Exile

26. WALK OUT!!

She knew she was being weird but she didn't care. Who cares about logics when they are hurt? Harika Sharma definitely doesn't.

She is clear about what she wants. She doesn't want to be treated like everyone. Period!!

He should be apologizing for hiding the fact that he was becoming her teacher. He yelled at her and is now treating her like a nobody. He is not even apologetic about it. If she was at fault, then he is also at fault, more than her. 

So she only listened to her heart which pushed her to make Agastya feel the heat for hurting her. It urged her to make her displeasure as evident as possible and she did just that when Agastya finally spoke to her.

"Yahi rehna hain poora din? Main Ghar pe msg pahunchadunga. Maa khana yahi bhej dengi." His voice was just the same. The same calm tone which he takes with everyone. No playfulness, no taunt, no sarcasm, not even a hint of emotion which she was used to. She glared him but he was not looking at her. The man was not even looking at her! He is flipping the page of his text-book!!!

She got up and walked out. She didn't realise she was disrespecting him by walking out. She stayed back long enough to compensate for the mischief, anyways. Somewhere in a corner of her heart, she expected him to react but he didn't. 

She should be happy for getting away with it but she clearly wasn't. She would have taken the scolding or lecture over this silence.

That angry scolding she got didn't stand a chance in front of this formidable silence.

That hurt was way less in comparison to what she was feeling right now. 

She was hurt. Very hurt by her Bhaiyya's behavior and that soon morphed into frustration.

Agastya's heart pinched when Harika walked out. He couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment, mixed with sadness. He didn't expect her to walk out and when she did, he didn't feel like stopping her. It wasn't the first time he had faced such situation though. He had learned the hard way that attachments only led to pain. His heart had been broken too many times. And yet, against his better judgement, he allowed himself to grow fond of Harika. He always saw glimpses of his Akshat in Harika and he seeked peace in that. But what he didn't know was Harika would hurt him the same way, his Akshat did. 

He always kept saying to himself that he is not capable to maintaining any relationship but somewhere with time, he started believing it. Even the acceptance of those beliefs didn't lessen the pain. He had enough of it!! He was okay living numb, but he was not ready to bear anymore pain or heartache. Harika took away the tiniest amount of hope he had, with her while she walked out. 

Harika went straight to Pratyaksha, as soon as she reached home. Her hunger long forgotten. She barged into her sister's room while Pratyaksha looked up startled. 

"Kya hua?" She asked as Harika's agitated state registered to her. 

"Bhaiyya!!" Harika exclaimed, her voice filled with frustration.

Pratyaksha stiffened and asked carefully "What happened now?"

"He is impossible, Di!!!! He made me stay for extra 3 hours and aur aise behave kar rahe the ki jaise mai unki kuch lagti hi nahi hu!! Jaise vo mujhe jaante hi nahi hai! He is behaving as if I am a mere student of his class. For godsake. How can he behave like that? Like a Robot!" She paced around the room, ranting her frustration.