Chapter 13 A Kiss on Her Forehead
A few moments later, the car stops in front of the mansion.
Without wasting a second, I step out and grab her hand firmly, pulling her inside with me. She clearly feels uncomfortable, trying slowly to pull her hand away, but I pay no attention.
I take her straight to the study room. I slam the door shut. The room falls completely silent.
She looks at me with wide, fearful eyes, as if she wants to speak but the words won’t come.
I move closer to her, grabbing both her arms and pressing her gently but firmly against the wall. Anger flashes in my eyes, my voice hard and sharp.
“How dare you… leave here without asking me?”
She freezes, her breath coming in short, shaky gasps. Her voice trembles as she replies,
“The… doctor called,” she says with difficulty.
Without a second thought, I snap angrily,
“I don’t care.”
And in that instant, it’s as if her resistance shatters.
She suddenly clings to my chest, holding me tightly. My anger… seems to vanish into thin air.
My eyes close. I don’t understand why, but whenever she presses herself against me like this, an odd calm settles over me, an inexplicable peace I cannot name.
In a heavy, shaky voice, she whispers, “Please… don’t scold me. I’m already so upset… so troubled.
I know you’ve done so much for me… things I may never repay.”
I say nothing. I remain silent. Perhaps it is this silence that makes her anxiety grow even more.
Suddenly, she jerks away from me. She looks at me, her eyes filled with shame, fear, and guilt.
“I’m sorry… I won’t go anymore,” she says quickly.
I just watch her.
I want to speak, to say something, but the words get stuck in my throat.
Taking advantage of my silence, she suddenly runs away, leaving me standing there.
The night passes by almost without me noticing. Time seems to slip through my fingers, and I don’t even realize when darkness fully drapes over the mansion. There’s a constant restlessness gnawing at me, an emptiness I can’t shake off.
My thoughts whirl endlessly, looping over everything that happened today, everything I couldn’t control, everything I wished I could fix. It’s heavy, suffocating, and yet I find myself trying to drown it all in some false sense of relief.
So tonight, I sit alone, quietly nursing a drink. The glass feels cold in my hand, the liquid burning as it slides down my throat, almost like a temporary anesthesia for my mind. I sip slowly, trying to steady myself, trying to quiet the chaos inside. But my thoughts won’t stop. They press on me, heavy and insistent, refusing to give me a moment of peace.
And then… she appears. Diana. She glides into the room with that signature smile, the one that’s both playful and maddeningly innocent. She looks at me, and her eyes twinkle with mischief as if she knows every secret corner of my mind. She tilts her head slightly, soft laugh escaping her lips, and says in that teasing tone of hers, “Baby… aaj tum mere saath so jao na, please.”
Her words hit me like a jolt. My chest tightens, my blood runs hotter, and before I can even respond, before I can process anything, I see her start to run. She notices the sharp edge in my gaze, the storm simmering in my eyes, and she flees the room, disappearing like a ghost. My fingers clench around the glass, and I take another swig, harsher this time, letting the bitterness of alcohol match the bitterness inside me.
I drink to forget, to escape the endless spinning of my thoughts, to numb the ache that seems to pierce deeper than anything physical. But tonight… tonight I’ve drunk too much. My vision blurs slightly, the room tilts, and my steps become uncertain. I stumble slightly, barely holding myself together, the warmth of the alcohol lulling me into a dangerous mix of recklessness and desire.
Somewhere in the haze of my intoxication, I find myself wandering through the mansion. My feet carry me unconsciously, almost guided by fate, and I end up outside Sara’s room. The door is closed, the quiet of the night pressing against it, and I hesitate for just a heartbeat. The alcohol loosens my restraint, dulls my caution, and I push the door open, stepping inside almost without thought.
There she is. Sara.
Peacefully asleep, lying on the bed as though she’s untouched by the chaos of the day. Her chest rises and falls in slow, steady rhythm, the soft rise of her shoulders, the gentle flutter of her eyelashes. My lips curve into a small, almost involuntary smile. Seeing her like this… calm, untroubled, it’s like a balm on the raw edges of my soul.
I stagger slightly, the drink-heavy haze making every step uncertain, but I move toward her. My heart pounds in my chest, not from anger, not from fear, but from this strange, uncontrollable pull toward her. It’s magnetic, relentless, and I can’t resist it. Slowly, carefully, I sit on the edge of the bed beside her, close enough that the heat from my body brushes against hers.
And then, almost instinctively, almost as if guided by some invisible force, I lean in. My lips press gently against her forehead, soft and lingering. I feel her warmth, the quiet rise and fall of her breathing, the faint scent of her hair. My fingers brush over her arm, my hand lingering, hesitating, but refusing to leave. The alcohol fuzzes my senses, but not this. Not her. She is sharp, vivid, real. She is the only thing in focus.
I stay like that for what feels like an eternity. My forehead resting near hers, my lips against her skin, breathing her in. There’s a softness in her presence that is almost maddening, a calm I’ve never known, a quiet that makes the chaos of my mind pause, if only for a moment. I feel the ache in my chest ease, the restless storm inside me quieting, as though holding her, being this close to her, could somehow make all the pieces fit together again.
But she sleeps. Peaceful, unaware, innocent. And I… I am intoxicated, reckless, but strangely tender in this moment. I know I shouldn’t, yet I can’t resist leaning closer, tracing the line of her cheek with my lips, lingering there as if trying to leave a mark, not a permanent one, but a memory of my presence. I whisper her name softly, though she does not stir. My voice is a quiet hum, almost drowned by the night, almost blending with the soft rhythm of her breath.
The alcohol makes my thoughts fuzzy, my mind murky, yet my heart is crystal clear in this. I want her here, now, this moment. I want to be near her, to hold her, to feel her warmth. I want to lose myself in her, forget the rest of the world, forget the pain, the chaos, the anger, the restlessness that torments me.
And so, I stay. Sitting beside her, leaning close, brushing her hair gently from her face, pressing another soft kiss to her forehead. The mansion is silent. The night is endless. And for the first time in hours, maybe even days, I feel… almost at peace.
TO BE COUNTINUE...!!!