Stubborn Love (Volume 2)

Chapter 4

Sia woke up and automatically reached under her pillow for her phone. No message. No call.

She flopped back on the bed, staring at the white ceiling with a sigh that was too heavy right after a restful nap.

She had just woken up, and already felt like she was losing a competition she hadn't even signed up for.

It had been a week since her aunt invaded her home, and with her, any shred of communication with Raghav had disappeared like a magician's trick - poof, gone.

She still got to see him at nights. A tiny voice seemed to whisper from above.

She narrowed her eyes at the roof.

Did that even count? Their lively calls had now been downgraded to late-night video chats where she typed out her thoughts like she was submitting an assignment, while he glanced at the screen with the enthusiasm of someone reading the terms and conditions on a software update. He loathed the change. She knew that. But what could she do?

And on top of everything, Raghav was always rushing off to his university or working during their calls.

She was the one who had set harsh limit on their conversations. The small, annoyingly logical voice from the top made her sigh.

But still...

Despite the frustratingly brief exchanges, she was understandable enough of the circumstances. Sometimes - sometimes we need to compromise to keep the entropy of the world at minimum. So what if they had to make some sacrifices to avoid triggering needlessly suspicious set of eyes that followed her all day.

Was it too much to ask for a little more effort from his side? To make some adjustments for her sake?

Of course, she was the selfish one! How could she ask the entitled prince to budge from his comfort zone? The great Raghav would rather not talk to her at all than squeeze in little more time for their chat during his precious university time.

University coursework, research papers, documentation  about a patent - important things. And what did she have?

What was his fault in prioritising his career?

Really, voice? Was this the time for reason?

That's how he'd always been - career first, everything else second. And here she was, still lying in bed, half an hour after waking up, pondering how she had ended up in this one-sided stand-off with the ceiling.

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Seated at the dining, Suguna eyed the girl on kitchen floor kneading the dough avoiding any possible eye contact with her since yesterday.

Sia's phone beeped at the moment and she picked it up with flour stained hands making Suguna cringe. Before she could reprimand the careless girl, she placed the phone back with disappointment written all over her face. She resumed her task, this time hitting the dough with a lot more force than needed.

Suguna's eyes narrowed. Something was bothering the girl aside from her embarrassment at yesterday's incident. Lovers squabble perhaps?

She turned to her brother who was was sitting in front of her chopping vegetables with dedication. Ever since the day the clumsy girl hurt a finger while chopping a tomato, her brother did not let her touch a knife again.

When would he learn? The girl would dance on his head one day and even then he would worry about her getting tired!

How could he be so oblivious to the storm of youth surging through the house? She had watched the girl closely, she had enveloped her father with such show of affection, just like her mother. And her dimwitted brother couldn't see past the girl's innocent facade.