BXBX NOVEL Chapter 9: Perplexed
9 Perplexed
Akira looked at him all perplexed. His sly smile made her feel even weird. It was like she was running out of luck. "What are the odds?" , she thought. She left a gasp of air but the guilt was starting to build up. Seeing the shadow of guilt all over her face, Raymond started feeling bad. The smug smile that he had on his face started retracting. He paused for a moment and then said,
"Don\'t overthink. It\'s nothing serious. Plus it wasn\'t deliberate". She didn\'t say a word and started looking down.
"I should have walked more carefully". He added.
Akira gave him a faint smile and said,
"Um, you can keep this ointment with you and apply it again after 8 hours. If you apply regularly then it won\'t cause any scarring. " And she handed him the ointment. She thought of clarifying herself that she was in a rush and didn\'t see him at all. But then she didn\'t want to pile on her reasons. He seemed like a busy guy so she thought maybe it\'s better that she didn\'t waste his time any further. So after handing over the ointment, she shifted her focus on the entertainment unit in the front.
"Ok !!!", he said.
He saw that she immediately started fiddling with the entertainment unit. Probably she wanted to avoid any further conversation. Raymond sighed and started focussing on his work again. But his curiosity was on the rise. He wanted to ask her if she was ok? Wanted to help her in any possible way. Wanted to hug her and tell her everything is going to be ok. There was something about her that was drawing him to her. He wasn\'t able to understand why she was affecting him so much. No matter how hard he was trying to focus on his work, he wasn\'t able to. He was continuously stealing a glance every now and then.
Her face looked brighter than before and she was more settled now. She was watching some episode from \'FRIENDS\' sitcom and was smiling. Her smile was so pure and gentle. He felt like he could wage wars for one smile of hers. He could see the dimples on her face gracing her whenever she smiled. It made her look even cuter.
She watched the sitcom for some time and then started feeling sleepy. She was already feeling weak and tired. She didn\'t even realize when she had dozed off.
Raymond finished his work after a few hours and turned off his laptop. He saw she had already fallen asleep. It was a bit cold inside the flight and he saw her curling up. She was just wearing a cotton t-shirt and her pajamas. She didn\'t have anything warm on her. She hadn\'t even used the blanket provided. He didn\'t even know what got into him and he took her blanket out from the side pocket of her seat and covered her up.
He made sure she was covered properly from all sides. Then he raised the blanket started to tuck her shoulder. She smelled nice like mild lavender. He looked at her calm face and sighed. He was just about to straighten himself when she opened her dewy eyes. She stared at him for a while unable to understand what was happening.
"Um... You were cold". Raymond quipped and returned back to his seat.