Discordance

Chapter Sixty-Five

She couldn't let him know how rattled she was about what had transpired and thankfully she had had some time to herself before he found her to get her thoughts under control and cry it out because if he found out how much this had shook her to the core, he would feel worse than he already was feeling and blame it on himself when he was the last person who should be carrying this burden.

She had kept her smile intact the rest of the night and danced and hugged people like everything was okay and to be fair it was okay, she was just slightly bitter and hurt that her life was a colossal mess which refused to let up and all these months with Abhimanyu didn't seem to lessen it, as hard as she tried. Nobody could know how terrified she still was of her bade papa and how much her insides reeled every time someone mentioned him or how she was constantly looking behind her back when she was alone dreading that he would show up and strangle her or something but if she told her brothers or Abhimanyu they would all worry and what really was the point in disrupting their peace when nothing had happened yet?

Shrugging the melancholy off, she tossed and turned trying to sleep but it felt like sleep remained out of reach. The night that had transpired and the terrified look on Abhimanyu's face was stuck in her head every time she closed her eyes and she would have to sit up with a hand over her chest to ease the rapid heartrate. The last time it happened, she punched her pillow in frustration and shoved the blanket off her, clutching her head in her hands in desperation. Why couldn't she just have one day of silence where she could forget her past and what she had come from?

No matter what she did, sleep wasn't going to happen for her and with a frustrated sigh she finally padded into the bathroom on the lightest of feet, scrolling on her phone to check if there was any news from Abhimanyu but he seemed to have gone to sleep and Akshara felt her anxiety ease a tad at it, he didn't deserve to shoulder her burdens.

With a frustrated sigh, she decided that she might as well work for a little bit and get some things into order, despite the lateness of the night. She had only done the bare minimum for work in the past few days and her emails were piling up as well as people who needed her presence. Most of her shelter duties had been taken over by Shanta Tai and Akshara was immensely grateful for it but maybe this was a sign from god that she needed to keep her mind occupied and find her solace in work again and so with a clear head she began to respond to emails with a quick efficiency.

Only her phone ringing had her jerking out of the groove she had found, realizing that she had been answering emails and drafting budgets for the past hour without moving and her muscles were locked in, her back sore as hell.

"Hi" she grumbled into the phone, smiling softly when Diksha's equally grumpy voice came through the phone.

"Why are you working?" Diksha asked but from what Akshara could tell, Diksha was at the hospital as well.

"Why are you working?" she asked smugly, turning her ipad off in defeat and stretching her neck, trying to work out the kinks and the soreness.

"You know Sheetal from the shelter? She was here getting her appendix removed and because I didn't want to make shanta tai sleep here, I just stayed back after my shift." She mumbled yawning loudly, making Akshara's guilt rise. This was her job and now everyone else had to pitch in and fill her spot.

"Shit I'm sorry Diksha. I would have stayed back but shanta tai told me she had it covered. I should have known it would be too much for her" she said and in a split-second decision she was up and padding over to her closet to grab her jeans and a fresh shirt to change into. Sleep was anyway not going to happen so this would be the next best option and this way Diksha could get a quiet night and wake up refreshed for her shift the next morning.