His Arranged Wife

The Power Cut

Rudra 's pov...

I was happy or maybe happiest to see her here, at my place. It wasn't planned but destined. I smiled while looking at her as she switched on her computer entering the passcode, sitting on the couch while I was leaning against the kitchen wall ogling her. I cannot wait for the day when she will be officially mine and this house will be ours. 

Long distance relationship is nothing fun, that is what I have thought till now but after knowing her and falling for her, I realized it's not that bad either. There are times when we fail to reach each other through texts or phones. There are times when either I am busy or she. There are also the times when we have a cold war unexpectedly and she texts first complaining why haven't I tried to apologize. I smiled every time at her cuteness. I cannot imagine myself with another person.

When I saw her back at the office, the longing and the desire to see her filled my eyes with tears. I held her tightly and close to me in fear that if I let her go the dream would be shattered. I wish one day we would be living together in the same house, sharing the house chores and the responsibilities, helping each other in personal and professional life while doing some amount of evening romances. 

My phone rang, pulling me out of my reverie as I headed towards the bedroom to grab my phone. 

" We have a problem." 

" I will be there soon." I said while hanging up and rushed out of the room. I saw Shridha engrossed in her work yet I tapped on the coffee table to grab her attention and she looked up at me.

" Work requirements. I need to head over. Will you be okay alone?" I asked and she smiled at me.

" Yes, you don't get late." She said and I nodded my head. I came towards the kitchen and held the plastic bag from the bin as it was my duty to dump the wastage in the bin outside. The stinking smell hit my nostrils and a desire to puke invaded my senses. I still made my way out, cleared the bin and noticed it was the same food which I ordered from the restaurant a week back but didn't have time to eat so I left it in the refrigerator.

" What must be Shridha thinking about me?" I sighed.

" I have always boasted about the cleanliness and hygiene and here I am about to scare her due to my messiness . 

I came back and saw her still busy with her work so I decided not to bother her and headed towards the bedroom. I had a quick shower before changing my clothes and grabbing my phone. I came out. 

" It is 7 already, Rudee. At what time will you be back?" She asked when she saw me and I looked at her averting my eyes from my phone.

" I don't know but if you need anything, you can call me anytime. The guards are always at the door so no need to be terrified about the thief and all." She smiled while hearing my words and nodded her head.

" The electricity doesn't go off, right?"

" It doesn't. Sometimes there is a power cut for a couple of minutes, that's it. That's rare though." I said and she nodded her head while thinking about something. My phone rang again and she motioned me to get going. I waved her bye and came out as I saw Anuj standing at the door.

Shridha 's pov..

I turned off the computer and after checking the time which showed 9 p.m.. I looked around before getting up and heading towards the kitchen. I started searching for snacks when my eyes landed on a note kept at the fruit basket.

I got you some snacks. It's in the fridge.

I smiled while looking at his handwritten note. The clean yet beautiful handwriting of him  gave me another reason to get attracted towards him. He knew that I wouldn't open the refrigerator as I had already seen the empty one in the evening. 

" When did you bring all these, Rudee?" I whispered when I saw my favorite snacks. We have talked about a few favorites during our chats and conversations over the phone but I didn't expect him to remember everything. I didn't expect him to leave me alone at his house either, but he did. 

I do not want to complain about it as I have said it myself that work comes before anything else but I cannot help but feel lost. I don't know what to do other than observing the interior of his not so big house. It was cozy.

His living room had a floor to ceiling door at the left which opened to the beautiful garden. Other than that there were a set of blue couches placed and the round rectangular coffee table in the middle. Against the couches, there was a large screen hanging on the wall and behind the couches was a big shelf of books. 

There were a few photographs of him hanging on the wall which complimented the look of his interior and my eyes would get fixed to him through the photographs. I smiled at myself after bringing my focus to the snacks.

I grabbed a pack of  chips before coming towards the living room and switching on the TV. I decided to watch some movies to kill my time. I am not sleepy as I slept for hours and woke up very late . 

After searching for a couple of minutes, I decided to watch The notebook.

The movie started and I started chewing on the chips. Unknowingly my hand searched for the phone and when I got it , I checked for the texts from him. 

There was none and I sighed before slumping on the couch. I have seen the movie once so I wasn't much interested as now the movie was halfway.  I walked towards the balcony and stepped down towards the lawn. 

It was a romantic night with dim lights and the sound of a few insects in the background. Only if I could play soft music on my phone, and bring Rudra from his work back, it would have been a wonderful night. I smiled at the thought and let the grass tickle the bare skin of my feet.

I don't know how many times I have imagined a beautiful night with Rudra in the lap of nature. These kinds of thoughts entered my mind only when he took me to the other side of the city to his cottage. The cold breeze touched my skin, making me shiver as I looked up towards the sky. I could tell one thing, now after traveling from city to city I have started analyzing the stars in the sky. The stars are visible in Mysore's sky while in Pune, I could count the number of stars I could see at this moment and in Delhi, there are none. 

Suddenly a sound followed by the darkness wiped off the smile from my face. I looked around only to find nothing in the name of light. My heart beat faster as I ran inside and started searching for my phone. At that moment, I felt lost. My breathing heaved up as the tears filled in my eyes. I tried to control myself from freaking out .

" It is just a power cut, Shridha. You got this!. Calm down." I tried to comfort myself but it felt like my own voice couldn't reach my ears. 

I couldn't control myself anymore and I started sobbing while searching for the phone. I don't remember where I kept it. The cold sweats started forming up on my face as I leaned against the couch, sitting on the floor and hugging my knees.

I tried not to think about that night. I tried not to close my eyes yet I have a habit of closing my eyes in the darkness.

The memories of that night started flashing in front of my eyes. The same darkness with no sound from the surroundings, I felt someone clutching me tightly while I tried to remove the grip while shouting. I did know what was happiest with me but my head felt heavy and I felt it hard to breathe anymore. The darkness suffocated me and I felt the whole thing rotate around me, although I couldn't see anything.