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"Geet?" She took in my pale face. "Geet?" She shook my shoulder and I stared blankly at her. There were a million things my eyes were seeing, a million moments I was living in that very moment. "Geet, what's wrong?" She shook me harder. I could hear her starting to worry for me.
I closed my eyes, letting a tear fall to my cheek. A few more tears dropped as I tried to compose myself. I was not going to break down, I told myself again and again.
"Geet?" Anaya's voice was laced with worry.
"Raya and G are my only family now..." I could only whisper loud enough for her to hear.
She didn't respond for a few moments. "What do you mean? Your parents...?"
"They died... a year ago." I could feel my throat burn while uttering the reality of my life.
I heard her gasp before her arms enfolded me, pulling my head to her shoulder. "I'm so sorry" she whispered over and over again. Unable to take the crushing burden of the grief I had been facing for a year now, I let my tears flow freely. The shoulder Anaya provided me with was a very welcome one. She was someone I didn't have to be strong for. I could unleash my emotions in front of her and be the child who still missed her parents as badly as on the day they left her, unlike in front of Raya, for whom I was the elder sister and the anchor she needed at all times.
It was some time before my tears dried and left me hollow but in clear understanding of the fact that I had to hold myself together.
"Are you alright?" She handed me a glass of water she'd just gotten from the kitchen. I nodded and took the glass, taking small gulps to wet my dried throat. When I put the glass on the side table, Anaya held my hand in both of hers.
"Geet... Life is a cycle. A person is born, he grows, he ages and then he has to leave this world, but there is nothing his loved ones can do about it. They have to accept the fact and move on." I nodded as she spoke in a soft voice.
"I understand that, Anaya. And I have been trying my best to move on, but I can't deny the fact that I miss them. They aren't there when I need them." My voice got teary again.
"I'm sorry, Geet. I am so sorry to not have been there when you needed me. I am so so sorry." I could hear moisture mix itself in her voice.
Some moments passed in silence as I pulled myself together.
"It was God's Will." I strengthened myself. "Whatever happened was written." Anaya caressed my hand soothingly when I decided to change the topic.
"When are you letting me meet my Jeejaji and my niece and nephew?" I smiled slightly and so did she, though hers had a great amount of relief in it.
"Come over for dinner tomorrow." She suggested. "Ayush will like it."
I deliberately carried on this conversation until she needed to leave, and by the time she left, I was back to normal, moving around the house, serving myself dinner and getting ready for the night.
Cricket
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