Page 104 - Till the Last Breath . . .

Venugopal:

Miss you more!
With no one to talk to about how spectacular her day was, she turned to
Dushyant, who looked engrossed in a book. A part of her was surprised to

see the brat with a book. He can read? It was hard to imagine him doing
anything else but loitering around with an empty bottle of alcohol in his

hands and a half-burnt cigarette on his lips. She wasn’t far from the truth
though.

‘I heard you had gone missing today?’ she asked, trying to make small
talk. She really wanted to tell him about the gooseflesh and how she

thought she would faint when the doctor touched her.
‘None of your business,’ he said and turned on his side.
‘Why are you so bothered by me? Anyway, I am the only one who talks

to you. Oh! Apart from the hot female doctor, that is. I tell you, having a
background in medicine myself, doctors usually aren’t as gorgeous as her.

Or Dr Arman,’ she said hoping he would latch on to the conversation.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t like you in my room. Your parents wanted another

room for you, why not take a single room? Why still be here and eat
whatever is left of my brain?’

‘Are you still pissed at what my mom said?’ She recalled the time when
her mom had labelled him a degenerate, profligate son. ‘I am really sorry
about that. Sometimes, she is just—’

‘No, I am not. I just don’t see a reason why we have to talk.’
‘I am sorry for what she said. Can we—?’

‘You don’t have to be. Can I get back to my book?’
‘I don’t know what your problem is with me,’ she said, exasperated. Pihu

never saw any reason to be rude to someone. Concepts like rudeness,
jealousy, hatred, et cetera baffled her. People, for her, were either black or

white, with no shades of grey.
‘I don’t like you. Do you get me? I don’t like the fact that you’re
constantly smiling when my whole body feels like it’s burning up, turning

to ashes. I am scared to death and when I look on the other side, I see the
smiling face of a carefree girl, with her parents hugging and kissing her. It’s