Ananya was astounded by Daksh's behavior towards her. She had been meaning to talk to him since morning. But he was not even willing to even look at her. But why was he doing that?

Getting annoyed at his behavior, Ananya over taked Daksh and stood in front of him, with her arms crossed. Daksh looked a little bit surprised.

Ananya: What's your problem?

Daksh shrugged his shoulders and walked past her. Ananya blocked his way once again.

Daksh: We're getting late.

Ananya: Just tell me why are you behaving so weird lately?

Daksh: What?

Ananya : You've been ignoring me since morning. Everytime I try to look at you,you ignore me and look the other side. I've been trying to talk to you since morning, but tum ho ki meri taraf dekh bhi nahi rahe! What's your problem?

Daksh was a little taken aback by the sudden outburst. But gathering his voice,he said,

Daksh: Tum sach me janna chahti ho ki mai tumhari taraf kyu nahi dekh raha?

Ananya: Ha!

Daksh: To suno. Every time I look at you , mera dimag mujhe yeh reminder de deta hai ki mai tumhari takleefo ko chahte huye bhi dur nahi kar sakta! I can't do anything to help you! And jabse tumne mere samne apna past disclose kiya, tabse mai tumhare alawa aur kuch soch hi nahi pa raha hu. Tum 24/7 mere dimag mein ghum rahi ho. Everytime I look at you or speak to you , I get a remainder that I can't do anything to ease your pain. Jisse tumhara dard kam ho jaye. I can't.....

He sighed and sat down on the nearby chair. Ananya looked at him, tears evident on her eyes. She sat down next to him.She put her hand on top of his and said,

Ananya: Daksh, mai apne past se har roz lar rahi hu.It's a part of life. You can't do anything about it. Don't blame yourself for that. I disclosed my past to you..........not because I expected you to ease my pain. No one can end my pain except me. I told you about my past because..........I found a confidante in you. I felt I could tell you anything. You won't judge me like the others do. I somehow knew that.

Daksh looked at Ananya. In those few silent moments, both of them felt that they knew each other perfectly.They just kept gazing into each other's eyes and let the whole world stop for them. It was a blissful moment.

Ananya: Aur agar tumhe sach me mujhe khush hi karna hai na, to mujhe shopping le chalna kisi din! Thik hai?

Daksh smiled and said," Kisi din kyu? Abhi chalte hai."

Ananya chuckled and replied," Budhuu, hume jo kaam diya hai vo nahi  karna? Ab chalo varna Tapasya vapas chilayi gi!"

" Tapasya nahi, Taps kaho!", Daksh mimicked Tapasya. That brought a smile in Ananya's face.

She laughed.And he looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man...........

                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Take these to the Dean for approval.And make sure he approves.", Miss Diana informed Sahil and Shanu.

They nodded and headed towards the Dean's office.Looking at Sahil's frown, Shanu could easily guess that he wasn't very happy going to his father's office.

Of course, who would?!

Shanu: Stop sulking Sahil. It's not like were going to hell.

Sahil: Well,it's kind of like a hell to me.

Shanu: Sahil....

Sahil: You don't know my father, Shanu. He's the living replica of the devil.

Shanu: Okay, now you're just acting paranoid for no reason.

Sahil: Oh come on! Shanu, haven't I already told you how my father behaves with me?

Shanu: Well, he may behave differently in front of me, who knows!

Sahil: (Sarcastically) Yeah, right.

Shanu held his hand and said,

Shanu: It's going to be fine.

Sahil: Hope so.

Saying that, he sighed and knocked on the office door. A deep voice said," Come in"

They entered. 

The Dean greeted Shanu with a pleasant smile. But as soon as he saw Sahil, his expression changed.

Dean: How may I help you?

Shanu let go of Sahil's hand and said,

Shanu: Sir, we need your approval on this guest list. Ma'am Diana told us to bring it to for approval. We'd be inviting....(explanation)

Dean: Alright.....I see you both are working for the committee.

Shanu: Yes, sir.

Dean: So Sahil......you are working for the council too?

Sahil:(sigh) Yes.

Dean: Sir. Yes , sir.

Sahil: There's no need to call me sir, professor.

The Dean clenched his teeth but gulped his anger. With a sugary sweet voice, he put his hand on Shanu's hand and said,

Dean: Well, I hope he learns something from you and gets better.

Sahil glared at him. 

Sahil: Sir, you can inform us when you are done , we'll collect the guest list from you.

Shanu looked at him with confused eyes. 

Sahil(to Shanu): Let's go, Shayantani.

Saying that, he caught her by her arm and pulled her out of the office. Once they were out,

Shanu: Sahil, what was that?

Sahil: Just keep walking.

Shanu: Sahil, your father was being nice. I know he said that you needed to get better, but come on, that's not enough reason to behave like this.

Sahil stopped on his tracks and looked into Shanu's eyes.

Sahil: I did not behave like that because he said all those things. Trust me, I'm used to that. But I couldn't stand the fact that that horrible scarecrow was trying to.....

Shanu: To what?

Shanu: You'll not understand.

Shanu: No, I will. Tell me.

Sahil: He was trying to.......touch you!

Shanu shrugged her shoulders.

Shanu: Sahil,......he wasn't.......

Sahil: Didn't you feel uncomfortable?

Shanu kept quiet. It was true that she had felt a little weird when he kept his hands on hers. But she couldn't tell that to Sahil. It would just complicate things even more.

Sahil: There's no point lying to me . I know you did. I could tell that from your face. And this is not the first time he has tried to do such a thing.So.....I just couldn't bear the sight of that person touching you!

Shanu: Sahil, calm down.

Sahil: Shaynatani, you are very important to me.  You're my friend . I'd die before I'd let anything happen to you.

Shanu looked into his eyes. They spoke the truth. She knew that he was honestly concerned about her.

Shanu: I know. It's normal for you to be this paranoid. But let this not come in between your work. Your father wants you to fail. Prove him wrong. He asked you to be better. Become the best. I know you can.You will.

Sahil nodded like an obedient child.

Shanu: Cool. Now let's get back to work. Hm?

Sahil: Yeah.

Saying that, he slid his hand into hers, and they both walked ahead hand in hand.

                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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This chapter is dedicated to all my friends who make my life worth living for!

Love you loads