| A Tender Promise |
| Prologue |
"I hate myself for putting you through this," she mumbled while her gaze stayed glued to the floor. Her aching and guilty heart did not allow her to even look up at him.
"You know, what do I hate?" Clasping his hands behind his back, he stood there until her eyes met his, silently wishing to hear more.
He stepped toward her, yet making sure that there was an enough, comfortable distance between them. He stared in her eyes for several seconds before he spoke, "I hate what you put yourself through - every day - every night - every minute - every second. For how long are you going to punish yourself for the things that were never yours to set right in the first place?"
Her eyes sparked with fury the moment those words left his mouth and she almost instantly pulled her steps away from him. "They were mine. He was mine," her voice that held firmness for the first moment, cracked right at the next moment, exposing how vulnerable she was, "I have failed everyone. Him, you, myself - everyone." Tears streamed through her eyes as she could not hold them back anymore and she ran away.
His eyes mirrored the hurt in her heart. He could take the pain of knives stabbing him multiple times but her tears weakened him - always.
"I'll be there to hold you, no matter what, Prerna. No matter what. You will smile again. You will laugh again. You will live again. I promise you, that." Rishabh Bajaj vowed to himself, looking at the retreating back of Prerna Sharma Bajaj.
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Trapped between the trauma and the memories,
I can't express what is hidden.
The clinging emotional scars,
Makes my breathing uneven.
My face smiles but my heart cries,
I step away breaking all the ties.
Pushing anyone away was never a choice,
I had to do it to save their lives.
Every day it is not the same case,
Not every day is a mess,
Some days are cheerful,
While some are disasters,
When the past shows up,
I can't hear anything but hammers,
Hammers on my head,
Hammers on my heart,
In that moment, I can see neither the end nor the start.
A damaged person can be a reason for your temporary smile but,
Someday or the other, it is going to give you a cut,
A cut so deep that would be hard to heal,
Going away from you is a deal,
A deal with myself to protect you from the future hurt,
But my invisible presence will always provide you a warm comfort.
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