Forget-Me-Not : Bound by Secrets

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Six

15th December, 2000

Her phone buzzed for the millionth time, signaling a message, but Vidhi ignored it. This had been going on for a while-a result of having persistent and overprotective friends. She'd had to place the receiver of her landline aside in order to stop the calls from bothering her. Now her cell phone was buzzing again, giving no relief to her frayed nerves. The one day, the one day she needed to be by herself, no one left her alone. It was annoying. It was more than that-it was heart breaking.

She sat in her window, sniffling and wiping her nose with a tissue paper. The morning had dragged on and on for ages, and her father had given up trying to talk to her or make her feel better. He knew from experience that she didn't talk on a particular date in December. That date being today... Vidhi sighed, then closed her eyes and leaned back on her window sill. She stayed in a small one bedroom flat in Goregaon with her father, who spent half his week at home and the other half finding work. It hadn't always been this miserable... years ago, they'd still been like this but those had been happy times.

Times that were never coming back, she thought bitterly. The tears started again, and she sniffled and sobbed until she felt light and empty.

The street below was almost deserted... one couldn't see many people except for the shop-owners that had their wares to ply, a few cows milling about and being fed, and some small children running around and playing. She looked out at the world, the world as it looked from her window. Personally, she liked the view better out of Geet or Dia or Ananya's place, but it wasn't that she had much choice.

Suddenly, the sound of a roaring bike cut through the silence of her locality, and Vidhi craned her neck to see. The familiar motorcycle stopped right in front of her dilapidated, worn out building's gate, and she froze in place. Abhay got down, taking off his helmet, shaking his head a few times to arrange his hair, and the sight of him made her catch her breath unconsciously. Then a deep scowl covered her face.

She leaned back from her window, hiding herself from view, and wondered what he was doing here. She specifically remembered telling him the previous day that she was busy, that she wasn't going to be available for the next two or three days.

And yet, he was here. And she could hear the distinct thump-thump of his shoes on the stone stairs outside-the walls here were paper thin. Her fingers clenched, and she wiped her nose and face one more time before succumbing to the anger of being sought out. She didn't want to see anyone right now, didn't want to talk to anyone. Not even Abhay.

Moments later, she heard her father answering the door and talking to him, and her heart sped at the same time as a frown covered her face. She remained frozen on her window sill, and that was how Abhay found her moments later when he entered her room.

"There she is," he muttered, and she was stunned to know that he had the gall to sound annoyed. She got up and glared at him, and Abhay came in without caring to ask. "You could answer your phone, you know," he remarked.

That caught her off guard. He had been calling her? She'd thought it would be her friends... that they were the ones worried. They were the only people who knew, besides her father. Her eyes hardened.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Is that your favourite question? Don't you ever greet your friends?" he returned.

"Abhay, please. I'm not in the mood right now. Please, just leave."

"I heard something about that," he said, ignoring her plea and coming to stand right before her. She glared up at him and turned away. He must have seen her face; he must have realized that she was crying. He must have. He wasn't stupid. And she wasn't an idiot, showing her weakness to him. She didn't need anyone right now... she'd never needed anyone before. She wasn't going to start now.