THE HIDDEN HALF

Chapter 34 : My Game! My Rules!

*** CHAPTER 34 ***

Holding onto someone is hard, but letting go… even harder. And Swara has decided to do the same. Shlok will, undeniably, always be an important part of her life. But still she’s a human being, a mere mortal yearning for love, no matter how selfish it may sound.

Unclasping the mangalsutra from around her neck she keeps it in front of Shlok’s photograph hanging on the wall of the room. Stifling a sob, she sighs deeply and finally lets it all out…

Swara: I’m sorry! I really am. I had never thought that this is how it was supposed to be! You know ‘he’ says that I’ll know if I love him. And for this once, I want to believe his belief. I want to be happy and I hope you can forgive me for my selfishness. You’ll always have a special place in my heart but I want to see what it will be like to follow my heart for once.

Wiping off the lone tear that has traitorously escaped from the corner of her eyes, Swara takes a deep, rugged breath before picking up the mangalsutra and placing it in the box she has fetched from the first drawer of the cupboard. And she finally decides to place it inside the almirah.

It is this moment when she’s about to close the almirah that her eyes land on a blue cover lying in the corner, stuffed in between the clothes in an almost failing attempt to hide. And that’s when it hits her. It’s the gift she has bought for Sanskaar as the anniversary gift, though it was the time when she thought that he was Shlok.

‘The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever’

A Regency Romance novel she has picked up for him when they finally decide that she should gift him a historical romance novel… Well, more like it was her who decided. But still, the gift is meant for him and technically, the first one she has bought for him. So, won’t it be unfair not to give it to him?!

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Hardly ten minutes later, Swara finds herself standing in front of Sanskaar’s room after a lot of debating with her own self. Clutching the book tightly in her hand, she knocks the door with the other waiting for him to open the door with a bated breath . But when even after two whole minutes she fails to get any response from inside she calls out to him. But no response even after that starts worrying her for no particular reason.

Swara: Sanskaar, are you in there? Are you alright?

She knocks the door a little harder this time only to find it already open. Hesitantly, she steps inside and sighs with relief as she finds him fast asleep on his bed in a rather awkward position. With his legs folded in an Indian style, he has a notebook resting on his lap and a pen in his right hand, and his head rests against the headboard of the bed, inclining a little towards the left. No matter how adorable he’s looking right now, she’s pretty sure that he’ll end up having a sore neck by the time he wakes up.

Deciding not to wake him up, she places the book on the table and writes a quick note to go with it:

‘I don’t know whether you’ll like it or not, but this is the first gift I ever got for you. So, I guess it’s better for you to have it, rather than having it in one corner of my cupboard.
-Swara’

Securing the note neatly under the book, Swara is all set to leave his room when a thought strikes her. Turning around she still finds him sleeping in that position. With slow and careful steps she picks up the pillow lying beside him and holds his head with the other hand to place the pillow between his head and the headboard. At least that will prevent him from any pain in the morning!

“But he asked you not to do anything for him. At this rate you’ll lose the game even before the month ends”, her brain reprimands.

Swara: (to herself) But how will he know that I’m the one who has put the pillow here?