Love is like a butterfly , the more you run behind it , the more it flies away from you. As a student my eyes fell on Vedu and slowly I won her heart. We promised each other of togetherness but when the time came to stand by the promise, she decided it would be best for her to nest with someone else. I felt betrayed, but that didnt mean , I had to betray her. If she didnt want to love me , that was her choice. My love was mine to hold, so I decided to, not stop loving her. I wished her well and tried to move on in my life with the strength of love that I held for her. I locked my heart with a promise to myself that I would never have place for anyone else other her in my heart. I used that strength to gain everything that I lost in business post my fathers death. I was wining , people started knowing me and my family was thriving in my success and warmth. I was happy because my family was happy. Though my close friends felt differently about it. Deep in my heart I knew they were right but if I agreed then I would collapse and so would those three souls who were depended on me . I had promised my dad that I would take care of them and that's what I did.
Life was beautiful , at least for people around me and that's what mattered the most to me. Then one day Shivi my lil sister created a storm in our life by choosing to marry a boy of her choice and along with that came an even bigger shock , me having to marry the boy's elder sister, Priya. I was lost as I didnt want a marriage and definitely not with Priya. She was no were close to any girl that I had met in life. She was educated , logical, self sufficient and stood like wall to defend her loved ones. An attitude that I was not comfortable with. We met and we were very clear that we didnt expect love out of this marriage and that we were going to do this for our family. A marriage of convenience would be the best that we could describe of this situation.
Life as a married man was not easy and especially when you do not know your woman at all. With marriage came in insecurities in the family , which lead to her signing agreement stating that in case of separation she wouldn't need a penny from me. This was like a slap on my face. When your wife states she doesn't need anything of yours, that means she doesn't think of you as hers. For a man this is very difficult to take. This made me thinking why she easily agreed to sign this agreement and I cant deny it , my heart wanted her to add me in her list of loved ones. As the days went by I realised , her tough look is just an image that she portrays but at heart she was soft like a cotton candy which wanted to melt in love. The more I knew about her , the more I wanted to be with her. But I didn't know how. It wasn't easy , her past and mine was standing as a mountain between us. The scar that our past had left on us was reminding us of the danger of the word love and trust, nevertheless I decided to take the first step. My past with Vedika didnt matter any more. I unlocked my heart and realised how foolish I was to stay in love with someone who had left me for their own benefit. For the first time I looked at the lady sitting on my bed immersing herself in a book. Her long straight hair was left open. I wanted to push that strand of hair behind the ears , cradle that face and probably run my thumb on her naturally pink lips.
"Mr. Kapoor why are you looking at me like this and your cheeks have literally turned pink. Are you ok?"
"Yes , Priya. I guess its a lil hot in here. Dont you think so?" I said trying to hide my thoughts. This was definitely not what I wanted.
"Really ? Its going to rain and the AC is running at 21" came her response.
I had no clue how to handle this . Me and my thoughts these days weren't anything that I could share with her. Every time she came in front of me , I was loosing my grounds in all ways. Many a times I felt she had started noticing this change. I decided the best was to run away from there.
" Priya , I think I am thirsty. Will drink some water " , saying so I got up to leave the room.
"Ram. running away as usual? Do you do this even in business when you have to avoid tough conversations?"
There she goes again. There were only two times when she had called my name and whenever she did it , she had an upper hand in conversation.
"No , why would I run away. ?" , I asked defensively .
"Because I felt you were thinking something about us and you were not ready to tell me." said Priya proudly ,making it very clear that she could read my mind. I felt this was a god given chance. Not many get second chances and the business man in me decided to take this chance with both hands. I got up , locked the door and slowly walked to her side of bed.
"What do you think I was thinking about us?" , saying so I sat on her side of the bed facing her.
" I dont know , Mr. Kapoor", came the reply with a guarded expression.
"I wont lie to you but the thing is , do you want to know what I was thinking?"
There was an absolute silence. Time was ticking and I was growing impatient but business had taught me that sometimes you need to wait to get the best. After about 2 to 3 mins of uncomfortable silence came a hesitant response.
"Yes , if you are willing to share." and that's all I needed.
I moved closer to her and closed the book in her hand . Then moved that very strand of hair behind her ears , cupped her face, ran my thumb slowly on her lips, kissed her forehead and said , "this is what I was thinking."
My Priya blushed for the first time in my warmth and my heart rejoiced in her love. Sometimes you dont need to word it out, you can feel it. I wanted more but I knew I had to go slowly. Her comfort and happiness mattered the most for me. So , I took the book and placed it back in her hands and walked towards my side of the bed.
"Mr. Kapoor , today is Valentine's day. Will you be my Valentine?"
" If you call me Ram!!"
She blushed again and a moment that I will always cherish in my life. "Happy Valentine's day Priya!!"