Discordance

Chapter Ninety-Six

Abhimanyu had not expected to wake up hungover, let alone be drinking the way he had been the night before. Groaning from the pounding headache, he blinked slowly, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes and the cobwebs from his brain to try and think clearly.

Once he had his bearings about him, he stretched an arm out to Akshara's side of the bed needing her warm, sweet body to burrow his face into only for his hands to come up empty.

"Akshara?" he gritted out but just calling her name out loud caused the throbbing in his head to worsen and slowly everything that had happened the night before sank in and how he had let his jealousy get the better of him and pushed Akshara away. "Shit" he breathed out, fumbling around blindly to get a hold of his phone only to sit up straight startled by the number of missed calls from the hospital flashing on his screen.

He had to hurriedly run around and get his shit together, his mind laser focused on getting dressed and rush out of the house, all thoughts of the night before vanishing, the patients waiting for him would need his full uninterrupted attention even if everything in his personal life felt like it was going up in flames. As he was rushing out of the house, he did have the forethought to text Akshara that he was swamped for the day but also to check and see if she was okay but all he got in response was a thumbs up reaction to his text. What the hell was she mad at him for? He should be the one who should be pissed at her for trailing behind that loser Raj all through the crowd while he had to sit in a corner and watch quietly because it was for her work after all and he was not going to be a villain in her life but goddammit was he hurt.

Abhimanyu went about his day, his jaw clenched so tightly that he was sure if witnessed by his dentist, he would get a good talking to. He wasn't jealous per se, he really wasn't. he just hated the idea of his innocent and lively wife maybe believing every little word that Raj said and falling for his easy charms and his do-gooder personality when Abhimanyu knew it was all a façade, a green screen which hid his poor intentions. But everytime he thought of talking to Akshara about it, his brain started flashing warning signs. He could not and would not interfere in her work which he knew was half her reason to live and exist in this world and for that he would forever be grateful, so all he could do was just shut up and take it but god was it a bitter revelation going down his throat.

For the first time in as far as he could remember, Abhimanyu worked on autopilot, his mind a million miles away and as the day came to a close he came to the conclusion that he was making a mountain of a mole hill and Akshara definitely did not need this right now. With that decision established in his mind, he made his way over to his office stopping short by the entrance once he noticed Akshara leaning over his desk, her back to him and it felt like a knot he didn't even realize existed, loosened suddenly and he felt like he could take a deep refreshing breath of air after a harrowing day.

As Abhimanyu approached Akshara he could see her spine stiffen and he blew out a sharp gust of breath before carefully wrapping his arms around her middle and dropping his chin over her shoulder, he didn't know about her but he had felt like a man starved and suddenly her scent and just her beauty was filling every inch of his blood.

"Hi" he whispered after his presence was ignored and the silence stretched between them for what felt like hours but was probably less than 10 seconds.

"Oh, you're by yourself? Where is your friend?" The bitterness in her tone gave Abhimanyu a brief pause because how the hell was she the mad one when he had to give himself a pep talk the whole day to not bring up his jealousy or broach the subject of Raj at all. Taking a brief pause, Abhimanyu finally had had enough of Akshara averting her eyes from him and with careful precision, he gently turned her around to face him, stopping short when he saw her blazing, fuming eyes framed by her beautiful hair.