Intricacies of Love

Chapter-24

The tantalizing smell of caffeine wafted in the air as she set her coffee mug down on the table. It was one huge mess in the brightly lit hospital cabin. There were so many files with important reports scattered all around but she seemed the least bit bothered by it. After all, it wasn't as messy as her brain. She was about to sit down when the door to her cabin was banged open. She had a well grounded doubt who it must be.

"What the hell, Saumya?!" she shrieked.

"We are in a hospital, remember?" Saumya said, clearly unaffected.

"What are you doing? What has happened to you?"

"I'm all good. Thanks for your concern," she replied sarcastically.

Rolling her eyes, Surbhi countered, "You know what I mean, Saumya. Why are you ignoring us? Even Akshit? Why? Ever since Sunday, you've been acting weird."

Saumya sighed. She knew it was coming. The messed up thoughts in her brain weren't helping the cause. Her frazzled state was difficult to veil but she was doing a decent job. With her signature stoic face, she stared at Surbhi wanting her to explain herself.

With a resigned sigh, Surbhi continued, "What happened that day Saumya? Why are you not talking to me? Why are your answers restricted to monosyllables? Please tell me, Saumya. I can help you."

Turning her head away, Saumya got up and spoke.

"I told him everything..."

"What? You told him everything?! That's great. I'm so happy you opened up about it to someone." Even though she was beaming joyfully, Saumya could sense a tinge of sadness.

It was quite baffling to Saumya why she felt a bit guilty. She hadn't expected her to react like that. She had expected her to chide her, reprimand herself for saying it all.

"So, you're ignoring him because..."

"I'm not ignoring him for heaven's sake." Saumya let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah and I'm not pregnant. Why else would you say you haven't talked to him since Sunday? It's Friday already. You literally talk to him every day."

"I... I'm trying to spend more time with my sisters. I've ignored them a lot. That's why Pia felt lonely and missed Chachi and Chachu."

It wasn't the true reason but it wasn't a lie either. She felt quite guilty for ignoring Pia. She felt like her negligence was the reason why Pia was sad.

"Saumya, I know it's not the true reason but it's alright if you don't want to tell me."

The feeling of guilt seeped in her heart as Saumya stared at Surbhi's retreating figure. When had she grown so secretive? She had always considered Surbhi as her sister whom she shared everything with. The times when they would go out for classes and end up eating ice cream and burger, when they would bunk P.E. and go sit in the air conditioned classrooms to study, times when they would sing songs out loud and fangirl the singers. All those times had long since passed with their relationship growing more distant. Maybe it was the time to open up about it, to mend their relationship.

"Surbhi...wait," Saumya called out.

Surbhi turned around, closing the door behind her as she stared at her friend.

"I'm sorry, Surbhi. I just..."

Surbhi kept a reassuring hand on her shoulder, showing somehow that she understood.

"I was just... I was afraid," Saumya croaked. "I was afraid you would think of me as a weak girl and pity me."

Saumya gave a watery smile before continuing, "As stupid as it may sound, I had the reputation of being a nerdy tomboy. I couldn't risk it. Jokes apart though, I was broken. I am broken but I'm trying to heal. I was afraid of being misunderstood. I was tired of being looked upon as the pitiful girl. You don't know the pitying glances which were cast my way in College. I wanted to get away from it and so I did. Here everyone had the same image of me, a nerdy tomboy who never cried. I wanted to live upto that image and start afresh."