FF (3): Dark Ties - EPILOGUE - PAGE 23

Chapter Forty-Five – Day Three

I didn't even want to get out of bed, knowing I'd have to spend another day alone with RK. I laid in bed, hoping time would fly by and I could just get the wedding over with. As I laid there, I heard a knock at my door. I knew it was RK since no one else was at home. I didn't respond to his knock, but wasn't surprised when he opened my door.

"I've come to give you a letter."

I sighed and sat up in bed as he placed the letter in my lap. Then without another word, he turned and walked away. I looked down at the letter and opened it up.

Dear Madhu,

Four days remain my love. I wish I could talk to you, I miss your voice, I miss you. I've decided to let you know that the colours for our wedding are the traditional red and gold. The wedding won't be huge. Just you, me, and a few friends from work. That reminds me, do you plan on continuing with your modeling career? I guess I'll have to wait a few days for your answer, but take your time to think about it. I love you.

Yours, Aditya

Honestly, I didn't want to read another letter from Adi. All they did was remind me of the number of days remaining. With each letter I became more and more nervous.

I got out of bed and quickly freshened up. I was upset that I couldn't even be happy about my upcoming wedding. I had always dreamt of marrying RK, after I had accepted that one day I'd have to get married. The thought of marrying someone else had never crossed my mind. Now that it was actually happening, I couldn't help but be upset. I was just about to leave my room when RK stormed in. His eyes were red and I realized he had just been crying. He grabbed my arm and held it behind my back. I grimaced in pain as he backed me into a wall.

"I can't take this anymore! Why are you doing this to us?! I love you and you love me. WHERE'D ADI COME INTO THE STORY FROM?!"

His tone frightened me.

"You're…hurting me…ow…"

He loosened his grip gently but didn't let me go. Our noses nearly touched as I stared up at him with wide eyes. As I stared at the pain in his eyes, I couldn't help but tear up myself. As a tear fell out of my eye, he let go of my hand and quickly caught my tear. He held it up in front of us and spoke softly this time.

"Why are you doing this to us Madhu…?"

I didn't know how to answer him. I kept telling myself that whatever I was doing was to make sure I didn't hurt Adi. But I hadn't even considered the fact that I'd be hurting RK. Either way, I'd hurt one of them. There was no way out. I could completely back out of the wedding…but I couldn't find the guts to do that. I lowered my eyes, unable to answer his question.

"I don't know…"

He placed his hand on the side of my face, causing me to look back up at him. He gently ran his thumb over my lips and I closed my eyes as his touch sent a chill through my body.

"I love you so much Madhu…I admit what I did was wrong…but I never stopped loving you. Not a day went by where I didn't think of you. You were and always are on my mind…"

I opened my eyes as I tried to maintain my composure. Why couldn't he have realized all of this stuff sooner? Why did it have to be right after Adi proposed to me?

"Please, cancel the wedding Madhu."

"I can't RK."

"Why not…"

He gently ran his hand through my hair and then continued to caress the side of my face.

"Because I can't hurt him like that…"

"But you can hurt me?"

"No. Never. But…I don't know what to do."

"We love each other. All you have to do is tell Adi."

"It's too late RK."

"Stop saying that!"

"But it's true…"

He pushed away from me and sighed in despair.

"I'm going to fix this."

And with that, he walked out of my room.