Falling for You

Chapter 2 - Houseguest

Akshara went silence wash over the room as she opened one eye to sneak a peek at her surroundings. She opened one eye first and the other to see Abhimanyu sitting down on the couch opposite the one she was standing on, leaning tilting his head back in amusement as he scratched the head of his little furry friend who was sitting quite as a mouse, lost in his own world.

"Did you always used to be scared of dogs?" Abhimanyu asked her.

Akshara awkwardly tried to not stare at Abhimanyu as she smoothened out her clothes, trying her best to avoid his intense and heated gaze. "Umm; no, yes? Kind of?" She rambled, trying to figure out a way to get down from the couch without raising any red flags with the dog.

"Let me rephrase that. Were you always this confusing?"

Akshara fixed her glasses, pushing them higher up on the bridge or her nose as she watched Abhimanyu bond with the dog.

"Sonic. His name is Sonic. You can call him Sona, So, Soni." Abhimanyu explained, looking up at her whilst continuing to scratch Sonic's ears with affection.

Akshara's eyes flared at Abhimanyu's reply. Even in silence he was able to read her like an open book.

"You can come down now. He won't say anything to you." Abhimanyu looked Sonic with affection in his eyes just as Sonic stared back at Abhimanyu, panting happily. "He's a very good boy, aren't you, Sonic?"

Akshara smiled joyously at the scene unfolding in front of her. Abhimanyu was so soft with Sonic. Their bond, all so precious.

Sonic barked in agreement at Abhimanyu's words, causing Akshara to jump. Abhimanyu glanced at Akshara with a hint of mischief in his eyes as both their eyes filled the room with unspoken words.

"What is going on here?" Kamini Birla, the head of the house and Abhimanyu's grandmother walked into the room followed by Manjri Birla, Abhimanyu's mother.

Abhimanyu and Akshara broke eye contact and Abhimanyu quickly stood up from where he was sitting on the sofa. Akshara turned to look at the two women entering the main hall whilst still standing on top of the couch, trying to shield herself from Sonic's ferocious barks.

"Akshara?" Manjri questioned, glancing up at the petite, nerdy girl looking scared out of her wits.

"Aunty!" Akshara signed in relief! "Dadi!"

"Come down, dear."

"But aunty..." Akshara looked pointedly towards Sonic.

Manjiri followed Akshara's gaze and smiled, just as Sonic wagged his tail and came sauntering over to Manjiri's side.

"You're scared of him? He won't say anything to you, pagal!" She laughed.

Akshara pouted at Manjiri making her snicker. "Okay, okay. Abhi, take Sonic away. Let Akshu come down from the sofa."

Abhimanyu rolled his eyes as he obeyed his mother like a good boy. He grabbed Sonic by the collar and stood by his side, ushering his four legged friend to sit while he stood guard.

Once feeling the sight was clear, Akshara stepped down from the couch and bent down to touch Kamini and Manjiri's feet asking for blessings before embracing them tightly.

"Finally after 8 long years. Look at how big you've grown!" Manjiri held Akshara by the arms, glancing at her top to bottom with a big smile lighting her face.

"Thank you, Aunty. I missed you all too." Akshara did miss them all. Those 8 years she'd stayed away from them, in Dehradun had been fun, nice, scenic but she did miss the Rajasthani heat and the familiarity of this city of lakes.