Untouchable Lovers

2. Lost self-respect.

Gauri told Isha that she was going outside to get some fresh air. She felt hot and suffocated, it was only when she got outside that she realized tears were flowing from her eyes. She quickly wiped away her tears. Memories were flickering through her mind again making her cry harder but she knew that it did not cost anything.

She had already lost the most important thing in her life. She trembled in fear as she thought about that day. She sat outside for about five minutes closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. Eventually, she got up, pasted a smile back on her face, and went inside the restaurant.

When she returned to the restaurant Isha was waiting for her. Isha was angry with herself fir having said all of those things to her. She knew that under difficult circumstances Gauri had completed her studies up until this point. Even knowing all of that she had talked about rich and handsome boys.

Isha knew that Guari needed that scholarship no matter how much she smiled and brushed it off. Isha recognized how much Guari was hurting on the inside. Her heart was in too much pain. Ever since Gauri went outside Isha had been waiting for her to come back. The moment that Guari walked into the restaurant Isha hugged her. Isha felt guilty for what she had said to her. She could not believe that she hurt her best friend.

“I’m sorry Gauri. I shouldn’t have said all of that to you. I was just eager to tell you more about school and the boys. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, please forgive me,” Isha said as Gauri hugged her back. Isha was always like this, she cried easily. Gauri moved away from her.

“No, you did nothing wrong. You were just telling me about your school, that's all. I went outside because I wanted to get some fresh air, that’s it. Don’t cry,” Gauri assured her as Isha wiped her tears and hugged Gauri again tightly.

Sam was watching the two of them and smiling. They had been best friends for a very long time and were really more like sisters to each other. He did not know what the issue was but he was happy to see that they had each other. He was watching the two of them but all of his attention was on Gauri. He was admiring her beauty, he always thought that she looked like some kind of goddess. His eyes never left her for a single second. He would get turned on just from looking at her. She always looked an interesting mix of adorable and beautiful in the frock she had to wear for work. She would never imagine how many people admired her in the restaurant. It was not just her fellow employees, the customers did it as well. When Gauri smiled at Isha his heart began beating too fast. He smiled just looking at her.

“Sorry to disturb the two of you, but my princess, will you give me the honor of coming with me?” Sam interrupted the two of them so that they both looked at him. They had not known that Sam was there listening to their conversation. Isha gave him a bright smile but Gauri looked away from him.

Sam was a twenty year old that worked with them who was very handsome. He started working at the restaurant before them. He had always been a very helpful and funny guy but he was also a total playboy. He flirted with girls that came to the restaurant, they lusted over his handsome face and body like he was some kind of irresistible candy. Some women came to the restaurant everyday just to ogle him. They even came for both lunch and dinner and they only wanted him as a server.

“Hey, why did you come late today?” Isha asked Sam as she raised her brows. While he was staring at Gauri who had gone back to her work.

“Actually, I was stuck doing something important,” Sam explained as he continued looking at Gauri. He wanted to get some kind of reaction out of her but he never could. She never paid attention to him or talked to him. He still had not figured out why? Every other girl that he came in contact with went crazy over him but she was different. She talked to the other male employees, but not him. Isha was studying him and had noticed all of his useless attempts. Isha stood in front of him so that he would look at her.

“We all know what your important work is, Sam. You must have been flirting with more of your girls,” Isha teased. He just smiled at her. There was not anyone that worked at the restaurant that was not aware of his playboy ways. Gauri was listening to the two of them but did not look at them.

“You shouldn’t expect anything from her because in the end you won't get anything,” she warned quietly so that only Sam could hear then walked away. When Sam heard that, he looked at Gauri. Isha was right, he had been trying to talk to Gauri for the past six months but she was never interested in talking to him. Refusing to give up he smiled playfully as he looked at her.

“No, I’ll still keep trying with her, until the end of the road!” He smiled looking at her then walked away.

That evening every employee was preparing everything for the special event, the Manager was lecturing them again about not making mistakes otherwise they would be in trouble. They would fire him along with the person who made the mistake. They were all trying their best.

"Hey, Gauri. Why are you so happy?” Isha asked. She noticed that her friend seemed happy as she thought about something, Gauri looked up and smiled at her.

"I’m going to the hospital today," Gauri revealed while she continued working. Isha just nodded, she was happy that she was at least smiling. The manager told all of the employees that the guests had arrived. They started taking food out of the kitchen and placing the dishes on the tables as the guests began to arrive one by one.

Isha kept placing the dishes of food on the tables and going back to the kitchen. Then it was Gauri’s turn to take a large bowl out to the table. As soon as she entered the dining room, she noticed that it was a very big and beautiful space. Everything was expensive and decorated in such an elegant way that it made her breathless.

Gauri had never entered this room until today because she never had the chance to serve before, but today she did. This was due to the fact that some of the wealthiest people in the city were coming and the Manager had told them that they would be receiving tips. She was smiling thinking about her tip. A man that was one of the guests was looking at Gauri and smiling. He watched the beautiful little girl coming towards him with a bowl of food.

He was checking her body out from head to toe, he was fascinated by her. The man was in his thirties but was lusting after a seventeen year old girl. Gauri did not know that the man was eyeing her as he waited for her to come to his table. Gauri was happily lost in her own thoughts, but the man’s wife noticed Gauri and her husband’s attention on her from afar. She was enraged. She angrily fisted her hand as she glared at Gauri with all of her anger and started to walk towards her.

Gauri was smiling as she thought about the tip that she was going to get, she would benefit from it a lot. With that extra money, she could buy books. She brought herself out of her dream world, continuing to walk straight when suddenly she saw a woman standing in front of her. If Gauri did not stop herself from jerking back the bowl of food would have fallen onto the woman’s clothes, it would have been a huge mess. Gauri let out a long sigh of relief that at least the food had not fallen on the woman’s clothes. When Gauri raised her gaze to look at that woman, she felt the sharp sting of a slap on her cheek.

The slap was so loud and harsh that the bowl almost fell from her hands but she was able to save it. Some of the food fell on the ground but the bowl was still in her hands. She felt a burning sensation in her cheek, before that day she had never been slapped by anyone. She looked up at the woman, Gauri could not understand why that woman had slapped her.

She was sneering at Gauri with loathing. Gauri could see that the woman was looking at her with disgust, like she was some little more than dirt. Gauri looked around, everyone was staring at her. All of her fellow employees and even the Manager was looking at her. She felt like crying but she refused to allow the tears to fall from her eyes.

“You f*****g w***e how dare you to seduce my husband with your face and body!!!” She shrieked at Gauri, her accusation echoed across the restaurant. The guests that lived In the hotel were also listening to the woman screaming at her. When Gauri realized what the woman was yelling at her about, she looked at her husband who was still smiling at her. He could have told his wife that Gauri was not seducing him but when Gauri saw the smile on his face, she understood exactly what had happened.

She looked at that woman and tried to explain.

“Ma’am, I think that there has been a misunderstanding. I wasn’t trying to seduce anyone. I was just doing my job. I wasn't aware that your husband was looking at me. However, I don’t understand how someone looking at me is my fault. How can I stop someone else from doing anything?” Gauri inquired politely, then tried to make her point so that the woman would understand her. When the woman heard her she frowned in anger.

“How dare you talk back to me!” She gritted her teeth in annoyance and slapped her hard across the face again. This slap was even more powerful than the previous one. The bowl of food that Gauri was holding in her hands fell to the floor and splatter all over the woman’s clothes. Gauri had placed her hand on her cheek as she noticed the woman’s dress and that the woman had gone into a fit of rage. Gauri was scared. The woman’s dress did not look super expensive. Her husband came over to stand beside the woman as he supported his wife.

Her husband was trying to help clean her clothes but was still stealing glances at Gauri.The Manager gestured to Gauri to clean the woman’s dress with a napkin. She nodded and went to get some napkins, then stepped closer to the woman but when she touched her she pushed Gauri away, so hard that she almost fell.

“Get your hands off me, you low-class girl!” She screamed at Gauri, who was taking in her surroundings. More people had gathered around the spectacle. Of course, the crowd was only looking at her like she was the one who had done something wrong. Just because she was poor and a waitress they assumed everything was her fault.

“Have you ever even seen such an expensive dress? Even if you worked your entire life, you would never be able to pay for it. How dare you touch me with your dirty hands,” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Isha looked at Gauri. She could not believe that after being insulted so horribly that Gauri could continue to stand there. Isha knew that Gauri was listening to the woman for the sole purpose of keeping this job. She knew Gauri could not lose this job or her life would be over.

“Let the little w***e go, my love, she won’t be able to seduce me,” the man assured his wife and at the same time tried to save himself even though his eyes had never left Gauri. He was giving her his evil smile. The Manager was watching and listening to everything that was going on from a distance. He knew Gauri’s nature. If she was right she would stand idly by while someone accused her of being wrong, he knew that she would say something.

“But ma’am I…” Gauri began but she was interrupted by the Manager.

“I’m sorry ma’am she is new here, she is just a kid. Please forgive her, please have mercy. You're a very wealthy individual and the owner's child. Please forgive her,” the Manager pleaded with her. Listening to him, the woman looked at him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Forgive her!!” She repeated aghast at the suggestion as she gave Gauri a look filled with utter disgust. Gauri looked at the Manager, he knew that Gauri had done nothing wrong. He was pledging with her using his eyes to beg the woman for forgiveness.

The Manager had explained to them that these rich people would not think twice before firing them from the restaurant.Now he was going to lose his job because of Gauri. Gauri was looking at his wrinkled face as she shook in fear. The fear that she was going to be why he lost his job in his old age.

Gauri held the Manager’s trembling hand, when she felt that he had stopped trembling she let go. Gauri realized that everyone was still watching her, she looked at the woman.

“I’m incredibly sorry ma’am, I understand that it was my fault. My mistake was that I was walking around with my whorish body and it seduced your husband. Next time I will make sure not to seduce any men. I will endeavor not to get slapped because of my slutty behavior just please don’t fire me from this job. I need this job. You can slap me until you feel satisfied,” Gauri offered the woman in restitution as everyone watched while she bowed down before the woman. The Manager and Isha stood there listening to Gauri degrading herself for the pleasure of these people. Isha was even crying as she watched everything. She could tell that Gauri was hurt badly by what she was being forced to say in order to save her job yet she did not shed a tear.

Gauri glanced up at the woman, she seemed satisfied with her apology as she and her husband smirked down at her. She lowered her head and walked away. She went to the changing room to change her clothes when she ran out of the restaurant it was 10 pm. She walked along the dark road but still had not cried. She reached the hospital and walked inside.

She went into a room and closed the door. She walked towards the bed and sat beside it. There was a woman lying on the bed with her eyes closed. When Gauri saw the woman tears rolled down her cheeks. Until that moment she had not cried but when she saw the woman in the bed she was no longer able to control herself. She wiped away her tears as held the woman's hand.

“Mom, I’m here.” Gauri said with a smile. She brushed her fingers over her Mom’s face with a smile. Hearing Gauri’s voice her Mother opened her eyes and looked at Gauri. Her Mom had been waiting days for her to visit. Gauri’s Mom was paralyzed but she could see and hear everything.

“I’m here to visit you. I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to come see you in five days. I was busy with school and my studies. I told you before that school had started so I had to read and focus on my studies. You don’t need to worry,” Gauri assured her Mother. Listening to her talk her mother blinked, she was happy that Gauri had been admitted to a school.

Gauri had lied to her Mother about getting into a school. She had not told her about losing the scholarship or that she was working at a restaurant. Gauri was working overtime at the restaurant to earn extra money, that was why she had not visited her Mom. She was talking to her Mother even though every sentence out of her mouth was a lie. She could see that her Mother was happy just listening to her and that her visits were beneficial for her health. After talking to her Mother, she let her fall asleep before she left the room. All too quickly she was back walking on the road. Her eyes were blank, completely emotionless. She was walking and walking only.

She was thinking about what she had just done. She lied to her Mother, telling her that everything was alright. All so that her Mom could live her life peacefully. She was happy, but… she just castigated herself in front of all those wealthy people. She had called herself a w***e. Today she once again bowed before rich people, before of their power and money.

She had lost self-respect as she thought about this tears rolled down from her cheeks. Every time she wiped away her tears, new ones replaced them. On her walk home, she had to pass in front of the same school that she had been trying to gain admission to and had been waiting for their email. She checked her inbox on her phone and found that she still had not received an email from the school. That was when she turned her phone off and a sad smile appeared on her face.

“It would seem that my studies are over and I’ll never be able to go to school. My future is over before it even starts,” she said to herself as she looked at the school one last time before continuing home. She did not know what fate had decided for her.