My Teacher

Chapter 8

Three weeks passed, life was good.

I must say that I enjoyed staying in a house rather than a hostel. My day usually starts off by waking up at 7:00 in the morning, showering and brushing my teeth etc and changing into my comfy clothes. Mr. Ranawat leaves earlier than me in the morning so I don't usually see him. He takes his car and I ride my bike, we can't go together in his car or else people will suspect us and ruin our reputation. I don't really see him a lot, only at around supper but he usually stays at uni until late but I don't see him when he arrives.

During the weekends we sort of avoid each other and we never went out together simultaneously, in case someone might see us.

I guess we have to be overly paranoid.

It was friday night, I finished all my assignments and was watching T.V, well, The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship Of the Ring.

I felt hungry so I decided to make some popcorn. As the corn popped I heard the front door shut.

"Bloody hell. So fucking stupid. Messing up my life I can't-" I heard Abhay say profanities under his breath.

"Abhay?" I had gotten used to calling him that, I almost called him that in class once actually.

"Tina?" His voice held surprise. "You're still awake?"

"What are you doing back so early?" I asked, he usually comes in at midnight.

"It's 22:00. That's not early."

I decided not to elaborate. "It's ok. You hungry?" I asked.

"Not really." He loosened his tie. "What you making?"

"Popcorn. You want?" I asked.

"Yeah sure, what are you watching a movie?" I nodded. He hesitated then asked, "Mind if I join?"

"Of course." I smiled.

"Okay just let me freshen up." He said and went to his room to change.

I poured the popcorn into a big round bowl, poured two glasses of coke and set them onto the coffee table.

"Wow. Talk about midnight snack." I heard him say. I turned around and saw him wearing track pants and a black tank top, revealing his toned muscles. I still can't believe that he's thirty one. Lets just say I mistakenly came across his birth certificate whilst cleaning.

He sat down next to me on the couch. "What're we watching?"

"Lord Of The Rings. The Fellowship Of The Ring." I rewinded the movie to the beginning.

"I love that movie. I haven't watched it in ages." He was smiling. I felt bad for him, he seemed stressed during these past few weeks. Early mornings and late nights always pursued him. I think that was the first time he got to relax in a long time.

Throughout the course of the movie I caught him staring at me but I pretended not to notice. But I'm also guilty because I was stealing glances of him.

I reached into the popcorn bowl to grab some popcorn but instead I grabbed something soft and warm. Once I realised what it was I retracted my hand.

"Sorry Abhay I didn't know it was your hand-"

"It's okay." He stared at the screen.

"One Ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." I whispered to myself as Gandalf spoke. I hadn't realised that Abhay heard me.

"I've never met a girl who loved Lord Of The Rings so much." He smiled lightly.

Eventually I started to feel tired and without thinking I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~

"You're beautiful." Said a manly voice. Yellow flowers were everywhere, the sky was crystal clear and the sun's beams showered every living thing in it's path.

"You're beautiful." Said the voice one last time.

I opened my eyes and was met with darkness.

That same dream pops up every now and then.

I tried to find a some sort of light  source and grabbed my phone.

It was five in the morning. Ugh! I hate waking up early on a Saturday.

I was about to get out of my bed when I stopped. I remembered watching Lord Of the Rings yesterday and falling off to sleep on the couch...then how did I get to my bed!

Oh no.

Mr. Ranawat probably carried me. I sighed. It's weird to know that my teacher carried me. But I knew he did it out of kindness.

I got out of bed and brushed my teeth.

After freshening up I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

But to my surprise I saw Abhay making a cup of coffee.

"Morning." I said and grabbed a mug.

"Hey Tina." He greeted and stirred the contents in his cup.

I started making my tea and warmed some milk on the stove.

"Why are you doing that?" He asked curiosly.

"Warming my milk?" He nodded. "It makes my tea taste better." I said.

"But it's so time consuming." He said and knitted his eyebrows.

"There's no harm in putting in a little extra effort." I smiled.

"Oh." He pouted his lips together, it looked as if he was thinking. "May I try some?" He asked.

"Sure." I grinned and he returned the gesture.

I poured the milk into his cup first then mine. I watched him as he tasted it.

His eyes widened. "Wow." He smiled. "That does taste much better."

I chuckled lightly. " My mother used to do that for me when I was small."

"She is a very sweet mother." He looked at me.

"She was." I looked down. I felt sad thinking about her loss.

"What do you mean?" He seemed confused.

"She um, passed away a few years ago." A tear slipped from my eye.

"Oh Tina I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked." He then did the most unlikely thing...he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.

I stiffened at first but then gradually put my arms around him.

He smelt of Hugo Boss and it sparked something into my brain. I somehow felt safe and secure just standing there, maybe it was because I'd never received a hug from anyone in ages.

We stayed like that for a couple minutes. I pulled away.

"Our beverages will get cold." I said, feeling awkward.

"Uh yeah." He said equally as awkward.

We drank our coffee in silence.

"I need to get some stuff from the mall. Wanna come?" He offered.

I hadn't been shopping in a while, I planned to buy some new clothes and get a few toiletries.

"That'd be great. But what if someone from university sees us together."

He started walking to his room. "It's six in the morning, I don't think we'll encounter any hormonal, drunken teenagers at this hour." He smirked.

He was right. I mentally laughed then got ready in my room.

It was our first outing together.