Thank you for reading, voting,  commenting and supporting this story everyone. ♥️

Sorry for any error, mistakes and inconveniences 🌹.

Chapter 7: Food

She had successfully climbed down the stairs, fighting with herself to look away.

"Sir, flowers." Sanskaar turns, looking at the guy and trying his level best to avoid Swara. "Uhh, yeah. Those yellow ones."

Swara's eyes travel towards the basket, in which there were red roses and then the basket besides them of sunflowers.

The guy nods and reaches out for the sunflower basket. "Wait!" Swara shouts, stopping him and successfully grabbing Sanskaar's attention along with the guy's.

Swara walks towards them, wanting to state her opinion. "Sunflowers aren't used for decorations."

Sanskaar lowers his gazes on to the basket, seeing the sunflowers. Seeing his expressions, Swara tries to control her smile and looks at the decorater.

"Bhaiyya, do one thing. . ." She trials off and Sanskaar looks at her "Decorate his room with sunflowers." She completes, looking at Sanskaar.

"You can have them, at least they'll give colour to your house." He retorts and she narrows her eyes at him. "I'm sure your empty house will love them."

"My house has a lot of things, your house is empty and plain. Keep them, they'll give you company." He remarked, not angry at all which somewhat surprised her as she sees him answering her back sarcastically yet as banta.  

The decorator coughs on purpose to grab their attention.

"Which flowers?" He asks, hoping to get an answer.

"Red Roses." Both Swara and Sanskaar has responded at the same time and look at each other.

The decorator nods and signs his men to take the basket full of roses.

Sanskaar swallows his spit and wins against his eyes, looking away as he pretends to give instructions to the light decorators.

"Yes, fix it like that."

"Jungly Billa." She sighed under her breath which he had heard but decided to ignore.

Swara frowns, seeing him purposely avoid her, not knowing why she feels unhappy. She blinks at him and releases a sigh, expecting him to argue with her so she could answer him back with the new comebacks she had thought of using.

She gives up and turns her head, glancing around while moving away from Sanskaar. He senses her leave and turns his head, seeing her leave. He wasn't sure why he's feeling the need to avoid her instead of answering her with his rudeness.

As she was touring the colony, her gazes fall on a beautiful statue which had been carved and painted, through the window of someone's house. While she was admiring, her eyes catch a shadow of a person and she inches closer, surprised to see Raka searching for something in a haste.

Swara's forehead creases and she walks closer to the window.

"Raka?"

He stops, feeling his heartbeats thump and he turns, staring at Swara from inside the window.

"What are you doing here?" Swara confusingly questions as she caught him looking for something in someone else's premises.

"N. . .nothing." Raka stutters, while thinking of a big lie to tell so she could believe him.

"Who's house is this?" Raka wasn't receiving any words that would willingly slip out of his mouth and he stresses on his brain, thinking of a lie.

"I. . ." Raka was speechless, he had no choice but to head towards the window and jump out, right in front of Swara.

Swara was waiting for an answer, staring at him suspiciously. "This. . . I, the thing is. . ." Raka was struggling to flow a lie out, not being able to think of an easy one.

Seeing Raka struggle, Swara's suspicion was raising and before she could say anything to him, they hear footsteps approaching them. Swara turns and sees Sanskaar walking towards them, staring at the two with a doubt.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Having a barbecue, would you like to join us?" She asks, sarcastically and he shakes his head in disbelief. "Be serious! Why are you outside Bhao's window?" Sanskaar questions and Swara shockingly looks at Raka, who avoids looking at Swara.

"And. . ." She trialled off, looking at Sanskaar and wanting to question Raka later. "We're not thieves. We're just talking here." She adds a lie, not wanting Raka to be in trouble.

"I don't know about you but he is." Sanskaar firmly says, looking at Raka, who tries his best to keep his expressions normal while blinking at Sanskaar.

"He was! Now he left that path and started a new life." She defended, looking at Raka with a tinge of suspicion, but seeing her avoid him had raised her suspicion. She was sure he was inside the house to steal something.

"What's happening?" Bhao asked as he walked closer to his window, looking out at Sanskaar, Swara and Raka.

"You're here? I thought you opening the lock." Bhao adds while looking at Raka, who turns to face him.

Swara and Sanskaar crease their forehead while hearing and looking at Bhao.

Raka looks at Swara and then at Bhao. "I. . . I was looking for a. . . Sharp thing."

"Why?" Sanskaar asked and Bhao looked at him. "I lost the key to the lock of the room and he offered to help and I agreed." Bhao replied, clearing Swara and Sanskaar's doubt and suspicion along with confusion.

"So he was helping you open the lock?" Swara questions and Bhao nods his head positively.

"Bhao, you could've asked me. I would've brought someone to open the lock. Why did you agree to him?"

"See, he was only helping so don't accuse him of being a thieve." Swara sighed, looking at Sanskaar, who turns his head towards her.

"Lets go Raka, we shouldn't in front of those who don't appreciate the talent you have."

"Talent? You call robbing a talent?"

"At least he doesn't hit people or attempt to kill them." She argued back, defending Raka.

"And why do you think he's so pure? He also hit people and killed a few."

"You. . ."

"Stop!" Bhao shouts, interrupting the two. "Enough." He sternly utters and leaves.

Sanskaar looked at Swara, angrily as he blamed her for Bhao's discomfort while she returned the glare to him, grabbing Raka's hand and walking away. 

"What does he think of himself! Huh! Do a good thing and get no respect at all." She sighed and stopped by the stairs, turning towards Raka.

"You shouldn't do anything for them, if you do then watch!" She warned and he merely blinked at her, seeing her angrier than ever.

"Plus, why didn't you tell me you were helping him?" She questions and he looks down. "I wasn't sure how to, I thought you might think I'm back to my old paths if I told you I was trying to help Bhao break the lock." He confessed and she sighed at him.

"But you were doing it to help someone weren't you?" He doesn't look up and she started to explain "If you use a skill  for a good cause, then isn't bad but if you use it for the wrong purpose that's when it's bad." 

He looked at her, understanding what she was conveying and starts thinking about it. She looks at Sanskaar, who was walking past at a distance, upset with his behaviour earlier on.

**

It was lunchtime and Swara was walking around, feeling hungry. Her stomach rumbled and she stared at the main entrance of the colony, waiting for Raka to come.

She had sent Raka out to get some food with a bit of money that she had with her. While she was walking, she clashes into Sanskaar and looks at him.

He sees her and sighed, not even surprised to see her clash into him.

"Look, I don't have any energy to argue back. Be nice to me and I'll be nice to you." She softly uttered, feeling her soul weakening as her thirsty throat dried and the energy in her body lowered.

Seeing her about to faint had surprised him, he had never seen her so low before. She had always had the energy when she had to argue with him. He wasn't really expecting to see a weak Swara standing in front of him, who was drained out. As she inhaled a deep breath, his eyes start to notice her floppy body, who was eagerly waiting for the food.

"Then have some food." He replied and she made a face at him. "I don't have. . . Any food! I sent Raka and he's still not back." She answered him back irritatedly, not in a mood to even speak to anyone. All that was occupying her mind was 'food' 'food' and only 'food'.

"You wasted your energy on arguing. Who told you to argue so much?" She looked at him and scoffed in annoyance, forming an irritated expression as she looks at Sanskaar.

"Stop now, please." She moaned a request and seeing her moan like a child had made him scoff a chuckle.

Hearing his scoff of chuckle had further irritated her and she slapped his shoulder. "I said I don't have any energy to argue. . . Be nice to me and I'll be nice to you." She sighed yet again and he blinked at her, now feeling concerned to see her state weakening.

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"Just follow."

She had no choice but to follow him, hoping he would grant her access to food.

He entered Bhao's house and Swara followed him inside glancing around nervously, not knowing why he brought her inside Bhao's house.

Bhao, who was sat on the dining table looks up, seeing Sanskaar and Swara walk inside.

"Bhao, if you don't mind then can she join us?" Sanskaar asked, stopping opposite him and Bhao looks at Swara.

He nods and Sanskaar signs Swara to take a seat, Swara heads towards a Chair and takes a seat while Sanskaar takes a seat opposite to her.

Swara flips her plate and slides a utensil towards her, she opens it and inhales the aroma of the food, feeling hungrier than ever.

She grasps onto the spoon and starts filling her plate with Chicken Biryani. After filling her plate according to the amount she likes, she puts the lid back on and slides the utensil away from her. Seeing the amount on her plate had shocked Sanskaar, Bhao simply blinks at the amount. Sanskaar slides the utensil towards him and starts filling his plate. After a decent amount, he closes the lid and picks up a spoon.

Swara reaches out for the spoon, Bhao, who had already had his plate of Biryani filled, scoops it on his spoon.

Before Swara could start eating, she closes her eyes and starts praying. "Thank you God for such a lovely smelling food." She whispers, which Bhao hears and looks on.

After praying to god, Swara instantly starts eating like there's no tomorrow. Sanskaar was surprised to see her pace.

Bhao looks down, pushing his memories to the side and starts to eat his food along with Sanskaar.

Swara couldn't help but feel hungrier and hungrier with every spoon she swallowed, due to which her pace increased. It was as if she hadn't eaten for days and had finally had access to food.

After a while, Swara reaches out for another dish, Rasmalai a sweet dish and starts pouring it in a different plate. Bhao and Sanskaar eat slowly while seeing her eat fast.

Finally after finishing the Rasmalai, she sighs a smile and a burp leaves her chest.

"Pardon me." She embarrassingly apologised and Sanskaar starts to chuckle, after having it controlled for a long time.

Swara looks at Sanskaar, who was chuckling while avoiding looking at them. Bhao finishes his Biryani and drinks a glass of water. Swara frowns while blinking at Sanskaar, who inhaled a deep breath to control his chuckling.

After Bhao takes a sip from the water, he places the glass on the table and blinks at Swara.

"What is your name?" He asked and Swara moves her gazes towards him.

"Swara." She replied, shocking Bhao.

"S. . . Swara?" He asked and she nodded, confused to see his reaction after he had heard her name.

His eyes moves towards a photo frame that was hung on the wall and she follows his eyes, surprised to see a picture of his wife, which had a garland around the frame.

'Maybe his wife's name was Swara.' She thinks in her mind, concluding the reason behind the reaction he had given after hearing her name.

"Excuse me." He excused himself and stood up, walking away.

Sanskaar had finished eating and placed his spoon on the plate.

"Why were you laughing?" She questioned while turning her gazes towards him.

He decided to respond to her in a jokey manner "Because you were eating like a Chudail that had preyed on humans."

She dropped her mouth, glaring at him and he stood up.

"Now my energy is back and I'll show you what a Chudail does!" She warned and stood up.

Sensing danger, he started walking away from her and she started approaching him. Seeing her pace fasten, he starts rushing while turning around.

*

Bhao was inside his room, pulling out a photo of a small girl, from his wardrobe caressing it with love. His eyes had started to moisten and he sniffs, hugging the photo while remembering the unwanted memories of the past.

*

Swara had chased Sanskaar outside the house and he stopped, feeling tired. She stopped in front of him and he looked at her while breathing.

The anger in her eyes was gone after his eyes had clicked with hers. His eyes blinked into her orbs, forgetting the surrounding he was stood in. She moved closer and she could hear his heartbeat, which had been increased due to him running for a long time.

"Sir, we're done." Their eye-lock had been broken and Sanskaar turned towards the decorators and glanced around. Swara gazes down, shocked at herself for not having control over herself.

"Good. . ." He trialled off and pulled out an envelope from his back. "Here you go." He added and gave the envelope to one of the guy.

"Thank you." They utter and start heading towards the exit.

"Thank you." Her soft voice enhanced his heartbeat and he slowly looked at her while she blinked at him. "For the food." She added, lowering her gazes and walking away.

He stared at her figure leaving and inhaled a deep breath, trying to differentiate between the run he had made or her 'thank you' which had activated the rhythm of his heartbeat.

**

It was evening and the guests were gathered in the colony, glancing at the decorations while giving a positive review. They had been decked up and ready for the sangeet program that was to start.

Swara walks down in a royal blue ethnical gown, with silver earrings dangling down her ears. She throws her long open hair behind her back and stares at the main entrance.

"Raka is still not back, where is he! I hope he's alright." She sighed under her breath, worriedly playing with her fingers.

Sanskaar was standing at a distance, in a baby blue ethnical yet classy Sherwani and his eyes fall on Swara, who was walking down. She was looking utterly gorgeous, just like a princess and his eyes weren't willing to move away.

His heartbeat yet again gave the same rhythm, which he couldn't understand but all he knew  was that this is because of her. She was creating that effect and those rhythms. He tried his best to look away but he failed, loosing against his heart.

She helpless looked away, staring at the future bride sitting down with two henna artists by her side that were decking her hands. She finally steps down and glances around, wanting to spot another person but her height wasn't supporting her, there were loads of tall men in her way.

After she had disappeared in the crowd, Sanskaar realised what he had been thinking, believing it to be a mere imagination. He would never expect a start, to feel for someone, especially Swara. He couldn't like her, all he knew was that she deserves a better man than him and that he wasn't really an ideal man for anyone. He had to awaken his insensitive side to avoid such feelings as he knew he isn't someone to be cared for. His life was and is a mess, that no one can handle other than himself.

She made her way pass the tall men, wanting to strive through to see one figure, which her eyes are searching. She finally spots him at a distance and before she could move towards him, a hand on her shoulder stops her from even flinching. She turned around to see the owner of the hand and her eyes glance at him with a surprise.

To Be Continued. . .

Up Next - A Shocking Revelation
______________

How was it?

Drop down your comments and press the vote button if you liked the this chapter please ♥️✨🌸.

Thank you so much for the support you all are giving to this story. I will forever be grateful for the reads, votes, comments and feedbacks I have received for this story. 🥰

Love you all ♥️😘

Tag anyone interested please ♥️