|| 12. PAIZE 3 ♥ ||
Gently ridding the last of the salty trails from her now glowing pink cheeks, Omar scooped Mohana in his arms “We’ll eat something, get changed and then you have to rest”
Defying the rampant attentiveness of butterflies along his touch, her tear soaked long lashes swooped lower to focus on fidgeting a plush golden tassel on the saree, her whisper seeking a much needed assurance “Together?”
“Yeah, that’s our agreement” Omar nonchalantly confirmed. Carrying her through the aircraft corridor, he walked them inside a bedroom with masculine undertones, where black tufted leather couch, accented cushions, lowered blinds sheathing the room in dim golden lights incorporated a stark odd sight of a pink plush throw at the foot of the bed.
The door faintly closed behind them as Omar sat Mohana on the large couch. Feeling the loss of his touch, getting gripped with the fear of being forgotten, uncertainty swirled furiously inside her tummy. Her lips formed a displeased pout for her heart yearned to get wrapped in his arms but the utter chaos of panic conflicted the raging shyness which bursted at his mere presence. Caving in to her nervousness she longingly glanced at his muscular forearms while he busily settled the plump cushions.
“Is your tummy still bothering you?” Omar checked, gently covering her shoulders with the pink throw
Admirably inhaling his fragrance, touching the soft knit to pick on a hazy similarity of the belonging, she reported of her frantic tummy on a shudder that shook her “Yah..” alongside blurting her thoughts aloud “..what is Zaniha’s favorite color?”
Zaniha. The name struck a painful chord within but she seemed unsure of its relatedness or why it made her clutch hard on to the fuzzy blanket. The lag in connecting relevant information, missing threads of associated memories, she uneasily breathed, wanting to untangle why the particular reference pricked at her heart
“White..” Omar responded, getting her seat harness in place for take off “..because the white moonflower is her favorite, it stands for dreaming of love and the flower shines bright against the night sky”
A wistful tear rolled down her face, another following right after: the man of her dreams knew another woman’s favorite color, her favorite flower and the meaning behind it
Omar rushed to engulf Mohana in his arms, stroking away the huge drops trailing on her cheeks, he urgently lifted the corner of her pink throw “Forget white, what about pink? we like pink, don’t we?”
Mohana nervously shifted against the barrier of his strength, her bottled up distress bubbling at the feeling of his shielding protection. Despite her affection for the color, she relayed the contradicting agony that had been embedded within “Noh. I can’t like anything. I don’t have feelings. I am colorless. That’s why my eyes are hollow. I am cold and sad. Nobody wants to be with me and I don’t want to be with anyone”
Flipping her seat belt undone, Omar tugged Mohana securely closer to himself. Caressing her head ever so tenderly, his demand held a contrasting threatening edge to it “M’anam, who dared to tell you this?”
Her heart writhed in agony, the panic rendering her to shudder against him as she shook her head in denial “But? This? How would.. you..? You can’t protect me. because she’s vile, she’ll hurt you like she hurt my dad, my mom. and then you’ll never see me. What day is it?” she blinked in confusion unable to gather the lapse of judgement seeping through her
“We’re flying, but back home, it’ll be Friday” his hold eased on her petite frame, letting a blast of coolness encompass her again
Seeing him increase distance between them, gathering his rejection of her freezing body, Mohana attempted to cocoon herself pulling at the chunky throw which did nothing to guard her today “You will leave? now?”
“We are together mo stór, we’ve agreed to it. And you have to eat something before we get you to rest some” Omar guided her to an abundantly full table brimming with her choiced beverages and snacks
Unable to get a grip on the state of things, the entangled events, jumbled in her head, his live presence, existence of immense warmth, then phases of dark shuddering shivers, all made her utterly confused. Integrating the confirmation, where he was a fantastic notion of her dreams just like her every night, Mohana declared in a confidential whisper “How will I eat, when am dreaming?”
“I’ll feed you” confirming matter of factly, Omar lifted the glass of chocolate milk from the spread of goodies
Her eyes diligently tracked his muscular fingers wrapping around the tumbler in much surprise “Oh. So I will have to feed you?”
“That’s one of the few things we are going to discuss when you recover” affirming to her surprised expressions, he moved the drink closer to her lips
Willingly complying Mohana took a shy sip of the dark chocolaty beverage, her heart still stuck in wonderment, gazing at the handsome man of her dreams. Attempting to tackle the oddity of this occurrence, she expressed her heartfelt concern “But I don’t want you hungry”
Giving her one of his fabulous smiles which made her tummy frivolously turn upside down again, Omar made her take another sip “I promise not to eat you until then”
“You eat?! People?!” she breathlessly exclaimed, her large silver eyes further widening for coming across the most unexpected piece of information in her dreams
“People? Of course not. Would you have approved of that?” their knees brushed as he inched closer. Halving a small heart shaped brownie he discarded one chunk on the platter while feeding her the other
The slight touch of his fingers against her lips rushed some color to her pale face, dismissing the shiver Mohana managed to share her refusal doubtfully “Noh?”
“No, not at all. You have to be very possessive of all that’s yours” Omar declared, prompting her to take another sip of the beverage
Utterly timid of his proximity, yet incessantly craving his attention she thoughtfully considered his words with as much understanding as she could muster. Obediently eating bites, her huge silver eyes courageously looked into his onyx depths “But, you will eat me?”
“That’s sort of the plan” murmuring his confirmation, Omar slipped another halved brownie through her lips
Munching on the chocolaty goodness, her heart raced faster than she could fathom any logical thoughts, making her hastily conclude her findings “Because you are possessive? of me?”
“Very possessive. very darn possessive” his confirmation made her heart strangely thud. Astounded at the revelation she looked up at the stunningly handsome man, intrigued by his declaration and now more curious for what else may get unravelled in her dream today
No matter how much her lips felt the fiery sensation of his fingers feeding her bites of food, Mohana didn’t want to wake up from this luring fantasy her sleep had woven. She contently sighed, her heart ecstatically claiming that this was certainly the best dream of all times, it seemed way too real.
Eating another bite of the peanut butter sandwich, Mohana considerately whispered “Because you are very possessive? Will you get anything to eat that I might suggest?”
“I am going to try” Omar assured forking another set of berries for her, from the large fruit bowl
Unsure on the recency, yet certain of her demand which floated as a tangential thought from her to-do list, she bravely shared “I think there should be mako’n chako here”
“After you feel better, we’ll consider” he offered her a sip of the chocolate milk in between bites of food
“I have considered!..” Mohana emphatically established “..I want it. Tyr said no. Sonya said no. But I said yes. It is considered”
“They are right, it’s not going to be exactly best for you. and then there’s also the baby” countering her desire, Omar fed her another forkful of the chicken salad
Hungrily munching on the bite, Mohana ran inquisitive eyes through the bedroom attempting to decipher any other occupants that she may have missed in her initial survey. When the room still yielded nothing, seeking his input she glanced at him expectantly “There’s a baby?”
“Sort of” his grumble came along feeding her another halved brownie. Mohana curiously followed his movements, seeing him place partial chunks of the treats accruing along on the platter
Puzzled at his response and mystified on being fed only part of the chocolaty goodness every time, she steered their way towards her the fulfillment of her goal “Okay! Then we won’t give it to the baby”
Feeding her a bite of the quiche, he knowledgeably offered “That’s not how it works, the baby gets what you eat”
“Oh..” Mohana instinctively inched closer to Omar, relaying her secret inconspicuously “..but I want you to only feed me! Everything! Because have you considered, I could also be possessive?”
To her dissatisfaction, his hand halted in the air from feeding her the next bite. Letting go of the fork, Omar ran anxious fingers through his rich black hair, shifting farther, bringing back the wedge of distance between them. Flustered at his dismissal, her cold hands rapidly fidgeted with each other, his snubbing of her becoming completely apparent, when he continued to touch all other things except her.
“I have considered. And we would certainly need much more of that possessiveness. But I am only feeding you. The baby ideally gets nutrition from whatever someone will have, so we’ll wait on these instant things” gesturing lightly towards her exceptionally toned abdomen, he slipped a forkful of mango chunks through her lips
Following his eyes Mohana looked down at her own torso, even more surprised than all their exchange thus far “We have a baby? here?”
“It doesn’t show for three, four months, so I guess, likely yes” trudging on his recently enlightened awareness, Omar confidently relayed the information he had gathered from the crowd at the depot in Sarrata
“Ohh..” Mohana frowned befuddled, unable to comprehend this information at all “..but how did it get here?”
