We Never Knew [ON HOLD]

Chapter : 18

Chapter: Eighteen   

The low purr of the engine of the Hyundai filled the silence of the interior as the rains washed heavily over the windshield, blurring the view of the evening skies. The wiper blades swiped across the glass screen, making the route visible for a moment before the downpour distorted the view once again.

Sighing shakily, Kirti pulled Sekhar's jacket tighter around her shoulders, her short, drenched hair sticking to her neck and skin, making her shiver lightly. She tried and avoided Sekhar's eye as she pretended to glance out of the window.

What reason would she give Sekhar about her ending up at a desolate, muddy playground minutes before a thunderstorm with a sprained ankle and cuts and bruises all over her arms and legs? It was all so messed up.

Sekhar had insisted in the morning that Kirti should go to school despite that ambush which had happened to him and his associates because he thought that Kirti attending her classes in broad daylight amid hundreds of students was much safe than staying at a rented house all alone while the five students would go to attend school. He now doubted his own idea. Moreover, Kirti's refusal to explain what she was doing at that street, faraway from school, with a sprained ankle wasn't helping the situation either.

Glancing at Kirti, Sekhar furrowed his eyebrows when he took in her wretched up state. Her body shivered lightly as she masked her struggling self behind her obscure eyes and blank face. She tried her best to give away nothing through her expressions but the way her jaw was clenched, it was clear that she was in pain. Her ankle must've been a painful scuffle to handle.

Reaching out, Sekhar turned the heater on and drove for his home. He had called and informed Abhi and the group already that Kirti was with him and that she'd be spending the night at Sekhar's place.

Tapping his hands over the steering, Sekhar broke into a song, making Kirti look at him with furrowed brows.

"Baby, baby blue eyes
Stay with me by my side,
'Til the mornin', through the night," Sekhar sang off-key but still it sounded so calming to Kirti's ears.

It was one of Kirti's favourite tracks. Though she hardly listened to music in all of the chaos called her life, Kirti had heard the last verse of this song while she was travelling in a taxi with her Ma back in Jaipur and it had instantly made a connection with her heart.

Passing her a small smile, Sekhar went on singing in his deep voice which didn't suit the song much, but still he tried. Kirti suppressed a laugh when he struck the high notes with utter upheaval. He was really bad at imitating the band 'A Rocket to the Moon'.

Knowing the his singing had uplifted Kirti's mood, Sekhar smiled at her as he drove the Hyundai into a by-lane and slowed the car down when they reached a duplex. The house was scarcely visible amid the harsh downpour and merciless winds which still blew across Alleppey, bending the tall coconut trees to one side and the skies turning a frightening dark with the storm clouds.

The gates of the entrance were already left wide open and Sekhar drove into the compound, parking the car into the garage which, also, had been left open for his arrival. The sounds of the rain turned muffled with the car now safely parked under a roof and water no longer obscuring their view. Two LED light bulbs were situated on either side of the garage and had been left switched on when they drove in.

"Take a break Kirts," Sekhar spoke, looking at Kirti with concerned eyes, "You're safe here,"

Kirti took a moment to process what Sekhar meant to convey through those words. He was implying that Kirti's actions were irrational. Sekhar felt that Kirti was still acting needlessly conscious and that it was affecting her and this worried Sekhar.