Priya scraped the omelet with the fork till it turned into scrambled eggs, her wispy hair flying and coming in between her gaze, and her train of thought. Ohas' refrigerator had nothing, but eggs and she got hungry in the morning, so it was natural for her to cook herself a plain omelet. Yesterday night, after kissing him, she quietly went to sleep on the mattress on the floor of his bedroom. She heard him come in late in the night and sleep on the bed, but she didn't dare to even breathe and draw attention to herself.

After all, she had deliberately kept the door half-open when she was changing last night, hoping he would see her. And he did, as she turned around and saw his gaze traveling down her body, she fought every nerve in her body to not shiver. His cat eyes shone with a pool of desire and she instinctively brought her legs closer, more from shyness than discomfort. But when his gaze settled on the ugly scar on her stomach, reflecting the hours of labor and a brutal C-section, she waited for his desire to turn into disgust. But his desire didn't fade and that was when she shifted her legs, meeting his eyes and walking confidently towards him.

She had stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, she had allowed her leaping heart to be in charge of her body, and waited for him to kiss back, to take her into his arms, to fuck her, to do whatever, but stand. But he didn't hold her and when she felt him kiss back, momentarily, she mistook it for pity. So she pulled away, walking back with whatever dignity was left, and closed the door.

The sunlight now filtered in through the crevices of the windows, a beam of light falling over her and coloring her hair with a rich golden brown. She stopped picking at her omelet and curled a lock of hair in between her fingers, wondering how he had resisted her. She was always told that she was beautiful and she saw the desire in him when he had gazed at her naked body, but why didn't he fuck her then? Did she mistake his desire? Was it just curiosity or a man-thing to look at a woman?

She had woken up early in the morning, or rather, she didn't sleep at all. She didn't know why, but she had visited the local medical store and bought the cream that she usually did for her scars, but this time, for Ohas' smashed-up face. It felt right to buy him that because she knew this brute of a man wouldn't bother. And it would be a shame to see scars on such a handsome face.

As she played with her hair and stared at the desecrated omelet, a stack of money fell hard in front of her, followed by keys that jingled. She looked up to see Ohas standing in front of her, dressed in a fresh set of clothes, a little awkward. Confused, she asked, "What's this?"

"Your family bothers you," he stated instead, looking more uncomfortable than ever. "These are keys to a spare apartment."

She stared at him, trying to make sense of his words when a burst of giggles escaped her mouth. "Are you helping me?"

"No," he said, too quickly. "In return, you leave Naina alone."

"I can't guarantee that," she said with a smile, despite the weighing name Naina that caused something in her stomach to lapse and sink. She placed her hands over the stack of money and keys. "Can I still have them then?" He didn't say anything, but he didn't refuse either as he turned around to leave in apparent irritation. "Wait a minute." She threw the cream that she bought for him and he instinctively caught it, perplexed at what it was. "This is for your handsome face."

The perplexion dissipated and while leaving, Priya noticed that cream smeared on his face, albeit haphazardly, it was still there. As for Priya, she took the keys and the money and headed to the mansion bankrupt of money and morals to pack her suitcases and move out. She didn't feel uncomfortable taking help from this thug, not as much as using Ahanay's credit card. So when she proposed moving out and her father grabbed a fistful of her wispy hair, now a dull brown, and banged her head against the wall, she smiled. One last time, she told him.

Then she walked out of the bankrupt mansion and into the spare apartment, however small, she closed the door and could take a fearless breath. Walking to the apartment, she felt the shadow of the man who made this possible. And at the turn of the street, she found the cream that she gave him lying on the ground, for her smashed-up face. In the shadows of his giant body, Priya found a home wherever she walked.

* * *

Naina covered her face with her hands, whining, "I don't want to see my enemy's face. Why don't you go home?"

"Be quiet," Ahanay said, pushing her back on the hospital bed by her forehead as she scrambled to get up. "I know you were awake."

"What? When?" Naina pretended to be shocked, knowing fully well how she had woken up yesterday night itself, in the middle of the doctor's diagnosis, and continued to play dead so she didn't have to confront the situation. Truth be told, Naina took immense pride in being strong and she was embarrassed at fainting so easily. She remembered those delicate girls who fainted in school during assembly and she winced. She was one of them now.

He ignored her lies, stabbing a straw into the lid of a fruit juice cup and placing the straw in between her lips. "The doctor said that you were stressed and fainted because of it."

"I know, I heard," she said, giving away her lie and shamelessly sipping the juice. "I mean, it's understandable that I'm stressed."

"Stop then," the words were casual, but she could see how his eyes were pleading, desperate. His wounds were tended to by the hospital staff and she was partly glad that she had fainted, so he could get himself treated too. "We can discuss this privately."

"No, never! This issue affects all of us. If you have anything to say or deal in negotiations with us, we can have a meeting today," Naina retorted, all business-like.

"Let's have a meeting," he agreed, his face stony. "Post lunch. 2 pm. Meet me in the cabin."

She now realized how hurt he must be at hearing her adopt a business-like tone, for she felt the same, feeling the distance between them widen. But it would be better if they could have a meeting and arrive at a conclusion today itself since the protest budget wasn't huge, their funds were already dwindling, and they would need police permits for blocking roads and adding to the terrible traffic. Above all, she didn't want to hurt Ahanay more. She had no idea where she would go after these protests if he would even want her back, but she was ready to sacrifice her future for the greater good.

However, the greater good wasn't going to come any time soon for Naina took Ohas to the 2 pm meeting.

* * *

A/N:

Sorry about the slow updates. It's time-consuming handling jobs and university so I hope you can bear with me till the end. Thank you to everyone who stuck with me so far <3

(Tap on the little star if you're liking this story :))