Chapter 11

MuguetDScorpion

@MuguetDScorpion

[NOCOPY]Hello hi bye bye... no no, not bye bye only hi. 

First of all a big thank you to everyone.  Apparently according to IF, I have achieved my second badge of engager. I think it means I have managed to gather fifty members in this story. 
Kudos to me and thanks to you lovely peeps. 

I am also relieved that you all didn't mind Virat's bold choice in the previous chapter.

About this chapter, being the sadist I am, I loved writing Sai's breakdown parts a lot and hoping you too loved reading it. 

No more spoiler and happy reading.

Next morning when Sai woke up she found Ashwini and Usha Mausi in the room. Virat had informed them about her condition and asked them to take care of her while he was away on duty for the day. She wanted to get up but her entire body was numb. Usha Maushi brought her a bowl of soup and her favorite green tea. A while later, she felt much better and got ready for college. Before leaving she informed Ashwini who tried her best to stop her with Usha Mausi's help but she reassured them that she was doing well.

Virat was in his office, lost in his thoughts. His heart was dealing with a multitude of emotions. He was hurt that Sai didn't inform him about the stalker but he was angry too at the person who was trying to harm his wife. He was embarrassed for what he had to do the day before to save her life and worried too that she was pretending to be fine. She was the kind of person who would become a nonstop chatterbox when in good terms with him but cut herself totally off him when angry or upset with him. He just realized that he was twisting his wedding ring like he always did when she was all over his mind. He wanted to call his mother to know how she was doing but hesitated. While he kept looking at his phone screen, Ashwini herself called him.

« Godu, your Biwi didn't listen to us and left for the college. Thought about imforming you. », Ashwini said before he could even say hello.
« What ? », he got up from his chair. « This girl will drive me crazy. », he added clenching his fist.
« Is everything fine ? », Ashwini asked sensing in his voice that something was wrong.
« Yes don't worry. Thank you for letting me know, Aayi. », he hung up.

Sai was in the library, lost in her thoughts, trying to remember what happened the day before. All she could remember was that she entered her room and broke down in tears and threw away the pictures. « Damn the pictures. », she thought. She prayed that Virat didn't see them, not before she told him about Saurabh. She decided to tell him everything. When she came back to reality, she spotted officer Deshmukh keeping an eye on her. She understood that Virat knew she left the house.

As soon as she entered the room she looked for the pictures. She found them under the table and thanked God. She picked them up one by one but when she was about to pick the last one, her hand touched Virat's. He picked it up and before he could see it she snatched it from his hand.

« What ? », he asked confused.
« What what ? », she asked back.
« What are you hiding again ? I am tired of your secrets, Sai. Do you have any idea what I felt yesterday when I found you in that state ? », he scolded her.
« Found me where ? », she asked confused.
« In the... », he stoppped midway.

He realized that she had no clue about what happened yesterday night. He preferred not to reveal anything and make her feel uneasy and embarrassed.

« I found you crying and then you collapsed. », he said. « Sai, will you tell me what happened yesterday. I swear I am worried... worried and helpless. », he added putting his hands on her shoulders.

She looked at him teary eyed. She loved this caring side of him. Having him around her always made her feel safe. Even if he didn't love her he cared for her and that was enough for her. She wanted to tell him everthing and cry on his shoulder. She furtively hid the pictures inside her bag before he could notice it.

« Virat Sir... », she started before getting interrupted.
« Virat, can we talk ? », Pakhi asked from the other side of the door.

Virat and Sai turned their heads towards Pakhi and then looked back at each other, unhappy that they got interrupted in the middle of an important discussion. He noticed how her expression changed from being talkative as her usual self to being secretive when she wanted to keep him away from all her problems. She picked her bag and walked towards the door.

« Where are you going, Sai ? », he stopped her from going.
« Your best friend is here. You both must have so much to discuss. », she replied irritated.
« I don't understand why you keep insulting me, Sai ? », Pakhi asked Sai.
« How is it insulting you, Pakhi Didi ? You should in fact thank me that I am leaving the room so that you can freely talk to your best friend. », Sai replied.
« I was about to ask Virat to go somewhere else. You don't have to leave your room for me. », Pakhi said.
« Wow that's so thoughtful of you, Pakhi Didi. », Sai taunted her.
« Sai. », Virat interrupted them to stop an emerging argument.
« What's pissing you off, Sai ? I came here after so long to discuss with my friend. What's wrong in it ? », Pakhi asked.
« Oh yes, now that Samrat Dada is here, you can't spend time with your best friend. How sad ! And I understand that as soon as Samrat Dada is out of town for some work, you don't want to waste the opportunity to meet your best friend. », she mocked her.
« Shut up Sai. »,Pakhi shouted at Sai and then looked at Virat teary eyed, « And you won't say anything to your wife about how she is mocking our friendship. »

Virat was more concerned for his wife than his friend Pakhi. Sai was going through a lot and he really needed her to talk to him. He won't be able to help her if she refuses to talk to him.

« Pakhi can we talk later ? Sai and I were discussing about something very important. », Virat informed her.
« Leave it Virat Sir, I am in no mood to discuss about anything. », she said and walked through the door.
« Where are you going ? », he asked unable to stop thinking about her.
« What will you do knowing it ? », she replied without turning and left.

Virat sighed. She didn't need much to get upset and make an U-turn from whatever her heart was telling her to do or say a while ago. He shifted his attention from her to Pakhi and asked what she wanted to tell him. He could feel it that even Pakhi wasn't doing well emotionally. She told him how she was trying hard to give Samrat a chance but every time she tried she felt like her heart was bleeding. When she told him what she felt spending the day with her husband the other day, Virat felt bad seeing her tears. He wished he had stopped the wedding and saved both his brother and his friend from the heartbreak. He was quite stupid to think after the marriage they would get to know each and start a new life together. He never thought being married to the brother of the man she loved once would be twice more difficult to move on. He adviced her to give them some time. Things will be difficult in the beginning but time always heals every pain and opens new doors. One day she will get all the happiness she wished for. Pakhi went back to her room and felt much better. Spending fifteen minutes with him were enough to lighten up her mood and stop her heart from aching.

Sai looked at the pictures and thought where she went wrong. She was always very clear about their friendship and he seemed to be clear too then why did he suddenly go off on a tangent. She looked up and like a child talked to her Aaba.

« Is this the reason why you wanted to keep me away from him, Aaba ? Did you fear that one day he would fall in love with me and would play with my mind ? Did you think there was a chance I would also fall for him once grown up ? », she questioned him then after a short pause she continued, « I wish you were there so that I could share what I am feeling right now. Aaba, how do I tell my heart to stop crying ? The guy who was so important to me broke my trust. You know na Aaba, if there was someone important in my life after you then it was him. You know na how broken I was when we left Satara for Gadchiroli ? Do you remember the amount of time I have spent in the mandir praying for his speedy recovery ? ».

She took a little break and wiped away her tears. She hysterically laughed at herself and cried at the same time.

« Can you see how people around me are hell bent on fooling me by the name of friendship ? On the one hand I have a best friend who has feelings for me. On the other hand I have a husband who hides his feelings for his ex lover behind friendship. Why are they giving a dirty meaning to such a beautiful relationship called friendship ? », she continued to talk to her Aaba letting her tears roll down. « I wanted to convide in Virat Sir and wanted his emotional support but how will he even understand me when he himself doesn't understand the meaning of friendship ? », she cried more. « Why am I crying like a fool, Aaba ? He can do whatever he wants in his life. It shouldn't affect me, right Aaba ? Then why every time I see him with Pakhi Didi, I can't control my anger and why do I get so affected ? », she wiped her tears away. « No Aaba enough. You haven't raised me so weak. I will deal with both of them like a fighter. », she self-motivated and wiped away her tears.

Ashwini who was looking for Sai found her on the balcony. She needed her in the kitchen to prepare the dinner. She saw one of the pictures and picked it up.

« Sai, is it you in the picture ? », she asked.
« Ho Aayi. »,she replied putting the rest of the pictures inside her bag.
« You were so beautiful. », she said kissing the picture. « Can I keep it ? », she asked.
« Yeah sure. », Sai replied.

After the dinner Sai was studying on the bed waiting for Virat. She decided to give him the name of the stalker without revealing their past. He didn't need to know how good friends they were. For Virat knowing the name of the person who was troubling her was enough to stop his obsession. Before he could come back in the room, Sai fell asleep holding her book open. He didn't want to wake her up and took the book from her hand before switching off the light.

Sai told everything to Virat. He looked so angry and wanted to take strict action. She asked him to give her some time and trust her. She knew how to deal with Saurabh like she dealed with Amey in the past. Virat accepted but things didn't go the way she had planned and Saurabh kidnapped her. After great efforts he found her but when Saurabh didn't want to let her go, he lost his patience and in anger and guilt, he shot him.

Sai woke up with a jolt drenched in sweat. She got up from the bed and paced up and down. It was just a dream but it felt so real. She sat down on the bed and couldn't delete the imagine of Saurabh's dead body from her head. No matter what he did to her, she couldn't accept the idea of losing him. Submerged by the emotions, she couldn't stop crying. She put her hands in front of her mouth so that no sound comes out. Virat who changed his side in sleep felt like Sai wasn't next to him. He opened his eyes and saw she wasn't there. He looked around and spotted her on the edge of the bed. He got up and walked towards her. He found a crying Sai and immediately went down on his knees to check on her.

« Sai ? Are you ok ? », he asked.
She looked up at him surprised, « Yeah ! Just having a headache. »

He remembered how painful were her headaches. He went to get her medicine and came back with it and a glass of water while she tried her best to calm down. She took the medicine to make him believe she was really having a migraine. After putting the glass on the table when he came back, he found her silently crying. She was biting her lips to stop her emotions.

« Are you sure it's just a headache. », he asked concerned.
« Yeah ! », she replied looking down. « I will be fine don't worry. You please go back to sleep. I don't want to deprive you of your sleep. », she said wiping away her tears.
« It's knowing that you are not feeling well that will deprive me of my sleep. », he said.

The way she looked down, he knew she wasn't being honest with him. She didn't like his concern for her as she was guilty of hiding something so big from him. The dream scared her and she knew Virat would take drastic actions against Saurabh. She can't let anything happen to him before trying to reason with him and give him a chance to stop with this obsession. If he truly loved her as a friend or even more than that then he would definitely understand her.

« Virat Sir, you really don't have to worry for me. », she said very softly.
« How can I not be worried for you ? You haven't told me about the stalker. You didn't tell me why you broke down yesterday. Maybe if you open up to me then I will stop worrying. », he tried to change his way to get into her head.
« I didn't take him seriously. I think being surrounded by the stalkers has become a routine that I don't notice the danger around me. », she replied staring into space.

Virat felt a pinching pain in his heart. She was still a teen and she has already faced harrassment twice.

« I just got emotional and broke down. », she smiled.

He knew it wasn't a sincere smile but even then her smile was the most beautiful thing about her. Her smile would turn any man on. He brushed off such thoughts about her and nervously licked his lips.

« Ok, my GSFE, let's go to bed. », he said knowing that she was being somehow insincere with him.
« GSFE ? », she asked confused.
« Gadchiroli Super Fast Express. », he laughed and noticed she too had a smile on her face.