She rushed to engulf him in a hug. Nothing mattered to her in this moment. She was finally meeting her Dev. The man she felt oddly connected to, the man whom destiny had claimed as her husband. Her disapproval over his actions, her questions could all wait as she held him close, to feel the warmth that she yearned for all these years. She spoke with childish abandon, complained about his silence, playfully confessed her talkative nature. Her joy knew no limits and she wanted to share it with her friend.
He paused when he felt her hug him. A side of him warning him that she had found out. Her words and tears confirming his fear soon after. This was the last thing that he wanted now. He wasn't prepared for it. He couldn't face her as Dev yet, the pain was still too raw to confront her.
He heard her affectionate complains of not disclosing his identity. He heard her refer to their friendship for the first time. This is what he secretly yearned for, had he not? Her acknowledgement of their relationship? Silent tears came unchecked. He was lying to himself all along. She mattered to him more than he hoped she would. It made him feel partly helpless. But he wouldn't let her know about it, she cannot see that she affected him. She cannot win this time. He had to let her know how less she mattered to him, let her know the poor opinion he had of her. Show her what betrayal feels. He broke his stance, coming out of her hug and wiped those careless tears. Steeling himself by closing his eyes, he composed his expression before facing her with cold dispassion.
It did not matter to her, the expression on his face. He was her friend, the man she had waited for all her childhood. The man of her dreams. This was her moment of reunion and she wouldn't let anything or anyone spoil it for her. Not even the man in front of her, nor his dispassion. She raised her hands to touch his face. The first time she was about to touch him of her own free will, fully conscious of her actions. Would it feel like it did in her dreams?
Her eyes closed involuntarily to imprint this feeling. This moment that consumed her, this wish which she had longed for. Her Dev was back and she wasn't dreaming. The touch was too real and the moment too precious. She didn't want it to end. Didn't want to ask all those questions about his unacceptable behaviour towards her, just yet. This moment, she will not steal away from herself even.
He saw her raise her hands to touch his face and he let her. He could have easily brushed her hands away, stepped back even; but he couldn't. The devotion and love that this woman held in her eyes as she approached him was like a dream. It compelled him to stand rooted. She shut her eyes and he let his vulnerability slip. How many times had he wished to have a different story with her? One where he wouldn't have to pretend to be someone else. A story where he wouldn't need to cause her pain. Where they could just be Dev and Chandni. This is how sweet that reunion would probably have been.
He heard her ask questions of where he was and why he hadn't returned to her earlier. She expressed about how she waited for him each day, referred to the promise he made about saving her from tears. Each time she reminisced the role he played in her life, he silently accepted what they shared by closing his eyes. He let her demand like she had a right over him. His deep rooted pain told him she was faking it, pretending like an innocent girl. Nonetheless he let her speak, for, this moment he couldn't ruin. This moment he will have for himself. This one moment he would experience as a long lost lover.
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