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.

Despite the fact, what that is forbidden always excites, there's a reason why it's called forbidden.

She must play it safe.

The water ran cold on her skin as she squirmed, but stayed under it. She needed to feel the coldness, the hard truth of her reality. Even if she washed away the invisible dirt all over her, the dirt on her honor would never get washed away.

Streams of tears trickled down her face, mingling with the water streams, as she touched the left side of her left breast and turned numb immediately.

She could never replace those imprinted scars on her skin with something less painful. She was marked, scarred ... and used.

The haunted reminder rang in her ears making her hum in pain.

You'll always be mine.

She covered her ears and shook her head vigorously in an attempt to forget her 'nightmare', which she knew, she could never. Her legs gave in as she sank down to the floor. The water ran down her crumpling body until she heard the knock on the door.

"Are you taking the day off? It's almost 8:30." Abhiraj called out from the other side, dragging her out of her trance as she stood up quickly. Turning off the shower she patted dry her hair and got into her outfit. Then rushed to grab her bag and went straight to the kitchen to satiate her hungry stomach. All this time, she didn't see Abhiraj anywhere. She shrugged off the thought and concentrated on her breakfast. After she finished and exited the kitchen, she collided with someone and stumbled back losing her balance.

"Ick! Sorry, ma'am. I'm extremely sorry," he apologized rather quickly.

She looked up at the person. It was the elevator boy from yesterday. She didn't yet know his name.

"Oh! It's alright." Priyasha excused him gently.

The boy hesitated for a quick moment before saying, "Roy Sir is waiting for you downstairs and sent me to pick his work file for him."

Priyasha's eyes drifted down on his hand which was definitely holding a file. She looked up again. "Okay. Let's go then. I'm getting late, already."

The boy nodded and followed her outside the apartment. He then locked the door and went to the elevator followed by Priyasha.

He was seemingly in his late teens or early twenties. Priyasha watched his appearance while he waited for the elevator's door to open. He wore a green t-shirt, and black worn-out trousers. A thread attached to a dog tag pendant around his neck was hanging loosely. A newly formed soft stubble had covered his face, lips almost black, perhaps from excessive smoking. His pointed nose and bright eyes contradicting with his other features. His hair was undone as he looked much younger than his real age for this. He turned to her and gestured her to enter the elevator.

She moved in, him trailing behind her.

"I am Priyasha. What's your name?"

He was startled at first, then hesitated before answering, "I'm Jairam, you can call me Jai."

"Sure." She turned to him. "So, you're working here for how long?"

He averted his eyes ahead as he fidgeted visibly. "I - uh, for three years."

She wondered what made him fidgeting around her. The elevator hit the ground floor as they came out of it.

She was about to leave when she heard Jai saying something.

"Did you say something?" She anchored her attention on him.

He shook his head first, then nodded slowly.

She turned to face him curiously. "What is it?"

He moved closer as she folded her hands in a defensive posture. If anything, she prepared herself for an attack. No one could be trusted.

"Ma'am, you should be very careful of the people you meet," he whispered looking around.

"What do you mean?"

"Be careful. I- I can't tell you more than this," he said that in haste then vanished somewhere behind the elevator quickly.

"Hey, Jai? Jai?" She called out a few more times, but he seemed to leave the place.

A whirlwind attacked her mind immediately after this short and quick conversation. Why did he warn her to be careful? Why would Jai say something like that?

Was she in danger? Was Abhiraj the danger? It was true that she barely knew him. Being with Abhiraj never felt dangerous, and unreasonably so.

Until now.

She couldn't be sure anymore.

~~~

She put her bag on the desk and straightened.

"Hey, Priyasha."

"Hi, Sonya!" She turned and gave her colleague a bright smile.

"So, you did find a home then."

She shrugged. "Kind of. Where's Neha?"

"In Vikram's room. We'll be summoned shortly, don't worry."

They both nodded knowingly.

"So, where's this new apartment of yours?" She asked.

When Priyasha told her everything, Sonya winked at her suggestively, then went back to her cubicle.

Priyasha eyed around the place and located Abhiraj coming out of Vikram's room. She watched him cautiously, pondering why was he so eager to help her out, and then about Jai's warning, until her vision obscured by others and a face that looked like Neha's appeared in front of her.

"Priyasha!" She came closer and said, "Vikram tagged you to the new project along with the new guy." That statement definitely took her in by surprise.

"Really?" She asked quickly. Were these just coincidences that they were ending up together every time? Or was there something she wasn't seeing? She looked at his cubicle in suspicion. He was typing something on the computer, seemingly unaware of anything happening around.

Neha shrugged, then left.

Sometimes the biggest fear which you want to avoid, creeps in unnoticed, and then forcefully crushes you to your weakest dream. You pray hard for staying away from it. But it not only attacks you emotionally, but also spiritually, at a deeper level. Then you forget your oath to stay away from danger that birthed your fear in the first place.

She had been struggling to master the riddles of her life. But her fate seemed to get dragged towards the hell's gate.

No matter what she did, she understood one thing straight to the point. Whatever her future held, it was unavoidable. She had to face the storm that had born long before she was aware of it.

~~~

Author's note: Hi, readers. It'd be a lie if I say this story is completely fictional. It's not. Pain makes me write stories, and there's a lot more I need to say to the world. So, help me reach 500 followers if this story has you hooked. I truly appreciate your support.