Dedicated to: @Just-Krissy
Chapter 31:
Kathy sat down on the carpet in front of their bed and switched on the television. Her eyes glued to the screen when Shahrukh Khan’s DDLJ played on one of the channel. It was weird for a girl like Kathy to sit silently when she was supposed to be yelling at the situation she was in.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Ronnie asked, confused at her actions.
“I know you both have planned this. You both are equally responsible for ruining my plans for tonight! It’s better if I stay quiet and calm down first!” she said and started ignoring him again. Ronnie sighed but he knew that she wasn’t the wrong one here. He grabbed a few pillows, a few bottles of Coke and some snacks to eat and sat down next to Kathy. His eyes were fixed at the screen and he did not utter a single word but he kept stealing glances at Kathy occasionally. He really wanted some kind of reaction from her as dealing with silent Kathy was tougher. Her impassive attitude and monologue answers were something he was not used to. He thought of irking her and kept staring at her instead of the movie. Hey eyes were glued at the screen, her hands holding the pillow and a smile remained lips, highlighting her dimples. Her legs were folded as she sat in Indian style and she took the support of the bed for her back. She was still wearing warm clothes. Her hairs were a neatly tied but a few flicks kept falling on her eyes and his hands almost reached out to push them away from her face. Almost!
“What is it?” she yelled after a few minutes. He smiled triumphantly before answering.
“You’re awfully quiet and that is so unlike you!” he pointed. She paused the movie and turned around to face him completely.
“What do you want me to do? Should I yell at you and Vinnie for locking me in this room or ask you about what was so important that you couldn’t wait?” she asked raising her brows. Ronnie frowned at the way she talked.
“Okay fine, I’m sorry, you can leave now! I’ll tell Vinnie to open this damn door and let you go out of here!” he said, taking out his phone and finding her number.
“Oh, so you’ve exchanged numbers now?! Great! Anyways, do what you want…I don’t care!” Kathy said and played the movie. Ronnie stood up from there and called Vinnie.
“Hey Vinnie, please do me a favor and open this door…no, I don’t think she wants to stay locked up with me…please-but-listen-Vinnie!” the line went dead and he angrily stared at his phone. Vinnie wasn’t letting them runaway from one another. They’d a lot to talk about and this was the opportunity that she wouldn’t let slip. So Ronnie had no option but to sit there and wait for the sunrise. He looked over his shoulder and saw her sitting with her legs stretched and eyes glued to the screen. He turned away from her and walked out towards the balcony. He sat there with a copy of a local newspaper and a bottle of Coke.
“It’s cold outside; I think you shouldn’t sit there anymore.” Kathy came with two cups of coffee in her hands.
“I do what I want, don’t tell me what to do; am I clear?” he said, not looking at her.
“I thought you wanted to talk!” she asked, ignoring oh-so hot head.
“And I think you want to be anywhere but here.” He taunted making her roll her eyes.
“Are you really pissed because of that?” Kathy asked incredulously. He ignored her like she did some time ago.
“You can’t be serious! Come on, get over with that…tell me, what is it that you wanted to talk about!” she demanded and tried to pull the newspaper away from him. He glared at her and snatched back the paper from her.
“You’re such a kid!” she stomped her leg and turned around. He got up hearing that and pulled her arm and made her face him.
“Don’t call me a kid!” he said, his voice low and threatening but this did not scare Kathy. His angry young-man side had never scared her anyways. She laughed at him, making him glare harder. He took both her arms in his hands and pulled her closer.
“That voice is meant to scare people away…not to make one laugh.” He whispered and she looked at him in the eyes.
“You don’t scare me. You’ve never managed to scare me!” she said smiling. His grip on her arms loosened at that moment.
“Why? Everyone’s intimidated by me, why not you?” he asked.
“Do you want me to be scared of you?” she asked smiling.
“I guess, not!” he said leaving her arms completely.
“Let’s go inside, it’s really cold out here!” she said and pulled him inside.
“And wanted to go attend the campfire.” he mumbled.
“I heard that!” she said as sat down on the couch. “I still want to go there!” she said.
“So what made you talk to me again?” he asked her.
“I don’t know…maybe I felt bad!” she shrugged.
“Alright, I’m off to sleep! Bye” he said and walked towards the bed. She followed him and sat right where he was going to sleep.
“Do you mind?” he asked as he pulled up the comforter from the foot side of the bed.
“You’re not sleeping now.” She stated and crossed her arms across her chest and kept her foot intact on the comforter.
“Okay then, don’t blame me now!” he said, confusing her. He swiftly pulled the comforter from below her in such a way that it made her fall off the bed. She rubbed her bum in comforting way as she got up from the cold floor.
“That was really very mean Ronnie!” she said as she sat next to him.
“It’s always tit for tat. You were also being mean to me earlier.” he pointed and she huffed.
“Are you going to tell me why I’m locked up in this room with you?” she asked again.
“Didn’t that sound wrong? Even if you meant it that way, it’s not wrong to spend time with my wife, is it?” he smirked. Kathy’s face colored a bit from his comments.
“I-I meant, tell me what is it that you want to talk about?” she said, making sure that she did not repeat her earlier mistake. He laughed at her discomfort which made her give him a pointed look. He sighed as shook his head and cleared his throat.
“Actually, I-I wanted to talk to you.” He started. She nodded and signaled him to continue and he started again.
“Umm-I know, I act all mad whenever I see you with him but I-” he started but she cut him off from between.
“Is it about him? I don’t understand why you get so mad about him! It’s not like he’s interested in me or anything.” She said.
“Okay, maybe he is not…but you’re! You’re still into him and that troubles me. A lot, if I may add.” He cut her in.
“Why? Why does it bother you so much! I didn’t get angry or upset when you were with Vinnie!” she lied, making him grin as he remembered how angry she was back then.
“You didn’t get mad then?” he asked smiling. She got cautious and nodded.
“Of course I didn’t. Why will I get mad about such a small thing? You were only talking to one of my best friends, so how does that make me lose it?” she questioned him and he laughed at her.
“Your face says another story, do you know that?” he asked her as he looked at her face that looked a little jealous, just at the thought of seeing them together.
“I was only looking out for my best friend, okay?” she replied with a hint of annoyance. Ronnie sat straight at that comment.
“You mean that you don’t trust me enough? You think I’ll…” he trailed off, looking away from her. She shook her head when she heard him say that.
“No. I trust. Of course I do; it’s just…maybe, it was because I’ve never seen you with someone else. You only have me as your friend. Yeah, that explains…I’m your only friend and then you two were all buddy-buddy…” she tried to come up with an appropriate explanation. He looked offended at that.
"Wow…so you don’t want me to make any friends? You think that because I was a loner before, I’ll remain a loner always? That’s what you mean right?” he asked, a little pissed and hurt.
“No. Okay, I agree that I don’t know what that was or why it irked me when I saw you with her. It just did. But it still doesn’t explain why you hate Monish.” She said. He took a deep breath and gave her a bored look.
“Are you really so dumb?” he asked her.
“Sorry?” she butted in.
“Nothing…I want to talk to you about things” he began. “It’s December and I–I…its 5 more months before we end things.”
“Do you want me to l-leave you, like now?” she asked.
“No. I want to ask you, if y-you… you know like actually try working out things between us?” he hesitated.
“But we’re already friends.” She stated; confused as to where he was going with this. He shook his head feeling helpless.
“I don’t mean that…I don’t mean friends. I mean, have you thought about what you want to do after this contract marriage ends? What will you tell everyone about this parting ways thing? Or do you want to reconsider this break-up thing?” he asked. She got serious now and looked down at the floor.
“I don’t know. I feel like I’m doing something terribly wrong…I feel like I’m cheating on people I love. I know, it’ll hurt them and maybe they won’t trust me like before, when things end between us. I’ve not yet thought about anything. And I don’t want to burden you with my responsibility. That won’t be fair to you and I can’t force myself on you!” she said tiredly. He remained quiet and stood there debating if he should confront her; he wondered if his confrontation will comfort her in anyways.
“I know that I’ve really wasted your time. I’m the reason you can’t live your life the way you used to…you know hooking up with girls and stuff?! I really don’t want to burden you with all this…you’re a great guy, a really good friend and I’m sorry about everything that happened.” She continued and his head turned towards her then.
“I agree that situations did not favor us when we got married; I agree that we two did not really like each other in the beginning. You’ve changed my life…you really have turned it upside down but not in a bad way. You’re a good impact on me. Trust me when I say that Kathy. Can’t you see that you’ve changed me for better? Can’t you see that I made friends, I mingle with your family and I’m here camping with your friends? Do you remember anything about my friends, my cousins and my family? Have you ever heard me talk about them? That’s because I’d none. I agree that you forced your way in my life but I really appreciate it, every bit of it. Looking back, I feel like may be this was the best decision after all. I wanted to talk to you because it scares me when I think about the future. I’m afraid that you won’t be a part of my future after 5 months. You made those four walls of my house ‘home’ and that’s what I’ve grown to love.” He told her. She smiled at his confrontation.
“I thought you were never good with all this! You’ve really changed…I never expected that I’d see this day!” she smiled.
“Maybe it’s because of you!” he replied cheekily. They both kept quiet and enjoyed the silence that enveloped the room. Their minds had some unsaid questions, some unanswered questions, some things that were left unsaid but they did not mind that for that moment. They had each other and that’s what mattered.
“You don’t want me leave you?” Kathy asked after a while as his words hung in her mind.
“The question should be – Do YOU want to leave me?” he asked which shut her up. She thought about it as he waited for her reply.
“I’d a great time with you all these months…sure, you’re more of a disciplinary, a freak with an OCD, a guy who confuses the hell out of me at times. But you’re nice, sweet at times and you really look after me all the time.” She said which made him laugh a bit.
“You can never go without pointing at faults, can you?” he asked her.
“I said good things too!” she laughed.
“You really like me, don’t you?” she asked him and it took him a while to understand that she meant ‘like her as a friend’. He smiled at her and nodded.
“Yes, I really like you!” he said meaning every word of the statement. They both smiled as they silently sat next to each other. He could feel her scent, her presence so close to him. His heart did a little crazy flips as her hand brushed his arms when she re-tied her pony. He looked at her with pure love, adulation and adoration.
“Kathy…” he called her, she looked at him with a question mark.
“Can I hug you?” he asked her. That surprised her a lot as she nodded unsurely. He brought his hands up and wrapped his hands her waist as her hands enveloped around his neck as he pulled her close to him. He took in her scent and melted in the hug. The love he felt for her was so over powering that he did not leave her even after a few minutes passed, he just did not want to leave her but Kathy cleared her throat after a while as she pulled back a little.
He felt something charge in him as she tried to break the hug and he urgently placed his lips on her soft pink lips, taking her by surprise even though it wasn’t a proper kiss. It was very soft- almost feather like, and just a peck but she felt something. To say that she was very stunned by his strange and sudden display of affection would be an understatement. She distanced herself from him immediately even though she felt that right.
“Kathy, I-I” he panicked but she kept quiet and turned away from him.
“I don’t regret it!” the words left his mouth, making her turn towards him
“Ronnie just go sleep, we’ve to leave tomorrow.” Kathy said and slept on the couch. Ronnie ran his hand through his hairs, and walked around the room.
‘Shit, I don’t want to lose her!’ he mumbled and kicked the small table at the side of the room.
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-Hemii :)