"I don't want to become the kind of Adwait who would rip every single skin cell off any man who dares to have even the faintest touch upon your skin," He placed a soft, lingering kiss on her earlobe.
Nitya's heart raced in response to his words. Sh...
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I punched in Samar's number once more. The damn thing was failing to connect on the first try. After three or four rings, the sound of someone picking up on the other end finally reached my ears.
"Hello," came Samar's blunt response from the other end of the line. The irritation in his voice was so notable.
"Where are you? And what's got you in such a sour state?"
My gaze darted towards my seat only to find it vacant. Nitya was nowhere to be seen, leading me to suspect that she had probably migrated to the second section.
"Bro," his voice cut through my thoughts, pulling my attention away from the empty seat. "You've disturbed me. I was in the middle of something important, that's why my mood has turned foul," he grumbled.
"Were you in the middle of a quickie or something?"
"Soon enough, bro, I'll reach this stage too," he retorted, the smirk in his voice audible even over the phone. "By the way, why'd you even call?" his tone was impatient as if he wanted to wrap up the conversation quickly.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I responded, "Meet me at Y junction at 7. And don't you dare be late," I warned.
With a curt 'okay' from the other end, the line went dead.
'This guy,' I muttered under my breath.
Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I headed back towards my seat.
I saw Nitya darting out of the section in a hurry. Before I knew it, she collided into me with full force, almost losing her balance. Instinctively, I reached out to steady her, my eyes meeting hers in the process.
I stared in horror and disbelief at her tear-streaked face. The skin around her mouth was marked, as if someone had forcefully clamped their hand over it.
She swiftly pulled away from my grasp, collected her things from the desk before turning to leave the library.
I stood there rooted to the spot still wondering what had happened to her. The marks around her mouth were burned into my mind, refusing to fade away.
I made my way to the section where she had emerged from in desperation to figure out what had caused her to leave in such a hurry. Everything appeared to be normal there with no one in sight.
My eyes fell upon a book lying on the ground, the same one that Nitya had been reading earlier.
I picked it up, my mind racing with questions. Why was it lying here? What could have happened in just the few minutes that I was absent?
I needed to talk to her and find out what was going on. I quickly placed the book back in its original position, taking one last look around the section before exiting it.
I gathered my stuff from the table and headed downstairs. Glancing at my watch, I saw it was nearly 5 PM. Nitya might have already taken off for home. I knew she usually caught the bus as I had seen her once or twice before.
