The Week Before

Chapter 7

It was fairly easy to find the room as the instructions given by the girl was very clear. I opened the door to find a dozen of women and girls of various ages trying out steps as shown by one girl. Few of my cousins and aunts were there. I got a few dirty glances as I was the only one dressed in the same crumbled Saree I wore to the temple. Everyone was dressed in more comfortable clothes. Adi came out of nowhere and dragged me to the front of the crowd and introduced me to the girl who was teaching. " This is Meghna, my cousin. She is a professional dancer and she will be choreographing the dance" .
I smiled as warm a a smile I could muster , kept my phone aside and repeated the first few steps she showed along with the rest of the group. The song, being played over a blue tooth speaker was a fast beat. I didn't have much of a starting trouble because I had learnt dance when I was a child and stage fright was not really my thing. After a few strings of steps were learnt, a girl appeared next to me. I recognised her as the girl with the bouquet. She was dancing really well and I was about to compliment her on the same when I realised that she was sneering at me. She looked me up and down while dancing and gave a look of disgust. I was surprised by this. She completely turned to me and said, " As the bride, you should be dancing better than this" contempt dropping from her words. I agree that I was not doing my best considering the Saree, my footache and what I had seen today, but my dancing was not bad. I tried to smile at her but failed miserably. Her badly bleached hair was moving to the beats of the song. She was almost the same height as me was more thinner, way more. She looked seriously malnutritioned, but that's the beauty standard for some girls these days. She left me alone the rest of the session and went in showing off her moves probably because I was not responding to her acts. After we finished the song I left quickly after saying bye to Adi, Meghna and a few other familiar faces. The girl kept staring and glaring at me. 
Once I made my way back to the room. I opened it to find Ananya still asleep. I presumed that she would  be sleeping through the night without any disturbances. He was sitting on a cushioned couch, going through his phone. The door to the balcony was partially shut. As I closed the door, he stood up and kept the phone in his pocket. I saw that his clothes were soiled too, it had blood marks on them which I had failed to notice before.
"Did she wake up?"
"Not yet"
" How are your hands? Are there any other bruiseds?"
"My hands are fine and no there is nothing else"
I was grateful that he was not hurt but I had no idea what to say next.
"Did you eat?" He asked sensing the awkwardness.
"No" I shook my head.
" I will get you something after changing" he said as he moved out into the balcony. I was too tired to protest. I knew that I couldn't leave her here alone. PTSD is a real thing and nightmares are an important part  of it. I closed both doors, removed my braids, let it loose and changed into a comfortable white short kurti and patiyala pants from the  sweaty saree. I washed my face and applied deodorant. My feet couldn't bear standing anymore so I flopped into the couch and started massaging my feet as best as I could. I called Mohan, my uncle to let him know that Ananya was with me.
After a few minutes, I heard a knock. Again on the balcony door. I opened it knowing that it was him. He was in a black t - shirt and sweatpants and was holding two plates full of the most delicious dishes. I took one from him and walked to the couch. He sat on the right end and there was no other place to sit other than the left end. I sat down and started eating. I let out an involuntary sigh as the first nite touched my mouth. My feet was still hurting and it was annoying. I kept touching it with my left hand and running it. There was comfortable silence as we ate. He finished first, kept the plate on the table and washed his hands. He came back and sat down in his original place. It was hard to eat under the gaze of someone , but somehow I managed to finish. I stood up and flinched from the sharp pain in my feet. I don't know if he noticed it. " keep the plate there, I will take it back with mine"
I did so, washed my hands and went back. I didn't know what to do but the pain made me fall into the coicy with a sigh. As I was sitting there he asked me,"can I give you a feet massage?"
I really didnt want to be more of a bother." It's fine. This is normal whenevet I put too much pressure on them"
"Just cause it's normal doesn't mean it's invalid" he looked into my eyes with a determined face. After a few seconds, I said "fine".
I lifted my feet into his laps. The second his hands made contact, a gasp escaped my mouth. The way he pressed his fingers into the sole of my feet was simply heavenly. Goosebumps were rising all over me and my pain was slowly ebbing away. Occasionally I might have sighed and gasped even moaned. He continued this for a few moments before starting to speak, " How are you?"
I was surprised at this totally random question.
" What do you mean?"
"The journey , the temple ... She is ok for now . What about you?" He was still rubbing my fight in circles with just the right amount of pressure.
" I am holding up just fine... It was... terrifying and the most disgusting thing ever. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up. How did you end up there?"
"Um... I saw you walking up there, it was dark and I just knew I had to follow, I guess"
"Mmm" there was a smile on my face.
Soon the exhaustion caught up with me. I don't know when I fell asleep but when I was awoken by a cold wind from the open door, night had already fallen. There was still noices outside. He was asleep in the position  he was sitting in, with his hands still on my feet. My legs were feeling way better just from the heat from contact. Nobody has ever voluntarily offered to give me a foot rub. I was looking at him breathing so calmly and going on over this thought in my head when he woke up. He noticed me staring at him and smiled"What time is it?" he yawned.
"Let me check" I said standing up and going over to my phone. " 11: 30"
"Ok.. So I'm gonna get going " he stood up and walked towards the balcony, followed by me. Once we were outside the room he turned to look at me.His eyes were so pretty in the moonlight.
I don't know what came over me as I threw my hands around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. He was taken aback at first but he soon wrapped his hands around me. I have never hugged anyone with so much emotion before. It was a mixture of exhaustion, confusion and more than anything gratefulness. The temple, that girl, the forecoming engagement , my feet and hope that this could after all end well was probably what made me do it. " thanks " I muttered as I pulled away. He didn't question anything. He nodded like he understood what it was for, smiled at me and walked away.
I am not usually an early sleeper, but sleep came easily that day.
A yellow shawl and the deepest eyes plagued my dreams.