Taani looked at the Shekhawat house, of which she had been a part until a few months back. How could she forget the place? The same place where she had met her brother after many months, the same place where the girl his brother loved had wished her in spite of being at loggerheads...and the same place where her prince charming had chosen HER as the sixth dancer.
It is said that once you love someone truly and deeply, it's difficult to fall out of love with that person. It was true, even in Taani's case. She had forgotten how many times she had asked her krishna bhagwan to make her forget Rey.. But to no avail. It was absolutely impossible to fall out of love with him.
Not long ago, she had decided to forget Rey as a bad experience. Internally she knew that those few months of her relationship with Rey weren't bad, they were some of the best few moments, in fact that period was the best period of her life. So blissful, so sweet.
Maybe Rey still did love her, or had he fallen out of love with her? Reality struck her and thousands of thoughts started haunting her mind. Maybe Rey had found someone else, maybe Rey was not interested in being with anyone or maybe... countless possibilities she had in mind, but not even once did he think that he had actually turned to her original prince charming, not even once did he think that there were chances of him still loving her.
She walked towards her brother's house expectantly. She was going to meet so many old friends after a long time, but somehow, she didn't really want to meet him and recollect all those moments she had to go through.. moments of trauma.. moments of denial... moments of agony...some moments she had to shed tears on. But from Jodhpur to Mumbai, she had made up her mind to face everyone with determination and to not sulk anywhere. It was supposed to be a happy moment for her.
She pressed the bell. Swayam opened the door. He was surprised to see her.
"Taani!" He exclaimed in disbelief.
Taani's expression was that of happiness and a smile crept on her face.
"Hey bhai." She smiled and hugged him.
"Come in.. How come you came here? Vacations?" He asked her as they broke apart.
"Yeah, vacations. Not exactly, but I'm here for two days."
"Great. But I need to go today in the evening. Some kind of work I have, related to college.." He said.
"That's okay." She said and walked in.
Taani walked inside the house to see the beautifully furnished living room. Everything was same as before . NOTHING had changed. Literally nothing. She hoped to see no change in Rey as well. Hope, was only what she could do.
Rey rested his head on the bedstead and looked at a photo kept next to it. Taani's photo was framed and he used to look at it every night before going to bed. " How I miss you Taani." He muttered under his breath and kept the photo away.
It had been the same routine since months. Looking at Swayam and Sharon, he always used to feel that someone was required to fill the void that was created after Taani's exit. He missed her a lot, but he knew he could not fall in love with anyone else. He loved her. He still loved her a lot.
Suddenly his phone rang as he received a message from Swayam.
"Hey...there's a surprise at my house for all of you. Be here in fifteen minutes at the most."
Swayam wondered what his surprise was. Anyhow, since Swayam was at loggerheads with Sharon and showed absolutely no sign of getting back, he was quite sure of the fact that it wasn't related to them. Then? What was it?
He dressed up in boxers and a casual tee and took his keys and rode to Swayam's house as soon as he could, having absolutely no clue of the big surprise.
Rey reached Swayam's place in ten minutes, and pressed the bell, expecting either Ramu kaka or Swayam to open it, but he was in for a shock.
Dressed in a traditional Indian red salwaar kameez with that angelic face of hers intact and a smile constant on her face, Taani opened the door, only to see Rey. No, she was expecting the gang to arrive before him but he was there first, leaving her spellbound.
Rey thought he was hallucinating at first. Maybe Taani was playing on her mind... He closed his eyes, then opened them and rubbed his eyes to get a clearer picture.
It was no joke. She was really there. The girl of his dreams... The girl whom he had promised to love till eternity was finally there, standing in front of him expecting him to say something... She hadn't changed a bit. She was still the same, childlike innocence in her eyes, a glint of happiness in them, her face radiant and her lips carving into a beautiful smile.
She was amazed as she saw him. She was kinda avoiding him, for a reason best known to her and something contrary to her expectations happened. He, her prince charming was standing right in front of her, gawking at her and not uttering a word. How was she supposed to react?
Relax Taani. Remember what you had promised yourself? You won't, you can't let him affect you or affect him. You are not his soul mate. Just remember that.
They were still staring at each other, when Swayam called out to her to check, who it was. He came out to see who it was, and wasn't really surprised at what he saw.
"Why are both of you here?" He asked. "Rey...come in."
"Yeah." Rey said and Taani got out from his way to give him space and let him walk in.
Rest of the gang trotted in five minutes later, and as expected, all of them were surprised as they saw Taani with Swayam. They exclaimed in unison and the girls, except Sharon ran to hug her.
"Glad to see you back." Aashi said as they broke apart.
"Even I'm glad I'm here..although for some time.." She said the last few words in a comparatively slow tone.
"You said something?" Simmi asked.
"No.." Taani said. "I've got something for all of you." She said, putting up a smile.
Taani gave everyone their gifts. She had got a few of Jodhpur's famous things and the girls were elated as they got a couple of pairs of beautiful dazzling earrings and bracelets.
Sharon walked towards Taani and gave her a hug. "Welcome back." She smiled.
"Thanks Sharon." She said and smiled genuinely.
All this while Rey was noticing her. She had got a few things for everyone, except for him and Swayam of course. He wasn't sad, he had got the best gift among all. He had got her back. His Taani, she was back... for some reason.. and probably she had realized that she could not possibly suffer through the pangs of separation.
Rey didn't budge, neither did Taani look at him. Internally he could feel that she was equally excited to meet him. She looked gorgeous.
Although the gang wanted to stay on for sometime longer, they couldn't possibly do that because they had to go to the college, all of them had to, because of the post ram-leela thing.
All were willing to go, all except Rey. Rey wanted to stay there. He wanted to talk to Taani. He wanted to hug her, he wanted to envelope his hands around her and pour out all the love he had for her... he wanted to tell the world how much he had missed her, he wanted to let her know, that he couldn't possibly move on because her photo was imprinted in his heart and that he couldn't possibly forget her.
"Let's go guys.." Sharon said after they were done with some snacks.
"Yeah." Swayam said, being able to fathom the fact that Rey wanted to spend some time with Taani.
All of them got up and decided to leave.
"Rey, aren't you coming?" Vicky asked when he saw Rey sitting idle on a chair.
Swayam and Sharon exchanged glaces. Sharon was well aware that her best friend wanted to have a conversation with Taani, but how was she supposed to tell the same to the gang?
"No." Rey said straightaway. "I'll come in some time. You guys leave."
"Okay." the gang, except Swayam and Sharon said in unison, perplexed, and left the house.
Rey stood in the living room of Swayam's house, gawking shamelessly at Taani. Taani couldn't do anything more. She couldn't help but look at him..stare at him...adore him...She wanted to pour out her affection to him, she wanted to tell the world that she loved him, she wanted to hug him..she wanted to tell him that she would always be there for him.
"Why didn't you go with others?" She asked, breaking the silence and shifting her gaze.
"You very well know that."
"No Rey... I don't...Why didn't you go?" She asked, hesitating a bit..avoiding an eye contact.
Rey slowly walked towards her. She didn't flinch. She allowed him to come closer to her. She didn't budge, she didn't want to. As he kept reducing the distance between them, she felt his hot breath over her face. Her heart beats started pacing up and down.. Her breath was getting heavier with each passing second. She was enjoying the proximity, but what was happening...what was going to happen in a matter of the next couple of seconds, she didn't know. Without wasting a moment more, he placed his lips over her forehead.
"Because of this." He said.
Taani didn't say anything. What had actually happened? She was still in trance. She felt as if she was the most luckiest girl in the world when he had kissed her. She felt as if she was getting something that was long due, when he placed his lips over her forehead, she felt as if she was complete when his soft lips touched her forehead.
"Back to reality Taani. Talk to him and tell him that you are not here for long." Her conscience reminded her.
"Rey..." She began, hesitating again.
"Taani, I love you." He said. "I do. I cannot get over you. I really cannot. I don't know whether you have moved on or not, but I possibly cannot move on from you. It's practically impossible. I really do love you a lot. You have no idea in what condition I was Taani. Every night I would look at your photo and ask you to come back into my life. You would walk into my dreams and ask me to move on.. But I can't Taani. I'm sorry. You are my life."
Taani felt her heart aching as he spoke. Her heart broke into a million pieces. Yes, she was going through the same. Yes, she was not able to move on from him. Yes, she was suffering the pangs of separation and wanted to be with him till eternity.
Soft pearls started trickling down her cheeks. He immediately saw them and wiped them off her face. Still, they wouldn't stop. He didn't know whether they were tears of joy, or tears of happiness.
Moment of truth. You need to tell him. A voice echoed in her mind.
"I love you Rey." She nodded and engulfed him into a hug... a hug like never before... two love birds hugged like there was no tomorrow, two people so in love hugged each other as if pouring out all the love they had in their hearts, two love birds hugged each other as if they promised to be there for the other one, always.
His tee was partially wet as they broke apart. Rey's face broke into a pretty genuine smile. Taani felt it was the first time he had smiled genuinely after so many days.
She let the tears trickle down her face as she tried to put up a brave smile. How could she possibly tell him the truth when he loved her so much ? How could she possibly make him believe that she was not going to be there for many months. How could she possibly tell him that she was going? Why did love hurt so much?
She was about to say something when he didn't let her, and spoke in between.
"So, we are officially back now, right?" He asked, elated, hoping for an answer.
She looked at the happy face in front of her . Was it good to break his heart like that? Was it really ethical to let the love of her life suffer because of her? No! Then , why was she doing that? She had no other option. She had to do that. Sometimes, life was all about letting your love be happy, but could he really be happy without her?
"Rey.." She spoke slowly.
"Yes?"
She closed her eyes in anticipation. "I'm...I'm getting engaged." She said.
Rey stood numb for a while and his face broke into laughter.
"You are joking right?" He asked.
"No Rey." She stood still. "I'm seriously getting engaged.
Rey stood numb, for a few seconds...unable to believe what she had just said..He didn't realize but tears had started to flow down his cheeks.
Taani was expecting this.
"You can't get engaged Taani... not just like this.." He said, in a firm tone.
"Rey, but I'm." She said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Rey turned around. "Did anyone force you?"
She tried facing him. "No... I said yes myself."
"Why Taani?" He asked as he turned around, sniffling.
"Because I had to. I had to either say yes or no. Rey, every place is not like Bombay. It's different in Jodhpur. They get a girl married by the age of 20 and prepare her for all the household chores. They let her study after she gets married, but it's like this in our family. And the same has been happening since a long time."
"But you are young..."
"Rey, in Jodhpur everyone above 18 is eligible for marriage. I'm 20. I'm eligible. I persuaded them for letting me study. They did, and asked me to finish my MBA course after getting married."
"But how can they?" Rey said, still unable to believe the fact that she was getting engaged.
"Rey, it's like that only. You'll have to move on. Trust me, you'll find a better girl than me."
"I WANT YOU TAANI" He said, dotingly, and so audibly that she almost froze.
"Rey, please try to forget me." She said.
"Taani" He said and looked right into her eyes. "Do you love me?"
She gaped into his blue orbs as they reflected her face..She saw care, love, concern for her in his eyes. He really did love her a lot.
"Yes." She nodded. "I do love you a lot."
Taani's one statement made his day. So she did love him really. That was great. Rey had over a few seconds made up his mind to not let her marry that Jodhpur guy whatsoever. He loved her and she loved him too, so what was stopping both of them? They could very well get back together and let the rest of the world go to hell.
He placed his hands over her shoulders, still staring into her eyes. "You do right?"
She nodded as if she needn't revise her decision again. She did love him a lot.
"So trust me, we'll fight the world and make sure we are together. We will land up together."
"Rey but..." She tried to deviate.
"You trust me right?"
She nodded.
"You trust our love?"
She nodded affirmatively again.
"You believe in US?"
She took time, but eventually nodded.
"Then trust me, we'll, both of us WILL convince your family members to not let you marry the other guy. We'll convince them that our love is too strong and our story cannot be left incomplete like this. We'll convince them that we need each other for our survival. We'll prove to them that we love each other beyond any limits. Trust me."
Rey could notice a smile overtaking Taani's lips. Her lips carved into a crescent as she heard Rey saying all that.
"Are you sure?"
"I believe in our love. I'm 100 percent sure."
She smiled widely. "We can do it."
Tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks as her face broke into a smile like never before. Finally, she felt a ray of hope striking her . Things were soon going to be her way.
She hugged him tightly, as if promising him to be there with him till eternity, to love him like never before..
"I love you Rey." She said still hugging him.
"I love you too Taani." He said, rubbing concentric circles on her back.
Hope you liked the OS! Sorry for the typos. š
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