He put her down, breaking the hug, but still holding onto her waist gently. She brought her hands up to his face, cupping his cheeks, "Shravan, I love you and I promise to be with you forever, and even after that. I promise you that there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more sadness. We are together now, and no one can change that." He gave her a bright smile that made her face light up.
"Should we go down-stairs; everyone is probably waiting for us?"
"Yep, I think it's time to show them we can sit in a room together and not fight," He laughed. To which she playfully punched his bicep.
***
It had been a long day for Shravan, he had found out about his father's deceit, the truth behind his mother's neglect, Sumo's innocence and he finally confessed his love for her. Although he had forgiven his parents, he knew for one, that his journey to trust his parents once again was going to be a long one. He wanted to wholeheartedly forgive them completely for their misdoings, but every time he looked at his parents, the years of torment they put him through came rushing back to him and he knew for one, that if anyone leaves him again, he wouldn't be able to survive. Knowing that eventually he will have to open up to his father, he didn't know how to bring it up, but he knew for one, no matter what, his Sumo was always going to be by his side.
***
Suman looked at the bed, she had made piles for her kurtas, sarees and anarkalis, as well has her everyday jewellery and another one of her jewellery sets. She walked into the closet and opened a drawer on the right side of the closet and saw it was empty, she smiled to herself thinking back to her first day of marriage when she had to literally force him to empty the drawer and her side of the closet, and now, how he had emptied it, without her even having to ask him once. She walked back to the bed and saw her brown memory box, of all their memories together from their childhood till now. She looked at the box and thought that it was time that it goes to its rightful owner. Leaving the box on the bed, she picked up the boxes of jewellery sets, they were mother's jewellery that her nanu had kept all these years for when she got married. She put them in the drawer and closed it carefully as the jewellery was delicate. As she was walking back to the bed, she heard the door open, Shravan walked inside, closing the door behind him. He looked over at the bed, "Sumo, you could've done this tomorrow, aren't you tired?", Sumo walked towards him, and looked into his eyes, "Why would I be tired? I finally found my true happiness" She moved closer to him, locking her arms around his neck, his arms automatically went around her waist, she pulled him down and went on her tiptoes, with quivering lips, she pecked his cheek lightly. She pulled back almost immediately and a faint blush rose to her cheeks, as she moved, causing him to chuckle. "What was that for?" he asked huskily,
"What was what for?" she denied,
"You know what I'm talking about Sumo"
She turned towards him and said shyly, "Nothing, I just felt like it"
She walked back to the bed, as his gaze followed her. "Shravan, I have to finish all the unpacking tonight, there isn't any time tomorrow!"
"Okay, okay fine, but I'll help you, okay?"
"Okay, that way we'll be done soon"
***
They were almost done with unpacking and organising all of Suman's things when a brown box, on the side of the bed caught his eye. He stealthily walked over to the other side of the bed and picked it up, "What's in this?", his eyes full of curiosity. She instantly dropped the pile of saris she was picking up and yanked the box out of his hands, "nothing, just don't open this box okay until I tell you to!" she said nervously, as a red hue coloured her cheeks.
"Sumooo, we promised we won't hide anything from each other anymore" Shravan whined,
"No we didn't, the only thing we have said to each other is that we love each other, and how this room is going to be shared between us" Sumo retaliated
Shravan's face fell, the chocolate brown eyes that had mischief in them were replaced with melancholy, he didn't want their past to come in between their present, but he knew that the reasons of the bitterness that led them down this path wasn't completely behind them, and he didn't know how to bring it up without getting rid of the light-hearted ambiance around them.
Suman saw his face fall, and it instantly dawned on her what he was thinking, "Shravan," she said masking her worries with a playful tone, "Let's play a game,"
"What game?" He questioned, his face full of curiosity
"Basically, we have to take turns and we can ask the other person whatever we want and ask for answers for why we did what we did,"
"Why do you want to play this Sumo? Tell me truthfully"
"Because I don't want for there to be anything hidden, if we are going to move on, we are going to move on completely and on a new slate" Honesty dripping out of her mouth
"I'll go first!" Suman announced, settling herself on the bed, "When did you first realise you loved me as an adult?"
Shravan sat on his side of the bed, facing Suman, a smile came over his face, "Do you remember, when you were about jump off the terrace to win my trust, that night...", his face fell slightly, "...in fact, do you remember the day you made me meet my mother, I had come to confess to you"
Tears streamed down her eyes, "I'm so sorry, I had thought that if I would make you meet your mother, and you find out the truth, you wouldn't be so bitter anymore, you would be able to trust people, and realise that your ma didn't leave you on purpose. I just wanted to rid you of your pain; your bitterness, and change your outlook towards women in general would change and then papa came and everything went the other way,"
He took her hands in his, his light eyes staring into her much deeper ones, tears starting to well up in his eyes, "Don't be sorry, I should be sorry, I said so many things about women, and said so many things to you as well, how women are greedy, selfish and manipulative. I was wrong, very wrong. Little did I know that the only person that was greedy, selfish and manipulative was none other than my papa, my so-called hero and that the only person that was there for me was you," Shravan laughed bitterly, he sobered up and wiped the tears that had rolled down on his cheeks, "Anyway, it's my turn to ask, when did you realise you were in love with me?"
She flashed a smile at him looking up at him with mischief in her eyes, "Who said I love you?"
He looked at her in disbelief, a smile coming over his face, "Oh really, who was proclaiming their undying love for me this afternoon?"
"Shit, okay fine I'll tell you, I don't know exactly when but it gradually happened. When you first left I was upset and very guilty. Upset because my best friend was leaving, guilty because I let you leave when you were hurt and heartbroken. I started to miss your presence, I started to close people out as well, it was almost as if Sumo could only be Sumo with her chashmish, and then I started to look at your profile on Facebook everyday talking to you as if you were with me, I wrote you letters to apologise for what I had done, and then they started to become love letters, I realised when I went to college I was in love with you this whole time," She looked up at him his eyes boring into hers with nothing but love, "I remember the day you came back, I was ecstatic. Papa had come in the morning to tell us that you were returning and I made an excuse to stay at your house the whole time until you came, and then the driver came without you and everyone was disappointed but I was upset. Then Pushkar called me at night and said that you had come, and I got ready in 15 minutes flat and was at your house in another 10 minutes," Shravan looked at her speechless. Sumo looked up to him, holding his hand in hers, "What happened Shravan?" She asked, realising he was at a loss of words,
"Sumo, all this time I thought I loved you more than you loved me, I was wrong. I didn't know you also loved me for the same amount of time I did, I always thought you realised it after you broke it off with Aditya,"
Sumo's face fell at the mention of his name, although he didn't affect her anymore, the scars that he had given her hadn't healed completely. Shravan noticed this and tried to distract her, "Okay, so now it's your turn to ask!"
"Shravan, please don't be offended, but I need to know, why did you say all that to Aditya about us, about our friendship?" She asked quietly but confidently.
Shravan's face instantly fell, although he didn't feel like answering a part of him knew she deserved to know the truth, "Sumo I know I was being an ass when you asked me the first time and I'm so sorry for that. Earlier that day maa had come to me saying that I should leave this wedding because I was coming in between yours and Aditya's happiness, I even asked her how was I at fault and she completely ignored me. Then, when I went out of the room in anger I saw Aditya who was pushing me to come to his bachelor's party and he also called me your best friend' with so much sarcasm, like I had no right on you anymore and I completely lost it. So I decided that I would just tell him what he wants to hear, so that he always feels insecure and is never happy. I never thought, even in my wildest dreams that he would hurt you, and I'm so so sorry Sumo," He lay his head in Suman's lap, tears streaming out of his eyes. She stroked his hair, "Shhh Shravan, it's all behind us now, it wasn't your fault for what he did and what you did was wrong, but you are the one who saved me from him in the end anyway," Shravan sobered up and looked at her, she kissed his cheek, and rubbed his tears, to which he gave her a small smile.
"Sumo, this has been bothering me for months, I just need to know, why did you accept the papers of PCT from Aditya when he asked you once but not from me, although I offered them to you so many times?"
"I didn't take them from him though. He had gotten me investors for PCT based on my business and solely my hard work. I took the papers from him because the investors had given me money to give to him for the papers. Also honestly I had thought that because he had gotten me investors, you had given him the papers to give to me knowingly,"
"And like the dickhead I was I only listened to his side of the story and not yours and I jumped to the conclusion that you had chosen him over me."
"I told you right, no more guilt tripping yourself, I am just as much at fault as you are if not more. I knew more about the situation you were in and I had distanced myself from you to the extent that you couldn't even see me as a friend anymore,"
"Yes, but you were helpless, papa had blackmailed you to stay away from me and I still couldn't understand you,"
"But you didn't know that then, and the way you felt was normal Shravan, also let's move on, the important part is that we are together now,"
"I love you Sumo,"
"I love you too. Now it's my turn to ask, why did you call me to coffee that day?"
"I wanted to tell you that I love you, now I realised it was probably because papa had probably told you to stay away from me. I wanted to give you something as well, wait a second," Shravan got up from the bed and went to his bookshelf to retrieve the letter he had written all those years ago, he took Sumo's hand and opened her palm, gently placing the letter in her open hand, "I wrote this for you when I was 17. Remember when I told you to go and look in the library that Friday? This is what I had kept for you,"
Suman looked at her palm and then at him, giving him a sheepish smile, Shravan instantly realised what had happened, "You've read this haven't you?"
Suman took a deep breath, "Remember the day you had sprained your ankle and I had gone looking for my phone to your room?"
"Mhm, and you came back like you had seen a ghost and then started bugging me about if I had ever loved anyone,"
"Yeah well, when I went up there I saw a 12th Standard book, and I looked inside and saw the letter and read it. I decided to ask you if you still had feelings for me, because I obviously did and when you said you had moved on, I decided that I shouldn't tell you my feelings because it'll ruin our friendship, and nothing is above of our friendship, I had lost you once, and I wasn't prepared to lose you again."
"Sumo, why didn't you come that day?" Shravan asked in a soft voice, vehemently hoping that what he was thinking wasn't true.
Sumo let out a sigh, she didn't want to open up the wounds that he had recovered from, but she knew she owed him the whole truth, "Shravan," she whispered, "actually, papa had stopped me from meeting you. He thought because I was an independent and working woman, that it would take me no time to leave you for my career, like maa had supposedly. He had come to my house and gave me a blank check, telling me to accept the cheque and leave you, when I rejected his offer because my love cannot have a price tag attached to it, he told me he would stop Preeti and Pushkar's wedding, and I caved in. I know that it was probably not the best decision for me, for us, but I had to make it. Mamaji and Mamiji had already done so much for me by taking me in, I didn't want Preeti's life to be affected because of me and I had hope that one day you would come to me and tell me that you love me, and when that day came, I would leave everything and everyone behind and come with you to wherever you take me. Shravan, please promise me that you will forgive him for whatever he has done, it was wrong but his intentions weren't, he loves you deeply and he was the only one there for you when no one else was, the important part is that he realised his mistakes and that everything is good now,"
"Sumo, you don't understand, every time I want to fully forgive him and move on, I just remember each and everything he has done, and then I'm back to square one. I feel that it's good that I started my own firm, I may have started it for the wrong reasons but it's good because now I can be separate from him, I can be able to take my own time to heal, I have forgiven him, but I can't forget what he did."
"Shravan I know it's not going to be easy, but just remember, I am always here for you, I am here to stay, and I don't mind how long you take to move on, because the day you do, you'll be a much happier and much lighter person, and I will help you get there. We will get there."
"Wow Sumo, when did you become so understanding," he asked cheekily,
"Shut-up chashmish, otherwise I'll give you one," she said while whacking his arm.
"Exactly, now you're in your true form, I got worried for a second," he said and broke into laughter.
His laughter seemed like the moon on a particularly dark night, it lit up his whole face. Sumo stared at him intently, taking him in, she hadn't seen him laugh in so long, and finally she witnessed it, and it was because of her. She laughed with him until their sides starting paining.
"Shravan, do you want to see what's in the box?"
"Yes! You have no idea how eager I am!!"
Suman got off the bed and picked up the box that was kept on the ground next to it. She looked at Shravan directly, "Open it, it's for you,"
Shravan hesitantly took the box from her hands, wondering what it had inside. He carefully opened the brown cardboard box and what he saw made the world beneath his feet shift. The box contained every single card he had given her, all of the pictures they had taken together, tickets to fairs, circus tickets and movie tickets. He saw every single gift he had given her, right from the rubrics cube to the blue and white dress he had gotten her for the reunion party. He looked deeper in the box and saw two letters, one that was written 10 years ago, and a much more recent one both proclaiming her love for him. He also saw a few pictures that had been cut in half. "I did that when I made the decision to marry Aditya and you had broken our friendship,"
With tearful eyes he looked up at her, all this time he felt that he had loved her much more than she loved him. He realised he was wrong, his Sumo had never given up on him, not when he left, not when he had taken out his revenge on her, not even when he had broken their friendship. "You never gave up on me did you?"
"Never, like you never gave up on me,"
Shravan got up, walked over to the desk and brought some tape. He sat down on the bed and started taping the cut up pictures together. He looked into her eyes and deeply and softly said, "Shravan aur Sumo kabhi alag nahi ho sakte, kyunki woh Ek Duje Ke Vaaste bane hai, aur jo Ek Duje Ke Vaaste hote woh ek na ek din mil jaate hain, I love you Sumo, forever and always,"
"I love you Shravan more and more each day,"
That night they spent in each other's embrace, looking hopeful at their future, they had a few battles ahead of them, but now that they were together they could face them head on.
***
I hope you guys liked that, please comment and drop a like to let me know, all criticism is welcome! I hope you all have a wonderful 2017 and a very very Happy New Year to you all!! Thankyou to all of you for welcoming me in the fandom with open alms and inspiring me to write for you all, I hope to see all of you soon with another piece of my writing
Love,
Aanchal
CID
