Five Times
Chapter 11

Adhi was leaning back in his chair with his eyes fixed on the rustling blue waves through the window. His heart was pounding with thoughts about Abi.

I have to start talking to her. But, the severity of her fear is at the peak. She will surely react harshly. What can I do?

“Adhi, are you okay?” The moment Adhi heard his dad’s appeasing voice; he straightened himself in the chair.

“Yeah dad, I am fine… Just… thinking about…. Abi” Adhi said hesitatingly, his gaze towards the floor.

“Hmmm… don’t worry Adhi. She will be fine.”

“Hmm…Okay, dad” Adhi nodded smiling at his dad sadly. Even though Adhi tried his best to hide his emotions, the pain was evident in his eyes.

Bharat wanted to change the topic.

“Okay come, Adhi. Let’s go to the beach” said his dad to which Adhi agreed.

It was around 4.30 in the evening. Everyone was getting ready for a refreshing beach view. The beach is straight in front of the Peerless Resort and everyone chose to walk the little distance.

The beach is named Corbyn’s Cove beach which is one of the prominent beaches in Port Blair. The unsullied sandy beach with the clear blue waters and the lush green coconut palms are the flawless place to relax. The magnificent sea and the picturesque background of the trees are the delight for the naturalists. Also, the beach provides a lot of options with the water sports for adventure enthusiasts. Even though the beach is a bit unclear due to a lot of tourist attractions, it is still a marvelous place to look at.

Damn public…

Well, to keep it simple, a click of sunset, a soothing breeze and a peace of mind is what this beach presents itself with.

Abi clasped Diya by her hand and was heading towards the beach. Initially, Diya was not much interested in sightseeing, as she was woken up in half sleep. But when she stepped on the cool sands of the beach, the enthusiasm clutched her heart. Diya freed herself from Abi and started playing in the sand.

“Diya, what are you doing? Come with me” Abi tried to pull Diya out of the sand but her efforts went useless.

Diya was busy building something in the sand and she was in no mood to listen to Abi.

“Diya it is getting dark. Don’t play with the sand. Come.” Abi said in a harsh tone and dragged Diya with all her force.

“Ummm… I won’t come. Leave me Abi” Diya whined at Abi and pulled her hands out of her grip. Diya gave Abi an angry face for a second and resumed back to what she was doing.

Abi suddenly changed her tone softer than before and said, “Diya, you want to see the sun disappearing from the sky? Then, come with me there.” Abi was smiling sweetly at Diya, pointing her fingers at the sky.

Diya observed Abi for a while. Abi thought that she had succeeded in influencing Diya. But the exact opposite had happened.

“Abi, the sun won’t disappear ever. Only the earth rotates. Don’t you know that?” replied Diya. Abi’s lips parted on hearing Diya’s words and she cupped her mouth in embarrassment. She rotated her eyelids on all sides to make sure that no one had seen her getting shamed.

By that time, everyone reached the beach. Thank god, Diya immersed herself in her sand construction and didn’t humiliate Abi in front of everyone.

Abi wanted to leave the place as soon as possible and she hurriedly turned around only to be banged at Lara.

“Hey. Lara. You are he…” Ahana and Abi started simultaneously but stopped midway when they saw a guy clutching Lara’s hands. The girl who was crying all the way in her flight was now blushing in front of them.

Lara understood their confusion and cleared them with all the information she knew and introduced James to both of them. Ahana greeted James and gave Lara a slight hug. Abi just smiled at both of them. Lara didn’t care to look at Abi.

“Aunty, your ring is amazing. I like it very much” complemented Diya, looking at Lara’s shining green ring.

Lara gave James a shy smile and thanked Diya.

And everyone was about to part their way. Suddenly, Abi held Lara’s arms.

“I am sorry,” Abi said in a soft voice, looking straight at Lara.

Abi couldn’t get the clear reason behind her thought to apologize to Lara. But something forced her to. Lara was confused at first, but then she nodded at Abi and leaned forward for a hug before leaving. Ahana was on cloud nine.

God!! What changed my sister’s mind?

Soon Abi excused herself from Ahana and her parents and she spotted a secluded place, free from the crowd and cherished the beauty. She sat there down at the chill sand, hugging her legs, with her eyes locked with the sun.

Back at the other end of the beach, were Lara and James leaning their head against each other. Lara’s right hand was clipped with James’ while her other hand was resting below her keens slightly curving it. The waves came rushing to their feet before dragging itself back. It competed with one another in reaching the shore before breaking down at the sand and retreating back. Lara and James sat in silence drowning at the sight of the sunset.

The yellow ball of fire slowly turned to orange and the mix of colors with the dusky sky was an astonishing view. The sun was half into the sea and its reflection in the sea was mind-blowing. Eyelashes had refused to shutter. After a while, the biggest star had fully set, letting thousand other stars to shine in the sky.

One gigantic wave came rushing into the shore. Lara’s eyes were glued at that big wave. Her eyelashes were parting more and more when she saw the wave nearing the shore with the same force. With the blink of an eye, the wave hit Lara. This time it didn’t stop just with her foot, rather it brushed itself against the green ring on Lara’s hand that was hugging her knee. Lara and James jolted at the sprinkles of water on their faces.

Wow!! Is this what we call Destiny?

One of the five ropes loosened and fell down making Intelina open her eyes in a jerk. She was still lying down on the floor sideways. She managed to gaze down at the ropes which were only four now. She gathered all her energy and pushed her legs down at the floor hard. After some minutes of struggling, she finally sat straight as before. She gladly looked at the rope that was lying down.

So, the ring is somewhere close to the sea…your end is not too far, Whalros!!

Happy tears gushed down her chin when she closed her eyes and thanked the Almighty.

Abi was totally lost in nature’s beauty and the rhythmic crash of the waves rang in her ears like a piece of melodic music. Her heart felt light. She wanted to doze off there at that very instant. But the flocks of people moving here and there made her change her mind. She was back to enjoy the atmosphere but a voice stopped her.

“Abi…”

Abi was dazed on hearing a male voice from her right. She swiftly turned around to see Adhi sitting beside her. She gasped in shock and started shivering in fear. Her jaw dropped on seeing him and she could sense her breath getting worse.

Why is he here?

She suddenly got up and wanted to move but her legs didn’t support her. Her legs were trembling and she couldn’t take a step from there. She had creeps all over her skin and her sweat glands did a great job in bathing her with her sweat. Abi searched for any of her family members to come and solace her. But she couldn’t spot anyone in the crowd that added to her frustration. Adhi too stood up and started comforting her.

“Abi, please don’t panic”

You just leave and I will be okay...

Abi could hear his voice ringing slowly in her ears but she didn’t want to listen to him. Her heart rate began to accelerate. She placed her hand on her heart trying to control herself. Her throat went dry and she heaved heavily that looked like something was blocking her breathing pathway.

Abi, he won’t hurt you. Control your fear. No…No… can’t you see? He is a man.

“Abi… breathe slowly. Just breathe slowly” Adhi shouted at the top of his voice. But all Abi could hear was some murmurs from him. Her ears were blocked out of her nervousness.

Abi, think of Lara’s words. Don’t judge him now.

Abi’s ears were ringing with random sounds but nothing was clear to her than her own thoughts. Her heart was thumping aloud in her head. She closed her ears tightly with her hands trying to get some control. Now her vision too was blurred and she could barely see anything, than Adhi shaking his hands and muttering something.

“Okay Abi, relax. I will call Ahana for help” Adhi tried his best one last time.

Abi, don’t faint in front of him. Don’t give him a chance. Abi was so stubborn not to listen to him.

Adhi understood that the situation is getting worse. He also knew that Abi couldn’t balance herself for long. But he was so sure not to touch her because that would just aggravate her fear of men. So he looked straight at Ahana and waved at her. Yes, Adhi had already asked Ahana to keep an eye on them when he decided to talk to Abi.

Ahana appeared at the right time, saving Abi from falling down. The moment Abi saw Ahana by her side she felt relieved, but the next moment she lost her energy and fainted.

“Abi… Abi…” Ahana tapped Abi’s cheeks a couple of times. But Abi just groaned in response. Abi was not fully unconscious. She could very well hear everything now but was extremely tired after what had happened just before.

Abi rested her head on Ahana’s shoulders, with her eyes closed. Ahana held her tightly by her waist.

“Sissy, take her to the room. Quick” Adhi’s voice was filled with concern and care. He fastened Ahana towards the resort.

“What happened, Adhi?” Ahana asked confused while on her way to the room.

Ahana, Adhi made me tremble in fear.

“Anxiety attack,” Adhi said bluntly.

And the reason is you.

“What!!” Though Ahana couldn’t get anything, she gave Abi a worried look.

“Will she be normal soon?” Ahana’s voice carried a hint of sadness.

I will be okay if he didn’t talk to me.

“Don’t worry sissy. She will be normal after taking some antidepressants.” Adhi assured Ahana.

What? Why is he using medical terms? Who is he?

“But this is just a temporary measure. For a long-term cure, Abi should try to control her mind whenever fear takes over” blurted Adhi to Ahana.

Hey… He is talking about my fear. How did he know?

Back in the room, Abi was lying back in the bed, sleeping peacefully with the effect of the antidepressant. Ahana and Adhi were waiting beside her, the whole time till she opened her eyes.

Abi’s eyelashes fluttered at first and then she managed to open her eyes fully to see Ahana on her left caressing her forehead. She smiled lovingly at Ahana.

Abi then slowly rolled her eyes around the room until her eyes froze. Her eyeballs protruded out on seeing Adhi again.

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