From reel to real - V&C FF- ON HOLD - Page 2

The ringing of the mandir bell made me flutter my eyes open and soon enough I was surrounded by the hustling and bustling of the worshipers who pushed me into Viraf's body. Our shoulders collided but he remained rock solid with his eyes still closed and also with this weird smile of contentment on his face that I had never seen before. The pushing and shoving continued relentlessly and finally a huge shove from behind propelled me into Viraf completely and I could feel myself free-falling backwards. I closed my eyes again, preparing myself for the hard impact, but a pair of hands grabbed me around my waist and pulled me in towards them. My head landed on this person's chest and the soft drumming of their heartbeats were familiar. It was the same beat that I had heard on the way up to the mandir. I opened my eyes to see Viraf tightening his grip around me and pushing through the crowd to bring us in front of the priest who handed the prasad to us both.

"Are you alright? You're so little that even a slight shove topples you over," Viraf said as he chuckled lightly to himself and devoured the little white prasad in one bite.

" Oh really? Then why do you complain that I'm heavy huh? Kuch bhi bolthe ho tum! Now are we going to talk here all day or are we actually going to go home?" I retorted back to him only to met with another chuckle from his side.

We had reached the stairs where another stream of worshipers were ascending and I took a step back into Viraf to prevent being taken along with the crowd. Hesitantly, I took a step forward to start descending the stairs when again a pair of arms grabbed me and secured me in their arms in one swift motion. Viraf had yet again lifted me in his arms and had proceeded to the go down the stairs. The onlookers began to whisper and point as we steadily dodged and weaved through the flood of people.

" Viraf, what are you doing? Why are you carrying me down the stairs? People are looking at us!"  I hissed in his ears as we reached the foot of the stairs.

She actually hissed at me for carrying her down the stairs because people were looking at us! I felt as though she had figuratively slapped me across the face with her words just then. As soon as we reached the foot of the stairs, I plonked her down on the ground and grabbed her shoulders.

"Excuse me what? What am I doing? I am doing what you told me to do! You told me that I had to carry you. For your kind information, it was your idea to keep this a secret but then you're the one who wanted me to carry you in the mandir which is a public place if you hadn't noticed already," I said to her sternly before releasing her shoulders and storming off towards my car.

I didn't even look back at her to see what she was feeling but right now I couldn't believe that she had just reprimanded me for picking her up. Like seriously, what was I to do? On one hand I have to keep this relationship a secret and then at the same time I have to fulfill all her demands, even if it means it's in public, to prove that I love her. This was definitely harder than I thought it would be. I leaned against the car door and rubbed the creases that had formed on my forehead. I took three deep breaths and looked straight ahead, not wanting to face her with all this anger residing inside of me.

I stood there with my mouth open slightly, completely blown away by Viraf's outburst and that look of pure frustration and anger in his eyes. I saw his tall gait quickly approaching his car with long and heavy strides and then rest against the car, not even looking back at me once. My eyes began to sting with the tears that were threatening to leak out at any moment. I jolted my head back in the hope that the impending flood of tears would just rush back inside but I failed miserably as a few stray tears escaped and rolled down my flushed cheeks. Keeping my head low, I slowly made my way towards his car, avoiding the gaze and whispers of the onlookers.

He had been right of course, I was the one who asked him to keep this relationship of ours a secret and then I was the very same person who demanded that he pick me up in public. I don't know what has gotten into me lately? All my emotions are all over the place and I don't know what to do or feel anymore! I should go and apologise to him but how was I going to do that? 

I reached the passenger side of his car and he was still there looking off into the distance. I slipped into the seat and sat there waiting for him to enter and drive me home.

I could hear the soft jingling of her anklets approaching the car but I had to pretend that I didn't notice her coming. From the corner of my eye, I saw her sit in the car and was she crying? But why was she crying? I took another deep breath and opened the car door to sink into my car seat.

I looked straight ahead but I could hear her sniffling and see her wiping stray tears from her cheeks from the corner of my eyes. I pulled out my handkerchief from left pocket and handed it to her without looking at her. Her fingers brushed against my own, sending little shocks down my entire body. How she had this effect on me I couldn't comprehend. I was angry at her but why did I still want to wrap her in my arms and wipe away those tears? 

"I..I...I'm really sorry Viraf. I didn't mean to lash out at you like that...I know I haven't been fair and I just need to sort things out. But you also lashed out at me and left me stranded there without even looking back. Did I really make you that angry?" she said to me as she sniffled and wiped her face with my handkerchief.

Wow that was harsh. Why was I suddenly so childish? I turned on the music player and the beats and rhythms of the music drowned the multitude of thoughts running through my head.