Unexpected Visitor II
she couldn’t sleep she was afraid to be alone for the very first time
She FT Dhru, she FT Sai she FT sameena, it was after 11, her eyes burned like fireballs but she could not fall asleep, the house was too quiet, she cried
She didn’t want to be alone
She sat by the window with a cup of chai and watched the traffic on the busy street.
It was approaching midnight, she decided to sleep right there
There was a knock on the door, Aatreya was being careful he didn’t want to ring the doorbell
Because of her nosy neighbor
Mrunalini peered through the hole and opened it hurriedly as a feeling of relief washed over her
“YOU?”
“Yep” he smiled
Handing her two bags
“One contained food and the other contained a string of jasmine and prashad and offerings from the evening
He was still in his kurta chudidar
“Where is Dhru?”
“Asleep in my Mum’s room”
“Oh?” she felt a pang of envy she didn’t know what it was like to sleep by a mother, with the scent of a saree and gajra
“Why did u drive so late?” she asked worried
He looked at her worried
“Why do u look like u are still awake?”
“Oh I was just wrapping up work”
Her laptop was shut and charging in the galley table in front of the kitchen
“Everything smells so good” she inhaled the food bag
She had not eaten anything or cooked
“U should eat now before u go to bed”
“Oh I ate already” she said with a smile making a fake scowl
“It looks like its going to rain, don’t u love wet commutes?”
She was up and most likely going to be up so she didn’t know what to say
“Why did u drive up for this, THANK U SO MUCH”
I had to drop Mendy off, his car has a flat tire and we couldn’t pump it up”
“Oh?” “I am sure that was ahassle”
“No not really” he smiled gently
“Did ur friends leave?”
“Some were still home talking to my Dad, must have left now” he checks his phone
“Oh”
She imagined his cozy flat with everyone lights out and still smelling like pooja
“I can stay here tonight” he offered
“Will u?” she teared up
“Hmm”
He texted Mendy
“I am staying at Mrunalini’s”
“Nice”
“U should just go to bed” he said softly
She nodded choked up
She sprinted to the bedroom and lay in bed with a whimper
Fell asleep in less than 10 minutes
He put everything away and lay down on the low divan after shutting out all the lights
Cricket
