Posted:
Hi all,
DO NOT COPY THIS POST AS THIS IS EXCLUSIVE TO INDIA FORUMS
It seems I cannot stop the flow of words wanting to be expressed for SwaSan. This is my second OS in so many days. It's set after the molestation accusation (🤢🤢🤢) as I wondered how SwaSan would react straight after that, given how much high voltage drama will erupt by then. Please feel free to comment and even criticise, I usually write other fiction and blogs but don't often write fan fiction so am learning in that department! Thanks in advance to those who read 😊
Unspoken Promises
Swara felt a sense of helpless panic as she tried to find him. She knew he wasn't in the house as she had checked and he wasn't answering his phone. After that terrible scene where the monster she once thought of as her sister had accused him of unspeakable things she knew with unshakeable faith he would never do and the resultant accusations and arguments with the family, after she had stopped Lakshya for daring to raise his hand on him, when she had given them all a piece of her mind and told them that she trusted him and no matter what, he would never stoop so low as to disgrace a woman in the manner Ragini suggested, everyone had dispersed. She should not have let him go the way he had, a man possessed, as if he would once again take a burning flame and torch everything in his wake. But she had been stunned, her mind gone blank after she stood up for him, her emotions which were still at their crescendo after the momentous happenings of him putting sindoor on her, his attack on Ragini and the following drunken rant culminating in his shocking and unexpected confession of love. Was it any wonder then that she had almost collapsed after that staggering confrontation where all were turning against him and his parents staying frighteningly silent, most likely out of shock and not knowing what to say, and she had to take a stand and try to make them see sense that he would never commit such a heinous act. She had lost track of all time as she sat there on the floor, not knowing what to think or feel with any coherence but endlessly playing the latest events in her mind, until the image of his stricken face when he saw that his family were disbelieving him and the indecipherable look he shot her when he finally realised that she did believe him and spoke for him, finally jolted her from her reverie.
Where would he have gone? Swara found herself walking rapidly out of the house and towards the spot of the haven they had shared for those short days which were an interlude in the chaos that otherwise surrounded them. All that remained there were the sorry remains of their tent, complete with burnt grass patches which highlighted the razing of their little hideout which had been polluted by unwanted intruders. Swara walked deeper into the huge lawned area that the mansion was set in and finally came to a little grove like area of garden, set back enough from the house so as not to be overseen by prying eyes. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, straight-backed and defensive, as if he was uncaring of what had happened, but she could feel the tension emanating from him in the very rigidity of his stance and the way he stared into nothingness. She knew he had heard her but he didn't turn around. Without realising it, she had grown used to having his gaze on her almost constantly when she was with him and this sudden and unexpectedly random thought slowed her steps towards him. She knew he was hurting and this filled her with a sharp pain.
"Sanskaar..." He did not turn around. She walked up to him almost hesitatingly, not sure what to say or do but knowing she had to help him as he had helped her innumerable times in her latest ordeals. She put a hand on his shoulder and he slightly flinched but did not look at her and stared instead at her slender fingers on his shoulder.
"Sanskaar, tum theek ho?" How many times had he asked her this, she thought wryly, as she uttered the trite phrase but genuinely concerned for his reply. He had again shifted his gaze into the inky darkness before them whilst she spoke and his response was delivered in a curiously flat tone, but underlain with a repressed force.
"Kya tumne wahan joh kuch bhi kaha, kya tum sachmein woh maanti ho Swara, yah phir mera saath dene ke liye jhoot bola aur tumhe bhi darr he ke shayad maine sach mein toh..."
Before he could finish his ridiculous question, she exerted force on his should and half yanked him around and stepped herself sideways so as to face him more directly. She also pushed him hard for good measure.
"How dare you Sanskaar? Tum mujhse istara ka sawaal kaise pooch sakte ho? Main jaanti hoon ke tum kabhi aisa nahi karsakte. Maine kahe ek ek labz par mujhe poora bharosa hai, jis tarah se tumpar hai. Maine ek bhi minute ke liye nahi socha ke tum kabhi bhi aisa kuch karsakte ho." She couldn't help how high pitched her voice sounded in that silent spot.
His eyes were now burning into hers but she didn't shy away from meeting that blazing glaze, which shone with a strange fervour and tried to convey so much, not all of which she could immediately digest, or even understand.
"Lekin meri khud ki family ko yakeen nahin hai Swara! Mere mom aur dad ne bhi, maana nahi hoga toh bhi awaaz nahi uthai. Phir kyun tum, jiske saath maine hi itna galat kiya tha, tumhe itna yakeen kyon hai?!" He asked with the desperation of one who needs this lifeline like a drowning man needs a raft, but frightened to find the salvation he feels he does not really deserve. Some devil in him wanted to ask the questions he was frightened she would ask and he wanted to preempt the pain this would bring him if she admitted she did have doubts, just like everyone else did. After all when it was the word of a witch masquerading as an innocent cherub, against a self confessed liar and deceiver, people were bound to be confused, especially when a woman who wore the mask of respectability accused a man who had recently threatened her with such an abhorrent act.
"Kyun ke tumne mere saath galat karne ke waqt bhi apni maryada hamesha rakhi Sanskaar. Jabh mujhe tumpar shak tha, tumse kuch ajeeb sa darr bhi laga tha kabhi kabhi, lekin kabhi bhi iss tarah ka nahi joh aaj tumpar ghatiya ilzaam hai. Aur mera dil jaanta hai ke tum sach mein badal gaye ho. Maine tumhe kitni baar kaha ke tumne joh bhi past mein kiya woh wahi rehgaya, tumhari galti ka ehsaas aur tabh se le kar aaj, joh bhi tumne mere liye kiya, iske baad main tum par shak karoongi Sanskaar? Kya tum mujhe itna hi jaan paye ho? Aur abh kitni baar hame yeh sabh batein dohraani hogi ke tum maan lo ke main sach mein tumhe abh un galtiyon ke liye blame nahi karti?..."
How she never ceased to amaze him, thought Sanskaar as he stared in wonderment at this beautiful feisty slip of a girl who had so captivated him with her purity, optimism and innate goodness. Her words were a balm to his ravaged soul, he felt drained by events and the turmoil he had experienced the past hours, but at the same time, a strange exhilaration raced through his veins as he saw she really meant it- she trusted him! She hadn't said all she had in front of his family out of a misplaced sense of loyalty and friendship to him, she knew her sister lied and even her instinctive love for her sister which prevailed despite all the venom she spewed at her, did not deflect her from her faith in him. He was overcome and humbled. He, who was a master of repartee and wit, always ready with a timely comeback and never at a loss for words, found himself speechless and breathless at what this signified to him.
He realised that she was still talking, his "Jhansi ki Raani" had of course not finished her tirade and was intent on still chiding him for being silly and was now expressing rage at the woman whose name he could not bear to even think of at this moment.
Smiling slightly, he gently placed his fingers over her delectable mouth, abruptly stilling the endless flow of her reassurances and meeting her stunned gaze, said softly,
"Thank you Swara."
Her eyes had widened as she seemed to savour the gentle contact of his fingers on her lips and her eyes stayed glued to his. How he wished he could pull her closer and seal their unspoken promises with a kiss but he knew that he had to proceed slowly, he could not afford to scare her off especially as he had no idea what she had thought of his earlier drunken rantings. With an almost inaudible sigh of regret, and very reluctantly, he trailed his fingers gently away from her face, being unable to resist taking as long as possible to keep contact with her soft skin.
He still stared at her and she could clearly see his inner turmoil and once his touch, which surprised and yet thrilled her despite herself, ceased, she felt almost bereft. She could have said so many things, and she wanted to. She could have started by pointing out their "no sorry, no thank you" pact but rational thought had temporarily abandoned her. She couldn't bear to see his uncertainty and his underlying worry about the new challenge they now had to face to prove his innocence and therefore she instead did what felt right. She threw her arms around him and hugged him to her, wanting to say that it would be alright, they would succeed, she would help him as he had helped her and that she was sorry he faced this for her and she would see him proved innocent. However, the beauty of their burgeoning relationship was that she didn't need to say anything.
His breath catching at the unexpectedness of her embrace, Sanskaar wrapped his arms around her, shut his eyes and breathed in the scent of her, suddenly feeling enveloped in peace and hope. He knew they would make it right.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
