is she sitting in a park crying? Why isn't she at her place? My brain is unable to process what's happening and that's a good thing. This is not exactly the time to over think.
I get up and hold her hand to make her stand.
"Mahi, we need to go to your place. Where do you live?" I rush my words without waiting for my previous question's answer.
She shows me her phone in which there's a picture with the front view of her building and the address written on the front door. It's almost 20 minutes away. Damn. Why did she move in the opposite direction of her house when leaving the club. The place is not more than 5 minutes away from that club. But then, I would have never found her if she had went straight to her house. I guess it's not the time to think about me.
"We are going at your place right now." I tell her. She looks hesitant at first but then nods and looks down at the floor, still sobbing.
I take her out of the park. She isn't talking like she was in the club. It's difficult to believe she is the same person. It looks as if somebody just sucked life out of her. I look at her again, thinking one of the images would go away. But they don't. The contrast is pasted in my mind. It's disturbing and overwhelming, seeing her like this.
The only thing that scares me at the moment is, why the hell am I not leaving her on her own and why do I care?

Mahi's POV
On occasions like these, I'm the one to cheer everyone up. That under normal circumstances. At the moment, I'm the miserable one. I'm the one who can't go back to her own family. I'm the one who's homeless.
'You're on your own in this one, Mahi.' Daddy said to me.
The only voice I can hear is his. I can see the mass around and I know they are not silent. But I can barely hear the sound of life. It's like every face I see, reminds me of what I've done. Every face telling me to go back and accept that I lost the battle against myself, against the people who raised me to carry my burden myself but never supported me when I wanted to do so. How do people survive this. It can't be true that I'm the only one who denied simple breathing to start living their own way. The first line that inspired me to live on my own was, 'You know all those things you've always wanted to do? You should go, Do them.'
Such words used to inspire me. But during times like this, people lose hope, people lose themselves. I can't do that. Going back is not an option. I come out of my reverie and notice that I'm in a cab, which is stationary. Chris is paying the cab driver. He looks at me with an apologetic smile and I see hope. I get out of the cab and dare turning my vision to my house. I wasn't aware that I'm standing outside a burnt building. Now I am. All the chaos and ruin is the only sight. The only thing I can see is debris. They must have made people leave the scene long ago. I'm late. A few men in uniform are standing outside talking.
"If you want, I can talk to them." Thick velvety voice says from behind. I nod and look at my feet.