Chapter 41

Charan closed the doors behind him as quietly as possible. But still, when the door clicked behind him, Shreya sat up with a start on the couch and looked around.

"Hey…" Charan said taking off his shoes and softly unloading his bags on the table. He then approached her and sat beside her.

By the time the couch dipped, Shreya was already swaying with her eyes closed. Charan never understood how she did this every single time. She always woke with the slightest of sound but as soon as she sees who is on the door, she goes right back to sleep the very next moment… in the sitting position if he might add.

Charan sighed and laid her back on the couch carefully. When he was about to get up to leave, surprisingly, Shreya reached out and held on to his arms. She narrowly cracked her eyes open and looked him.

Charan sat back down and caressing her head.

"Hey…" he said very softly.

"Hey back…" She mumbled almost incoherently. She seemed extremely dazed and groggy. She was hardly keeping her eyes open.

"Go back to sleep," Charan said patting on her back. But Shreya did not let him go. Instead of closing her eyes she put some efforts and kept them open.

"What is it??" Charan asked.

That's when she gestured Charan to lie down beside her which he complied to instantly. Shreya shifted and settled herself comfortably with her head rested over his chests snuggling in like a happy kitten. Charan wrapped his arms around her and caressed her head comfortingly.

"How was your day??" Shreya asked. She was still only half awake but even so her speech was coherent enough.

"Very long…" Charan replied simply in exhaustion which was very apparent in his voice. Charan could not wait for this one month to pass so that things can go back to how it was.

He was not complaining or anything. In fact, he liked the job… especially this one more than anything he had ever worked on before. Shreya gave them a liberal budget and the freedom to be as creative as they wanted to be. SO he had more liberty than any work before and was able to push his own limits. It's just… it was so exhausting when he finally walks out of the office well past midnight every day.

That's when Shreya started talking about her plans for her outing with Akira over the weekend. Her soft voice in the silence room was like a lullaby. Two minutes in, Charan's eyes dropped by themselves. Seeing this, Shreya shut up and went back to sleep with a smile.

The next morning, Shreya woke up to rustling sound. When she opened her eyes, she was, of course, met with Charan making breakfast in her kitchen. Unconsciously a sweet little smile formed on her face as her eyes followed him fondly.

She was reminded of her dad. This used to be such a common sight when she was growing up. Her dad used to cook for the whole family every single day. Rain or shine, if he was home, no matter how late he came back home, he always made her breakfast. He said it was his way of being her father. It was his way of giving her some normalcy away from all the glitz and glory around them.

Lost in her thoughts, Shreya did not realize Charan's eyes on her. Seeing that she was daydreaming with her eyes wide open, Charan came towards her and waved his hands right before her eyes.

"Sorry… I was just thinking about something." Shreya said sitting up.

"Good morning," Charan said pecking on her temple.

"Morning… what time is it??" Shreya asked with a big yawn.

"I don't know… 8.30 around. You need to go to the office??" Charan enquired.

"Technically not. But I have a meeting. So have to go." Shreya said slouching on his shoulders.

"Come on then. Get up. Even I need to be in the office soon." Charan said patting on her head.

Shreya sluggishly got up from the couch but sat back the next second.

"I don't want to go." She said childishly.

But before Charan could do anything, his phone rang. He looked at Shreya and gave her a look that clearly asked her to go get ready. Shreya pouted and turned her head away from him and laid back on the couch stubbornly.

Charan sighed and went to attend his call. But thankfully when he came back, Shreya was no longer attached to the couch.

"Shreya…" Charan called out searching for her but he did not get any response. So he went in search of her only to find her sleeping on her bed with her room wide open. Charan let out a puff of air and went inside. He reached his hands out and touched her arm to shook her awake but then suddenly he was forcefully pushed flat on the floor with iron hands clad around his neck while strands of soft hair caressed his face.

Charan blinked in confusion not knowing what was happening. All he knew was one second he was trying to wake Shreya up and suddenly the next second he was being chocked in a death grip. A few seconds passed and the hands around his neck vanished as quickly as it appeared. Charan let out a series of cough trying to bring his breathing back under control.

Shreya frantically patted on his back trying to soothe him while apologizing profusely, "I'm sorry… sorry… I just… It was a reflex… Sorry, Charan. It was not conscious."

At last, Charan calmed down and looked up at Shreya.

"It's okay… are you okay??" Charan asked looking up at her.

Shreya signed and nodded. Half an hour later both of them left the house to their respective offices.

Shreya scolded herself all the way to the office. She had very quick reflexes and acute sensitivity to touch while she slept, thanks to her ex. She had been getting better. More relaxed. But at times she still slipped up. That is the main reason she stopped having people around while she slept in the first place. This is also the reason why everyone around her was terrified of waking her up. Even if they did, it was always by calling her out loud.

For a while there, she became so comfortable around Charan that she forgot all about it.

That is why she chastised herself all the way to her office. She was so preoccupied with this that she did not even notice the people sitting in her office as she entered.