He watched her as she leant against the doorframe, her posture mirroring his, wondering if her thoughts matched her actions. The silence between them was empty. No spoken words, no unsaid questions, just a peaceful interlude before the storm that was eventual. He held onto the glass that she had passed to him tightly, for that moment pretending it was her that he held on to.
***
She felt peace. His presence had given her the calming shelter one sought in a storm and for a few minutes she wanted to forget everything and live in the moment, without any strings pulling at them and ponder what could have been. If only. Gazing up, she found solace in the knowledge that there would always be one thing that would bind them together; the sky. As their eyes met, she saw unvoiced promises as she made vows of her own.
***
He looked at her across the stage, his decision being made, only the hazy outline of her figure visible as his eyes watered. Blinking the tears away, making sure they went unnoticed, he looked up at the night sky, searching for that single point of focus that always managed to calm him down; it seemed as though the moon too was sorrowful at the picture it was privy to and had hidden away. Focusing again at the source of his misery, only her side profile visible, her face set. Expressionless.
***
She had been watching him; and even though she was rattled at his decision, concern at the unshed tears in his eyes trumped everything else. She followed his gaze, looking at the sky, searching for the milky orb, wishing it would peek from behind the clouds, to give him the strength he needed. But it was stubborn, just as he was, so she turned to face the mass gathered in front of the stage and set her face, so not a single feeling broke through the facade. Alone.
***
He had failed in recognising the one he claimed to love and instead had managed to pick the person that his mother had selected. Was his love so fickle that his perception had failed at selecting the very being that pulled at him? Their proximity from a young age should have ensured that she would be his first choice, the only one that he would be drawn to, but his pick showed him otherwise. He was left helpless to watch as she walked away, his hand held firmly by another, not allowing him to move from the winning spotlight that shone on them.
***
Shock etched her face and hurt followed in quick succession. He had made his decision and the unwarranted feelings that ate at her blinded her sensibility. Walking off stage before she did something else she would regret, she hurried out of the venue, steps quickening into a run. He had shown her her place in his life; outside it, just as he told her multiple times when she had naively spoken of marrying into the family. Swiping at the tears that fell off her chin determinedly, she packed all her belongings leaving before the pitying glances and concern started up again.
***
He found the sindoor tin and the mangalsutra on the dresser. That was all he had left of her; and the memories. He tried remembering the hate but he couldn't. All he could picture was the belief she always had in him, the belief that he had always unwittingly broken in his need to protect her; and the pain that it always caused her.
***
He had succeeded in breaking her. As she looked in the mirror, she failed to recognise the face that stared back at her. When had she become so morose; so dull? Later as she stood in the shower, scrubbing away the remnants of the sindoor in her parting, she determined that it would be the last time her tears would mix with the water cascading down her face because of him. She would build herself back up. Stronger.
***
He woke up with a start. It had been the same dream that he had dreamt for the past three months. She was so far away that no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t reach her and that thought frightened him in the darkness of the night. But he hid the foreboding thoughts well and his family assumed that he was moving on. How could he when he had left the most important part of himself behind?
He watched as she walked past the store; again. Books in hand, earphones plugged in and her bag swinging by her side, but this still wasn’t his Raavi. She was lost somewhere and he didn’t know if she would ever return or if he had the right to bring her back. She had easily dismissed the store as though in her universe it and by extension he had ceased to exist and it pricked at his heart. She was moving on in life yet he remained, hoping that one day he would find it in him to make his space once again.
***
She stopped at the corner, gathering all the courage she could muster, she put in her earphones, squeezing the bound books in her hands, she stepped around the building to walk down the street that would take her past him. She wanted to avoid it, but like an addict, the one moment where she would catch a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye, before she was visible to him, kept her going till the next time.
The mental battle took its toll and she prayed one day, she would no longer feel the need to see him to function; One day she would be able to smile and the joy would reflect in her eyes; one day she would meet the gaze that made her back tingle and be okay. But till then she would do what she needed to; to survive.
***
She walked into someone, her heart beat erratically as she inhaled the familiar scent automatically, deeply. Brushing her nose against the chest as she moved her gaze up, she found seeking eyes, reflecting the want that she saw in hers every morning. She pulled away, slowly, wanting to savor the warmth of his arms, watching as his gaze pleaded for a moment longer. Together.
***
He balanced at the brink of madness, waiting for the love and wanting to diminish, but it ate at him, till every nerve tingled, pulling to be joined to the being that would jolt him back to life. At that moment, having her in his arms, brought him back to life and he held on tighter, even as she began to move away, a lightness creeping within him begged silently to not let her go. Cautiously, he placed his forehead on hers, breaths intermingling, gaze unblinking, he uttered the prayer that had been on his lips for the past two years,
“Come back. Please! ”
Edited by Miss.M - 3 years ago
Indian Mythology
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