Chapter 7 – Gauri’s POV
It was the next morning and Gauri was just in bed, staring at the ceiling. She just could not sleep after seeing him.
G(Thinking): How did he find me? I turned off my GPS and did everything but still he found my location. Thank goodness, he did not see me though. I cannot leave my resort as this is only place I can stay. My friend has offered me to share the room with her for the next week. By then, I would have found a job and find my only place to stay. For the time being, I have to make sure he does not see me so he gives up and leaves from the resort.
Gauri takes off her bangles and earrings as they will give her identity away and puts on simple bangle as well as a small pink stud. She also does not put a lot of kohl on her eyes and goes for simple look. She takes the scarf to cover her face and heads into the elevator so she can look for a job. As she is in the elevator, the elevator door opens but no one was there. Then, she sees a man with long hair running towards the elevator. At first, she could not see who it was but as he got closer, it was Om.
G(Thinking) I am going to get caught if he comes inside the elevator.
She quickly uses her scarf to cover her face.
O (Running towards her): Madam, can you press the hold button?
Gauri looks at the button panel and presses the close button as fast as she can. The door closes but she can see Om’s hand crushed by the doors.
G(Thinking): Om, why did you do that?
She quickly presses the open button and the doors open. He comes inside, and she can notice his hand in pain. Her eyes tears up but she did not want to show it to him.
G(Thinking): I cannot even go close and aid him. He hates me and is probably back to take back to his house to solve another problem. I cannot show him my weakness because again he will take advantage of it.
Om feels weird as if Gauri is with him in the same elevator at him. He turns to the girl to see her.
O(Thinking): Why do I feel like Gauri is here? She is beside me. This girl cannot be her. As soon as she finds out that I am hurt, she will start to panic and aid me. But instead, this girl just stood there like a total stranger.
Om sees the girl in tears and decides to console her.
O: Do not worry. It is not your fault. The door just closed on me and I should not have sticked my hand in the door.
G(Thinking): But, I was the one who pressed the button to close it. It is because of me you got hurt.
Gauri does not respond and Om thinks it is because of guilt.
O: Look, I am fine now. At first, it did hurt a little but now the mark is gone.
G (Thinking): I am glad that you are okay.
Om still does not get a response from her and Gauri can sense that he wanted her to say something.
G(Thinking): As soon as I say something, he will recognize my voice in an instant. What do I do?
Gauri then uses sign language and tells him that she is mute. Om feels sorry for her for not recognizing her disability.
O: So, what if you are mute? You view the world at the different perspective. Your other senses are a lot better compared to a human who has all 5 senses.
Gauri smiles at him. G(Thinking): Wow, instead of showing sympathy, he is telling me that there is nothing wrong with me. But, with me, he always pointed out my faults no matter what I did. Who is he?
Om reaches out to shake her hand and Gauri hesistantly shakes her hand and all of sudden Bzzzz. They quickly remove their hands and look at it.
O: Current!! I cannot believe this. I think it is because of the carpet we are standing on.
O and G laugh at the situation.
O: You know, the same thing would always happen to a girl and me. We would always touch and all of sudden, we would get shocked. At first, I lied to her and blamed static electricity. But, now, I realize that the reason behind it. She came in as my friend but I did not realize…
All of sudden, the lights in the elevator turn off and the elevator shuts down. Om sits on the elevator floor and starts to panic.
O (On the floor, panicking, pressing all the buttons on the panel): I cannot take this. I am so claustrophobic especially when the lights are turned off.
Gauri goes to close to him and holds his hands.
O: This reminds me of my dark past where I had no one to aid me. Please call someone for help and get me out of here.
Gauri presses the button again but there is no response. Om brings his knees to his face and curls up in fear.
O: I do not know what to do.
Gauri also did not know what to do. Her natural instinct was to go close to him and touch his hair. That is exactly what she did. Om just looks at her but he does not recognize it was Gauri.
O: I am so scared.
G(Thinking): I never knew Om was claustrophobic. He never told me at all. Even though he shows his nandi character to everyone, he is such a soft man in the inside.