Aisa toh nahin tha ke usse zyaada khoobsurat ladki maine dekhi nahin thi,
Par pata nahin kyun usske chehre se meri nazar hatti nahin thi.
A swirl of smoke due to Arturo Fuente Opus X Ltd and gripping a glass of BruichladdichX4 Quadrupled Whiskey, infamous as his companions especially during his lonely nights, couldn’t suppress multitude of his emotions and the storm brewing in his chest. He was known to be a “ruthless” man and that was a perfectly curated image. Some had gone as far as to label him as a white collar criminal. That still made his lips twist sardonically. He was just a businessman with an acumen to maximize his profits and just studied the industry very closely.
He didn’t loose his sleep over people or names he was frequently felicitated with.
He believed that the one percent of the people who really knew him, they were a very select few who had the privilege to witness the real him. These selected people were blessed because he was ready to turn the world upside down at their littlest of inconvenience. But there was one person who had the power to unman him.
All she had to do was ask and he was ready to place the world at her feet. All she had to do was frown and he was ready to wipe out any and every obstacle in her life. If she smiled at something, he made a mental note to ensure that she had it around her at all times. No matter how mundane or significant. The chrysanthemums decorated in the vases were an indication of this. He had noticed her caressing the petals one evening and from then onwards, the vases were filled with them. Every tiny emotion of hers was his priority.
A memory of an instance which had taken not too long ago, danced in front of his eyes. She had quintessentially barged in his study and her stance had made it abundantly clear to him, she was there to ask something. She wanted to takeover a company which was making headlines because the rumors were rife that they’re going to collaborate with Basu Publication. He had a go-to answer for any and every wish of hers. “Anything for you sweetheart.”
Anything for you, his heart silently repeated.
The intensity of his feelings unnerved him.
He knew love, had even experienced it in all its glory but that love was snatched away from him and left behind the kind which he found was his to cherish, his daughter.
The love he had for his late wife was the kind you watch in romantic flicks. The kind where it’s almost always pleasant and doesn’t leave behind any ache. Her passing away had taken a toll on him but it was something he had come to terms with. He had a replica of her in his daughter and he considered her as the biggest gift in his life.
But the love he experienced because of her was all consuming. It stung. Yes, he heard all about the beauty of “ek tarfaa pyaar” but in reality it truly makes you the most vulnerable human on the face of this earth.
Making his life revolve around her, as per her wishes, as per her needs had come to him so naturally because all he wanted was to make her look at him. No, he didn’t expect her to fall for him overnight or even a year later but just look at him and shower him with her attention even it’s for a second.
He knew he was deliberately delaying his impending trip to Kolkata because there wasn’t anything significant holding him back in London, but he could not shrug off the dread that settled in his heart every time he saw them together.
He knew she would never truly be his in its essence and he had made his peace with that or at least had tried to before, but now things had taken a drastic shift and the ball was back in his court.
Making a decision, he chugged the drink and couldn’t control the smile that was threatening to take over his face and the dimples that followed could potentially be the reason for a lot of hearts to flutter.
Earlier he had tried to let go. Now he wanted to hold on.
She was his unwitting salvation.
She is going to be his. Always.
Always, he slowly repeated in his mind, liking the sound of it.
Mangal Lakshmi
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