Suvan FF: A Thousand Years - Completed - Page 8

Chapter 7

---SHRAVAN’s Point of View---

I woke up feeling groggy and my wound was hurting again. I walked outside to see everyone packing up as if the mission was over. What was going on? I asked my Junior for an update on the mission. He looked confused and said, “Sir, I paged you last night that the mission was successful.” I quickly checked my pager. He was right! Why didn’t I remember that?

I went to the clinic and told the doctor that I didn’t remember anything from last night. Was it a brain injury? He replied, “All the scans were negative. What is the last thing you remember?”

“I was in pain so I took two pain killers and went to sleep.”

“Two tablets? One was more than enough! We prescribed strong pain pills. That’s why you don’t remember anything.”

I was walking out but an older nurse stopped me, “Major! Did you talk to Suman last night? She was so worried for you!” The nurse told me how scared Suman was and that she stayed with me during the surgery. I was surprised to know that Suman lost control over her emotions for me. I guess she still does care even after all these years. But, I became confused when the nurse said that Suman went to see me. I didn’t remember talking to Suman last night.

I was discussing the leftover ammunition with Major Neil when I saw Suman from afar. She gave me a smile and waved. Neil gave me an odd smirk and cleared his throat. “So, what’s going on between you and Captain Suman?”

“What do you mean?”, I asked with an annoyed face after seeing his stupid grin.

“Well, I mean you know after everything that happened yesterday…”

“We are good friends. She was concerned about me as any friend would be. There’s nothing more.” This is what I was afraid of. Suman couldn’t control her emotions when she saw me hurt and now people are speculating our relationship.

“Oh yeah, I understand that. But, I’m talking about after that...everyone is talking about that!” I was feeling more annoyed because I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“After what? What is everyone talking about?” I was getting quite irritated. I didn’t remember anything from last night and now Major Neil was trying to gossip with me.

“Well, some people said that Suman went to your cabin last night and left early in the morning. What was she doing there all night? I guess she’s working hard for a promotion”, he nudged me with a wink.

I clenched my fist and felt so disgusted by his words. “What the hell did you just say? Don’t you dare ever speak about her like that. Look...these people need to stop spreading rumors or I will take strict action.” Neil’s face changed as he realized the depth of my anger.

I walked off in frustration and I heard Neil yell behind me, “You can’t stop everyone from talking.”

I saw Suman packing up with her regiment as they had a train for Bhopal. I held her wrist and asked, “Can I talk to you alone for a second?” She nodded her head. I noticed the sly glances we received and let go of her wrist. This was getting out of hand. Suman and I went into her cabin. She gave me a soft smile. Maybe I was mistaken, but she took a deep breath and nervously looked down. At the same time, both of us said, “I wanted to talk about last night!”

“Oh thank god, Suman! Please tell me what happened. I don’t remember anything!”

Suman looked confused, “What? You don’t remember anything?”

“No! I took too many pain pills and now I don’t remember a thing! People are making rumors about us. What happened?”

She looked like she was in a daze but finally spoke, “I came to your cabin because I was worried about you...and then…”

“Sumo, you shouldn’t have come to my cabin that late. You have no idea the things people are saying”.

She looked shocked and angrily said, “Should not have come? Do you know how worried I was? I had to come see you!”

“You could’ve waited till morning!” I shot back and she looked disappointed. She was innocent and naive. She didn’t understand how people spin up lies for their enjoyment.

“You know what? You’re right! How stupid of me to care about you?” She flared her nose.

I held her shoulders and said, “Suman, you don’t understand. People are saying things about you. I-”

She pushed my hands off her shoulder and cut me off, “I don’t care what people say, Shravan!”

“But I care! I can’t tolerate hearing anything bad about you!” I paused, realizing what I had said.

Suman’s face got soft and she asked, “Why do you care so much?” I was silent. I cared because I loved her and wanted to protect her from all the evil in the world. Yes, she was strong enough to take care of herself but I would not let anything in this world harm her. But, I stood there silently because I was afraid of what the consequences would be if I said the truth. A knock at the door informed Suman that it was time to leave. Suman wiped her tears and said, “Whatever your answer is...it was the same reason why I came to see you. Take care.” Just like that, she was gone. Both of us returned to our normal lives without each other.

~ ONE YEAR LATER IN DEHRADUN ~

I was sipping coffee and reading files to prepare for a mission in Kashmir. I received a text from my mom. It was a picture of her with Dr. Naina at a temple. I rolled my eyes. After Mission Ladakh, Mom kept trying to persuade me to marry Naina but I told her that I wasn’t ready for marriage. The truth was that how could I marry someone else when my heart belonged to Suman. I went back to studying the files but was disturbed again by a call. Surprisingly, it was Saheb. I hadn’t talked to him in years.

“Hey Saheb! How’s it going man?”

“Yaar, I’m so mad at you! I sent you my wedding invitation and you never replied. Are you coming?”

I slapped my forehead and saw the unopened invitation sitting on my desk. I quickly opened it and looked at the date. “Dude, I’m so sorry. I can’t come. I have to go to Kashmir the next day for a mission.”

“Come on, yaar. It’s been years and I’m getting married! You have to come!”

I felt bad that he was insisting so much. Saheb was my first friend in school so I owed him this much. “Okay, I will come. I will manage something.”

~ A FEW DAYS LATER IN DELHI ~

I hate weddings. Too much noise, lights, and uncomfortable clothes. I preferred the quiet Dehradun and my army uniform. I came to Saheb’s wedding, as I promised, but I didn’t know anyone here. I was bored and felt even lonelier in this crowd. The loud music during the performances was giving me a headache. Then, the emcee announced that the bride’s friends would now perform on the song, “Makhna”. I rolled my eyes and could not wait to leave this wedding. I moved to the back of the crowd to get something to drink. I was looking at my phone trying to ignore the wedding chaos.

I overheard some rowdy boys talking nearby. “The one in the pink lehenga is so hot.” They were looking at a girl on the stage. I turned around and was shocked to see that it was no other than Suman! What was she doing here? I smiled seeing her dance and enjoying herself. I didn’t know she danced so well. She looked like a princess in her light pink lehenga. Suddenly, I broke out of my thoughts as one of the guys made an objectifying comment. I realized that they were talking about Suman and my blood was boiling.

I couldn’t keep quiet anymore. I approached the guys and said, “How can you talk about a girl like that? She’s dancing to celebrate her friend's wedding! She’s not here to entertain you!”

“Hey! Who the hell are you? Mind your own business.” The guy smiled smugly. I fisted my hand but told myself to calm down. I didn’t want to create a scene at Saheb’s wedding. The song ended and Suman left the stage. I decided to approach her later since she was with her friends. Ravi, a boy I went to school with, started talking to me. But, my attention went to the uncouthly boys again. They mixed a pill into a juice and called over a waiter. He gave him cash and pointed at Suman as he said, “Make sure this drink goes to her.” My heart dropped as I realized what they were thinking about doing.

As long as I’m alive, I will never let anyone hurt Suman. Rage rushed through my body as I went over and threw the glass. I grabbed the guy’s collar and shouted, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Aye! I told you to mind your own business! Why do you care so much?”

I was shaking in anger as I raised my fist to punch him in the face. But, someone held me back before I could break his face. It was Saheb and he said that these were his cousins. “Do you have any idea what they were doing? Mixing pills into girls’ drinks?” I turned back to punch the guy in the face as his eyes grew in fear.

Saheb controlled the situation but the guy retorted as to who I was to speak up. Saheb replied, “He’s a Major in the Indian Army. Trust me, you don’t want to mess with him.” The guys gulped and tried to escape.

I stopped them and said, “I don’t have to be anything in relation to her to prevent you from doing a heinous crime.” Luckily, one of Saheb’s friends was an IPS officer who took them into custody including the waiter and confiscated the pills. I realized by this time that everybody in the party was staring at me, including Suman who smiled and waved at me from afar. I was walking to her but was stopped by an older lady who asked if I was married. Suddenly, I was swarmed by more older ladies, all shoving pictures of girls in my face. This was another thing I hated about weddings, whenever somebody found out that I’m a Major, they tried to get their daughters married to me.

I felt a tug on my arm in the crowd. Suman appeared with a bright smile on her face and said, “Jaan! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” My eyes widened in shock. Did she just call me jaan? I must be dreaming. She held my hand and pulled me away from the crowd of aunties as they gave us disapproving looks. As we got further, she started laughing, “You can thank me now! If I hadn’t rescued you, those aunties would have gotten you married today at this mandap.”

I laughed as I thanked her. “Thanks. I didn’t know you would be here at this wedding.”

“The bride is Kanchan’s friend. When I got to know that her groom was Saheb, I was hoping I’d see you here.” I smiled to myself. She wanted to see me again? “You need to meet Kanchan! She’s going to be excited to see you”, Suman exclaimed.

“Omg! Shravan! How are you? You’ve changed so much!”, Kanchan spoke excitedly. She then updated me about her life. She got married three years ago, was expecting her second child, and lived here in Delhi now. “But, it looks like I got married too early. I should’ve waited a couple years.” Kanchan nudged Suman, who laughed and shook her head at her.

The music was blaring again and my headache was back. I pressed my temples and Suman looked worriedly at me and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I get headaches at weddings because of all the noise and lights.”

She had an amused look on her face, “So, gunshots and bomb explosions don’t bother you but loud wedding music does?”

“Yeah, I guess”, I laughed. The music got louder and my headache worsened. I rubbed my temples again and Suman grabbed my hand.

She smiled and said, “Come on! Let’s escape from here.” We walked outside the wedding venue but were still close enough.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we walked through the cold grass. The sound of her anklets echoed over the distant sound of the wedding. I couldn’t stop admiring how effortlessly beautiful she looked, shining brighter than the full moon in this dark night.

Suman suddenly lost balance and grabbed my arm. She giggled, “I am so used to wearing my combat boots that I forgot how to walk in heels.” She pointed towards a gazebo, next to a lake, decorated with flowers and fairy lights. “We’re going there!”

I got confused as she took off her heels. She lifted one eyebrow and said, “Major Shravan, let’s have a race. Let’s see if I can still beat you! First one to the gazebo wins!” Before I knew it, she held her lehenga and took off running. I started running behind her and she looked back with a giggle. The echoes of her anklet got louder and I felt like everything was in slow motion. It was all like a beautiful dream.

Suddenly, her foot got caught in her lehenga and she started falling. But, I caught her hand in time and pulled her towards me. I held her tightly by her waist. She was panting softly as she thanked me. I smiled and replied, “You know, I will never let you fall.” She gave me a gentle smile then I moved close to her ear and whispered, “But, that doesn’t mean I’ll let you win!” I gave a wink and ran again towards the gazebo.

“Cheater! My foot got caught!” She flared her nose and I started laughing.

“Oh, Sumo! Stop being such a sore loser!” Then, I noticed that she was limping.

I ran back to her and she put her arm on my shoulder for support. She winced in pain and said, “I think I twisted my ankle.”

I put my arm around her back and asked, “May I?” She nodded giving me permission. She laced her arms around my neck as I lifted her into my arms and carried her to the gazebo. I noticed her smiling at me but she looked away when our eyes met. I made her sit on the steps of the gazebo and placed her foot on my knee. I looked at her for permission before moving her lehenga up to see her ankle. She squeezed my shoulder as I fixed her ankle. Her smallest action made my heart race. She thanked me as her ankle felt better. I sat next to her and said, “I wanted to apologize for yelling at you in Ladakh. It wasn’t your fault. I overreacted.”

She smiled and said, “It’s okay. All is forgiven and forgotten. I was upset at first but realized you were only concerned. And that’s what friends do...they care about each other!” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the gazebo. “Come on! I want to show you something!” We stood before a lake which reflected the sky full of twinkling stars and the full moon. She leaned on the railing and sighed, “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” The cool wind blew her hair and she looked at me. I felt my heart flutter. She was breathtakingly ethereal. How could I look at the night sky when she was in front of me.

I decided that I would confess my love to her today. I walked over to her and we were standing so close that my chest was touching her back. I placed my hands on hers. My heart was racing as I bent down to her ear. “Actually, yes I have seen something, or should I say someone, much more beautiful”. I took a deep breath and whispered:

*Meri mohabbat ki intehaan to dekh

(See the intensity of my love)

Maine chand se teri tareef karte karte raat ki aakhri pehar kardi

(I praised about you to the moon until the last hour of the night)

Hadd to dekho jalne ki

(Look at the extent of jealousy)

Chand itna jala...itna jala ki

(The moon burnt with jealousy so much...so much that)

Uski jalne ki fitrat ne subah tak chand ko suraj me tabdeel kardi

(It burnt until the morning and till then the moon had turned into the sun)

We were silent for a while and I rested my head on her shoulder. I felt her stiffen and take a deep breath. Then, she slowly turned around and looked down shyly. She looked even more beautiful when she blushed. But, she broke out laughing and said, “How many girls have you recited this poetry to?”

“Just you”, I smiled. Oblivious Sumo never picked up on my very obvious hints.

“I don’t believe you! You haven’t changed at all Mr. Stud Malhotra”, she laughed. She wasn’t wrong to think that I was still the young, carefree Shravan from when we were teenagers. But, the reality was that I hadn’t dated anyone after joining the army. Those feelings were reserved for Suman only.

Suddenly, the faint music from the wedding changed and they played, “A Thousand Years”. Suman’s eyes lit up, “Shravan, remember we were dancing to this song before…” she looked sadly at me, “We never even got to finish the dance.”

I took her arm and twirled her, “Well then, it looks like we have some unfinished business.” Her tiny hand fit so perfectly in my hand. She took my hand and placed it around her waist. We giggled and reminisced about our teenage days. But then, I surprised her as my finger gently grazed her abdomen and she took a sharp intake of breath. She squeezed my shoulder as I pulled her closer. I rested my forehead against hers and she closed her eyes. I whispered, “I have to tell you something that I should’ve said years ago.”

She placed her fingers on my lips and I noticed tears were flowing down her face, “No Shravan...not this time. I don’t want this moment to end again.”

“I can’t lose this opportunity again, Sumo. I have to tell you.” I took a deep breath and said what I had hidden in my heart for years, “I love you. I always have and always will til my last breath.” She opened her eyes which were full of tears. I had never seen this sort of passion and intensity in her eyes before. Did she love me too? She grazed her fingers from my lips to my neck and leaned in as she gently pressed her tender lips against mine. I hugged her tightly as I kissed her back. We spiraled into trance as we got lost in each other’s touch. When the song ended, both of us came back to reality. I rested my forehead against hers and whispered, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do this.”

Her face turned crimson and she looked down as she said, “Actually, this isn’t our first kiss.” I was confused. If we had kissed before, I definitely would have remembered it! Maybe she was joking? She bit her lip as she spoke, “Our last night in Ladakh...I came to see you...but you don’t remember anything.” We sat down next to each other. I frowned as I was disappointed that I didn’t even remember our first kiss. I thought she was done speaking but then she nervously gulped and continued talking, “Actually...we did more than just kiss.” My heart stopped. What did she say? I felt my face get hot as I thought about us being intimate.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I was shocked and was trying to process what I had just heard.

“I tried telling you but you weren’t ready to listen”, she pouted. I sat there in silence trying to absorb this new information.

“So...umm...who made the first move?” I asked bashfully. I was genuinely curious.

“I did...Stud Malhotra is just an act because in reality you’re actually really shy”, Suman giggled. Then her face got serious, “But, if I knew you were not in your senses, I wouldn’t have done that. I don’t want you to think that I took advantage of you in your vulnerable state.”

I smiled at her, “I know. I trust you. You don’t need to give an explanation. I kinda wish I had remembered the night though.”

She grinned at me and winked, “It definitely was a night to remember.” This girl knew how to make me blush. She put her hand on mine and asked, “So...you’ve always loved me? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I was scared of your reaction. I was afraid it would affect our friendship and I couldn’t lose you. I’m a better version of myself with you.” I was very honest and told her how I fell in love with her. I told her that even after all these years no one affected me the way she did. I felt so complete with her. I wanted to lighten up our conversation so I asked her jokingly, “By the way, we don’t have a secret child, right?”

Her eyes widened in shock, “What? No! We are not having kids yet!”

“Yet? So, you’ve thought about kids already?” I asked her as I put my arm around her. Suman was blushing really hard and she lightly punched my shoulder.

Sumo shyly replied, “Well, obviously you have thought about it too since this question came to your mind! So tell me, little Shravan or little Sumo?”

I gave it thought and said, “Umm...either. I’d love them both equally.” She gave me a soft smile and rested her head on my shoulder. She put her arms around me to snuggle closer.

She hid her face in my chest as she felt shy and said, “Okay, don’t laugh at me but I’ve already thought of a name for our daughter! Shreya! It’s such a cute, modern name. But, I can’t think of a good name for a boy.”

“Hmm...how about Sagar?”, I suggested. I don’t know why but I always really liked that name. There is something so serene about that name.

She wrinkled her nose. “That’s such an old fashioned name! I don’t like it.”

“Yes, because Shravan and Suman are really modern names”, I replied sarcastically.

“Okay, but we don’t need to make the same mistake as our parents. We are not naming our son Sagar and that’s final”, she said with a smirk. She was definitely going to be the boss in this relationship I thought to myself as I laughed.

I was surprised by how comfortable Sumo was with me. We cuddled together as we continued planning our future. We talked about our school memories and what happened in our lives in the seven years we were apart. It was as if we were trying to make up for the years we spent apart. I realized that she trusted me so much with her emotions by being so transparent. I didn’t want this night to end.

We both sat quietly in each other’s embrace trying to savor the moment as the cool wind blew around us and our hearts beat in sync. We always found peace even in our silence. Suddenly, we heard the music from the wedding stop. Both us were so lost in our little world together that we completely forgot about the wedding. Suman grabbed my wrist to look at my watch, “It’s almost time for the phere! We have to go back!”

She got up but I pulled her back onto my lap and put my arms around her. I pouted and whined, “No...let’s stay here!”

“Come on, Shravan! We can’t skip the phere! That’s the most important part of the wedding!” She pulled me up and we held hands as we walked back together. I was pretending to be angry and she noticed my pout and said, “Tomorrow, we will spend the whole day together! I promise!”

I closed my eyes and sighed as I remembered my duty as a soldier. “Sumo...I’m leaving right after the wedding. I’m going to Kashmir tomorrow for a mission.”

Her smile disappeared. “Leaving? Already? Do you have to go?” I nodded and even I wanted to stay here with her. But, I reminded myself that the country comes first before anything. She thought to herself and said, “I can borrow Kancha’s car and drop you at the airport! That way we can spend more time together.” We continued walking but she stopped again. She started wiping my lips with her dupatta. She blushed and said, “Umm...you had some lipstick on your mouth from...” We both stood under the night sky looking down blushing like young teenagers. My heart felt so much lighter after confessing my love to her.

When we got back to the wedding, Kanchan came running towards us, “Where have you two been? I've been looking all over for you guys.” Suman and I exchanged shy smiles. Kanchan then confusedly looked at Suman and said, “What happened to your makeup?” I looked at Suman’s face and her lipstick was smeared around her mouth. She cleaned my face but forgot to clean hers. Kanchan looked at my wide eyes and connected the dots. She pointed at us and covered her mouth, “Omg! Did you two…? Were you two…?” Suman nervously grabbed Kanchan’s purse and started looking for lipstick. She fixed her makeup and asked Kanchan how she looked. Kanchan replied with a grin, “I don’t know...ask the one who ruined your lipstick in the first place.” Kanchan would not spare teasing us now since she had the opportunity.

Suman rolled her eyes and said, “Kancha, can I have your car keys? Shravan and I are going to go to his hotel after the wedding because we need to-”

Kanchan covered her ears and dramatically said, “Omg! Suman, I know we are close, but you don’t need to tell me everything!” Sumo being a tubelight was confused but I knew what Kanchan was thinking. I covered my face with one hand. I forgot how Kanchan was a master at making people feel embarrassed.

“Huh? What? No! You and your one-track mind! We need to go to the hotel to get his luggage because his flight is tonight! I’m driving him to the airport”, Suman replied angrily while suppressing her blush. An announcement was made again that the phere were going to start. Suman and I walked hand-in-hand to the mandap to see the wedding. She looked at me with a big smile. Suddenly, I didn’t hate weddings anymore. I thought to myself that one day, just like this, Suman and I would make a promise to spend eternity together. I couldn’t wait for that day to come. But the truth was that Suman and I were already soulmates therefore marriage would only be a formality between us. We were bound for eternity and nothing could break our bond.

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A/N: *The poetry is NOT a work of my own. I heard it on BB13 from Vishal Aditya Singh and really liked it so I wanted to include it. I tried to find the original source and I found this link but I'm not sure if this is the original poet.

I struggled a lot writing from Shravan's POV mainly because I'm not a boy and don't know how they think 😆 Most of my friends who are boys are definitely not like Shravan who is very romantic and charming lol Tbh I really didn't like this chapter as much as Ch.6 but then once I worked more on it, I grew to like it more. It's a lot more calm and light-hearted compared to other chapters. The gazebo scene at night is actually a personal fantasy of mine 😆 Idk why but I find it super romantic lol.

***See pics on the next page of the gazebo and Suvan's clothes that I imagined 😆***

Again, thank you to everyone that liked/commented/read Ch.6! Please like/comment and let me know what you think of this chapter! Stay healthy and safe everyone!