My Solace

Part 17: With her, For her

It was Monday and they were back to their office. The work was comparatively more because they had to meet the deadline the following week.

Samridh was stressed out being the Senior developer was definitely not an easy task and one of the freshers had mistakenly deleted an important section of the site.

Samridh was trying to restore it but to his bad luck the team had isolated the section to the two freshers and they didn't push the code to the main branch. They were pressured to meet the deadline.

He couldn't even scold them as it wasn't entirely their fault. They were here to learn and he must have ensured that they got proper guidance. Also, the scared and guilty look on their faces already told how bad they were feeling about the whole situation.

Samridh didn't say anything at that moment and decided to get the work done himself. Though he didn't mention it. He was definitely frustrated.

As soon as the clock ticked 7, he left the office thinking he would do the work at home. He had to pick up Ruchi.

He drove towards her office but today she was not there like every day. He waited for about half an hour but she didn't come. A few minutes more and then he saw the watchman putting a lock on the office. Getting out of the car, he immediately marched towards the office.

"Why are you putting a lock here? " He asked and he was astonished by the answer.

"It's empty, Sir. Everybody left"

Samridh called her but her phone was switched off.

His heartbeat rose. He was scared where did she go? What happened to her?

He wanted to cross-check the building himself but the watchman denied saying he had already done it two times and then left.

Samridh stressed out at the thought of her getting lost. Like a madman, he ran to nearby cafes and malls to find her. He kept searching her for but failed. He was on the verge of crying.

He was scared of what happened to her.

Dejected, he leaned on the car, trying to connect to her via call but every time it informed only one thing that the phone was switched off.

After another 15 minutes, he saw two figures approaching him. Samridh's ears perked up as he heard Ruchi. He immediately dashed to her.

He hugged her to his life.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? " He checked her, only she was the important person. He could see nothing beyond her. She shook her head vigorously at his disheveled state, "I am fine" She almost whispered looking at his teary eyes. Her heart sank looking at his broken self.

"Where did you go? " He asked her in a croaked voice.

He was so stressed that he failed to notice another presence with his wife., "I was searching for you all this while and you didn't care to inform me. Ruchi, what were you trying to do? Huh? The least you could do was inform me but you just went without telling me anything. What do you think of yourself? What if anything happened to you? What about me? How dare you pull such a stunt? " He gripped her shoulders tightly jerking her towards himself.
He looked scary. For the first time, he raised his voice at her. The stressed Samridh a minute before was now angry. He gazed into her eyes with a strong intensity sending shivers down her body.

Tears pooled in her eyes. She wiggled out of his grip and ran towards their car. She was scared of his new side. "Ruchi" Someone whispered from the other side and moved toward her.

Samridh fisted his hands trying to control himself. He didn't want to shout at her. But he did and now he was regretting it. The moment he saw her teary eyes, he was angry at himself.

He was breathing heavily trying to calm down.

The girl that was beside Ruchi came in front of him, "It wasn't her fault, I dragged her with me. I am sorry" She said and moved aside.

Samridh wanted to say something but words didn't come out of his mouth. He simply nodded at her and moved towards their car. His sole focus was on the woman who was sitting in the passenger seat looking outside.

He drove in silence.

Only he knew what he felt in that hour. It felt like someone was snatching the life out of him. She was his sole family. His everything. Not even in dreams he could think of the rest of his life without her.

She was always with him in his future plannings. She was his center of attention. Not that he tasted the sweet life with her, he detested even the idea of going back to his previous life. It's only with her that he is going to spend his life with.

She gave his life meaning. A purpose.

Earlier he was just surviving but now he was living the life. With her. For her.