Be warned...
You may not like this one...
OS : Closed Door
Sleep.
It rarely came to him...
And when it did, it was filled to the brim with nightmares.
Family together.
Family destroyed.
Love found.
Love lost.
Arnav slept fitfully...
Until his dreams took a turn...
"Chote?..."
"Ma?"
"Your father cheated on two people...me, and Garima...just as Shyam cheated on two people, your Di, and your wife..."
Arnav's heart began to shatter...
Perspiration broke out all over his body simultaniously with an ice cold chill...
"You have let hate, and the past rule your future once again...Hurry...Hurry...you may be too late..."
Arnav sat up, feeling sick with anxiety...
He stood up and stormed towards his car.
Driving aimlessly in the bleak night, all he heard was the voice of his mother..."Your father cheated on two people, Shyam cheated on two people..."
He pushed down harder on the accelerator...
"Hurry...Hurry..."
In sheer panic, his foot slammed on the breaks.
Furiously, he threw his car door open and stormed out...
His mind wandered to his mother...
Hurt and cheated on...
Garima, begging for him not to blame Khushi, begging him to believe her that she didn't know about his father being married...
Anjali, blindly trusting the traitorous letch that was her husband...
Khushi...
All other feeling ceased to exist.
He had been so blinded by rage that he had broken every promise, every bond, every moment of love, to the one person who had always been innocent.
"She was never to blame...and I..."
Debilitating pain began to cripple his heart...
"I need her back...but...am I too late?..."
"Hurry...Hurry" his mother's words drifted back to him...
Rushing back to his car, he sped in the direction of Khushi's house...
He hurried so fast to her front door that he looked liked a drunken person...
Banging hard, he saw lights turn on and Buaji answered...
He instantly saw how tired she was.
No longer ASR, and no longer Arnav, he became the desperate child he once was..."Buaji...I made a mistake...so bad...I...I can't...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
"Who is it Jiji?"
As soon as Garima saw who it was, she froze..."No...No, Khushi can't take anymore accusations...please, if you don't believe me still, yell at me, but please..."
Arnav rushed to her and knelt before her..."No...No Auntie, I am here to beg her forgiveness, and yours too..."
Garima was shaking with fear...
"Please go from here..." Buaji said quietly...
Arnav's clouded eyes darted from Buaji to Garima..."Please...Please, I know I never listened to your cries, but please..." his voice was rasping..."please, I need Khushi...She is innocent..." he grabbed Garima's hands..."YOU are innocent...forgive me...I need Khushi..."
Garima broke away from Arnav and collapsed onto a chair weeping...
Arnav stood and tried to comfort her when Buaji intervened..."NO...leave her...please leave here..."
He knew what was left of his soul would die if he left without seeing his wife..."Please...Please I need to see Khushi...Buaji, I'm begging you, please..."
"She's not here."
Arnav's eyes shot over to Garima.
Pure dread filled his heart, "...Wh...What? Where..."
"Her body is here...but Khushi, my Khushi, the Khushi I know...she is not here anymore..."
"What? What do you mean?"
Buaji slumped into a chair next to Garima..."I have never seen someone so full of hate, so full of disrespect, so full of emptiness. She hates me, Garima, she even shuns her babuji. She is rude to the neighbours, to her friends...and...and feels nothing for anyone..."
"No..." Arnav shook his head..."She's hurt...I've...I've hurt her, I've...I've betrayed her...that's what...I need to, I need to make it up to..."
"She cried until she passed out, she collapsed to the floor and just faded away..."
Arnav clenched his eyes shut, not wishing to picture the love of his life in that condition...
"And the very next morning..." Garima continued..."a completely different person woke up..."
"No...No...I don't believe..."
"What is all this noise! Can't you call Shut Up!"
All eyes turned towards the new voice that filled the room...
"When you're all done playing 'cry babies', let me rest!"
Arnav was horrified.
"Khushi..." he whispered..."Why are you talking like...
Pacing slowly towards him, Khushi pointed a finger at his chest..."Don't you DARE talk to me! I hate your very existance! So how to you think I feel about the SIGHT of you!"
"Khushi!
Please...He has come here to..."
"Buaji! Enough! I'm not interested in why he has come, or WHO he even is!"
"I'm your husband..."
At that Khushi began to laugh...
Laugh so hard that she thought she'd get a cramp in her side...
"You?" she tried to control her voice..."YOU? My husband? I think NOT...Now PLEASE keep it down!"
She turned to leave
but Arnav caught her arm..."Khushi, I'm here to beg your forgiveness! I
treated you so wrong, I broke my word..."
Yanking her arm free, she turned to face him..."Your WORD? Your word means NOTHING to me! Everything that we went through means NOTHING to me!"
"Khushi, please..."
Arnav was losing all hope left..."Hurry...Hurry..."
"Khushi I can't lose you!"
Standing tall, not a single tear forming in her eyes, Khushi looked straight at him..."You had me. But you will NEVER have me again. Goodnight."
She turned and disappeared into her room...
Arnav shook his head..."I...I just need to give her some time...I won't stop trying...I won't..."
"She has been like this for 3 weeks now...Doctors have told us that this is her way of coping..."
"I...I need her...I was...I was wrong...I..."
Buaji took Arnav's hand..."You have to leave..."
As he was led out, Arnav pleaded again and again to come back to see her...
But all he saw were two grief stricken faces, closing the door to his life.
The End.
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