Pranbir Short Stories

Heartless (8)

At night:
Ranbir returned later than usual as he was planning for the upcoming lunch which was scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
He had been extremely busy but somewhere his mind had drifted to what he told Mayank.
''I will give my relationship a chance...''
The words resonated in his ears as he opened the door of his room.

His eyes grew bigger on seeing books, papers and notes scattered on the floor near the couch. And amidst all that mess, his wife sat on the floor with her laptop on the small coffee table.
However, her head was on the table and her eyes were closed. He assumed that she had fallen asleep while working on her assignment.
The cuteness and peacefulness on Prachi's face brought a little smile on his face and he carefully tiptoed inside.

For someone who liked his room clean, the scattered papers didn't bother him at all. He began picking up the papers when one particular one caught his attention: Psychological trauma.
His forehead scrunched in confusion and his eyes moved the asleep figure of his wife.
He knew that she was studying psychology but that particular topic made him feel weird.

And what really caught his attention was the fact that Prachi had highlighted certain points. He read the title which was symptomes of those traumas. She had highlighted several ones which included:
1. Anxiety and being fearful
2. Screaming
3. Nightmare & difficulty to sleep
4. Concentration problems

He wanted to read more but the paper was quickly snatched from his hands. He looked at Prachi.
Prachi, nervously: 'Hey... sorry for the mess, I will clean it up.'
Ranbir: 'It's okay...You were studying, it's all fine.'
She smiled weakly at him.
Prachi: 'I was actually done for today. I will clean it.'
He nodded and couldn't stop from asking: 'Your assignment is on trauma?'

Prachi, avoiding his eyes: 'Yeah something like that...'
Ranbir, curiously: 'Do you know someone with that kind of trauma?'
The question caught Prachi off guard and she looked at him shocked.
Ranbir: 'I didn't mean to intrude, but the way you highlighted some points, it's almost like you were seeing which symptomes matched that person.'

Prachi, awkwardly: 'No, it's nothing like that...'
She obviously lied and he knew it too but he didn't question her further. So he let go of the topic and just helped her silently.
Prachi: 'Is everything ready for the launch?'
The silence was so overwhelming that she had to come up with something.
Ranbir: 'Yeah mostly... Just little details... but my team can handle that.'
Prachi: 'May I help with something?'

He nodded no and then added: 'My team will handle it but don't forget we have to go to the designer tomorrow afternoon.'
Prachi: 'I have only a morning class tomorrow and then I will come to your office.'
He was about to agree but she quickly added.
'Or am I still not allowed in your office?'
He recalled how Mayank and he behaved out of place the first time she came there and felt guilty.

Ranbir, nervously: 'About that, I deeply regret the way I behave with you...'
An amused smile formed on Prachi's lips: 'So much but you cannot say a simple sorry...'
He looked at her.
Prachi: 'It's true then? You don't apologise to anyone?'
He looked elsewhere to avoid her eyes.
Prachi: 'Aryan was right, but I will make you say sorry one day...'

She was putting her books back in her bag when Ranbir stopped her.
'You can use my office table and keep your things in place as well.'
She looked at him suspiciously: 'Weren't you the one who told me that I don't own anything in this room?'
Ranbir: 'It was in anger, I will make some space for you.'
Prachi: 'Not now, Mr. Kohli... You are tired and I am too. Let's just sleep.'
He nodded and left to take a shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day:
Prachi had just finished her class when Shahana came to her.
Shahana: 'You are so lucky... You are going home while I have to stay longer.'
Indeed she had another lecture as she wasn't studying psychology like Prachi.
Prachi: 'I am not going home today...'
This sparked a little excitement in Shahana.