A light in the flame

Chapter 7 - Part 1 : The Truth ?

Akshara looked at him in disbelief.

" Are you kidding me ?" She asked him.

With a voice full of rage he said " Answer the question."

" First of all, taking distance from my family was a choice, yes. For my well being I had to cut them off. However, I have tried many times to reach out to you months after YOU threw me out."

" It's not possible, I started looking for you 3 weeks after you left and never stopped till now" He replied firmly.

They stared at one another, their past pulsing in the air between them.

" So either one of us is lying or someone interfered ..." Stated Abhimanyu.

Akshara's head started to hurt, she could no longer use her brain.

" Listen, I have all the proofs of what happened that year. I will share them with you when I am ready. For now please give me some space." begged Akshara.

She whirled and whipped the pot off the fire before it burned. He didn't step away from her.

"Get out of here! You're distracting me."

She reached for a cabinet, letting it swing open close enough to his face to make him back off. After he left the tiny kitchen, she made another cup of tea. She left the quilt on the counter so she could carry her tea and food back into the living room.

Abhimanyu had built the fire into a blaze, so she sat and basked in the heat before she dug in. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she took her first bite. She was halfway through her meal when he joined her.

He sat on the opposite end of the couch. They ate in silence. She went back for seconds and made another pot of tea. When she was finished, she curled up in her corner of the couch with the quilt wrapped around her. Now that she was clean, fed, and warm, she relaxed.

The sound of the crackling fire soothed her fried nerves and blocked out the storm raging outside. She silently willed Mother Nature to calm the fuck down so she could get out of here. Women had an obligation to help each other out, right?

She stiffened when Abhimanyu returned from the kitchen and settled beside her. The damn couch was too small and not that comfortable.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Abhimanyu angled in her direction. He rested his knee on the cushion between them and draped his arm along the back of the couch.

He said nothing.

She could feel his eyes moving over her. She tried to don an indifferent expression, but she was out of practice. Abhimanyu knew how to get under her skin and was doing a damn good job of using that skill on her now.

"Stop it," she said when she couldn't take it any longer.

"Stop what?"

"Staring at me."

"Make me."

She turned her head and locked eyes with him. Memories of the night where he used fake snow to grant her wish to live a romantic snow night with him crashed over her.

"Tell me about Kiara Kapoor."

Her head whipped around so fast, she felt a streak of pain in her neck. She couldn't have heard right... but his calm, expectant expression said she wasn't having a nightmare. 

Abhir. He knew... Oh. My. God. 

Her need to flee was so strong, her eyes moved to the door.

"You won't get far," he said quietly.

To be continued ...

The next chapter will be much longer I promise ;)

A+

PillowBooksTime.