Love and More

Chapter 7

A few minutes passed like that. Then Haseena budged but Amar didn't leave her and firmly held her face close to his chest pressing a hand behind her head. She got more and more confused by his actions.

"Haseena Ji, don't move." Amar whispered taking Haseena by surprise, "Two constables are standing behind you. They're watching us. They'll recognize you if they see your face. And I think that is what they're trying to do." Haseena finally understood why Amar behaved weirdly.

"Haseena Ji, hold onto me." Whispered Amar once again.

"Wh-" Haseena was about to speak while trying to raise her head to meet his eyes but yet again he held her tightly to his chest and then cut her off,

"Just hug me. Trust me and do as I say." And Haseena slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. She hated how her cheeks heated up when she held onto him just like he was holding her.

She could clearly hear the raise in Amar's heartbeat. The sound of his heartbeat for some reason made her feel ticklish in her stomach. Whereas, what Amar felt was no different than what she felt. He blushed at the thought that she could hear the raise in his heartbeat.

What will she think? Calm down, Amar!! He chided himself for his heart wouldn't listen to him. But for a moment, he wondered, is she as well feeling the same as me? His stomach tickled at the thought.

They left the alley as soon as the policemen left to give them privacy. Turned out, they had assumed the two to be a couple as they'd been watching them a long time. Though they couldn't see the woman's face. But they knew Amar and had assumed he was married as he had a 7-year-old son and never bothered to explain to people that he had adopted the boy.

Thus, the constables assumed Haseena to be his wife as it seemed like, the woman (Haseena) was mad and her husband (Amar) tried to pacify her. Their assumptions seemed to be assured when finally the woman stopped trying to retrieve herself from his hold and wrapped her arms around his waist as well, hiding her face in his chest. And the policemen decided to leave the couple alone.

...

Both of them were quiet throughout the rest of the journey until they got back to Amar's brother-in-law's bungalow where Amar had hidden Haseena. Amar silently drove the police jeep and Haseena quietly sat in the passenger seat. Both of them had put on helmets not to get caught by surveillance cameras. Soon, when they reached their destination,

"What was the need to go out like that?!" Amar chided as soon as Haseena had climbed off the jeep.

"I was just-"

"What were you thinking?" His voice was irritated but he tried his best to keep his calm.

"I told you. I needed to get the medicines for Ammi(mother). I'm sure she had forgotten-"

"I'm not talking about that." He took a deep breath to calm himself then spoke, "I'm asking, what were you thinking when you shot Karishma Singh? Why did you do that?" He spoke gently as he knew the topic was sensitive.

"I... I had thought if Karishma was seen in the surveillance footage making me elope, she would get framed as well. I did that to make it look as if I had run off injuring her. And she was not involved in my elopement." She answered his question firmly trying to hide the inner unrest.

Amar exhaled, "Okay, let's go inside." Said he.

...

Karishma thought upon it again and again.

Why did Ms Haseena shoot me in the arm? She could just blow my skull off. But what if she had missed her aim? For god's sake, she's a shooting champion! No way, she had missed her aim...

Karishma's head was a fudge thinking why had Haseena shot her. Her husband was right, if Haseena had intended to kill her, she would've been dead for two days now. Haseena wouldn't have missed her aim. And then it clicked her, there were surveillance cameras! She must've noticed it. She did it to keep me clean. She did it so it would look like she ran away and before I could stop her she had me injured. She took it upon herself so that I could stay clean!

...

Amar had left Haseena alone for a while. Giving her time to console herself. It was not that Amar didn't anticipate comforting her himself. He was going to do that when Haseena excused herself as she needed some alone time. A moment to take in everything.

After one hour or so, Amar knocked on the door of the room. Then entered the room with a handful of shopping bags.

"Haseena Ji?" He called for her when he saw her sitting all lost, in a corner of the bed. When she didn't react he called out again keeping a hand on her shoulder, "Haseeena?" And she turned her head to meet his eyes.

Her eyes were red. The tears trickled down her eyes, touching her cheeks, "I clearly made a mistake... A big one-" Her voice cracked.

Amar knelt in front of her taking her hands in his, "It is alright." He took deep breaths to calm his aching heart, "Everyone makes mistakes. So, it is alright for you to make one as well. None of us is perfect. Do you think I never made any?" He paused wiping her tears off her cheeks with his hands delicately touching her cheeks. He touched her skin so gently as if it was made of the most precious element in the world.

Then taking a deep breath spoke again, "You know, I... I used to bully a junior back in college. And I used to think it was just fun... for them as well. It's just... Sometimes it just doesn't go as we think it will. That student had made a complaint to my father. And my father beat me with his golf stick." Amar said curling up his lips into a silly pout. At last, Haseena chuckled.

Her slightest smile made his face light up just at the sight of it. She then gave him a weak smile to assure him she was fine. And he handed her the shopping bags.

...

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