Chapter 24: chapter 24

SRUTHIWho is this man before me? Is he the same man who picked fights with others? Is he the same man who killed people without any regrets? Is he the same man who is rumoured to have killed his father?  Is he the same man who always spoke in a bitter tone to me in the past? Is he the same man whom I am so scared of?Because as I stare at the soft look in Madhav’s eyes, I can’t remember why I am scared of him. I can’t remember that he is a monster who kills people. I can’t think of anything else other than the tender look he is giving me. I was on the edge of losing my sanity when I saw the picture but Madhav somehow pulled me out of the dark memories. His words echo in my mind. He has a point. I can’t always rely on someone else for my safety. I must learn self-defence even if the thought of all those kicks and punches makes me cower in fear.“Okay, I will learn it,” I answer him finally. His shoulders sag in relief and I realize how close we are both to each other. I am sitting on the floor and he is kneeling in front of me. I never realized that he was kneeling all this time. His left hand is still on my shoulder rubbing small circles on my shoulder blade which  somehow comforting. While his right hand is gently cupping my face. His face is so close to mine that I notice the scar above his left eyebrow. Curiosity nags at me and before I can stop it, my hand shoots out and I trace that scar with my index finger. Madhav sucks in a sharp breath. I meet his eyes to find it dark and intense. His pupils are dilated. My breath hitch at the openness of his gaze. His eyes are unguarded and vulnerable. As I stare into those stromy-grey eyes I feel like he can look directly into my soul. “How did you get this scar?” I ask in a low whisper. Why the hell am I whispering?“My father gave it to me,” his answer is a whisper.“Your father? Gajendran?”“No, he is my adopted one. I am talking about the one who gave birth to me,” he says and I see the exact moment his walls go up. I can tell from the stiffening of his shoulders that it was a bad memory. I have this strong urge to want to know what happened but asking that seems too personal and I am not yet ready to get personal with Madhav. I take my hand back from his forehead. I look down at my lap as Madhav removes his hands from my shoulder and chin. I instantly miss the comfort of them. I have no idea how he was able to stop me from going into a full-on anxiety attack. I am sure, for a moment there, I lost the sense of reality totally and was taken back to my dark past. Memories that I had kept locked in the hidden corner of my mind came resurfacing again and I  was consumed by them losing all my senses and falling into the dark abyss of hopelessness and anxiety. Then, I heard Madhav’s voice asking me to snap out of it. His voice was like a bucket of cold water to my head and that pulled me into the reality. I realized that I was living an old memory again. I am not sure how he did it but I am glad he was here when I opened that gift. I am not sure what would have happened to me without him.“Do you want to continue opening the other gifts?” Madhav asks getting up and waving at the unopened ones.“I am done opening gifts,” I say with a huff.Before he could comment anything, the doorbell rings, “That would be the interviewer. Do you want me to send them away and have this interview on another day?”“Would you do that for me?” I ask surprised that he is not taking the media personnel seriously. Madhav’s voice is a growl, “I told you that we won’t do anything that you don’t want to. I will send them away.”“No, don’t,” I say shaking my head. “I will manage.”“For god’s sake, Sruthi don’t put up that strong wall with me,” Madhav snaps his nostrils flaring.“I am not putting up any wall,” I argue back. “Yes, you are putting up a wall. Act all you want for the world but not with me. You have every right to refuse the interview if you are not up to it and the thing is that you are not up for it.”I blink at him in surprise. I am not ready for the interview. I cannot act like a happy woman after remembering the murder of my parents. But he is not supposed to know that. He is supposed to believe that everything is fine with me like the rest of the world. He is supposed to believe that I have a strong mind and heart and that  I have overcome the death of my parents and living my life to the fullest.“Fine,” I say grudgingly. “We will have the interview on another day.”“Good, now try to get some rest,” Madhav says with a smile and walks out of the room. I glance around the room to find that the yellow gift wrapper and the newspaper are also gone. When did Madhav take it with him? He must have known that I would look at it if I was left alone with that. Oh hell! It is going to take me time to figure this man out.❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥“This is the forensic report of the gift from your prep,” Madhav says tossing me a file across the dining table. I wince at the thought of that gift and open the file. It is been two days since that incident. Madhav had sent it for forensic analysis. As for things between us are still weird and awkward. I hardly saw him for the last two days. He was busy with his jewellery shop work. I was cooped up in my room wallowing in self-pity and watching all the videos of my wedding day that are available out there to find out who brought that gift to the wedding. But, I could find nothing in the videos. It was an utter waste of time. Sixty per cent of the time, the camera was focused on me and Madhav and the rest of the time it was focused on the president and my brother.  The rest of the guests were barely in the video. I must wait for the official wedding coverage video from the wedding photographer to find out about that gift. “There were no fingerprints on it?” I ask skimming through the report. “Correction, the only fingerprints on the newspaper were of yours and mine,” Madhav answers.“Then that means the prep already knew that we would send this for forensic analysis,” I conclude.Madhav nods his head grimly, “Don’t worry. We will find him.”“But how?” I ask throwing up my hand in frustration. “We have no clues.”“You are missing the details here, Sruthi. The prep has no personal vengeance towards you. He wants to harm you in a way to get back at Vikram. That narrows down a lot of other options.”“Great! Just what I and my brother need in our lives,” I say with a sigh.“I met your friend at the hospital,” Madhav says. “She was worried about you.  Why are you not picking up her calls?”“I am not picking up anyone’s call.”“Why?” “Well, because, I am done with all the congratulations messages and calls. I cannot fake my happiness anymore,” I reply honestly.“At least give your friend a call,” Madhav says. “Yeah, sure,” I say walking to the guest bedroom. I am still staying in the guest bedroom. Madhav informed me yesterday that my room would be ready by next week. I open the bedside drawer and retrieve my phone. I switch it on only to find it out of battery. With a sigh, I plug it into the charger and walk out of the room. The last time I spoke to Gabe was on the wedding day. I had promised her to give her a call after  I got settled in Madhav’s house but I forgot in the turn of events.“Can I make the call to her from your phone? Mine is out of battery,” I say to Madhav fulling expecting him to refuse help but to my surprise, he takes his phone out of his pocket and hands it over to me.“Password?” I say showing the lock screen to it.“18051245,” he answers without a second thought. Weird! People aren’t supposed to say their phone passwords this easily. How can Madhav trust me with—Before the thought could pass, the home screen loads and my breath rushes out in a whoosh, “Madhav, why is my photo your wallpaper?”❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥