I don't want to believe in Riya but thinking even if one percent of what she's saying is true…..my heart skips a beat at the thought of that possibility.
Her words keep ringing in my ears , her words….I can't shake off those hurtful words.
It was very difficult to reach my room, my hands shaking, tears threatening to spill from my eyes, my steps became unsteady, I fumbled my hands to open the door, as soon as the door opened I quickly entered and locked the door behind me.
I tried to convince myself not to cry, behind me a knock sounded on door following his urgent voice,
"Nalina...Nalina...
Nalina open the door please…"
Hearing him I swiftly reached my bed and sat there, I opened the bottle from the bedside table and started drinking it, to sooth my heartbeat.
I tried to convince myself not to cry, I tried and tried until I forced my tears back, Riya …..I can never trust Riya, I have experienced the venom behind those sweet words once, I can't give her a chance to hurt me again.
Behind the knocks were never ending, I know I trust him, I just can't face him, at the thought of losing him my soul starts fading out of my body, this feeling...I can't bear it. All I need is a little time to control myself.
"Nalina...."
"Open the door, let me talk to you."
His voice stopped my never ending thoughts, I stood up and turned to the bathroom to wash my face. The knocks have stopped by now but just as I was thinking that maybe he left, my phone started ringing, caller ID showing his name.
Gathering all my courage I picked up the call,
"Finally…thank God you picked up the call, why are you not opening the door Nalina?" His voice sounded too urgent.
I looked at the running tap in the basin and quickly came up with an excuse because he doesn't know about my talk with Riya and I don't want to talk about that with him, not now at least.
"Ah…I'm sorry I didn't hear the sound because of the shower, ah I'll call you after shower okay."
"But..wa…" his objection was cut down in the middle by me.
Placing the phone on the side , I started splashing water on my face again.
__________
She wasn't opening the door no matter how much I tried, so to avoid catching others' attention, I stopped knocking and dialled her number.
When she picked up her phone I let out a sigh of relief which I didn't know I was holding. Her reply came too short for my liking and her voice sounded a little raspy, was she crying? Oh that Riya, I'll make sure that she pay for this.
As Nalina was not opening the door I quickly ran downstairs to fetch another entry card for the room.
I unlocked the door slowly, as I stepped in I heard sound of water running but the door of bathroom was open, I slowly took a quick look inside, the thought of it being inappropriate didn't come to my mind and there she was….standing by the basin splashing water on face like she's washing her thoughts together.
"Now you have the audacity to lie with me.." I said standing by the door folding my hands.
Scared she turned to look at me, all the colours drained of her face, eyes wide open, her mouth open trying to form a sentence.
"Y….you…what…how…?" her surprised face looked at me waiting for an answer.
I simply waved the card showing her, how I entered, raising her brows she came out to check her card on the cabinet…. confirming that her card is still there horror covered her face.
"Hey, this hotel is completely safe, okay I just told them that you lost your card." I told her.
"Now let's come to the main topic…." I said going towards her, with each step she took a step back.
"Wh…what are you talking about?" Her whole body turned tense.
" Don't play dumb with me Nalina."
Her back touching the wall she came to a stop as she was trying to bolt in another direction. I blocked her with my hands on both sides but she didn't stop there. She continues her struggles to break free,
"Ah..what are you doing?"
Without answering her I come closer to her ,not giving her no chance to move an inch. I gently caressed her face,
" Nalina…is our relationship so weak that some mere words of Riya can harm it?"
Her struggles have stopped by now she's looking down ,her breath frequent,her body shacking, I continued caressing her face,
"She used to be my colleague and now that I have resigned she wants me to refer her husband for my position, so they can work together and I instantly followed her out to meet her husband as they were going to check out tonight, I talked to him and arranged a meeting with our boss but when I come back I heard Riya…"
"Don't you trust me, Nalina?" I know we don't each other from a long time but I still asked her waiting for an answer.
….. and she abruptly hugged me, her silent cries reached my ears, only now I realised she's been crying.
Her silent tears are like arrows to my heart. I hugged her back and tried every means to stop her, but nothing could stop it. In the middle her muffled voice came.
"I'm...so..rry….. I'm sorry, I got scared…..that you'll leave me."
After a while her tears stopped. I don't know how long we stood there, maybe an hour, maybe more. Seeing her sad ,red cute face from crying I tried to cheer her up.
"So…you do get jealous seeing me with other women." I told her , she looked at me , blinking her eyes and she shook her head no.
From constant crying her face has turned red, especially her cheeks, nose and lips. Seeing her adorable look I couldn't stop myself from kissing her.
For a moment she was so shocked that she didn't move a bit looking straight at me meeting my eyes, then she came back to her senses pushing me away.
Breathing hard she raised a finger at me,
" You..you…"
But before she could question me I grabbed her face again with one hand and other around her waist,
"What? You have to give me compensation for doubting my character…." Saying that I jumped for her lips again, tasting her once, I can't stop myself anymore.