Here's the 63rd chapter.
Enjoy reading.
Shaurya, who was filled with disgust, started marching towards the boys' gang when something more important occurred to him.
He wanted to give the gang a good piece of hearing by letting out the rage that had just erupted in him upon realizing "what" they were making fun of, but then he realized that instead of doing that, he should first "inform" her because he knew those bastard boys wouldn't realize their mistake even if say something to them.
He knew that at that moment, the most important thing was to make her aware of her "condition", but he wasn't sure as to how to do so. His mind was jumbled, and he couldn't seem to solve the problem, but later an idea came to him.
He turned to face her after his brain's light bulb lit up. He observed that she was working alone there and even if he informed her, she would need someone's help.
"Use btaane se behetar hai... main... main khud hi... kuch karta hoon...", he muttered to himself, nervously.
"Vo vaise bhi shaayad ghabra naa jaaye... Isliye mujhe lagta hai mujhe help karni chaahiye...", he said as he left to the place where he knew what he needed to do.
He was furious at the gang, but he still left the scene to complete the most important task at the time.
He arrived at the medical center quickly and went up to the room where the "emergency medical supplies" were kept.
He peered in, anxiously, to see if anyone was inside, and, as expected, the woman, the "nurse lady", was there.
He was confident of what he was doing; it was just that he had never encountered a situation like this before, and it made him nervous.
He made the decision, despite his queasiness, to ask the lady directly about "it".
He stepped inside, swallowing the lump in his throat, and the lady gave him a look.
She stood up and smiled as she said, "Good afternoon Shaurya Sir..."
"G... Good afternoon...", he greeted back.
"Kya baat hai Sir ?..."
"Aap yaha ?...", she looked surprised.
"Voh... "
"I...", he paused before overcoming his insecurities and finally going for it.
"I NEED A SANITARY PAD"
The very next moment, the lady looked at him, completely shocked and perplexed, with questioning eyes.
He realized what she might be thinking, and calmly said, "Ah..."
"Vo..."
"Actually ek emergency hai..."
"Kisiko help chaahiye..."
"Ohh !... Okay Sir...", the lady said after consideration.
"Wait... I'm giving...", she said as she walked up to the cabinet and took one sanitary napkin from the packet.
He was relieved that the lady had not misunderstood him and was not offended.
He waited for her to give him what he requested.
The lady handed him the pad as she walked back up to him, and he smiled heartily, saying, "Thank you so much..."
"It's my pleasure Sir...", she replied with a smile.
He walked away with "it" in his hands, while the lady stood there, moved by his kindness, because she had never met anyone or been in a situation like this before.
She wished that everyone's mindset , especially men's, would evolve like him, so that "these things" are no longer regarded as untouchable and cheap.
She returned to her work with a smile.
With the pad in his hands, Shaurya was walking down the corridor towards the desired location. He'd never even been near "it", let alone touched it.
He had hurriedly reached outside and spotted her there at the place where she was working with the banners, unaware of the blood smudge on her cloth that the gang of boys were making a mockery of.
He was losing the courage he had gathered up to this point.
He looked at her for a moment before returning his gaze to his hand, which was holding the pad wrapped in its square - shaped packet.
"Main kya karu ?..."
"Kahi Miss Bhalla mujhe misunderstand toh nhi karegi...", he couldn't understand anything.
But the fact that he wasn't committing a crime and that there was nothing wrong with it encouraged him to finally go for it, breaking down the barriers that were erupting within him.
"Abhi yeh sab sochne ka time nhi hai..."
"Main kuch galat nhi kar rha..."
"Abhi uske paas jaana zyaada zaroori hai...", he said, and taking a chance by looking around that no one was watching him, he walked over to her, grabbing her hands and dragging her into a corner.
Anokhi, who had been working quietly alone there until now, was completely gob smacked by the unexpected pull.
She looked here and there before returning her gaze to him, trying to figure out what he was up to.
When she turned to face him, he was already looking at her, and his hands, which had been holding her arms, had lowered.
"Dekho Miss Bhalla..."
"Isse pehle ki tum mujhe apna bhaashan sunaao... Shaanti se pehle meri baat suno..."
She looked at him with questioning gaze and he took a deep breath, ready to disclose the matter to her.
Anokhi was astounded the next minute when he gently took her hand in his, raised it, and then placed his other hand inside his pocket, bringing something out and placing it over there in her palm.
She lowered her eyes to her palm to take a look at the thing which he put there, and the moment she realized what it was, she was completely taken aback.
"Miss Bhalla...", he said, his voice as calm as a river breaking her trance.
"You're bleeding"
He sounded genuinely open and respectful, with no trace of nervousness in his voice.
The moment her ears registered his words, her heart throbbed with perturbation.
She blinked her eyes down, gulping the saliva, and looked around, then at her kurti, processing the fact that there must have been some blood spot on her cloth that he had noticed and through which he had learned about this.
She then remembered having a feeling of forgetting something since the morning, and now she realized that in the midst of the frenetic schedule of event preparation, she had completely forgotten about her date.
She was about to turn around to inspect her kurti, when she got reminded of his presence. She turned her face towards him, feeling uneasy, not meeting his gaze.
"Miss Bhalla...", he said calmly, sensing her unease.
"You don't have to feel uncomfortable..."
Listening to this, she eased a bit.
"And please don't take it the wrong way...", he said.
Though he had no doubts about his actions, he was concerned what if she felt offended.
"You can trust me Anokhi..."
As soon as he said this, her heart felt calm and uplifting and the awkwardness in the air had begun to fade.
She was just thinking that he went to such lengths to bring her the "pad", and that too for her, with whom he would always find a way to argue.
It was something she hadn't expected.
Shaurya noticed her silence and said, "I thought I should inform you..."
"So..."
"You know..." he said, pointing to her palm, which held the pad.
"I hope you understand...", he said, expecting she would believe him.
She looked down at her palm before raising her head to face him and saying something.
"THANK YOU SIR...", were the only words she could use to express her heartfelt gratitude to him; she trusted him.
He nodded and felt relieved that she was fine and that the sense of unease in the air had dissipated.
"I think..."
"You should go for now...", he said politely.
"J... jee Sir...", she said as she waited for him to go first.
After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up in a very calm tone.
"Anokhi..."
She looked up at him, and the next thing she knew, he did something that shocked her.
"You can take this...", he said, taking off his blazer and extending it towards her.
She was completely stunned by this gesture of him.
He first helped her with the pad, and now he was helping her with his coat.
"Shaurya Sir..."
"Aapka bohot – bohot shukriya..."
"Lekin main..."
"Yeh nhi le sakti... ", she politely denied.
He was well aware that she would have to walk the entire way to the washroom with that stain on her kurti, and that along the way, many people, such as those bastard boys, would make fun of it again, which he didn't want.
"Anokhi..."
"Maine kaha na..."
"You don't have to be uncomfortable...", he said honestly, and his eyes reflected that.
"Yeh lo...", he said as he reached for her hand to pass her the blazer.
"Tumhe zaroorat hai iski...", he said earnestly.
"Nhi Sir...", she took a step back.
"Main yeh...", she was now completely awkward.
He knew she needed something to cover up that red blotch, so he took a step towards her and said, assuring, "Dekho Miss Bhalla..."
"Yeh mat socho ki main kuch feel karunga... Kyunki agar aisa hota toh main iss vakt yaha tumhaare saamne nhi hota...", he sounded sincere.
She still didn't seem to convince.
Heaving a tired sigh, he spoke up, "Miss Bhalla..."
"Agar meri jagah yaha tumhaara koi friend hota... Toh tum kya karti ?...", he said, raising his brows.
She kept staring at him but remained silent, despite the fact that she knew the answer.
"Bolo Miss Bhalla..."
"Javaab do...", he didn't budge.
"Main... main le leti...", she said softly, her eyes lowering.
"Toh fir mujhse yeh help lene mein kya problem hai ?..."
"Aisa toh nhi ki tum mujhe jaanti nhi..."
"Jab se yaha aayi ho tab se mera hi sabse zyaada dimaag khaaya hai tumne..."
"Mera bhala kisme hai kisme nhi... Yeh sab toh tumhe sabse zyaada pta hota hai... Toh fir mujhe toh bohot achche se jaanti hogi tum..."
"Isliye yeh lo aur pehen lo..."
She looked at him, accusingly, that in such a serious situation, he didn't seem to back off from complaining about her.
Seeing her not initiating to take the blazer, he again tried to persuade her.
"Main khud keh rha hoon Anokhi...", he sounded calm.
"Return it after "use"... I mean, after you've cleaned the stain from your cloth... "
"AND I WON'T MIND AT ALL...", he assured strongly.
"Please take this..."
"I request...", he tried to lighten the mood with his calm words, hoping to bring her out of her insecurity.
Left with no other options in front of the stubborn man's insistence, she felt compelled to take it. She didn't want to make him feel as if he had offended her.
In fact, she was moved by his gesture.
Lowering her eyes, she raised her hand slowly to take it, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the equally obstinate woman took his coat from his grasp.
She stood there silently with the blazer hanging from her wrist, and she was suddenly feeling too embarrassed. And there was a "reason" behind it.
"Th... Thank You... S...ir...", she said, not looking him in the eyes.
"Ab pehen bhi leejiye use... Aur mujhe yaha se jaane ki anumati deejiye...", he said, as he couldn't just go away from there until he made sure that she had wore his coat and covered the mark.
She looked up at him, her cheeks warmed up, and she couldn't take the situation any longer.
"Main..."
"Voh..."
The "reason" behind her embarrassment and uneasiness was that if she wore the blazer, the blood stain would come into contact with it and she was still unconvinced that he wouldn't mind it.
"Main andar jaakar pehen loongi Sir...", she said, turning quickly to avoid another embarrassing situation, when his voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Miss Bhalla..."
She stopped and turned slowly to face him again, gulping down the saliva.
Their eyes met, and he looked determined to say something.
She waited for him to speak up.
"Miss Bhalla..."
"Its..."
"JUST"
"A"
"STAIN..."
He stressed each word individually, his voice intense.
"And its nothing to be ashamed of....", the fire in his voice was palpable.
Anokhi stared at him in a daze after hearing what he had just said.
Those three simple words spoken up by him a few seconds ago held so much power that something had shifted in her for him.
She could clearly see that his eyes reflected only truth and forthrightness for what he said.
At that moment, the animosity she had towards him, evaporated into thin air.
At that moment, she forgot the differences she had with him.
At that moment, the previous image she had of him in her mind reformed into a new one.
And at that moment, her "RESPECT" for HIM, shot up...
How was it ?
Do tell me in comments 😊