The Velvet Healer (The Roys, #1) ✔

Chapter 4 - Attention

13th July

Some mornings you wake up feeling content and your stress is gone after a peaceful sound sleep. You open your eyes to the sun which shines brightly through your windows while the curtains flutter in the mild morning wind making your skin erupt goosebumps and you feel fresh.

That's when it crashes down. You remember all of a sudden why waking up has been difficult for you. You experience the usual pang inside your chest. You try to forget those aches which have been giving you hells and you realize why you didn't want to wake up again.

Priyasha didn't want to wake up to face her reality. But when she did, she remembered every single thing the previous day had brought in her life. She sat up stretching before her eyes darted toward the window as she remorsefully watched the curtains fluttering while the sunshine peeking from behind it. She remembered where she was and how she had ended up there. Still feeling tired, she climbed off the bed and started unpacking. After shuffling for a while, she found her office outfit, toothbrush and toothpaste. She left the room and walked through the hallway toward the bathroom.

It didn't take long for her to figure out where the bathroom was. Feeling the need to relieve herself, she opened the door quickly. The neat, sterile off-white and grey colored tiled bathroom and a life-size mirror in it, would have been the perfect sight for her poor eyes. However, she was greeted by the view of an almost naked man in his boxer briefs standing before the mirror. The sight caused her to shriek instantly and she immediately turned red out of embarrassment.

Unable to come up with anything to apologize, she blinked and looked away. "Umm, excuse me, the door wasn't locked, I - I knew not you were here. I - uhm - sorry." She turned around quickly and closed the door behind her. Touching her chest, which was beating wildly, she again had the flashback of what she just visualized. Her ears went hot out of embarrassment.

Closing her eyes, she slapped her forehead. She should have been more careful.

She was fiddling with her nightshirt's button nervously when she heard the click of the bathroom door opening behind her. Mortified as hell, she slowly turned around to encounter a bare chest Abhiraj, who was wrapped in a towel around his waist. Droplets of water rolled down his muscular chest to merge with the almost invisible thin line of hair behind the towel. It felt absolute awkward to look directly at him so she blinked and looked away.

"Sorry, I should have knocked on the door."

He waved dismissively. "I never cared to close the door. Who would have peeked inside anyway?" His gaze made her instantly nervous but thankfully he blinked it away. "I'll be more careful from now on."

She bit on her lower lip, concentrating on unnecessary things to keep her mind away, like the flowers needed to be replaced in the flower vase, the dolphin showpiece needed to be dusted, the wall clock struck 8 in the morning! What?

"Oh, I'll be late for office." She hurriedly moved past him and entered the bathroom.

"Good morning, Priyasha."

She anchored her attention on him over her shoulder and saw him staring at her. Some unknown fear raked through her, giving her tingles all over. His eyes shone, somewhere between disoriented and concealed. She felt discomfited to look at them.

She mumbled, "Good morning, Abhiraj," before closing the door in his face, though slowly. Resting her forehead on it, she sighed.

She was unwilling to acknowledge what she saw in his eyes. It was a forbidden territory for her. Her heart held an unhealed void filled with an excruciating ache. Until she healed that void completely, she couldn't encounter another dangerous challenge that'd risk widen her open wounds.