Her words kept ringing in his ears and he had no idea when she left the room. It was the time for self introspection. Revisiting every decision, every step, analyzing situations, understanding mistakes and a huge realisation following it.
"I was pulling you down with me that time. I was forcing you to go through that darkness. A dark tunnel. I wish I understood it earlier. I claimed to have loved you but was it really love... I gave you nothing in that whole year of being married to you... My life was falling apart... Being pulled into reality from my fantasy world... I should have fighted with you for you instead of walking away... When you walked away from me, I lost my sanity. I hated you for breaking us apart but now I realise it was me... It was me..."
After abeer composed himself, he went back to the party in a hope to see meher again. He needed to apologise. All this time he hated her... For everything he did... It was his mistake. Period. The party was going great and people were laughing, dancing and enjoying. Nisaar was dancing with rati and they looked happy, which meher and he used to be. Years back. History.
"Attention everyone..."
The music stopped and everyone looked at meher who stood on the bar counter, with a bear bottle and a champagne glass in her hands. She stumbled and abeer ran to save her but she steadied herself.
"I will manage... Thanksss..."
Meher told abeer and smiled at him.
"Guys thank you for coming... Its a very special day... My husband... Ooopppsss... (Hitting her head playfully with the glass) My ex - husband... My abeeerrr... He is leaving me today... I mean us... Leaving us today... For god knows what... I don't even know why he is going... Sattu sir u asked him...??? Did you...?? Noo... (Shaking her hand in a no when sattu didn't reply) let me ask then... Abeeerrr (grinning at him) why are you going...?? Its because you hate me... Right...??? Only because of me na..."
"Come down meher... Now..." Abeer glared at meher.
"Guys a big round of applause for our rockstar please... By the way he is still a quitter... Haha... He loves running away...!!! why not represent India in Olympics...?? Anyways we wish you good luck... Clap everyone..."
Meher threw the glass away and finished the bottle before clapping for abeer. Seeing this everyone, also started applauding abeer.
"Meher... Come down..." whispered abeer.
Meher ignored abeer and continued clapping.
"And yes... We will miss you abeer... Guys tell my ex, how much will we miss him... Starting withhh... Nisaar...?? Nooo... Sattu sir... Abeer's favourite..."
Meher bent down a little and abeer helped her come down from the bar counter.
"Right honey...??? He is your favourite... Right...??"
Meher leaned close to abeer and asked him.
Abeer looked around the party hall and hated how some of the people looked at meher. Meher hugged him and kept her head on his shoulder. One wrong word against meher and he would burn the whole world. He knew that about himself.
"Meher let's go... You are drunk..."
"I'm not drunk... And you... You don't touch me... I have a husband... He will kill you mister..."
Meher whispered with her eyes closed and head still resting on abeer's shoulder.
"Nisaar..." Abeer called nisaar.
"Meher... Go home with nisaar..." Abeer said separating meher from himself. Suddenly feeling incomplete, losing a part of him again.
Meher opened her eyes and looked at abeer with teary eyes.
"You won't be coming back... Don't go abeer... I will resign from groove... Promise..." She pleaded.
"I will come back... Promise..." Abeer replied with a heavy heart.
"Meher... You are not alone... Sasha and I are always there..." Nisaar said and pulled meher away from abeer.
Abeer's eyes were pleading nisaar to take Meher away from him. Just like the time when the goons kidnapped Meher. Nisaar again pulled meher towards him, when she tried hugging abeer.
Meher yanked her hand from nisaar's hold and slapped him.
"You are always there... So...?? What does it mean...?? You are not my husband nisaar... I don't love you... I love this man (pointing at abeer) who is watching you take me away from him. I only love him... And he is clearly embarrassed about me... I disgust him and he is leaving me... You stay away..."
Nishi came to Abeer and kept her hand on his shoulder.
"She loves you so much abeer... Don't lose her... You will regret it for the rest of your life..."
Abeer looked at meher and offered her his hand. Meher took his hand and she was pulled into his embrace. His arms wrapped around her protectively.
Everyone again clapped but this time happily. They thought they just witnessed a moment of reunion; exactly like the one in movies.
"I love you... Love you abeer..." Meher kept whispering in into his chest.
Abeer smiled at everyone and picked meher in his arms.
"Chalo..."
Meher looked at abeer and smiled.
"One minute... Everyone at work on time... 9 am sharp..." Meher shouted and abeer shook his head.
"Yes boss..." Nisaar shouted and smiled at them.
Abeer mouthed a "sorry" to nisaar and left the party with his meher in his arms.
Abeer made meher sit in the car and got in. Meher leaned towards abeer and hugged him. Meher broke the hug, looked at abeer and then again hugged him.
"This is the same perfume..." She mumbled.
"What...??"
Abeer broke the hug and waited for meher to say it again. But meher smiled naughtily and pecked his lips. Abeer pushed meher away this time.
"What did you say...???"
"The perfume... I love it... It makes me want you..." Meher replied and giggled.
"You remember it...???" Abeer asked hopefully.
"I gifted it... haha..."
Abeer smiled with teary eyes and brought the engine into ignition. It was time to go home now.
"Where are we going..??? Date..???" Meher asked playing with a strand of her hair.
"Home..."
"Our home...??"
"Your home..." replied abeer focusing on the road.
"I want you... Let's go somewhere romantic..."
"Wish u said it a month back..."
"I'm saying it now..."
"You and your bad timing..."
"Abeer... Yeh sab ghum kyun raha hai... Is it earthquake.??"
Abeer giggled as meher asked him, in a trembling voice.
"Stop the car... Earthquake mein driving is a big no no..." Meher shouted and panicked.
"Its not earthquake..."
Meher looked at abeer and closed her eyes in fear.
"Why am I seeing three three abeer...???? I have gone mad... Do something abeeerrr... I don't want to die..."
Abeer stopped the car and parked it in a corner.
"Open your eyes meher... Look at me..." said abeer.
Meher opened her eyes, very slowly, and looked at abeer.
"Where are the remaining two...???"
"There is only one Abeer Malhotra baby..." Abeer replied and kissed her forehead. He tried stopping himself but she was making it difficult for him to control. She was making him want her. After those hurtful insulting words also, she was affecting him.
"And he is mine..." Meher whispered.
Abeer got out of the car and unintentionally it hurted meher. For the hundredth time that night. Abeer needed to keep his head clear. He couldn't let her in again and mess up his plans. He is to leave for London the next day and here he was with the girl, he claimed to once love and now hate.
Meher got out of the car and stood in front of abeer. She looked into his eyes for minutes and let their hearts talk. Enough of acting funny and making him giggle. Time for a confrontation.
"I am sorry... Forgive me..." She whispered and cupped his cheek with her right hand.
"Let's not do it again... I don't want this to be our last memory meher... Pleaseee" abeer replied and turned around, his back facing her.
"This is not our last memory... I am not giving up on us..." Meher replied with determination in her voice.
"I gave up on us... I am the reason we lost our child and our marriage failed... There is no us anymore..." Abeer replied. His words breaking his own heart.
Meher froze for a second and closed her eyes in hurt. Then she smiled. She isn't letting her abeer leave her. Not this time.
"How could you say all that to me meher...?? How...???" Abeer turned around and questioned meher.
Meher mentally cursed herself for that night and took a deep breath.
"I won't give an excuse... I was wrong... I had all those hurtful yet beautiful memories bottled up in me and they all came out that day. But definitely in a wrong way... You once had every right on me abeer. Then also you never touched me without my consent. I wonder how I fell that low to accuse you of something like that... I hate myself... For every word I said that night..."
Abeer wanted to believe every word she said and accept her in a heartbeat. But he was scared.
"Abeer... I know you are scared... Scared of falling in love again... But it won't happen with us... We will not fall apart this time..."
Meher pleaded and held abeer's hands.
"Love fades meher... Feelings fade... People change... We changed..."
"Not until we lose hope... We will not drift apart... Abeer I'm ready to work on it. As hard as it takes. I will keep this flame of love burning for years and years... I will not let our spark die..." Meher said and her voice cracked at the end.
She desperately needed him back. His presence is enough to ensure that she will survive.
Abeer closed his eyes and thought if he was ready to fall for her again. His heart replied in a yes but then it added "but I can't take another heartbreak...".
"I can't do it meher..." Abeer whispered; looking at her face trying to mentally take a picture of her.
"Abeer think about it again..."
"I'm done with you... Our love and everything that includes us..."
"Ohhh now I understand... The only problem we have is you...you are the problem abeer... You are not scared... You just have this habit of running away. Running away whenever you are supposed to face a problem or a truth. Running away is all you know. Here I am apologising for what... hundredth time... And you are running away, because I confessed my love for you. You know what, run away. Because that's what you do the best... Pleasure knowing you Mr. Abeer Malhotra..."
"Don't act like you know everything Meher... Just don't..." Abeer spatted in anger.
"Ohh enlighten me then... Well as a matter of fact, you are not scared abeer... You are a coward... Because I don't see a reason for you to give up on love... On us..."
"Reason aahh... My only bloody reason is you... I don't want you back... You never understood me meher... Never... Why did I irritated you back in office...??? Why did I give you that silly 8 days challenge...???"
"To throw me out of your life AGAIN" Meher replied.
"To stay close to you... To have you around me... To make sure you don't leave me again. I wanted to live again. After 8 years. When you were around, it was suddenly all easy. I started living my life again... Because you were back. See you don't understand me... What is the use of getting back together...???"
Meher stepped back a little in shock.
Did she really never understood him...???
"I have lot many things to make you realise we never understood each other... I don't know what brought us together years back... Physical Attraction, infatuation or love... A momentary phase of worshiping each other..."
"A phase... You call it a phase..." Meher said unbelievingly and added "falling in love, getting married, almost having a kid. You call it a phase...??"
"We were not meant to be Meher... Its better you realise it now..." Abeer told meher and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"If... If nothing happened to our baby and we were still married... Would you still have said it...??? That we aren't meant to be... That you don't love me in that way anymore..." Meher asked holding on to the car for support.
"Who knows... May be you could have said that to me... That you no longer want me... Though the bottom line still remains unchanged that we weren't meant to be... It all wasn't supposed to work out... Its our fate..."
"I would have never said it abeer... Never... I could have divorced my husband thinking if things damaged beyond repair but how would I ever divorce my child's father... How...??"
"We don't have a child and we are not married. Story of our life..." Abeer concluded.
"Do you want a child to get back with me...?? Will a child bind us together...??? Again...??" Meher asked holding abeer's collar; pulling him close.
"Meher..."
"I will give you a baby if that's what you want... I will be careful this time... Abeer I promise..."
And she passed on his shoulder.
"Was it that easy...?? Getting back again...?? Having a kid... As a bridge between them two... Was it a sensible way to sort things out or was it better to start everything from the beginning..." Abeer thought while driving meher to her place.
Udne Ki Aasha
Cricket
