A Flight of Love

Chapter 27 - Jealousy, Thy Name is Akshara

Akshara awoke the next morning feeling even worse than the day before and it had nothing to do with her ankle or the shooting pain in her rib cage. Aimlessly, she gathered herself up from her bed and waddled her way to the bathroom for a quick shower.

Maybe standing under the scalding water was all she needed to think clearly. She felt horrible about what she had done to Abhimanyu —and he hadn't even been at fault. But that was the only option she —they had.

No, Akshara, you had an option. You had the option of accepting your love for him, confessing it. You had the option of making both your families understand how much he means to you. You had the option of fighting for him, fighting for the both of you. Coward. Her brain taunted, as she stepped inside the shower.

She was a coward. Because for the first time in her life, Abhimanyu was forcing herself to think for herself. Forcing her to become selfish. Before him, it had been so easy. Life hadn't been as complicated.

Before, she could just blindly trust her Bade Papa, Badi Mama, Mimi and follow their decisions like it was the gospel of truth. The same way she'd agreed to get married to the guy of their choosing, because she trusted her family. Uncomplicated.

Until him. Abhimanyu had entered her life as a force not to be reckoned and that is exactly what he was. A tornado that had shaken her foundation to the very core. He didn't even have to do anything, not even lift a finger but yet she kept getting puller closer and closer to him.

Selfish. He made her want to become selfish for him.

Cordial. She reminded herself. Not friends, or enemies, he had asked them to be cordial with each other. Cordial, cordial, cordial.

He had bared his heart out to her, letting her know he had fallen in love with her without using the exact words and what had she done? She had twisted his heart out and handed it back to him.

Akshara didn't even notice when the water turned from piping hot to freezing cold as she found herself to immersed in her own thoughts. She stepped out of the shower and got ready for the day. Another round of wedding preparations before the actual events started. But mostly, she hoped to catch a glimpse Abhimanyu too.

~*~

Akshara walked to the poolside to see Abhimanyu laying down on the pool chairs, resting with his legs up and sunglasses hiding his beautiful hazel eyes from the rays of the sun. He had his hands neatly folded on his stomach.

Don't do it, Akshara. Leave him alone. That's the least you can do after ripping his heart to shreds, her mind warned.

She quietly tiptoed over to the pool chairs and sat down on the chair next to his, quiet as a mouse. As she at beside him, in the warm summer breeze, she couldn't help but admire the way the sunlight reflected off of Abhimanyu's face.

Abhimanyu felt her presence the moment she sat down beside him. He could feel her staring at him, intently. Breaking Akshara Goenka's resolve wasn't going to be as hard as he'd thought. She as as affected by the distance between them as he was —that was before he knew the truth.

He opened his eyes and saw her glance away the moment he 'woke' up from his morning sunbathing session. He stared at her, while she stared back nervously, as if she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Nice...nice weather isn't it?" Really, Akshara? That's how desperate you've become to talk to him? That you'd be willing to talk about the damned weather?!