Hi guys,
I have written this short story after a long time. I hope you like it... Please do leave comments. š³
Short Story:
"How can you look me in the eyes and still say you will change?" Bani brushed past Jai. "I have forgiven you for a lot of things Jai. I knew that you were not a perfect man when I got together with you but a part of me believed you were the perfect man for me. Thank you for proving me wrong and thank you for making me realize that I deserve so much better."
Jai tried to get up, but the blood rushed to his head and he wavered slightly.
Bani bent down and helped Jai get up, "Again? How often am I going to come and see you in this state? How often are we going to spend our days like this? Me standing here crying and you being too high and drunk to notice?"
Jai tried to speak but no words came out since he knew he was at fault.
"You know what's funny? You won't even remember this tomorrow morning making it impossible for me to leave you. Tomorrow morning you will go back to being normal, you will be sweet and do nice things for me. You will be the man that I love but then night comes and again you are like this." Bani closed her eyes to stop the tears from coming out.
"Baniā¦ I am sorry." Jai got up, and put his hands around Bani and took her into a hug.
Bani leaned in and cried softly, she wasn't going let this be done to her, "I can't Jai. I can't do this anymore."
"Don't say that baby, I love you. I love you so much. You are the only reason for me to live." Jai couldn't lose Bani, there was no way that he was going to let that happen.
"Then why do you do this Jai? Why is it that one day you are the perfect man and the rest you are this man who is surrounded by his past? I know your past, it was filled with pain. I know that your father didn't deserve a son like you. I know that your mom left you at a young age but look at this life Jai. Look at your present. Look at your future!" Bani wondered why she was saying this since it had made no effect the millions of times she had said this before.
"I know, I know our future is bright Bani. I am trying, I really am." Jai threw the drink down, "See I won't have it."
Bani chuckled, out of pain and agony more then anything else, "Okay Jai. Don't have a drink, don't drink for me. Don't get high every other night. Please spend it with me!"
"I promise Bani, I won't have another drink until you allow me too." Jai would say anything to keep his Bani.
"All right, write it down." Bani was going to make sure this happened, she loved Jai way too much to let him ruin his life like this. She loved her life with him too much to let him ruin it.
Jai took a pen and paper and scrabbled a small note.
I won't drink, I won't smoke until Bani allows me to and if I do then she can leave me.
-Jai Walia.
Bani took the note from him and folded it and kept it, she was going to remind him of this note for a very long time. She took care of him for the rest of the night, made sure he drank enough water and then made him sleep. She landed a small kiss on his forehead and made her way out of the house. She wasn't going to let this keep happening.
Next Morning:
Bani finished work earlier then she had thought she would, she called Jai and received his answering message, "Honey, wake up. It's 10 AM and you have to be at work for a meeting at 11:30. I am coming over so you better be ready by then."
Bani made her way to Jai's house. He was a hard worker; he had an entire company's success behind his back. Bani knew Jai had potential; he just had to realize it too now.
Bani entered Jai's apartment since she had the keys and found the bed empty and the shower running. She put coffee in the coffee maker since she knew he probably had a hangover. She took out the copies she had made of the note, one was an enlarged poster copy.
She took the poster copy and pasted it above the bed, one on the back of the door and one in the kitchen. She knew she was becoming one of those girlfriends that guys hated but she didn't care at this point. If she didn't try, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
Jai came out of the bathroom and took Bani from the back into a hug. He smelt great but his eyes were red from the night before. Jai looked up at the note that Bani had just posted and the smile on his face disappeared, "What is this, Bani?"
"It's what you said last night." Bani knew that he was going to yell now but she was ready.
"What do you mean? You can't use those words against me! I was drunk!" Jai took down the poster.
"Jai I am serious. I have had enough. I love you so much but I love our future too and I am not going to let you ruin it. So, either you follow this or I leave." Bani was very serious.
"Okay, stop joking around Bani. You know I love you but thisā¦ this is ridiculous." Jai shook his head as he grabbed the cup of coffee.
"All right you think this is a joke? Then go ahead drink tonight but don't expect to see me here tomorrow." Bani picked up her purse from the dining table.
"Bani stop it. You can't do this. Just because I love you doesn't mean you abuse the power!" Jai felt trapped in his own house.
"Exactly what I am trying to tell you Jai. Stop trying my patience Jai. Just because I love you doesn't mean I will let you torture me like this. You can't keep doing this to me Jai. I am done trying to live with this, I am done trying to change myself. It is your turn Jai." Bani was sick and tired.
"If you love me for me then why are you trying to change me?" Jai didn't understand why Bani was so hell bent on changing him.
"Jai, I love you when we go out and just spend an entire day walking around, having a picnic, watching a movie, enjoying our life. I love you for everything you are but I don't love it when you are drunk. When you don't even know what you are doing. You don't remember those nights, for you for a while everything disappears but that is when my nightmare starts Jai." Bani couldn't control the tears anymore, "I look at you Jai and I can't keep letting you do this to yourself. I want a future but how can there be a future for us when you might not even be alive tomorrow."
"What are you talking about Bani?" Jai was rather annoyed, he hated when Bani cried since he didn't know what to do.
"Jai, you drink so much, the doctors said your liver is critical and if you keep doing this to yourself, you are probably going to get liver cancer." Bani wiped her tears, "I am serious Jai. Stop now."
"Okay, okay fine" Jai wanted to keep Bani. "It's not that easy though. You cant just make me stop all of a sudden. I will decrease it, but you cant ask me to stop."
Bani knew it was time to put her foot down, "No Jai. You have this last chance to save yourself, to save us. Now it is up to you whether you want to take it or not. I will wait for you for dinner at my place tonight. If you come then I know I can rely on you otherwise. I love you but I am done."
Bani got up and left the apartment and broke down completely in her car. If he didn't come, she would die. He had to comeā¦ he would come, right? Please, God let him come.
Later in the eveningā¦
Jai got ready to go to Bani's house. He was going to give this a chance, he was going to change because Bani was the only good thing in his life and he couldn't afford to lose her. Just as he was stepping out of the house, the phone rang, "Jai, you want to come drink with us tonight? A couple of us are heading down to the Bar, join us."
Jai looked at a picture of him and Bani, "No guys, not tonight. I am busy."
He made his way to Bani's house and knocked on the door. Bani came running to the door and opened it and gave him a big hug, "Thank you for doing this, Jai."
Jai loved the smile on Bani's face and didn't regret it even a bit that he wasn't at the bar. They two of them spent the night together, and neither of them knew as the hours passed by. The conversation kept rolling and Bani for the first time in a long time felt as if everything was going to be okay again.
"Bani, you are going to have to stand by me strongly in this. It will take sometime." Jai almost begged Bani to support him.
"Oh Jai, I will always be with you as long as you are here. You have no idea how much this means to me. I love you." Bani went into Jai's arms and stood in that hig for a while.
Over the next few daysā¦
Everything was going perfectly, Bani would be with Jai at any free time, always by his side when he needed. She kept him in control, she stood by his side. Jai tried really hard to keep away from the alcohol. He would turn away when needed because he knew that Bani was way more important then anything else would ever be.
Almost a month laterā¦
Bani was glad that everything was going perfectly, Jai had remained sober for almost a month and there had been so many fun memories in the past few days that she would not forget anytime soon. She put flowers around the room, it had been almost three years since they had been together and Bani couldn't think of a better way to celebrate it then just spending the rest of the day with him.
Jai looked at the engagement ring in his had, finally today was the day that he was going to take the jump and ask Bani out like he had been planning to for the past few days. The ring was picked out, he had made at least fifteen different drafts of what he was going to say and more then fifteen drafts on how she would possibly respond.
He was scared about doing it, but he had to take the step forward. Over the past few months, they had come so far and there was no way that he was going to go back into that hole. The bell rang, and Jai opened the door and found his best friend, Tarun standing there.
"Man, I am so proud of you! About time there!" Tarun came inside. He had rushed over as soon as he had heard that Jai was going to take this big leap.
"I am so scared, you have no idea." Jai was frantically walking around the room.
"I knew you would be so I bought this just to calm your nerves," Tarun said as he bought out the bottle of vodka. "Just take one shot and it would calm you down instantly."
"I can't." Jai was not going to go back into that hole.
"Why not? Man, you have been avoiding hanging out with us and just chilling and relaxing for a while. I like Bani, man but you better not forget old friends for her." Tarun was noticing that his friend was no longer the same.
"It is nothing like that Tarun and you know it. I just don't feel like drinking right now." Jai didn't want to divulge all his private conversations.
"Sure man, whatever you say. I am going to go now." Tarun didn't want to act like a child but he missed his old friend.
"Okay, okay don't get mad. Just one shot." Jai didn't think Bani would get too mad about one shot especially when it was done for a friend.
Tarun poured a shot for Jai, making it extra large.
Jai looked at it, "Tarun this is too much."
"Just do it man, its only one." Tarun poured more into the drink when Jai wasn't looking. "You have such high tolerance this isn't going to do anything to you."
Jai took in a shot but couldn't finish it all in one gulp, he put the half filled cup down, "What is this man? This is not vodka!"
Tarun filled it up a little bit more slyly, "Isn't it great though. My friend gave me some yesterday, I felt so incredibly good."
Jai picked up the cup and without noticing that the contents had increased, drank it down in one gulp. It burned but it felt so good to Jai since he hadn't had any in sometime now.
Before they knew it, Jai was drinking another cup, he promised it would be his last but the alcohol worked quickly on him. He felt the rush of blood as soon as he stood up, "Oh man, Bani is going to kill me for this."
"What she doesn't know can't hurt her man," Tarun took another shot before deciding it was time to call it quits.
"I am going to go take a shower because I have to meet Bani for dinner today. She is coming here so you need to go away Tarun." Jai tried walking to the bathroom in a straight manner but found himself leaning against the wall a lot more.
All of a sudden Jai heard a knock on the door and Tarun got up and tried to walk towards the door, "Man, you are screwed today."
As soon as the door opened, Tarun made his way out leaving Bani standing there juist looking inside the house. Bani had a smile on her face until she saw Tarun scramble out of the house, barely able to stand. She took a step into the house, and she instantly smelt the alcohol.
Involuntarily a tear fell down her face. She looked at Jai and tried to stop the tears but they kept coming silently. Jai tried to take a step forward towards Bani but Bani only step backwards.
Bani wiped off the tears, "And when you talked about a surprise tonight, I thought it would be that you were going to ask me to marry you. What fool must I have been!"
"Bani," Jai couldn't even look her in the eye at this point, it hurt him to see her like this especially since he was at fault for all of it.
Jai closed his eyes because he didn't know what to do, "I love you Bani."
"That might be half the problem Jai. That might be half the problemā¦" Bani sighed knowing that the pain was going to be unbearable tomorrow. She knew what she had to do next because if she didn't, she would end up getting hurt a lot more later on.
"I will change Bani, I really will. I only drank today because Tarunā¦" Jai knew no excuses would work.
"But you are the one who drank, I highly doubt Tarun made you sit down, tied your hands and poured it down your throat. Take responsibility damn it!" Bani knew it was her turn to turn around and walk away. Why did it seem so hard all of a sudden?
Jai saw the hesitation in Bani's eyes, "Don't go."
"Why Jai? You know in these past few years I have heard you complain about your parents, I have sympathized with you. I have felt the pain with you, I have felt the joy when you have smiled. Many nights you would come in drunk and tell me sad things about your past and I would hold you in my arms and let you cry it out. I would hold you even after you felt asleep because I felt like this sudden urge to protect you from everything." Bani tried to keep talking but choked on her tears.
Jai looked down in guilt, not knowing what to say.
"You know something Jai? All those nights, I told you things about me too, the only difference, the next day you didn't remember anything I said. I told you about how my father used to be an alcoholic who used to beat me up every night. Did you hear when I told you that my mother used to cry herself to sleep every night because she would see the marks on my body and know that there was nothing she could do about it?" Bani was going to finish this for the last time thought he probably would not remember any of it. "Did I tell you that my brother, the only person who would protect me from my father was killed because of a car accident? The person that was driving the carā¦ was my father."
Jai looked up shocked, how could he not have remembered all this.
"My druken father, scarred me for life and killed my brother." Bani couldn't stop the tears. She felt like curling up on the corner somewhere and cry her eyes out. "I never had a say in any of that because I was too young. I hated alcohol from that moment, I hated it when I saw it because it would remind me of everything that had happened. Then I met you, you made me laugh, you made me smile and while I was with you I forgot about all of that. Then I got to know you better and by that time I had already started to like you. That night when you first got drunk, I told you to not to drunk and you didn't for a whileā¦ at least not in front of me."
Bani sighed, and walked backwards towards the door, "I fell in love with you and could never walk out but I need to."
Bani turned around and walked but left her heart behind.
Jai felt as if Bani had not only walked out but also had taken his heartā¦
He stood there for a very long time, just shocked to the roots, worried and hurt. He sat down on the bed, and tears flowed out for the first time in a while. Bani's words kept replaying in his ears, how could he have been so stupid to let it all get lost like that.
Next Morningā¦
Bani knew that Jai would come after her and she was too weak to say no if he asked nicely. Her vulnerability wasn't going to stand in her way this time, she had packed a small suitcase and planned on going home to her parents house though she doubted she wanted to see her father. But this was one of those times that a daughter needs her mother's lap to cry on.
Bani had applied for jobs in that area last night and she was hoping that she would get interviews and preferably a job because she couldn't imagine living here anymore. She hugged her roommate, Raashi, and left. She made Raashi promise not to tell anyone where she was going.
Jai woke up the next morning and usually he never remembered anything but this morning he remembered everything clearly. He felt like kicking himself for having ruined things so badly, how could he not have remembered all those times when Bani had told him about her family. How could he do this to her? To himself?
Jai got up, and missed Bani's hot coffee that would always be ready whenever he needed it. The smell of the flowers that she always bought along with her for his apartment was missing.
He drove down to her place, wondering exactly what he was going to say. As soon as he knocked on the door, Raashi opened with fiery eyes, "Go away Jai. How much more could you possibly hurt her?"
"Raashi, can I just talk to her? Please, I need to do this." Jai walked into the apartment to talk to Bani.
"She isn't here Jai. She couldn't stay here after whatever happened between the two. I don't know any details because she couldn't stop crying long enough to tell me. So here is my advice Jai, get out and just leave her alone." Raashi pointed towards the door.
"Raashi, I know I was at fault but I need to make it up to her. I promise I have changed. Just tell me where she is." Jai almost begged Raashi.
It broke Raashi to see Jai like this but she had made a promise to her friend, "I am sorry, Jai."
Jai knew that there was no way he was going to get this piece of information out of Raashi. Jai repeatedly called Bani but it went straight to her answering message.
A month passed but no word of Bani, Jai had gone to her apartment everyday but she never came back instead her stuff in the apartment was gone too. He put all his mind into work, and flourished.
3 Years laterā¦
Bani ran after Sameera, the hardest kid to control in the world. Raashi and Ranveer had gotten married almost two years ago and now their daughter was turning 1 and half and she was already running around being crazy.
"Raashi, I don't know how you manage this little devil. Come here Sameera," Bani took Sameera into her arms and landed two kisses on her cheeks.
Raashi loved meeting Bani, since she had moved she would only meet her once a year or so. Bani seemed normal but every now and then she would get lost in her own thoughts. Raashi knew that she still loved Jai as much as before but she never bought him up.
Bani saw Raashi staring at her, "I am fine. I promise! Anyways, are you going to Richa's wedding tonight?"
"Yah, I am. You better be ready by 6 because we will come pick you up." Raashi picked up Sameera. "I have to go get ready."
"Butā¦ I don't know if I want to goā¦ Jai is one of the oldest friends of Richa's to-be husband. He will probably be there." Bani was afraid, and she didn't mind admitting it.
"You are going, you can't run away forever." Raashi left the house with Sameera in her arms.
Bani got ready and dreaded seeing Jai later that night. She didn't know what she would say, she didn't know how she would react. Why was she wondering so much? He probably had a girlfriend by nowā¦
Bani entered the wedding place and made a quick run with her eyes and sighed softly when she didn't spot him right away.
"Don't sigh so quickly Bani," a voice called from behind.
Bani stood there in spot, afraid to turn around because she knew whose voice that was. She slowly turned around and her deepest fears turned into the truth.
"Hi, my name is Jai." Jai extended his arms out. "I have been a jackass to quite a few girls in my past but I am now a changed man. Sounds like a cheesy line? Cant help it, love does that to a person. I am the CEO of Walia Industries and I have not touched alcohol or smoked in the past three years. I am looking for that girl that changed my life so I can change hers."
Bani didn't know what to say, and rather then sounding dumb she just quietly turned around and walked away.
Jai smiled, he was getting to her and by the end of the night he was going to get a date with Bani no matter what.
Everywhere Bani turned, she would find Jai talking to all her friends. What was worse was that he was making them all laugh. The jokes were dumb but Bani found herself smiling and trying hard to hide it completely.
She turned around to leave, this was all too much for her to handle. She couldn't let him do this to her, he could not just come back into her life and turn it upside down.
"Bani, I know there is a lot that I have done to hurt you. I know that I probably don't deserve a second chance but I will beg you for it," Jai went down on his knees, "Please, give it to me."
Bani felt a tear drop, "You cant do this to me Jai! You have no right to hurt me like you did and then come and ask for forgiveness. I wont give it to you."
"Not even if I told you I loved you more then I have ever loved anyone else in my life. Not even if I told you that every morning for the past three years I would wake up and go out and buy lily flowers for my apartment because you loved them. Did I tell you that I haven't had coffee in the past three years because no one could make it as good as you could. Did I tell you that every single day for the past three years, I would wake up and the first thought in my mind would be you, would be us? Did I tell you that you are the one I want to be with for the rest of my life? I would ask you to marry me right now but I want us to start over again. I want us to rediscover each other, I want you to see the man I have become, a man that you could be proud of. I want to be the best I can be and I want to be that just for you. Would you go out with me?"
Bani wiped off her tears, "This is not fair! You cant come here and be adorable and sweet and just expect me to go with you."
Jai got up smiling and came closer to Bani.
But Bani pushed him back and hit him in the chest softly, "No, you are allowed to do this to me."
Slowly, Jai took Bani into his arms and Bani felt complete again after a long time. It was as if the whole in her heart was filled, "I love you Bani."
Bani sighed softly and held Jai tighter, "I love you too. When is our first date Jai Walia?"
"Right now, let's go." Jai took Bani's hand and kissed it softly, "Right now till forever Bani."
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Let me know what you guys thought about this story. Thanks for all your comments on my previous works. I am sorry that I have left a few hanging, that is why I just planning on writing short stories so that I don't disappoint my readers but not continuing.
Thanks again!
Simmi
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