The Bias

Chapter 35

He looked at her and after a minute it hit  him. She had been in a surgery.He had forgotten all about it."Ha! Matlab dono?"

"Dono matlab?", she questioned when he could not phrase a proper question.

Sidharth saw her face. So full of empathy and kindness, every cell in his body wanted to bubble wrap her. He couldn't find courage to ask her, and scared him. She had lived a brutality he couldn't fantom.

"You don't have to be sorry about something you can't do anything about. Jo hua, ho gya. Naseeb me hoga."
She had moved on with life. Trying to let go of everything bad that had happened to her.

"Nahi Shehnaaz. I am sorry. And I want you to know ki I am here, jo tu chahe gi, woh hoga. I will do what it takes to make it correct. And I mean it. Whatever ka matlab whatever even if that means you want that basterd..."

"Shhh... ", she placed her hand on his lips."Chup, boli hui baate sach ho jati hai. Aap uski galtiyo ki saza khud ko nahin de sakte.Its not your battle to fight.Meri hai."Their eyes still looking into each other.

"And your parents? Unko pata hai?", it was a logical thing to ask. He assumed.

She smiled and stepped a little back, balancing herself with the kitchen counter." Unko woh pata hai, wo jo lagta hai hua, ya jo mai bol pai hua. Unko utna pta hai, jitna tu samjh paega. Jo mere saath hua, woh kisi ko nahi pata, woh bola nahi jata, you just experience it."

"I assume you didn't turn him to police?" He asked,pulling her closer to him. It was a weird place to be in. He didn't know the protocol to such things. The right behavior in scenarios like these is tough to understand.

She looked back into his eyes, the blank and no analysis look he gave was unassuming. He was kinder than she had expected. But she stayed quiet. " The story does not end there Sidharth. Woh toh beginning hai....Par let's not talk that, I am in a good mood and no spoiling my mood.", she said moving his hands to her her back.

"Yeah!", he agreed rolling his eyes. "Lets celebrate you finally going to US!"He said in plain simple words, trying to sound as honestly happy as he could.  But something hurt. Wasn't his mom right, wasn't he chasing shadows. But could he ask her, just ask her?Did she not feel a little in her heart when he held her, didn't a single string in her heart feel a little pull, when he kissed her? But could he blame it, the earth and moon both pulled each other, but only the moon roamed around it.Why was  her survival so dependent on numbness? But could blame her.
He held her hands in his, looking at the palm.The dry hands with long fingers and numerous small haphazard lines.I have nothing to offer you, he remembered her words.Destiny had cheated on her.

Sensing a strage kind of tension . She stepped back and spoke moving out of his arms and passing him a bowl full of ice cream. "Ice cream ka custard ho jana hai!"

Sidharth could see right through it. She was scared of what she had felt in that second. And therefore switched into a different thing.

"I am your lucky charm, haina?", he said picking her up in his arms and placing her on the counter, while she nodded in agreement. "Toh shouldn't you thank me properly?", he added, as she slightly shoved a spoon full of ice cream into his mouth, pulling him towards herself. Before he had the time to react, she pulled his face to hers, placing her lips on his, tasting the plain vanilla icecream off his lips. She was stronger and surer of the way she did that. Her lips moving against his, pulling him more and more into herself,  her legs encircling his back while she sat on the counter and he stood in front of her. And to Sidharth,  well, he and only he could feel the things he felt while she touched him. As aggressive as she was with initiating the kiss, he felt overwhelmed and overpowered at the same time. The only thing that he could acknowledge was the how simply magnificent the saliva sticking to her lips looked while she parted.