Against All Odds

Chapter 22

Shaurya's POV

I thought Arjun will be the one to come in the cabin, instead a distraught looking Shikhar came inside. He definitely wasn't looking in a good condition. Eyes swollen, clothes crumbled, some part of the tshirt still tugged in his dry dirt laden jeans while most of it had slipped out. His hair looked like a vehicle had run over a porcupine, leaving a zig zag trail in his standing hair. But he still looked handsome nevertheless. He was my brother after all.

The moment he entered the cabin his eyes were searching for someone and the moment they landed on Niyati he took big steps towards her. He sat on the floor with a thud near the sofa that she was sitting on and immediately started crying after keeping his head on her lap.

Something in my heart stirred just looking at them. When Niyati started caressing his hair to calm him down, I won't lie I was jealous.

Yes I was jealous because Shikhar had found the mother figure we both so desperately lacked in our life. Our entire life we craved for that motherly hand to caress our hair lovingly

A hand to wipe our tears when we felt sad

A hand to feed us when we would be tired

A hand to tug us in bed after a day full of play or study

A hand to hug when we had nightmares

A hand to slap us even, if we misbehave.

Unfortunately all we had to settle for was a phone call in a month, or if we were lucky twice a month.

When I saw Niyati wiping Shikhar's tears I knew he found that hand and I was hell jealous for a second. I would probably never know how it would feel. But then I was happy that my brother had that in his life.

Growing up, I tried my level best to compensate for our missing parents in his life, but no matter how hard I tried I am not a woman to have those maternal instincts. So, when he used to cry I would divert his mind by playing video games. Instead of tugging him in bed I used to make him chase him. He would get tired and fall asleep at any place cozy, not even bothering to reach his bed.

Long back when I used to think about my future with a woman I never thought about bringing a mother figure for Shikhar. But as I kept watching them cry and console each other I realized, she would have filled that void perfectly. Perhaps she was filling it now, just not with me besides her.

My thought process was broken when Arjun entered the cabin. His eyes also automatically stationed on the duo sitting on the sofa. Atleast one was sitting on it.

I could see a faint smile starting to form on Arjun's face as he was watching them. Was he watching them both or just her?

I trusted Arjun. Not only was he my security consultant, he was my friend too. But something always bugged me when it came to his work where Niyati was concerned. His demeanor while reporting other cases and reporting about her was different. The difference was too trifling for anyone else to notice, but I am not just anyone.

Was it just sympathy or something else? Maybe I was thinking too much. I just overreact when it comes to Niyati. However, right now I wanted to stop him from looking at Niyati. Best he leaves or I would lose my cool. I dismissed him at the earliest.

I was again stuck alone in the cabin with the sobbing duo. Though it was adorable at first, now it was being dragged too much with Shikhar repeating his apologies over and over again while crying and Niyati asking him to stop apologizing and requesting him to stop crying, while she herself continued leaking.

I am not a patient man. Yet I watched the duo for more than ten minutes, competing with each other as to who would flood my office first. Now they were getting on my nerves. Both were hell tired. Shikhar was still shaken and I could see the efforts Niyati had to put to utter every word. Where the hell is the doctor?