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1152 Words
During the entire ride, Dhara couldn’t stop thinking about what Jasmine had said.
“All your life you’ve tucked yourself away from the crowd, with a fear that you’ll put your faith in the hands of the wrong people and they wouldn’t think twice before crushing it underneath their feet. It’s a constant fear that you live in. But you never let it show.”
Constant fear.
Never let it show.
It was all too personal for someone to know so much about her. It felt wrong. On so many levels. It was as if someone barged into her privacy and left her bare. No one had ever said something like that to her. No one ever read her like an open book. And the thought alone pushed her to the edge. Perhaps that was the sole reason she couldn’t stay a second longer in that god-forbidden place.
She felt exposed.
Vulnerable.
As if someone had broken down the walls built around her heart and now there was no way to protect herself.
However, there was also a part of her that wasn’t convinced enough. Perhaps what Jasmine said was something she told everyone. There was no certain way to know she wasn’t just faking everything, was there? The fact that she called herself a witch should’ve been the first clue itself. Who the hell called themselves a witch these days? Especially, someone like her. Besides, wasn’t this witch, ghost and all supernatural crap a hoax to fool people? Why was she even giving it a thought? It was such a waste of time.
After reaching home, Dhara used the spare key and carefully let herself in. Her two-bedroom apartment welcomed her with dim lights and a faint scent of microwaved food. A sense of relief quickly slithered down her spine, realizing Nina had not slept empty stomach. That girl was as thin as a stick. And Dhara constantly worried about her appetite.
Anyways, after she made a cautious check on the sleeping forms of Nina and Poppy, Dhara closed the door behind herself and headed for her room. The heat and exhaustion of the entire day finally caught up to her as she took a quick shower before getting ready for bed.
However, before she could exit the bathroom, from the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of something. With reluctant yet curious footsteps, she lifted a foot, one after the other until she stood in front of the mirror drooped above the washbasin.
A shaky breath skidded out of her parted lips as she traced a red bruise on the crook of her neck. A certain memory of his hot and wet mouth against her skin flashed through her mind. His lips against her lips. His fingers entwined with her fingers. Her small, fragile body pressed beneath his delicious heavy weight.
Deep, deep down, a rush of heat and need exploded like hot lava from a volcano that had been dormant for years. The muscles around her inner thighs clenched and she had to force herself to breathe through her mouth to keep up with the need for oxygen in her lungs.
Dhara sucked in a sharp breath, letting her head fall to the other side, while her wet hair shifted and glistened against the light.
Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she noticed how swollen they had become. Her mind took her back to the moment when he crashed his lips against hers and ravished her as if there were no tomorrow. There was nothing gentle about him. Nothing sober either. Because if he were sober, he wouldn’t have tasted like a drug. Making her head spin and buzz with the need she had never felt before. Her toes curled and a soft moan left her velvet mouth when she moved her fingers up her inner thigh and found her panties soaked through.
God, how could this turn her on so much? She shouldn’t be liking what that man did to her, right? It was wrong. He practically took advantage of her.
Then again, the way she threw herself at him, he should be the one blaming her for taking advantage of him. Not the other way around.
Fuck. This was all too messed up.
Shutting her eyes, she clasped the washbasin from either side and lowered her head. Drew in deep breaths to calm down whatever havoc was unfurling inside her. There was a desperate need for her to erase today’s chapter from her mind, the only way she could focus on tomorrow and the days after.
With that thought in mind, she opened her eyes, rolled her shoulders and told herself to sleep tight. Tomorrow was a new day. And a new day meant a new start. Right?
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The next day, Dhara woke up at the same time she did every single morning for the past many years. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep due to the happenings of the previous night, but she wasn’t about to let anything make a mess of her routine. The one she followed religiously.
After preparing breakfast and lunch for the day, Dhara took a hasty shower and got ready for work. She knocked on Nina’s room, very much hoping she wouldn’t be pitching another excuse for taking a day off. Nina hated college with a passion. Always trying to convince Dhara that she didn’t like the students there or the teachers.
Dhara couldn’t comment about the students, but she knew the professors at her college were far better than the one Dhara went to. She even knew a few of them personally, as their little ones attended the preschool she worked at.
Thankfully, Nina and Poppy stepped out of the room at sharp 9. After having their breakfast and picking their lunches (Dhara had prepared one for Poppy as well. A common occurrence whenever Poppy stayed the night), they all deposited themselves in the beat-up Suzuki. Dhara bought the car two years back from one of her neighbours at an affordable price after they shifted abroad.
The silence in the car was thick and suffocating. Nina and Poppy had been awfully quiet, and it had started to make Dhara grow a little anxious. She knew about the issue they were expecting her to address: everything that had transpired the previous night. Especially her curious little sister.
“Alright, that’s enough!” As soon as they reached the gates of the college, Dhara pulled up the car and turned to face Nina. She sat next to her. “What is it?”
“Nothing!” Nina made a face that Dhara knew all too well.
Both sisters started at each other for the longest time, pushing up the temperature in the car two degrees per second.
Nina was the first one to blurt it out. “Who was that guy? How long have you known him?”
- Writer
