Chapter 6

he warm sunrays embraced her as she entered Simile Singhania's apartment. It was beautifully done, with light headed furniture and paintings that were costly, it was warm, and sweet, and quiet.

Everything was squeaky clean, may it be the couch, or her sheets. Everything seemed well managed.

But quiet.

Simile came out rushing with a piece of cloth in her hand, it was quite obvious that she has been cleaning since some time now. A little smile approached her face as she saw Kriya.

"Oh My! This is such a pleasant surprise" Simile's eyes lit up, and her lips were covered into what it seemed like a warm smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you" Kriya said.

"You didn't! Have a seat, child" Simile said.

Kriya sat cross-legged on the couch, she was careful not to dirty anything. She had once heard that Simile was much of a cleaner, and she wanted to leave well impression of herself as well.

The sunrays peeped through the windows, and she could not help but notice them.

"I'll get you something to eat" she said.

"No please, i just came to have a conversation" Kriya replied.

Simile turned back and smiled, then she looked at Kriya and sat next to her. for moments, Simile was silent, she was just looking at her, as though she were something-some weird thing.

"What?" Kriya giggled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You just are, so pretty" Simile said touching the edge of Kriya's face.

"I think i'm just fine" Kriya said.

Simile let out a deep wondering sigh.

"How is everything? With Reyaansh i mean" she asked.

Kriya twitched her nose for a second, then wondering what she should say, she looked elsewhere.

"Everything's... fine" Kriya said.

But the way Kriya had said it, Simile was not a fool to not understand the reflection in her eyes which clearly displayed that she was so lost.

Simile intertwined her fingers and then said. "He can be tough, and really, really stubborn. but once you get to know him.. he's not that guy anymore"

Kriya looked at Simile and she lent a soft hand on Kriya's shoulder, which made her eyes filled with arrogant tears. "Why is that everytime I have to try and know him? Why can't he try to understand me?"

Big, fat tears escaped Kriya's eyes and she could suddenly feel Simile's touch on her face. Simile wiped off the tears which had escaped, and brought a glass of water for her to relax.

"Kriya" Simile said. "There are only two options : either you live with him, or you leave him"

Kriya looked at Simile in anguish. Here, she was weeping, and Simile was giving her options? What was she trying to prove?

"I don't understand what you're trying to say" Kriya honestly spoke.

"Reyaansh lost his father when he was six, and I was expected to live a life of a saint" Simile said.

Kriya stared at her, won't she even ask her what was wrong?

"But I, i wanted to live like a woman, I wanted to spend each moment of my life smiling. We shifted to Manchester, and, Reyaansh was a tough child, he didn't like me speaking to any men, not even his teacher" Simile said

Kriya smiled

"Whereas I, I wanted to find the right one. I didn't want to live in my dead husbands shrine, i believed that he's gone. I was moving on, trying to find a better life for Reyaansh." Simile said.

Kriya continued staring

"I was told that a boy needs his father, for inspiration, as a role model. But while searching for him, I never knew when.." Simile was interrupted.

"When you forgot to give him the love of a mother" Kriya completed

Simile looked away "Yes, and I tried as much as i could, to find him a father, to find myself someone i could trust, but men those days-they just took what they wanted and it wasn't that I was being a wh**e or something its just that.." Simile was interrupted again.

"To find a prince you have to kiss many frogs" Kriya finished.

"He hasn't talked to me eversince, we never shared a mother-son relationship, i never helped him with homeworks, I would, just, come back late and he would be asleep, even if he weren't, he would pretend that way." Simile said.

Then continued "I had many male friends, some had been more than friends but it was all because i wanted a father for Reyaansh and a companion for me, Its not easy to raise a boy who is stubborn"

Simile finished.

"I will talk to him about this" Kriya declared "I'm sure he would understand"

"He won't" Simile said "I've tried."

"Then what can I do for you?" Kriya asked "Anything? Please?"

"Just promise me something" Simile said

"What?" Kriya was eager.

"That you won't leave him," Simile said "Promise me"

Kriya didn't know what to say, she ran out of words. For a moment she was left numb, not knowing what to say all that came out of her mouth was "I Promise"

_______________

Reyaansh sank deeper in his leather arm chair. He kept a hand on his chin, stroking it gently. When a sudden knock on the door startled him.

"Get in Curie" he said

He heard a slight tick of heels against the marble floor and lifted his eyes up to check what it was.

"I need to talk to you" Kriya declared.

"Say?" he said

"Not here," she said and then he accompanied her to the balcony.

Tthe stars shone, they were bright and for the first time they seemed so normal to Kriya, she didn't care to even notice what the night was like, the clouds were black and so was her mood.

She was continuously fumbling with words and trying to form up what she really wanted to say but somewhere inside something held her from speaking out.

"Reyaansh I met your mother, she told me about her past with you and.." she was interrupted.

"And we don't have to talk about it" his voice was flat.

"But we do. We do have to talk about it" she said "Your mother is living just to get a apology from you, she wants you to forgive her, she wants you to understand that all he did was just for you. she wanted to find a father for you"

"She needn't let him f**k her then. She was expected to stay my fathers-forever" he looked away

"See Reyaansh" Kriya said "Everyone lives up expectations, but there are very few of them who just do what they want, live up their desires"

"And her desires mattered to her more than me kriya?" He asked.

"Reyaansh I'm not saying that-" she was interrupted.

"Kriya don't speak if you don't know the other side of stories" He said "I went through numerous lonely nights wondering whether my mother would return alone or not, I went through all the mother's day sitting at my backyard and wondering when she'd be back, i spent all my birthdays either sitting at home or drinking, wondering if my mother remembers any of them. I lived it all Kriya-you didn't. So stop interpreting things" he said

"Yes Reyaansh but she needs your apology" she said

"Sorry but i won't" he retorted. "if she wasn't as virtuous as a widow then, she shouldn't expect me to be as forgiving as a saint"

"Why are you like this Reyaansh?" she asked "For gods sake, a woman's virginity doesn't define her so called purity. Grow up and face the truth, you're just being a coward and.."

She was interrupted.

"And you're no one to say that" he said.

She looked at him for a minute as if wondering what he had just said, then she looked away and said "Yeah, you're right, i'm no one to say that"

"But do you know that your mother had post-natal depression and that is why your parents had issues before he left," she retorted.

"So it was all his fault?"

"It was no ones fault" she said "Please understand"

"And you're no one to interfere" he said

"Yeah right." She looked away.

Reyaansh nodded.

"But lately, I've come to decision Reyaansh" she said

"Shoot" he asked

"I'm going back to home" she said

"And home is-" he was interrupted

"Just a one bedroom flat in some old ruined place" she said sonorously "But i'll be happy there"

"And you are not?" he asked and regretted it instantly.

"Really Reyaansh? You think i am?" she asked. "You should book the tickets" she dusted her pants and was about to leave when he got hold of her hand.

And the next moment all she knew was that he was kissing her, her slender wrists were held by his large ones, their lips were synchronizing like they used to, he was nor firm, but neither was he rough, he was simply kissing her like he used to.. no, it couldnt be defined by words, it could just be felt. And she was loving it, until the realization hit her that maybe kissing her to-be-ex husband wasn't the most wisest idea ever.

She muttered "No Reyaansh, We can't"

And he pulled away, just like that, though he knew she liked it, he still couldn't be another regret of her life-though he already was.

"I don't know what came over my head" he said "I'm sorry"

She nodded and stood up, "You should book the tickets"

"When would you like to leave?" he asked.

"As soon as possible" she replied.

_________

He entered the room when she was ready, he saw her eyes red, clearly available that she had been crying.

"Have you-Have you been crying?" he asked

"No" she shook her head. "Something stuck in my eye"

He nodded, though he very well knew that she was lying.

"I'll drive you?" he asked

"No, that won't be necessary, I already rang up the cab" she said

"I'll get the divorce papers ready" he said

She nodded

"My lawyer will deliver you the entire payment as per the contract. And.." he was interrupted.

"I don't want anything from you Reyaansh" she said

"You do want the money" his voice was flat

"I don't" she shook her head "I will manage somehow, i don't want anything from you"

Before he could say something they heard the slight horn of the car. "That must be the cab"

He nodded. She urged forward and kissed his cheek gently "You-You take care of yourself"

"You too" he muttered

He saw her moving away from him, and he felt a sense of unease, an uncertainty, "Kriya?" he called out.

"Please Reyaansh, lets not stretch this more than we should" she said.

She just wanted him to stop her once, just once. But did she really expect that her ego-powered husband would turn back and beg her to stay? He wouldn't! He was that kind of men who would see things as black or white, even women-especially women, Madonna or wh**e! But many men think that way, right? And she could see which category he had placed her in.

She went away and he saw the car moving away from him, and he felt something infuriating, like a clinch of his heart, as though someone pushed him out of a plane without a parachute.

She did not look back, she knew she would break out into tears if she did, but either ways, she still broke into big plump tears and that ran in her mind was "I broke my promise"

__________

A month later...

He didn't even once try to stop her, that was something that shattered her the most. He didn't say anything that would make her change her mind about leaving, why didn't he? She questioned herself. But when she thought about it, she came to a realization that she should've never expected her proud unforgiving husband to turn back and beg her to stay.

In fact she was taken aback by the speed at which he arranged things when she said she wanted to go back. As if he suddenly realized that a low-scale girl could never be a perfect wife for a high-born man like him.

That night, he had looked at her as though his face was sculpted with never-breaking marble.

"What are you thinking?" Julianne asked. she had somehow managed a little Job for Kriya which would hold her daily premises.

"Maybe, I wasn't that lucky when things came to men and relations" Kriya said, she was determined to make the grills shine, she rubbed the cloth again on them.

Since she came back, it had been difficult for her to adjust again in the house she had left, and she was doing her best to make it as beautiful as possible. His scars never left her, but most brutal were his memories, the way he called her kitten', the way he touched her, she missed everything.

"Stop thinking about that bas***d" Julianne said

Kriya never told Julianne about he manhandling her, how could she blacken the name of her husband? How could she?

"He loved me. he just had his own reasons" she reasoned.

"Would you stop picking sides? That guy was mentally unstable, he's just.. horrible!" Julianne said

"He might be, but he's the only one. And he always will be" Kriya said.

"I wonder what he would be doing in life?" Julianne asked.

"I don't know. And don't care. Let him just.. do what he wishes to" she replied.

What Kriya knew for sure was that Reyaansh Singhania, was not missing her, and he did not care at all, about her, her wellbeing or anything. He was just happy in his life.

But what she never knew, was that the other side of story was totally different.

___________

That day, when he went inside the house, his heart was heavy and he was close to crying, but somehow reassured himself that such reaction was normal after such a emotional departure, he also thought than within numbered days the memory of Kriya Ghai would fade out.

But the truth was quite different-It took Reyaansh by surprise that she had changed his life by marrying him and then by leaving him. It was the little things which seemed to mock him, such as, he would wake in the morning his hand moving to the space behind, but all that he found was unruffled sheets and emptiness insted of Kriya's soft welcoming body.

The bed suddenly seemed too big, and the house to empty, he soon found out that her memories were haunting her and that maybe it was impossible for him to live in a house where once he had lived with her.

Once he was back to business, he received flurry interest from opposite sex, only to find out that he didn't like it. he found women with high ponytails and high heels extremely weird and their conversation was boring and dull.

He didn't like it at all.

He found that Kriya was an excellent company to talk to, on their many trips out. And that the dinner suddenly seemed as a ritual to be followed with no company he wished to join.

But the thing which mocked him the most was the truth that Kriya took absolutely nothing from him, just like she had said, she even left back the designer dresses he bought her.

To avoid misunderstandings he called a friend in L.A. and asked him to check what she was doing, but all he got for an answer was that, she was in some company with Julianne Roberts-the known industrialist and that she was back in the previous small flat.

he flared out when his dad called him up and thanked him for the beautiful life he was giving to his daughter, and it was then when he realized that she had not even informed her family about the sudden breakaway from him.

He called out his secretary "Arrange tickets to LA in one hour" he said

"But sir the rates.." The man was interrupted

"I don't care about the price damn it! just do it or you're fired" he said

Reyaansh Singhania realized he had lost a gem from his life and that maybe, he had mistaken Kriya all this while, his mouth hardened when he went inside to get his passport. Maybe it was too late, maybe she would never forget him, but he knew he had to try.

He was going get back what was once his.

___________

She was just about to get in and make some tea for herself, when her attention was caught by something strikingly similar, she saw a man heading from the opposite street towards her, his jet black hair, towering physique and the snowy shirt he wore, everything looked just so similar. She shook her head twice, and she could see Reyaansh Singhania heading towards her.

Rey?

Rey?

She questioned herself, she gripped the grill for support, it was hurtful to see him, it hurt because she knew she couldnt have him, and seeing him was a reminder of what she could have had, it hurt because she still wished he could b the old Reyaansh and it hurt because she still loved him.

He looked up at her frame and their eyes met immediately, she drank in the sight of him, his tough musceles, dark eyes, thick lashes and angled cheekbones- it was more hurtful now.

Despite of Julianne's continuous efforts she stood up and yelled "What are you doing here?"

"Do you really don't know Kriya?" he asked

"I wouldn't have asked you if i knew" she said

He took in a deep breath and said "I've come to say sorry"

Kriya felt weird, dizzy and slightly weird, she had imagined those words, but now, seeing his expressions she knew she hadn't.

"We cant have this conversation here" she said

"Then you should come down and let me in maybe?" he asked.

Yet again, when she saw him so close she wanted to hurl in his arms, let him hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, her instincts told her to do so, she also realized how much she had missed him, in everyway it was possible to miss a man.

But right now, she knew her instincts could be dangerous.

The hallway was much enclosed to have any kind of conversation, as she stepped away to let him in she could feel his raw wild scent, and she knew she needed some space between them, she knew this proximity could make her do the things she didn't want to.

"Come upstairs" she said

And he followed her.

He studied the curtains and then looked at kriya "You made them yourself?"

"Yes, and how did you know?"

"You left a dress made by you back in Manchester, the style was similar" he said

"So, you came all way from Manchester to discuss my sewing interests?" she asked

"No Kriya, but all i wish to know is, why are you living here when you could have some money which was rightfully yours?" he said

He made it sound like everything was so easy, like one lakh was just some money'

"This is wrong with you! you take things in credit and debit, everything comes at a price to you" she said

He held her shoulders and said "But it doesn't Kriya, i realize now and i dont know why i took so long, you didn't take the money because you didn't want to be beholden by me in anyway"

"Wow" she rolled her eyes.

"okay guys, i can't see more, i think i need to leave. Take care Kriya" Julianne said and left the arena.

"I'll see you later" kriya said

"Its more than that Kriya, you value people more than things, you didn't take the money but instead you send your salary every month to your father so that he can pay the rent, sentiments matter more to you than things could ever" he said

"How did you know?" she simply asked

"Your father called me up and thanked me, you didn't tell anyone about the breakaway, did u?" he asked

She shrugged his arms away from her shoulders. "Okay, fine, you know, but still nothing tells me why you're here"

Oh god! He had always thought that the words of apology and a explanation would be sufficient. He had.

But now, he knew what was wrong, he hurt her badly, and she was scared, afraid, that he might hurt her again.

"Because i'm sorry for judging you all so wrongly, i know you are the beautiful girl i first fell in love with and that i was right that you are not at all like the other women."

She said "Reyaansh please-" she was interrupted.

"Let me finish" he said and suddenly knew why he'd always damned the words I love you' because they were so easy to say-and they were. But right now he knew how much they mattered-and especially to women. And just now he understood how much they mattered to him even.

"I Love You Kriya" he said "And my life back at Manchester has been so.. empty without you. i've been missing you, everything seemed so... dull when you were not there. and I've not been able to go back to the man i was before, and i don't want to, because you changed me kriya, you changed the way i think. The way i judge people and even the way i interpret things. You changed me Kriya"

"Reyaansh-" he interjected.

"Let me tell you this kriya" he said urgently "I thought about everything you said and I spoke to my mother, i went to see her and-" she interjected.

"You did?" she blinked twice.

"Yes I did. And I listened to what she had to say and understood things from an adults point of view rather than a child's. She asked for forgiveness and i gave it to her, and i asked her and she reciprocated, and i, actually wept" he said and a lump formed due to the memory of the powerful emotion that was once felt by him. "Kriya, I, Reyaansh Singhania, actually cried. You don't think you have changed me?"

She looked up at him with a slight hint of smile "Crying does not make you less of a man"

He walked over to where she was standing and looked at her as if it had been an eternity rather than some few short weeks. "My mother told me some things i already knew"

"What?" she asked

"That I was a fool to let you go, and that you were the best thing that ever happened to me and i came here with an apology to ask you if you'd be back as my wife." He said

She bit her lip.

"Only this time Kriya, no pretence, just love, honesty and enduring love" he said

"I was wrong to not to tell you about my virginity" she said

"It doesn't matter" he said, and he felt like a man woken up from long sleep. How could he risk losing her over such a little thing? "All that matters is you and me being together"

She looked away and said "Yes Reyaansh, i love you too, more than anything i swear"

And then he just held her and kissed her right how he wanted to do since that very day when she walked out of his life, when he pushed her so far that there was nowhere for her to go.

But now she didn't need to run, for when she was with him, any four walls could be treated as a place called home.