***This chapter is not edited.
---------------------------------------------
Shravan tossed and turned on the bed, unable to sleep. An odd uneasiness clouded over him while all he should have felt was peace. His mission was successful. Mission to humiliate his mean, immature 'ex' childhood friend or should he say childhood crush?
No!
He shrugged off the feeling. He should feel good; in fact, he should be overjoyed. After all he got his revenge. He hurt her the way she hurt him. He got what he wanted. But instead, he felt horrible. And all of a sudden, he hated himself. A part of him was still adamant. He did what he did because he had to. That girl was meant to be punished. She should feel the pain. She should bear the same wounds as his. But he couldn't deny the fact that she was still Sumo, his Sumo. A part of him regretted what he did to her. He shouldn't have done that. He hurt her so badly. He could see it in her eyes. She was trying so hard to hide her tears but she failed miserably. Her eyes showed the immense pain that he caused. He winced a bit at the thought.
How could he do that to his Sumo? How could he hurt her so much?
When he witnessed her defeat, her humiliation, he laughed but the joy was fake and he knew that. He didn't feel pity nor he felt relieved. What he felt was empathy and somehow the crowd that was laughing at her enraged him. But that stayed back in his subconscious mind. His devil self seemed to enjoy the show. But it was for a short period. The moment he watched her leave in a broken state, his heart squeezed with pain. He couldn't help it. He followed her outside. And as he saw her struggling to keep her emotions in check and hold her tears back, he felt like punching himself hard. His inner self glared
at him and somehow he felt like he was the worst person on the planet. She snapped at him. Spat those hateful words on his face. And he did too. But in a calm sarcastic manner. As she turned on her heel to leave, his inner self pushed him to stop her, to hold her hand, to wipe her tears away, to engulf her within his strong arms. An embrace that will ease all the pain. And to apologise to her until she hugged him back. But then his dark side ruled again. Which was reminiscing the glory of victory. Which laughed sadistically at the defeat of the poor girl. And it shouted loud "It's time for celebration". But he found himself far from celebrating the disaster.
Shravan groaned in frustration. He got up from the bed and started pacing the room restlessly. He couldn't bear it anymore. He needed to do something. Pushkar's words didn't help. In fact it added to the guilt. His ears were buzzing. Pushkar's voice echoed
"Do you have any idea what happened to her in the last ten years?"
No. He didn't know. He didn't know what happened with Suman during the last ten years. But he knew exactly what he had to do now. He will find out. He had to figure out what changes had taken place in his Sumo's life during his absence.
Suman stared at the ceiling blankly. Her eyes were red, cheeks puffed and lips swollen due to constant biting. And all were the result of the crying session which still carried on. Her tears refused to stop. She didn't even bother to wipe them away. That's it! She had the worst day of her life. She didn't even remember when she cried this much last. Maybe when she lost her parents? That is possible. That day she felt like her world got shattered all on a sudden. And now she had the same feeling again. She was used to bearing taunts of her aunts. But every time there was a limit. Whenever they taunted her, she just flashed a sweet smile in reply and though she felt hurt, she kept it inside her heart always and never showed any trace of sadness. Her eyes were expressive and they reflected the pain she went through. Her uncle and her grandfather were the two persons who had the 'superpower' to see it and no matter what they acted like a shield for her. But this time, even her uncle misunderstood her. That was unbearable. Well, her Dada-ji was still there. He didn't falter a bit. He had faith in her. And he was the pillar of strength for Suman. If he wasn't there, she was sure she would have left living. She knew she had to bear whatever her family members threw at her. Wasn't it natural? She was clearly a burden to them. She was self reliant and she bore her expenses herself. Even she contributed to the family financially. And of course, she was also the 'official' cook and maid of the house. She had never done less on her part. But still she was like moss on the bark of a tree; unwanted. She had lost her parents and the truth was she was an orphan. So she accepted her fate. Her parents didn't exist anymore. And practically she had according to the circumstances, absolutely no right in that house; again of course it was the point of view of her 'dear' family. Except for her uncle and her grandfather. The thing was that the day was cursed. What happened with her family was usual. So she kept that aside. But what happened in the reunion party hurt her like hell. He insulted her in front of everyone and they joined in too. The person she was longing to see. Once her friend, he seemed to be her biggest enemy now. He played games with her and she cursed herself for falling in his trap so easily. It was her fault after all. She trusted him. And that was her biggest mistake. Shravan was different. Not only the looks but also as a person, he changed a lot. The Shravan whom she used to know would never do such a thing. He was having so much fun mocking her. And he did that all just because of a stupid revenge? She knew what she did was wrong but she was immature back then. But how could a mature guy do something like this. She was right. He was a complete stranger. She didn't know him. She smiled sarcastically at her fate. She desperately waited for this day. And what she imagined for tonight was far from what actually took place. She expected flowers while all she got in reality were thorns. She vowed to herself that she would never again let that man break her like he did today. And with that searing determination in her heart, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
He didn't notice.
That day he didn't notice that the whole school laughed at him, humiliated him.
But Suman didn't.
His Sumo didn't.
She just stood there with an unreadable expression on her face. Her eyes seemed to have a blank look but underneath was something hidden- empathy, concern and guilt. The feelings she couldn't show cause maybe she herself didn't know back then that she did care.
----------------------------------
Please vote and comment. Thank you;)
