TS - Of Endings and Beginnings

Hello again,

I'm back with another TS and definitely surprised myself with my eagerness 😆

Looks like the hand holding scene where Imlie tries to remove from Aryan's had quite an impact on me and is what that triggered this ficlet.

I hope you enjoy reading it! It's not proofread thoroughly, so apologies if you find any errors.😳

This song sums up the feelings of the entire ficlet.❤️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoJXEbrU4-M

Of Endings and Beginnings

woh waqt tha jab haath milna na manzoor tha

ab har zariya par kar milane ki chahat hai par waqt rooth gaya

The sky was pouring down. Yet another rainy night that titled her world upside down.

It was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. She had finally graduated. Imlie from Pagdandiya with a Bachelor's in Journalism. She looked at the selfie they, the Rathore family had taken along with her parents during her graduation ceremony.

She was flanked by both her mothers, her Amma and Kakima, who had slowly over the months become Narmada Maa, on either side with their eyes shining with pride. Her dear Dadda stood next to her Amma and looked like the happiest man in the world. Arpita Didi stood next to Maa, smiling widely with her fingers in victory pose and a wide grin etched on her face. And to the corner, next to his sister, stood her husband, Aryan Singh Rathore, her ABP. If she didn't know him well, she would have assumed him to be the most uninterested one out there, his face all blank without an ounce of emotion.

But now, she knew better. She zoomed the photo and traced the tiny hint of a smile she could detect on his face. She peered at the eyes staring back at her, her eyes becoming more hazy with tears clouding it further. She had come to understand that his eyes expressed everything that his words and actions explicitly did not. The slightly crinkled eyes and his lips upturned a teeny bit gave it away. In those eyes, she could now see warmth, happiness and pride. She sighed, her Akkadbagga, truly one of a kind.

They had returned home after a small dinner celebration. She was very happy, actually ecstatic. Her family were with her, they had seen her receiving her degree and seeing them there witnessing her achievement had her heart bursting with happiness. She had wanted to capture those moments forever.

When her husband of 2 years requested that he wanted to talk to her, her heart had skipped a beat. She had felt her breath whoosh out of her body. Her mind was not sure on what to anticipate but her heart had started fluttering in glee. By the time she had gathered her wits and moved to their bedroom, she saw him already standing out in the balcony. He was lost in thoughts when she entered and stood next to him assuming the same stance as him, looking out far into the night.

For few minutes, everything was still. She could hear the sounds of water hitting the roof and dripping down. She could feel the slight breeze splashing across droplets of water. The silence was not awkward but for some reason it made her more nervous minute by minute.

He had finally turned and looked at her. The look in those unfathomable eyes had made her tremble. Today they were filled with myriad of emotions, those that she could not comprehend.

'Are you happy?' he had asked her. She was confused with the randomness of it. He was the one to always question her and make her question things, but this was not something she had expected him to ask.

Smiling with confusion she had replied, 'ABP, of course, I'm happy. I'm very happy. One of the best days in my life. I have finally fulfilled my parents dream of becoming a graduate. I passed with distinction. I have a steady job that I love to do. My family is happy. Life is good.'

And for the first time in all these years she knew him, he had given her a wide smile and did not bother to immediately cover it up under any pretense. Bless her heart, but looking at him smile at her had made her already fluttering heart even more. She didn't know if she would drown in that happiness today.

'I know I don't tell it out loud always, Imlie, but let me tell you today. I'm very proud of you. Very, very proud and impressed. It may be your achievement today but I feel like I have won it. I have seen your struggle, your persistence, your determination, your hard work, Imlie and trust me, there can be no one else who is more happy with your success today. Against all odds, you are here and you have achieved what you set out to.'

'It has been a long journey but you have won your first major race in life, Imlie. I have the utmost pride in seeing you transform and progress in life. You've successfully ascended the flight and I hope you keep soaring high and accomplishing everything you want to.'

'Would you believe me if I tell you that this is what I've always wanted for you. My every push, my every action was to set you on this path. To support you until you knew how to sail. And now you don't need anymore the strings tying you to the ground, Imlie.'

'These 2 years, I know I've been quite hard on you. It may have made you resent me, retaliate against me, but I hope you have come to understand that my intentions have never been to hurt you or use you. I wanted you to be right where you are today, a self-made independent woman, with a flourishing job and advancing in her career. You are at the right cusp of age and time where you can move in any direction you want to, anything you want to explore and achieve.'

He was never a man to mince words but until now she had never seen him being so open with regards to her. Her heart that was fluttering madly until then, had suddenly stopped when she heard him speak next.

'It's done, Imlie, it's finally over or let's say it is finally new beginnings for you. I married you without giving you much options and I know it is something that you regret always. Again, believe me, I have never, ever wanted to hurt you, but circumstances were different.

You are now free to go. I will never tie you to myself when the sole reason I had done so was to be your support system. To save you from yourself. You are free from this bond we have, free from me, free from all the shackles that you think I had put you into. It's your decision, Imlie. It is your life. You get to choose how you want it to be. I know that I can trust you to take a decision that will always have you as priority.'

'I..I don't know what to say', she had stuttered out. If she was dizzy with happiness earlier, she was now with despair. Her world was crashing down and her ears were ringing. She had felt her chest constrict painfully, almost as if someone was choking her.

'You don't have to decide now, Imlie. All I wanted to tell you was I will no longer be a hurdle. You are as free as you want to be.

Whatever happens, whatever you decide, you will always have a family here, you will never stop being our family. Nothing will stop from you being my mother's ladli and my sister's best friend.'

'And you?'

Taken aback, he had stared at her for sometime before replying, 'You can have me as your mentor if you want to, you can have me as your friend if you want to and most importantly, I will no longer be the boss of your personal life just as you always wanted.'

Even had she tried, that moment, she wouldn't have been able to stem the tears that had streamed down her face.

Closing the distance between them, he had slowly reached out to cup her face and wiped the tears with his thumb. If she was breaking down earlier, this action of his was splitting her heart apart.

'Don't waste your precious tears, Imlie. Not on me, definitely.' he had softly added.

Ages must have passed as they had gazed at each other and then he had bent down to press a kiss so light on her forehead. She didn't know what she felt anymore. All she knew was she had wanted time to still forever at that moment. She must have imagined he had paused a minute lingering there but it was too soon that he had stepped back and for some reason, she knew that the walls were up again and the distance was set. She hadn't wanted those walls to grow, she hadn't wanted him to cloud her out.

'Take rest, Imlie. Take your time and decide. We can together let our families know and you don't have to worry. For one last time, I will handle everything.'

'Good Night.'

And then he had left her.

Part 2 - Below

She didn't know how long she had been standing in the balcony. All she knew was her day had started with her heart brimming with euphoria and the night was ending with her heart broken.

She slowly sat down and leaned against the wall trying to catch her breath.

Her fingers had involuntarily moved down to clutch her mangalsutra. She hadn't even known when it had become her habit. Every time she was nervous, every time she was scared, every time she had faced something that had her terrified, she had started clutching it as if to indirectly gather strength from the person who had tied it.

2 years of their marriage and she was still trying to understand him.

She understood him clearly when it came to his family. He loved his mother, he loved his sister and nothing in this world was more important to him than them. He was logical, practical, a shrewd business man, he was nothing short of an enigma but at the end of the day, he was always Narmada Maa's Aru and Arpita Didi's UNB.

She had spent the first six months of their marriage trying to rattle and annoy him. Him marrying her had confused and had her at wits end. She couldn't reconciliate her 50-50 partner with this man who had so aggressively pushed her into the recluse of a marriage. But then she hadn't even realised when he had slowly started conquering her heart through his multitude actions.

The first time they had to share his room, now their room, she had fought hard. She had lashed out that she would not share the bed with a guy. Married real or not, she would not lower herself in the sham of a marriage. She hadn't even discerned the flash of sadness on his face at that time but she now pondered how much it might have hurt him.

He had calmly let her know that the family cannot know about it, so there was no other option but to use the bed as it is. They both were working people who had to give priority to sleep and health and sleeping on the couch would do no good to either of them. What ultimately budged her decision was when he asked her to decide and stated that if there was a single moment in the past few months of knowing each other that she had felt uncomfortable and physically alarmed, then she just had to tell one word and without any further reason or explanation, he would just gladly give her the space she needed. She knew that regardless of whatever he was, he was not someone who ever made her uncomfortable in that way. In that regard, he was an outright gentleman, not a single glance or word that could suggest otherwise.

She had taken to sit in the study and was irritated initially when he invaded her space when all she wanted to do was avoid him. Surprisingly, he would just sit there all mum and not utter a single word, completely hooked into his laptop. Slowly she had become accustomed to the silence and then gradually, the stroke of the keys in the otherwise silent environment had begun to comfort her.

As soon as she would start to wind up for the night, he would quietly vacate the study and by the time she would reach their bedroom, a mug of warm milk would be waiting for her on her night stand. The first time she had grasped that this man was doing all this for her without any nudge from his mother or sister, she had been moved to tears.

When was the last time someone had so intimately taken care of her needs apart from her parents.

And so it had become their routine but neither of them ever spoke about it. One random comment led to a discussion and slowly she started approaching him if she had any doubts or any topics to discuss. All the while, he would patiently explain her, listen to her and would help her reach her own understanding. But strangely, she was the only one to always break the silence and reach out to him.

If anyone were to ask her now, she would tell them that no one ever understood Imlie as much Aryan Singh Rathore had. Her college fees for her upcoming fourth semester was supposed to be paid. He had overheard her telling Arpita Didi about finding part-time job to earn some extra money. When he had approached her about it, she had outright refused to take his money even if she was so called Imlie Aryan Singh Rathore. And when he mentioned that it was hers and there was a bank account in her name with funds that she had payed him as a tenant and the money from her salary that she paid him on behalf of the Tripathi's, she was astonished. She still remembered the heated discussion when she had seen her pay-slip without having the rent amount deducted. When confronted, he had called her an idiot and told her one did not split and pay money in a family. His mother didn't pay, his sister didn't pay and his wife will not pay and that would be it. She had been so astounded, she knew that he always claimed her to be his wife but it was always in a situation that demanded it. She had come to the staggering understanding that even when she had not accepted the marriage, he had already considered her as his own. He had exasperatedly added that it was her hard earned money, her savings and she did not have to squander for money from anyone including him. And then she understood that this man, Aryan Singh Rathore, her husband did not do anything by halves.

At a young age, she had witnessed and suffered it all. Her character was doubted, her dignity shredded to pieces and her integrity questioned. She had not recognised that all this had made her wary and she had become skeptical on many things. It was during one such party organised by the Rathore Group of Industries that she truly comprehended what sort of a man Aryan Singh Rathore was.

Her colleagues had suddenly taken too much of an interest in her personal life courtesy of gossip as she was after all the wife of the Rathore Industries one and only owner.

One person had gone a bit overboard and was questioning if there was any trouble in paradise. All because she had not requested to have her name changed in the office tool nor her badge, she had not stopped signing the register with her spinster name, she had not made any changes in the reports that she submitted and because she didn't talk to him in the office unless it was work related. They went on to question what sort of a husband would allow his wife to parade around the office and field work with other men? Maybe because the said husband was losing interest in his wife.

Being bombarded with these idiotic questions and vitriol, she had started to regret her decision to attend the party. She was just planning to make her escape when she noticed the table had gone all quiet and people were nervously staring at each other. And she knew that there was only one person who could command such without uttering a single word, Aryan Singh Rathore, her husband. By then she knew that the entire hall had gone quiet and everyone were looking at them.

His voice rang out clear and loud, for one and all, 'Firstly, our personal life is none of your business and we are not liable to answer just to satiate your insane curiosity. Secondly, learn to respect and not judge a woman with twisted warps of morals. I maybe her husband but I do not have the right to question neither her character nor integrity just because she is seen with other men. I trust my wife and that should be enough. And lastly, do not insult the education you have received and make a mockery of yourselves. It is pathetic enough that I need to explain this out. Understand that it all comes down to each one's personal choice and we are no one to judge each other. If Imlie wants to retain her spinster name, it is her decision. If she wants to change her name, again, it is her decision and hers only. Do not make inane presumptions based on this. She will be Imlie as long as she wants to be and if she ever decides to take up my name, it would be my honour.'

With those words, she was sure that that was the day he had unknowingly made a permanent place in her heart.

She couldn't count all the ways he had helped her, all the time he had supported her but she knew that the woman she was today, she owed her success and happiness to him, a majority of it at least.

Unbeknownst to her, unbeknownst to even him, he had become the centre of her world.

2 years before he had given her it all just because he was the only one who had understood what she had really needed despite her resistance.

2 years later, didn't he realise that he himself had become her need. For a man who would always proclaim that he knew her and that she was not a mystery to him, didn't he understand that she had now come to need him in every way a woman could need a man.

When all she wanted was a choice, he hadn't give her any and now she didn't even need to think about a choice and he was giving it to her. She was not able to grasp how he could so easily be ready to let go of her. She was not able to comprehend how a man could be so selfless. He had laid out everything for her, bearing the brunt of it only for her to move on in life, only for her to flourish and asked nothing in return.

She needed and wanted this man's care, his affection, his respect, his loyalty, his strength. She wanted all of him.

She would remain as Imlie from Pagdandiya forever but she didn't want to be in a time where she could never be Imlie Aryan Singh Rathore. She could not envision a life without him.

And if this wasn't love, she didn't know what was.

Until now, he had seen Imlie from Pagdandiya's regret, anger and hate, one who never wanted to lay any claim on him as her husband but now, she would show him the love Imlie Aryan Singh Rathore had for her husband and this time nothing in the universe could stop her from choosing what she was always destined to choose.

--FIN--

Thank you again for all those who have read until the end. 🤗