Aaruhi : scars behind the smile

Part -39

♥️Author POV ♥️

Morning sunlight slowly filled the room.
Aaruhi stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. For a few seconds she just stared at the ceiling, trying to wake up properly. Then she turned her head toward the couch.

It was empty. Rudra was already gone.
Aaruhi sat up on the bed and stretched slightly.
“Good,” she muttered under her breath. “At least I didn’t have to see his face first thing in the morning.”
But a moment later she frowned a little.

“Wait… where did he go so early?”
She was still sitting on the bed, lost in her thoughts, when suddenly...
The door opened.
Aaruhi looked up.
And froze.

Rudra walked into the room. But what shocked her wasn’t just his presence.
It was what he was holding.
A tray.

Rudra calmly walked toward the bed and stopped beside her. Then he slightly extended the tray toward her.
“Mrs. Rathore,” he said in a calm voice,
“your tea.”

For a full second, Aaruhi just stared at him. Then she slowly looked at the tray. Then back at Rudra. Then again at the tray.

Her brain clearly refused to process what was happening. Her expression became completely confused. For a moment she rubbed her eyes and looked again, as if trying to wake herself up properly.

Then she muttered to herself in disbelief,“Seriously… why am I seeing such weird dreams this morning?”
She shook her head lightly.
“First Mr. Rudra Singh Rathore bringing tea to me…”
She sighed dramatically.
“Yaar… what kind of strange dream is this?”

Rudra raised one eyebrow.
“I can hear you.”
Aaruhi blinked.
Her head slowly lifted.
“You… can?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him again.
Then suddenly she pinched her own arm.
“Ouch!”

Her eyes widened.
Then she looked back at him in shock.
“You’re real?”
Rudra sighed quietly.
“Unfortunately for you, yes.”

Aaruhi kept staring at him as if he had grown another head.
“You brought me tea?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rudra placed the tray on the bedside table calmly. “Because people usually drink tea in the morning.”

“That’s not what I meant!”
She pointed at him suspiciously.
“You. Bringing tea. For me.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“What are you planning, Mr. Rathore?”

Rudra looked at her for a moment, completely unimpressed by her dramatic suspicion.
Aaruhi leaned slightly forward, staring at the cup like it might explode any second.
Then she looked back at him seriously.

“You didn’t poison it, right?”
Rudra let out a quiet sigh.
Aaruhi’s eyes widened a little as another thought struck her.
“Wait…”
She gasped softly.
“Are you going to kill me?”

For the first time that morning, Rudra’s expression actually changed.
He stared at her for a second, then pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Mrs. Rathore,” he said slowly, “if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t wake up early to make tea.”
Aaruhi crossed her arms immediately.
“That’s exactly what a murderer would say.”

Rudra looked at her blankly.
“You think I woke up at six in the morning… just to plan a dramatic tea murder?”
Aaruhi looked at the cup again.
“…It’s possible.”