Little girl's wild side

Chapter 34

Gautham did not say anything for a long time. He just let her rest on him. But after a while, he lifted Sindhu's face and made her look at him. She looked so distraught and lonely.. It broke him to see that expression on Sindhu. Then he went out and got her some water. She took a few greedy sips. Then he scooped her and arranged her in such a way that she sat straddling him on his laps. Then he hugged her close to himself and buried her face over his shoulders. Sindhu circled her hands around his neck and breathed on his scent. For some reason it calmed her down.

"Hey... "Gautham called out. But Sindhu did not reply. She simple snuggled into the crocks of his necks.

After a while when she was sure that she had calmed down she pulled away from Gautham but she refused to meet his eyes. She hung her heads down and stayed quiet. She was afraid of what she might see in his face.

Gautham lifted her head to make her look at him. But Sindhu refused to meet his eyes.

"Hey! Sindhu," Gautham called out to her very softly. Sindhu nodded very slightly.

"You are not the only one hurt you know?? Your mum... She is equally miserable. Maybe she does not know how to say it. Maybe she does not even realize that she had done something so hurtful. I think you should talk to her. After all she is your mom and you are her daughter. There is no point in both of you hurting each other like this you know." Gautham said while caressing her cheeks.

Sindhu stayed quiet. She did not reply right away. She took his hands into hers and started playing with it. After a long time she started talking again, "I know that actually. I also know that I am not messed up because of my mum and Shreya. In all honesty it's probably the other way around. It's because I am so messed up that I had blown these two situations way out of proportion in my head."

She paused for a while and then continued, "But you know that moment when the person closest to you breaks you?? You never forget that moment. For some reason only that one moment remains. Every memory you have with them before and after that moment disappears. But that one moment hitches to your head like a leech and sucks you dry. It spreads all around and makes you resent every single thing around you. Suddenly everything around you turns black."

"You have no idea how exhausting it is to resent your own mum that too at such a young age."

"Until I know how not to resent her, I don't think I can really do anything more with our relationship."

Gautham just stared at her. He did not know what more to say so he remained quiet. He wanted to help but he did not want to overstep and mess things up. So he decided to wait and see before doing anything.

Thus both of them stayed quiet for a long time. Sindhu kept playing with his shirt buttons while still leaning on his chests once again sitting sideways on his lap. And Gautham kept a protective arm around her and kept caressing her head. There was a blissful comfort between then.

"Hey.." Gautham called out after a long while at last breaking the silence between them.

"Hmm..." Sindhu muttered against him.

"Did you tell you're mum before coming out??" Gautham asked.

Sindhu shook her head while still snuggling against him.

"You snuck out again??" Gautham asked.

Sindhu nodded obediently.

"You're planning on sleeping here tonight??" Gautham asked again patiently.

Sindhu shook her head once again.

Gautham took out his phone and sent a quick text to Aruna informing her that Sindhu was with him and that they will be back soon.

"You just ratted me out didn't you??" Sindhu asked at last sitting up straight and looking straight at him with accusatory gaze.

Gautham let out a chuckle and reached out to tidy up the strands of hair that were sticking out due to her leaning over him for so long.

Sindhu folded her hands in front of her and glared at him pouting.

Gautham couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheeks at her childish behavior.

"Come on. Get up. We need to get home. It will be dawn in couple of hours." Gautham said and gestured Sindhu to get up.

But Sindhu did not move an inch. She just snuggled into him all over again.

"You do realize you are using me as furniture right???" Gautham asked sarcastically.

"That's not right. You are not a furniture. More like a teddy bear." Sindhu murmured subconsciously for herself but in that quiet room Gautham could hear it clearly.

"Sindhu it's really getting late. Come on. Get up. We need to get home soon or else I will be the one hearing an ear full from your mother-in-law. Of course you will escape scot free with your puppy dog eyes." Gautham urged.

At last Sindhu got up quite reluctantly of course. She was pouting and stomping when walking out of the apartment and by the time they reached Sindhu's home, it was already almost morning. And Sindhu being the silly person she is; was still upset for being sent home. So she got down from the bike stood there in front of him with her hands folded in front of her and her face turned sideways with a pout.

If Sindhu had done this any other day, Gautham would have laughed it off as her being silly. But after seeing those paintings, he saw her childishness for what it was. It was her mask-A protective mask to keep people away from her. Nobody will ever see past her childishness unless and until she spells it out herself. John was right, she had perfected that smile and her each expression quite meticulously. When all these thoughts bombarded him, suddenly even Gautham was very reluctant to let her go. He wished he could just take her far away from all of this and just keep her to himself. With his sudden need to keep her close, pulled her and engulfed her in a hug.

"Don't be mad okay. Be patient for just a few more days okay?? Everything will be over in just two days." Gautham whispered.

Sindhu let out a sign and said, "It's just... I am just not used to so many people. The whole thing is so exhausting. It's so hard to get two minutes of quiet."

"I know. You did well so far. Just two days more. After that, there will be no one telling you what to do. I promise. Okay." Gautham said and at last let her go.

Sindhu simply nodded her head. Gautham made sure she got in safe and left for his own house.