Under Those Sleeves(On Hold For..reasons)

#1

He's late.
How could he be late when the last time she called she was very specific that she needed him to come there at that instant.
Does he not take me seriously?
She better not think along those lines for another second or she'll regret it.
She'll regret it, for then, the answer should be very clear - one that has been up front for a while now.

..~..

"I need to meet with you, right now." She'd said trying to sound firm, "If...you're not too busy." She had tried to be a poignant sarcastic but the words flew out too nervously to make an impact.
"Come on, Abby. Really? Wasn't I going to be at your home tomorrow or something?" A callous voice peculiar of Sameer (or Sam) said on the other end.
She couldn't help but imagine him rolling eyes with drink in hand. And she couldn't be more right. She could hear his friends' drunken laughter, the clinking of glasses.
"I need you here now, just get to 'Reprise Diner' near my house." She said, this time more relieved.
"Uh, but what's the matter?" A little more responsive this time.
"I need to see you. I haven't seen you in a week. And you don't reply to my messages hours after you've read them." She could hear herself starting to whine.
"Oh my God! You know I told you that this week I might get a little busy. But no! You have to always bug me while I am finally having some peace time after the afternoon madness." He snapped.
Aabha was taken aback but replied back mustering thoughts.
"Oh so it's my mistake that you feel like your afternoons have been stolen. Do I need to remind you who-"
He at once cut her as he felt a surge of heat rise inside him.
"Oh don't you go over it again with my friend. I told you that she is just a very close friend who is returning after a month long journey abroad."
"A month! It is not like she's been away from country for years that you have to be with her every afternoon and saunter the streets of this city that she already knows herself." She was almost crying.
Am I the one who is screwing this up?
Maybe it's me who's always poking into stuff that causes trouble between them. Why do I do this? I need to apologize now for implying such non sense.
"Okay, I am coming there. Just shut this non sense over the phone now." She hears him say before he hangs up.
The phone slides down her curls with her hand slowly. Tear beads appear at the corners of her eyes. She closes her eyelids shut tight.

..~..

It's quite late now. Even for being late.
For the past 25 minutes or so she's been looking back and forth to the glass door and at her hands seated over one another near her stomach on the table. With every passing moment they seem to be getting to the point of strangling each other out of sheer anxiety. She's been thinking.

It's not like I ever forgot about this but before I say anything about his ways I must remember of the time when he first came to me. I was just so little. So little and so crippled down by the crumbling relationship of my parents. How can I ever forget the tease that ensued with the schoolmates finding out about the divorce. The Indian society isn't very accepting towards the idea of divorce. Or at least the place where I went to study wasn't so much supportive towards me as a child of a divorced couple. Old friends now continually asked questions about which parent I lived with and why I didn't live with my mom. Why I chose to live with Dad. What did they fight about? At those moments in life, I was numb, really. I don't remember the fight between my mother and father. I never really knew the reason for divorce. And I never asked. Dad was allotted my custody and mom didn't seem to mind that. As for me, I wasn't in a place to make a choice. Living with my Dad was nothing like living with the father that he once was. It was not just like mom was gone away. He was lost. Or at least the part I would have required at the moment. I just dragged on with life. I knew things were changing and I concentrated on putting my mind to adapting rather than trying to pull at weak strings trying to control things that were too big for me to handle. But could I even do that?
I had none to share my little fears. No one to help me out with homework, no one would like sitting next to me and things like those alone were enough to make me wish for 'it'. I had no companion. No one except for....
Numbness encapsulated me throughout my days except of course when I was held 'it' close to my skin in a dull darkly room.
I grew more and more quiet. Dad noticed. But did he care? When the news spread through the school kids, Dad got to knew. He didn't bother asking for a long time if I wanted to change school. And it didn't matter though. After all, even at a new place people would get to know eventually.
At that quiet saddened moment, he appeared. He was callous as one can be. But he didn't bother about my parent's marital status either. He would sit next to me. Talk to me about anime. He was a friend I could talk to without bringing in the topic of divorce. And then, I started to wonder maybe he would understand and bring me to the point of talking about 'that' thing and free me of all that's been weighing my heart down for so long.
That was in 8th standard. It's been almost four years. But time has not moved much in respect of...us. He has still not become that person for me. But that is not even what bothers me now. Time has not moved except for the fact that he has become even more reckless. Heedless even to my pleading sights. It's not the afternoons he spends with some other girl instead of me that is of concern here. It's something else. Something that regards his overall behaviour.
Why does it feel like every time I look to him? He seems to be giving back nothing but cold looks.
Why do I sense his body moving away every time I lean to hold him?
Does he....does he not want this?
Is he resentful of me for coming after him?
I don't know what do I tell him? I have called him here but what do I expect of him?
Do I want him to be more like he once was? A little more respectful towards me? Spending more time with me?
Or do I want him to look to the screams that I have been hiding?
Wait! I haven't even considered this. What if never wants to....
Her whole body shakes as he sees him near the entrance. She blinks a few times and remembers her lines. She's lost them.
What do I say to him?
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Hello, dear readers. I hope you like the first part. Let me know what did you like or not so much about what you've read so far. I will try to be regular and promise the next parts will be out soon. This is my first story here so I am really excited and hoping for the best. Please support and also assist me to make good stories in future.