Chapter 3: Love the Way you Lie
He didn't feel like going home. HOME! The word seemed to be mocking him. But he knew he couldn't stay up working forever. He had to head back to his home, house he corrected in his mind. He wished he had some other choice, some other place to go apart from his mansion. Choices! He never knew a single choice would affect his life so much. He wished to turn back the time and reverse the only wrong decision he had ever taken. He had pinched himself hard, hoping to wake up from his nightmare but the physical pain had confirmed otherwise. He turned off his laptop as he slowly packed up his belongings. Switching off the sole source of light, he closed the door, turning the room as dark as his life.
As he stepped out of his office premises, he noticed a familiar figure waiting on the other side of the road. She motioned for a few autos to give her a ride back home but the late night hadn't helped the cause. He knew she would refuse his help, but he couldn't leave her alone in the dark, soulless surroundings!
"Let me drop you home," he said, advancing towards her.
"I will manage," she whispered, clearly avoiding his gaze. Her face looked as innocent and angelic as ever in the shimmering moonlight. She was as beautiful as she had been when he had first met her, when he had proposed his love to her and when she had left him without casting a glance at him standing all alone in the world. Still, his heart skipped a beat each time he saw her. How could he hate her when he loved her so much?
"Ms. Purvi, you are an employee of our company and it's our duty to ensure that you reach your home safely." He was surprised at the sternness of his own voice. Had he actually stopped caring? Or it was just his bruised self speaking?! He didn't know.
He remembered dropping her home for the first time. The memory was still clear and vivid in his mind, just like the hundreds and thousands of the others he couldn't help recollecting. He had been driving back home from his office when he had spotted her standing by the roadside. It had been raining heavily that night and he knew she wouldn't manage to get herself a ride home. He hated her then and every part of him wanted to leave her on her own there, but his humanity hadn't allowed him to do so. He had offered her a place in his car which she had hesitantly and unwontedly accepted, knowing full well that she would be in for some serious trouble if she refused his help. She had been just another employee back then. But her innocence and her self-confidence had succeeded in creating a mark on his ego, and later in his life.
"No sir, I will manage," her voice shook as it brought him back to his present.
He had already expected her to say that, and he knew what his next step was going to be!
"Ms. Purvi, You may stop reacting as if I am going to drop you home personally! I was suggesting you to ask the security staff to lend you a car on the behalf of the company, if you find that a problem, well…"
"Thank you sir, I will do the same," her face reflected the pain of her expectations being crushed, "Good night!" Little did she know that the person who stood in front of her was thousand times more in pain than she had ever imagined.
He slowly opened the door and stepped in the large hall. He knew everyone in the house would be fast asleep and he didn't want to wake anybody up. The dead silence made him comfortable, taking him away from his monotonous humdrum of life. He climbed up the stairs and headed towards his room. He pushed the door open softly, making sure not to wake his wife up and stepped in only to find it empty. Where could she have gone at this hour of the night?
"We need to talk Arjun." The sudden sound in the dead environment startled him. It was just fractions of moments it took for him to recognize to the voice. Not again, he thought.
"Have you taken a look at the watch Arjun?" She didn't sound pissed off as usual, but her voice was more of a tired person who could no more fight with her fate.
"Had some work to do," he replied, waiting for the conversation to finish.
"You always have some or other work to do. Stop lying to me Arjun." She knew he was avoiding her, but ignoring her as if she didn't exist was something she couldn't accept. "At least stop lying to yourself," she shouted.
"I am not lying to anybody. If you don't want to believe me, it's completely your choice."
"I want you home Arjun," she cried, "I want to be with you."
"It's either you don't realize or you don't want to realize! How many times do I have to make it clear that I don't love you and I have never ever loved you? And how can you expect me to stay with a person who is a living reminder of what I could have had?"
He noticed her resign and lie on her bed as sleep clouded its hold over her. For him, sleep was yet a long way away. He settled himself on the couch and plugged in the earphones, wanting to drown out all he noises which connected him to his reality.
On the first page of our story the future seemed so bright...
Then this thing turned out so evil, I don't know why I'm still surprised...
Even angels have their wicked schemes and you take that to new extremes...
But you'll always be my hero even though you've lost your mind….
Each word of the song reminded him of her, his angel. He didn't know if the song had been written by someone who had been equally been in pain as him nor did he know why the words touched the innermost part of his very being.Wicked schemes, that had to be the word!
And then he heard a soft sound of laughter, a sound he could recognize even in his grave. Following the voice, he soon found himself in a lush meadow standing all alone. A shadow lingered at a distance. He slowly advanced towards her as he felt an eternal string binding him with her, for ever. The more he tried to close in the distance between them, the more she drifted off. He sped off behind her as she wandered farther and farther. Soon, she disappeared. He could still hear her voice, miles away, turning into a lullaby. It soon took its control over him as he dozed off to sleep.
The bright sunlight flooded the room, sharp in contrast with the darkness which prevailed inside it. He was still sound asleep, his face radiating warmth and glow. She took another step towards him, unsure of her next action. "Arjun," she whispered, making his face glow brighter. His breath was perfectly even, and the creases on his forehead had disappeared. She slowly caressed his face, her slender fingers touching his lips. She could feel his breath on her fingers, the hot moisture awakening her senses. The soft touch then slid down his neck, waking him up from what he thought was a dream.
"It's you Ovi, I thought…" he shouted, his voice trailing off.
"Why do you always have to think of her Arjun? Whatever were there between you two is past now and it's me who is your present and future!" she said, her eyes filled with moisture.
"Forever doesn't depend on past, present or future. We shared our love for forever Ovi, not for a passing moment, and it is going to last for an eternity," he responded.
"I wish Purvi had never entered our lives Arjun, or rather she had never been born!" Each word she spoke radiated hatred, a hatred which had taken its shelter deep inside her heart.
"Enough Ovi," he shouted, her last words making him loose his cool. "Enough! Just because I am putting up with you…"
A slight knock on the door made him regain back his composure.
"Come in," he said, his voice back to the usual pitch. It was their servant.
"Manav Deshmukh and his wife are waiting for you downstairs," he informed.
"Baba! Aai-baba are here!" Ovi exclaimed with joy, wiping off her tears as she ran down to meet her parents.
He had avoided his in-laws as much as he could since the wedding. He failed to understand them as he failed to understand everything which happened around him of late. Instead of putting things back on the right path, they had let them continue on with their respective lives. He had expected them to put their wrong deeds right but they had happily accepted the whole marriage. He held them responsible for ruining his life, his Purvi's life! "Couldn't they see or feel the pain of their daughter," he wondered aloud, or were they fooled under the pretentious happiness each one of them seemed to be emanating!
"Good morning Manav Uncle," he greeted shaking his hand. "What a pleasant surprise!"
"Namastey Aunty," he continued.
"We two have been thinking about paying you a visit since a long time. It's just the work which prevented us from doing so," Manav said.
"But I forced him to come here today. It had been long since we had seen our daughter," Archana added hugging Ovi tightly.
He noticed Ovi getting indulged in a happy conversation with her parents, his father being a part of it too. They were smiling, laughing, chatting, shouting and above all, they appeared to be happy. Happiness was a distant phase for him. Standing in the midst of his family, he still missed a part of his, a large part of his heart which she had taken with her when she had left him.
"Why don't you two go on a holiday and spend some quality time together?" Manav suggested all of a sudden, his eyes staring at him expectantly.
Holiday! He wished with all his might that he were dreaming and someone would snap him out of it. In his chaotic world, there was no place for holidays. Sure he had spent a lot of holidays with her before, and had actually enjoyed most of it, but it had been a different scenario then. Today, he could only visualize betrayal in his once best-friend's face. But it was not only her who had betrayed him; someone else had her own fair share in the story! It was the other one who had hurt him beyond repair, in turn hurting herself worse. She had failed to realize that some hurt went too deep and no matter how much a person tried to fill the damage, the pain just went on increasing.
"Come on Arjun, say something!" Archana asked anxiously. He noticed Ovi glancing at his way, her eyes waiting for a reply, knowing full well what it is going to be!
He then remembered Purvi asking him to move on and forget her. He remembered all their promises they had made to each other and the vows which had kept them united. He remembered her smiling face which had effectively concealed the pain of separation behind the mask of smiles. He remembered his promise of setting things back to the way before, no matter how impossible it appeared. And then his mind took its decision!
"Thank you Uncle," he said, "We would love to go."
Tum Se Tum Tak
