Discordance

Chapter Forty-Seven

"Abhimanyu it has been 4 hours." Akshara said giggling into the phone, rolling her eyes when Abhimanyu pouted muttering a "you don't understand" under his breath.

Of course, she understood. If not her then who would "Monster I saw you this morning at breakfast, you haven't even gone back home yet." She chided but her heart wasn't in it. She understood where his anxiety was coming from but maybe this time apart and her going to the engagement would ease his mind that she wanted to be where he was.

"I know, I just miss you" he whined as his face scrunched up and it hit her in that moment that maybe she had bitten more than she could chew because she missed him desperately as well knowing that he won't be sleeping behind her, holding her tightly to him and whispering how much he loved her.

"I miss you too Monster, now can I go? I have to go to the orphanage to drop some stuff off for Parth Bhai." She asked her eyes sparkling with mirth when he stuck his bottom lip out like a child begging for 5 more minutes. How was this grown ass man behaving like a child? They had been repeating the same 5 more minutes conversation for the past 30 minutes, but this time Akshara would have to be the adult between them and reluctantly she glared at him until he nodded his head.

As she grinned a goodbye out, Abhimanyu looked straight into her eyes through the phone "Akshara, you'll come back right?" he asked and because he had called her Akshara she knew how much this must have been weighing on his mind. "I promise baba I'll see you in 2 nights and half of a day." She said making sure her eyes never wavered from the screen.

"Alright" he finally agreed hesitantly "I love you."

"I love you back" she whispered blushing slightly before they finally cut the call off.

Clutching the phone once to her chest wishing she could be like him and tell him in big big words about how much he made her feel and how deeply engrained he was in her heart but she wasn't Abhimanyu, she was just Akshara. Someone Abhimanyu chose to love so deeply that it made her head spin. He was under her skin but it was hard to make him understand because his proximity made her tongue tied.

The evening of the engagement couldn't come soon enough. She had regretted sending him home the first night apart because as much as she tossed and turned, she couldn't sleep and like teenagers she had to call Abhimanyu and they slept with their breaths syncing through the phone. Her skin was itchy, her brain was itchy, she knew it was because he wasn't there, and it wasn't like they hadn't had nights apart before, but this was different. This was after that nasty woman but this was also after she had understood how much she loved him.

She was just thinking of him as she showered the day before the engagement when she thought she heard his voice. Instantly she perked up and turned the water off, had he come to see her? But by the time she pattered over to the bathroom door she realized that his voice wasn't coming because he was here, but it was because Diksha had her phone on the speaker, and they seemed to be whispering something back and forth.

She tried to listen by the door, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Why was her phone on the speaker? She wanted to desperately know what the surprise was. Was the surprise going to be something crazy? She hoped it wasn't because he had done so much for her and she couldn't begin to repay him in this lifetime, hoping her hesitant love would be enough.

Toweling herself dry and getting dressed she casually made her way out of the bathroom, a picture of innocence ignoring the way Diksha scrambled to cut the call. If he was trying so hard to give her a surprise maybe she should try and maintain the sanctity of it.

Smirking slightly, she watched as Abhimanyu's name flashed on her screen. She tried to hide her grin and patted her cheeks hoping they would be back to normal before she picked it up smiling slightly into the phone.