Frames of Destiny

Chapter 10

Next morning..

Geeta knocks on his door urgently..

"Kaun hai?"...he asks annoyingly..

"Baba main hoon.. zaroori baat karni hai..andar ajaun?"..she replies..

"Hmm aiye.."

Geeta pushes on the door gently to step in..

"Kya baat hai?"..He asks turning around while lying on his bed..

"Woh Baba Shehnaaz bitiya shayed ja rahi hai..sab kuch pack kar rahi hai..pata nehi kya hua! Bohot udhas bhi hai! Mujhe pata hai aap bimar ho lekin Madam bhi nehi hai, tou main.."..she hesitates to speak further.

He feels a sharp jolt when he hears that, and the memories of last night come rushing back..

Nevertheless, he manages to keep his calm in front of Geeta..

"Sam kaha hai?"..he asks..

"Woh Shehnaaz bitiya subah school drop karke aayi hai.."

"Achha theek hai, aap jaiye main baat karta hoon.."

"Jih theek hai Baba.."..Geeta walks away..

Sidharth leaves a long sigh thinking of the embarrassment that he would face while coaxing her now..

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He knocks on her door to let her know that he is right outside..

She turns to see him but chooses to ignore his presence completely, rather continues packing her things as he steps into the room, disregarding her lack of invitation!

"What the hell are you doing?!"...he looks at her inquisitively with his dark reddened eyes..

She remains silent..

"I am asking you something Shehnaaz! What is all this? Kaha ja rahi ho tum?!"..His voice rises slightly as frustration starts kicking in..!

She still doesn't reply and keeps doing her work silently..

Sidharth exhales in anger and steps closer to her now..

"Bandh karo yeh nautanki and just be normal!"...His body is burning with fever and his patience level is calling off..

She doesn't still reciprocate..

"What do you think you are doing?! Stop it now..!".. He snatches a jeans she was folding and throws it on her bed. His body and mind are clearly out of control, and his patience is further wearing thin. "Talk to me!"

She remains unmoved even after he snatches one of her vitals and becomes more adamant to not even glance his way..

Sidharth is already weakened by this fever and can't take it anymore! He becomes all stubborn and ready to confront this now..

He grabs her arms forcefully to make her turn to face him.. "Idhar dekho! Sunai nehi de raha hai tumhe?! Are you deaf? I have been asking you something!"...His control slips as he moves closer and his voice rises in distress..!

For the first time she meets his raged eyes from this close but she pretends like they are not affecting her in any way..!

"Don't make this worse!!"..she glares at him with her eyes almost moist with tears to only utter a few words..

"Pagal ho?! Have you even thought about Samaira for once?!" .. He still doesn't let go of her..!

"Why should I? Did you think about me before saying all that crap last night? So why should I care?"...she reverts immediately..!

Sidharth now, realizing his mistake, sighs, releases her, and steps back. He takes a few more steps backward to sit on her bed. He is clearly not in his right state of mind and rubs his face in anguish!

"Mera woh matlab nehi tha..I messed up, I am sorry!"..he justifies..

He adds..."I have seen my child being genuinely happy for the first time! And that has been possible only because of you! Bohot toot jayegi meri bacchi Shehnaaz, atleast for the sake of her mental health, don't do this, it's a request! Agar phirbhi tumhe jana hai tou main nehi rokunga!"...he says what he had to and leaves her room immediately..

Shehnaaz remains stoned for a while and can't fold any more clothes as Samaira's face flashes before her eyes..!

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11:30 pm..

Sidharth has been feeling awful after thinking about how he acted last night! He knows she was already upset and the thought that he made things worse is really daunting his sanity! Now he really wants to make it up to her by any means!

Shehnaaz is sitting silently on the patio when he joins her with two cups of tea in his hand..

"May I?"...he seems better now..

"Aap hi ka ghar hai..!"..she replies softly..

"Hmm..but you have taken over it now! Is ghar mein sab tumhein pasand karte hai! Be it Sam, Mom or Geeta Masi.."

"Aur aap?"..she asks spontaneously..

And there she makes him speechless again!

"Ho kya gaya hai tumhe Shehnaaz? Kaha kho gayi ho tum?! It's not you!"..he speaks up..

"You have taken me out of a grave to put me into a new one!!"...her voice cracks..

"I am sorry!! I swear I go nuts when I get a fever.."..he justifies..

"I didn't have any wrong intent to go there in your room! Parso gayi thi because I was scared to death and I needed your help! Aur kal baas aap ko dekhne gayi thi! I didn't have any other intentions!! How could you count me like other girls..?!" She stares at him for a good while and then quickly looks to other side to hide her flowing tears..

His heart melts at this sight and he clearly doesn't know how to mend this for her now..!

"Shehnaaz please look at me.."..he pleads..

"Family ne judge kiya mujhe farak nehi para, but when you did it I don't know why I started questioning my existence!"...tears starts falling down her eyes inevitably and as a result, she completely avoids his sight..

He fists his fingers to control and takes a deep breath to start fresh..

"You are Sam's favorite, Mom's favorite, Geeta Masi's favorite and even my Masi admires you and that too from the very first meeting! Lekin mere liye, you are an angel who turned this house back into a home! I am not here as Sam's father only but also as someone who is deeply grateful for everything you have done for my family. I am sorry Shehnaaz! I have hurt you and I realized it! Is rishte ko ek naam dena zaroori hai, warna I would keep feeling awkward. So let's call it friendship..?!"...he expects her to turn back..

And as expected, she finally turns around and picks up one of the cups he brought from the center table.

"Geeta Masi makes awful tea I swear!"..she giggles through her tears..

He smiles to match her giggles and those tears have left him shattered from inside! He is still questioning himself, why did she affect him so much?!

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Let me know how it was..❤️