Destiny

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Gauri did not know how long she stood by the door watching and listening to the waves of the ocean clashing with each other. She stood there and let her pain flow out of her eyes. “Another chapter of my life closed.”  She thought. She decided to give in and take the muscle relaxant before the small twig in her leg became an unbearable pain. 

Little did Gauri know that her silent tears and the pain reflected in those dark brown eyes were witnessed by the man standing in the dark corner of the balcony. Siddarth stood in the shadows and watched the fleeting expressions on her face and wondered what caused the pain and tears. 

He turned and watched those same waves that had captured her attention. He cannot let her go. She is his destiny as he had thought so from the moment he met her.  He thought back to Sweta’s words about Gauri’s accident. She had been in an accident five weeks after they were to meet if he calculated the time line right, but what happened? He needed to know, and he cannot confront her about any of this, he will have to find the answers in methodical manners.

It was just not an accident, but there is more to it. Her Grandmother’s death, her accident and estrangement from her parents, all are connected to one another. He was sure she was at their meeting place, but she is denying it to push him out of her life. He walked towards her doors with determined steps and stepped into her room.

He froze when he saw her curled up in a fetal position, clutching the blankets in her hands. He moved closer to her and heard jumble of words coming from her mouth. “Dadi…please don’t leave me. Dadi where are you? Please come back, I can’t get out.”

Siddarth was pained to see tears floating out of her eyes. He knelt by the bed and gently ran his hand on her head soothing her to sleep. He hoped she didn’t wake up and to his relief she stopped mumbling in her sleep. He stayed a little longer to be sure she slept dreamlessly before walking out of the balcony doors quietly. 

Next morning Gauri woke up when she felt the sun shine directly in her face. She sat up and looked around confusingly and then glanced at the clock. It was almost eight, how had she slept so late? She jumped out of bed to get ready quickly. She needed to leave by nine to make it home by lunch.

When she walked near the dining room, Gauri heard Raj and Sanya arguing over movies. She realized she had been last to wake up and wondered how they were up so early after a late the night. She still felt the effects of the muscle relaxant, but with some coffee in her system she would feel much better. She braced herself before walking into the dining room. 

As soon as she walked in her gaze was snagged by a pair of brown eyes that had been glued to the door, as if waiting for her arrival. She looked away quickly and said general good morning to everyone. She took the seat next to her brother and smiled at him. He smiled back. “Hey princess, did you sleep okay? And why did you disappear like that last night?”

“I am fine and I slept okay too. You know I don’t like fireworks, so just decided to go sit in my room for a while.” She tuned into the bantering between Sanya and Raj and realized they were debating on which movies were the best. She froze when Raj turned to her to ask about the most romantic movies. “Let’s ask Gauri, she can be the deciding vote.” Gauri waited and hoped they didn’t ask her what is her favorite romantic movie.

Sanya turned to Gauri and smiled. “Gauri, Raj thinks the most romantic movie is Sleepless in Seattle while I think it is An Affair to Remember. What do you think?”