Never Say Goodbye Final Part and Link to New SS - Page 8

It had been almost 4 days since she had come back.

She was limping back to normalcy-her idea of normalcy, which involved her official work, her charity work for orphaned girl children for an organization titled Pari, her small but sweet circle of friends.

Yet a face haunted her mind---Liquid brown eyes filled with pain,

A lone man standing in a crowd looking for her

A desperate voice crying out her name---

For the umpteenth time, she closed her eyes.

His image haunted her.

She had no reason to feel sorry or sad for him.

If she had written her destiny by hiding things from him,

He had written his own by mistrusting her to the cheapest extent possible---

Yet her heart had never been able to see him in pain

When he hurt, it hurt her

When he was lonely, her whole world was filled with a void

Slowly she walked to the room she allowed no one to enter'not even the maid to clean

It was that part of the world she never let anyone see

On one wall of the room were photographs of her parents.

In another were photographs of her with her parents

And a third wall was full of photographs of Arnav

And one more, close to the door were full of hers and Arnav's together

Every photograph shone with a memory

Every smile lived in her heart

Those moments of love filled her with a completeness, which she could never fill

The world had not intruded her life then

Her dreams had been perfect

The heart had been light and full of love

Her eyes finally rested on one photograph of Arnav

'You will be fine Arnav. You just wanted a closure. You got it. You knew why I left.

You don't need me---Just as you never needed me in seven years.'

She left the room and locked it again, just as she always locked her feelings into her heart.

'Get to work Khushi. Life is bigger than moping over a broken heart,' she told herself,

When she came back home, she was tired and irritable.

By the time she reached her door, she was ready to hit the bed.

'God can you please share half my workload,

I will donate half my earnings,' she told the invisible God

Her only friend in the darkest hours of life.

'Bribing God I see'' came a husky voice.

Khushi dropped the bag of vegetables she was carrying and looked at the man standing comfortably leaning against the door knob.

'Arnav----what are you doing here?' Khushi said unable to believe her eyes. Yet it was him, in flesh and blood, looking as handsome as ever.

She closed her eyes and opened them again, trying to convince herself her tired brains ahd not imagined things.

'I am here to---hmm---let me guess---I am here to get something back from you,' he said.

'What is that?' she whispered.

'My heart,' he said looking into her eyes.

She looked away, unable to bear the intensity. She did not say a word but moved past him to open the door.

When she went in, he automatically followed, without waiting for her permission.

He looked around the room,

Not a single photograph of him---

What had he been hoping?

That she would be mooning over him after all that he had said to her?

She did not say a word, but walked towards the fridge to put away the vegetables.

He felt like an idiot waiting for some kind of greeting from her.

But she had none.

Walking up to her, he held back her hand as she was putting away a particularly fat piece of cabbage.

'Let go,' she said glaring at him

'No. I am here for a reason and you are not even looking at me,' he said.

She refused to look at him, furiously trying to pull away her hand, while the other was busy trying to put away more vegetables.

'Stop it Khushi. We have to deal with this. We both have a lot of talking to do. We both need to undo the past. We both need to move towards a future. Won't you give me a chance?' he asked her.

Suddenly, she tugged her hands free, dropped the vegetables and said,

'Please Arnav.

If you have come to woo me, then I have never belonged to anyone else. You are the only man I have ever loved.

If you are here to win my heart and make me fall in love with you. Then don't try, I have not fallen out of love with you, ever.

If you ask me anything, I will still give it to you, whole heartedly.'

His heart jumped with joy and he began to smile when to his utter amazement she folded her hands as if in a prayer,

'But please don't make me love or live again,

I have locked my heart and thrown away the key.

I don't believe in love, marriage, kids or happily ever after.

Even if I did, I will never marry, because I never want to experience the happiness which I could not give my parents

I have nothing to give you and you deserve someone who can---'

And just as suddenly she hugged him 'Be happy Arnav---but I am not the one who can make you happy' she said and walked away.

Once again, Arnav watched as she walked away and once again he was lost about how to get his love to be in his life forever---