Treat You Better

Chapter 10

There was no welcoming party. There were no smiling people. There was no light. She was greeted by absolute darkness.
Raghu walked across the apartment threshold into the living room and turned on the lights. Radhika still made no move to enter the apartment.
Raghu went towards the main door to see what was going on and he saw a very nervous looking Radhika. He remembered his sister's words and smiled at her.
'Welcome to my humble abode.' , he said making a welcoming gesture with his hands.
She stepped in with her right foot praying that the house would bring her happiness. Raghu gave her a grand tour of the whole house. She was impressed by the apartment. It was a spacious apartment even though it radiated a bachelor vibe.
She wasted no time and started unpacking. She was surprised when Raghu offered to help her which she politely declined. He then went ahead to create an empty space in the cupboard for her to keep her clothes and belongings.
After they were done arranging her things in the cupboard, they fell back onto the bed. Radhika was tired and famished from all that wotk. She felt that she could eat an elephant and still be hungry.

As if reading her mind, Raghu said, 'It is almost dinner time.There is a pizza place nearby. We could walk down there if you don't mind.'

Radhika wore a simple tunic top and straight pants and accessorised with a pair of diamond earrings her father had gifted her on the occasion of her wedding. She was ecstatic. This was kind of like their first dinner date and she was not going to treat it lightly.
She was almost jumping with joy. Radhika felt that she had judged Raghu too quickly. Maybe he was just too nervous to talk to her just like she was.

They locked up their apartment and left the building and walked down to pizza place. The place was warm and quite lovely. They ate in silence even though Radhika tried to initiate small talk to which she received one word replies. When they were done, Raghu paid the bill and they left.
The darkness of the night had taken over and the warm Flood of light being emitted from the streetlights were flickering above their heads.

She was feeling queasy about this. Maybe they should have driven to the pizza place.
Suddenly a dingy little alleyway came into her line of sight. Her vision started blurring. She saw three men charge at her out of nowhere. She stumbled backwards and tried to run only to trip forward. A sense of Deja Vu struck her.
'Please Don't hurt me. Please.', she begged.
'Radhika!'
'Please don't touch me. Please', she cowered close to a greying dirty wall and her darkness slowly engulfed.
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Doused by a bottle of water, Radhika opened her eyes spluttering.Someone tightly gripped her shoulders and shook. She saw a crowd of people around her. As she scanned the crowd, only one face registered in her mind. The only face that mattered.

Raghu looked at her with concern, etched all over his face. She sprang to her feet as if she was electrocuted. She assured the mini crowd of 3 people gathered around, that she was alright and started running back in the direction of their apartment building without waiting for Raghu.
Raghu tried to keep up with her pace, but she was too fast. If someone saw them from afar, it would look like Raghu was chasing Radhika.

She reached her apartment and unlocked the door, grateful that Raghu had handed her the keys while they were leaving. Without bothering to lock the door, she ran into the bathroom and started bawling her eyes out, sitting under the water being sprayed from the shower nozzle.
She was dejected from the realisation, she will never be her old self. She will always be afraid of the things that lurk in the darkness. She would never be able to go back carefree, jovial life. She cried her heart out understanding that even though her body had healed from the attack, Her mind will always hover in between the thin line of fear and insecurity.
Raghu stood outside the bathroom listening to every sob that escaped her throat. He didn't try to console her. He knew the no amount of consoling would calm down her haunted soul.