2. Love and only Love

2 months ago

meghal.sancheti

@meghal.sancheti

“Mayank he was horrible.” She sobbed. 

“When I woke up in the hospital, I asked for you. You were the first person I asked for. Par ussne kaha ki tum USA jaa chuke ho. How could you go without me?”

She sobbed into his chest. “6 months. 6 months he kept me chained to the bed. I couldn’t get go anywhere. The doctors would come to see me, but he wouldn’t let me go anywhere. Mujhe maarta nahi tha, bas dhamki deta tha. That if I left then he would hunt you down and k-k-kill you.” 

He kissed her forehead. “How did he know where I was?” 

“Mayank, he would show me footage of you. College mein, dorms mein. Raaste pe chalte waqt, gaadi ke saamne. And if I didn’t do what he told me to do, then woh gaadi, woh gaadi tumse…” 

He was shocked, and yet there was more. 

“Mayank, he was very powerful. Uske paas Delhi ke politicians aur police dono contacts the. I couldn’t run. They would find me and kill you. I couldn’t trust anybody. I was trapped. Mayank, ladkiyan aati thi - aur - dhandha - “ 

She couldn’t continue. The horrible horrible images of the past three years were swimming in her head. She couldn’t bring the words to justify the horror and pain she had felt. 

“He would threaten me. That if I didn’t stay with him, he would sell me too. That I wouldn’t stay pure for you any more. Apne aap ko tumhare liye bachaane ke liye -“

She felt him shake under her. He was shaking with anger. How dare he? How dare he lay hands on her and threaten her? How dare he? He should have killed him that day - then and there itself. If she hadn’t stopped him, he would have killed Dhruv. He saw red. 

“Nupur, why did you stop me from killing him? Why?” 

“Mayank, I didn’t want his dirty blood on your hands.” She said running her hands up and down his shoulder. “You’re too good. Too pure.”

She feared that this would happen. He would react and he would lose it. She stopped herself from continuing. And he sensed her hesitation. With regret, he closed his eyes to steady himself and tightened his grip on her. 

“Aur shaadi? Why did you suffer like this Nupur. You could have told me…or Gunjan. Ek baar bata deti. He was torturing you to marry him…knowing that you couldn’t since you are married to me. Nupur, kyun?” 

She had no answer. She just sobbed harder into his chest. But, he knew, there was something more that was piercing her. So he waited. He wanted her to talk. To let out all of her hollowness, not just in sobs but in words that would pain if left within her heart. 

“Nupur, kyun? Why did you say yes to the marriage?” he repeated. 

He has every right to ask me anything he wants, Nupur thought regretfully. She wondered whether she should share her deepest darkest thoughts. The rational side in her said no. To hide it within her mind so that no one could see the damage that made her weak and friable. But then there was Mayank’s touch, his caress, the sweetness of love in his voice, his chest thumping with a promise to cherish her despite everything. So, she whispered without looking at him. 

“I wasn’t going to marry him.” 

Mayank widened his eyes and pulled out to look at her face. She wasn’t meeting his eyes. “What do you mean?” 

Nupur looked down further and fidgeted with the forced bangle on her wrist. “You already thought I was dead anyway…and…i couldn’t live with being married to anyone but you…and…” 

Mayank felt a chilling shudder pierce his entire body. A cold breeze swept within him, that he couldn’t shake off. He forced her to meet his eyes and saw the emptiness in them. NOOO, his mind screamed. NOOO. His grip tightened even more if possible as he cupped her chin and looked at her with angry tears threatening to cascade down his cheeks. 

“Don’t you ever, ever, ever think that again. Do you hear me Nupur? Never, ever ever do this to me again. You killed me with these words….and to know that had I not come here today, I would have lost…” 

He couldn’t finish his sentence as his vision blurred - with tears or anger, he couldn’t tell. He pulled her to him and sat there, sstill shivering with the thought of Nupur taking her own life. But her constant heartbeat against his chest reminded him that she was here, alive. 

After her sobs had softened, Mayank asked her softly. 

“What else did he do? In the locker room - that -“ his grip tightened “has that ever happened before?” 

She froze and then crumbled in his arms, nodding her head into his chest. Her tears soaked his shirt. 

That’s it. He couldn’t hear more and neither could he bear her crying anymore. This is going to take time, he thought. But its okay. However long it takes. Im not going anywhere.

He cupped her cheeks and placed a soft tender kiss on her forehead. then, ran his nose down to her eyes and kissed her wet lashes before kissing the tip of her nose and then bending down to pull her lips to his again. He kissed her cheeks and softened the red on them before returning to her lips and pecking it again. He couldn’t get enough. But he had to go slow. Even if it was subtle, there was hesitation. And he didn’t want her to rush into anything. 

Just then he heard an audible cough from behind the glass door. Samrat and Gunjan had obviously been watching. And just as I had time with my wife, Gunjan would need time with her sister. So, with regret, he let her go and looked up to see Sam calling him back with his eyes. 

As soon as Mayank entered the sitting room behind the glass door, Samrat enveloped him in a hug. Instinctively he reached out and hugged him back. There were no words exchanged, but both men knew what the other wanted to say. To be honest, Mayank had never really blamed Samrat. He knew that the whole accident was a mistake, that now was proven to be the work of a devil. 

Sam was no villain. He was the brother who had returned his wife to him. 

“Im so happy for you man.”

Mayank smiled, his eyes crinkling with the warmth of Nupur’s kiss. 

“all because of you.” 

“how is she?” he asked glancing quickly at the two sisters hugging and crying. 

Mayank shrugged, not knowing what to say. There was a lot of healing that needed to happen for both of them. But at the same time he knew that they would get through this and be back to their old selves again. 

“she’s been through hell Sam. Both of us have. It is going to take time.”

Samrat nodded. “Just keep kissing her, I’m sure she’ll be okay in no time” He winked. 

Mayank laughed. “one of the many things I have missed.” 

Samrat laughed too. “I have an idea that could lighten the mood a little bit. Otherwise, your wife and my - uh - Gunjan will be flowing rivers and rivers of tears for the next several hours.” 

Mayank pretended not to notice. “Ya, your girlfriend has a special knack for crying. what’s your idea?”

“Let’s bring the gang back. Benji, Dia, Uday, Adhiraj, Suhaani, your mom. I’m sure if she sees everyone again, she will feel much better. And we can explain the whole Dhruv thing, so they don’t have to get into it. Being around them will help lighten the mood too.”

Mayank liked the idea. He turned around again to watch Nupur smile and pull Gunjan into her lap as she stroked her hair. She is back and she is going to get all the love she deserves, I’ll make sure of it, he thought. 

Later that night, Mayank and Samrat had gone out to get some food when they returned to find the two girls sleeping on the couch in awkward positions. Winking at each other, they proceeded to slowly lift their girls and take them to the bedroom. 

Mayank watched Samrat effortlessly peel Gunjan off of Nupur’s lap, remove her glasses and smile with puppy eyes at her irritation. He chuckled at the two before placing his warm hands around Nupur’s waist to lift her up. He hadn’t even gotten a grip on her waist before she startled out of her sleep and yelled in agony. Her eyes were shocked and frantic. 

“dhruv nahi, please nahi.”

Mayank sat down beside her, shocked himself. “Nupur, its me. He’s gone. It’s just me.” 

She had realized her surroundings by then and looked at him guilty. 

“Im sorry -“ 

He shushed her with his finger and then wrapped his arms around her waist again, lifting her up. 

“No need to be sorry. Just say you love me.” He winked. 

In spite of herself, she smiled. “I love you Mayank” she kissed his cheek, “so much”. 

She was glad that he had lightened the mood after her startle. She didn’t want to remember her past, but it was going to take time. She knew that she needed to give that time to herself to heal so that she could be her true self for Mayank. He deserved that. He had waited so long for her to come back, and now that she was back, she was going to do everything she could to be herself again. And part of that was showering her love on her husband. So as he stood up from the bed to leave, she smiled and held his hand. 

“Come here” 

Mayank looked back unexpectedly and saw her breathtaking smle caress her lips. He smiled back and sat on the bed placing their intertwined hands on her lap. Beside them, Gunjan was sleeping soundly. 

“I’ve missed your smile the most.” she said running her free hand along his cheek. 

With that his smile widened. “What else did you miss?”

“Ive missed your sadu look. The one you used to give me when I misplaced a book from the library and you would have to pay the late fee.” 

“And yet you would do it everytime.” He chuckled, leaning closer. 

“I’ve missed the world’s best coffee. The one that used to keep me motivated to study with you even when I was so tired.” 

His eyes softened. “The things Mr. Sharma would have to do to get Mrs. Sharma to study” 

Nupur’s eyes welled for the nth time that day.

“I’ve missed you calling me Mrs. Sharma, and keeping me close to your heart during those nights when we were too tired to do anything else.”

Mayank’s eyes teared up too. “I could never get enough of those nights. I missed you laying across me like there was no room left on your side. Your hair all over my chest.” 

Nupur chuckled. “You used to get so annoyed and roll me back to my side.” 

Mayank smiled and kissed her head. “Mrs. Sharma, I used to roll you back so that I could kiss your neck and unzip your - “

“ahem…” Gunjan said opening one eye and turning pink at the implication of the sentence she interrupted. Mayank and Nupur looked at her with widened eyes. 

“Di, jiju. Kuch details mein nahi jaanu toh better hai.” Gunjan smiled at her sister and brother-in-law. Their love had defied all odds and she knew that they would take no time to be themselves again. No time at all.