ONCE UPON A TIME
Those deep wounds, the wreckage, the unforgivable crime
I thought you were my 'Once upon a time'
...
She ran her hand over the shimmering, white and golden wedding card that read, "Nisaar weds Rati". A myriad of emotions ran through her mind, an amalgam of grief, nostalgia and a yearning desire, making a million delitescent memories zoom past her, which were up until now, kept untouched in a part of her mind she seldom ventured.
In an adjacent room, alone, amidst the musical instruments, a lone tear fell on a similar card as he tried, and failed, to keep himself from falling apart. He took a deep breath and looked around at the vacant room.
The walls around him echoed the past laughter, which had now turned into aching whispers and hushed tears. On the floor lay the shattered remnants of the vibrant dreams they spun together, broken and torn apart. Nostalgia filled the very air he inhaled as the room in front of him blurred into a cherished moment of the past.
...
The sound of tinkling anklets, and mellifluous laughter engulfed the room as she ran around the bed with him chasing after her.
"Meher! It's my wedding too. Remember?", Abeer pouted.
Getting hold of her from behind, he snatched the wedding card from her hands to have a look at it.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?", she asked, a smile playing on her lips.
Moving his hands over the golden letters engraved on it, he could feel a tinge of anxiety coupled with exultation. The moment they had been waiting for since ages was finally here. Placing the card on the bed, he took out a tiny golden locket from his pocket and held it out to her.
Surprised, she took it from him and explored it with her fingers, clicking the tiny bulge at its side and opening it. Inside it, in golden were engraved the words, 'you're my once upon a time'.
"Just something to remember me by when I am not there. A Souvenir", he answered softly encircling her waist with his arms.
KNOCK.
The banging grew louder by the second bringing him out of his reverie.
"Abeer, are you all right?", Rati's mother called out from behind the door.
"Never better", he replied, his mind not in agreement with his voice.
...
That sparkling smile, those winsome eyes
I fell for you that are all I knew
Luring me into your web of lies
Yet I don't regret falling for you
Thought you'd fade away and yet here you are
The reason I have teardrops on my guitar...
...
"They say the darker the henna, the more your beau loves you. I think mine is the darkest.!" Rati giggled, sitting beside Meher who was getting her hands done.
"Careful Rati, even the darkest of the colors fade", a voice behind them spoke bitterly.
Meher turned around, meeting Abeer's determined gaze. Despite of the loathed feeling all she saw was inexplicable warmth and tenderness in those alluring orbs, veiled by his unconcealed vexation and bitter rage. He quickly quickly masqueraded it by his stony exterior.
Unable to bear the vindictive look on his face any longer she stared at her henna-clad hands, the 'A' on it staring right back at her. Her mind blurred into a long forgotten memory. Distant voices loomed into her head.
"Meher show me your henna. I want to find my name in it"
"You won't be able to", she giggled.
"Just show me!" he growled.
She flinched as she tried to block the silent voices clogging her head. Unable to bear the rushing memories of the tormenting past she didn't want to revel in, she stood up and ran towards the nearest washroom.
A mad rage took over her as she rubbed not only her hands under the cold water oozing out of tap but also the reminiscences of her broken yet beatific relationship.
..,.
"You can't find it, can you?", Meher chuckled.
"Did you really think I wouldn't find my name?", Abeer asked gently, looking directly into her eyes.
"My name is right here", he said, placing her hand on the left side of her chest and covering with his.
"Where? My breast?", she asked innocently and burst into laughter seeing his seductive smirk turn into a flabbergasted one.
"Meher! You are such a buzz kill", he whined in between her incessant laughter.
...
The laughter died as the blurry flashes spiraled swiftly into a dark stormy night, the echoes of which still reverberated in her mind.
...
"I'm done with you and your games! I am done with everything", screamed Abeer. The loud thunder intensifying his rage.
"I am not playing any games! Open your eyes Abeer!", she pulled at his collar trying to shake him out of his madness.
He clawed himself out of her grip with revulsion etched on every feature of his.
"I have. I have opened my eyes Meher. I can see the real Meher Purohit now. It's over", he said, blinded by rage as he swiftly turned around and walked away, leaving her standing there, all alone.
"You promised me forever Abeer. Don't go", she pleaded.
He never looked back.
...
Enough.
She had handled enough.
She had come back into his life with the purpose of showing Abeer that she could face the trials and tribulations of life without him waiting to catch her when she fell. That purpose was long forgotten and had been replaced by a tiny thread of renewed hope, a hope of the blissful past still being the present.
Loving Abeer had been so hard with all his flaws and madness. It was only now that Meher came to realize that hating him was harder. No matter how many times she replayed his ruthless words, it never got easier. It didn't matter if her mind told her otherwise. Her heart still pulled her towards him.
What was she doing with her life?
She thought she has moved on.
But...
She dried her hands quickly and dialed her boss's number.
...
The stormy night, and that ugly fight
Remember the time when nothing was right?
You left me alone, bruised and broken
I braved the harsh world, my soul taken
Thought you'd fade away and yet here you are
Waiting to rip into my heart another scar
"You remember the offer you made Sir? Dubai Branch? 3 times the salary."
"Yes Meher. And I also remember that you instantly refused it"
"I am going to rectify that mistake. I'll take it"
"It's good that you have given it a thought. We are glad to have you on board. How early can you join us?"
"Tomorrow. I can't stay here any longer. I'll leave today itself."
...
The longer I tried, the harder became the climb
I thought you were my 'Once upon a time'
...
Magnificent.
The hall was looking absolutely stunning.
He walked across the even line of white orchids, staring at the exemplary decorations in wonderment. The room was filled with shimmering shades of yellow, red, blue and green from the lehengas and the sarees, the fluorescent lights beautifying the already exhilarated atmosphere The priest sat at the center of the 'mandap' reciting his phrases as both Nisaar and Rati stood up for their 'pheras'.
The sight took him 8 years into the past when he was standing in the same place as Nisaar, unknown to the harshness of life, unaware of the troubles that lay ahead. His eyes found Meher's and in an instant he knew they were reliving the same memories. The harder he tried to look away, the harder it became to do the same. He saw her eyes moisten as she tore away from the gaze and disappeared into the festive crowd.
"From today, you both are husband and wife", the priest said to Nisaar and Rati as they completed their wedding vows.
Those deep wounds, the wreckage, the unforgivable crime
I thought you were my 'Once upon a time'
**
Few hours later
"I can't believe you actually fell for the trap called marriage", Abeer said to Nisaar.
"And I can't believe you are getting trapped in this useless ego and letting her go", he replied.
"Excuse me? I begged for her to come back. Did she? And now she is back when I don't even want to see her face", he said bitterly.
"Don't worry about that. You won't have to see her face again"
"What? What do you mean?", he asked, utterly perplexed.
"She had asked me not to tell you but if there is even the slightest chance that you can keep aside your ego and stop her, I will . She has taken the offer for Dubai. She's on the way to the airport right now"
Abeer looked at Nisaar for a few seconds, gob smacked, registering what he had heard.
She was leaving?
Hiding from him?
But wasn't that what he wanted?
Then why was he feeling disappointed now?
He could feel a familiar pull in his gut, a numbing feeling that slowly spread out to every part of his body, swallowing him into the abyss of despair and desolation. He didn't want to visit that place again, the place he had been stuck in for the past 8 years. He took his car keys and rushed out of the door ignoring Nissar's repetitive calls.
...
Panicked, he walked almost half ran, in the sleeting rain, towards the airport entrance unable to decide what exactly was left unsaid. The rain blinded his vision making it difficult to find what he was searching.
What if he couldn't find her?
What if she had already left?
Fear squeezed his heart.
A gut-wrenching pain shot out from somewhere in his chest as he fought his best to swallow down his cries, the numbness threatening to engulf his very own existence any moment.
All he felt was a vacuum. Numbness. Void.
He saw a familiar figure running towards the entrance, brushing past the crowd with her suitcase being pulled behind her even though he didn't trust his blurry vision,
he screamed
...
"Meherrr!!"
"Stop!"
She stopped dead in her tracks, recognizing the anguish cry. At first she dismissed it as an echo of her heart. But this was undoubtedly him. She didn't need to turn and see.
She knew.
She felt his familiar fragrance behind her, a gentle brush on her shoulders as the rain veiled the tears slowly streaming down her cheek.
No. She couldn't stop now. She couldn't instill that tiny thread of hope inside her again. She couldn't bear to get her heart broken again.
"You...you promised me forever.", he whispered.
"Did you?" she paused. "No you didn't", she answered in a trembled voice unable to turn and look at him fearing that her eyes would betray the strength she faked and revealing every raw emotion she concealed behind that tough exterior.
She tried to move away, but he caught hold of her hand refusing to let her go.
"I tried to stay from you, hate you from the fiber of my being. But this", he pointed between them, "I don't know how to stop".
Was it the rain or his tears that cascaded his cheeks Mehak wondered? She tightened her fist to stop herself from touching him. Her heart screamed to tell him that everything is going to be okey but her mind reminded her of the cold rainy, where she stood alone, shivering uncontrollably in the thunderstorm. They had fought that day, far worse than ever before. Barbed and painful words had been exchanged and wounds ripped open far too deeply to ever heal. He had left her in that weather, all alone without even a second glance.
Meher shut her eyes tightly, "This..." she mimicked his moments "would never work out". He would hurt her again, he would break her again, that much was assured. She took two steps backward; her fingers tightened around the slippery object held in her palm, glinting brightly even in the darkness like a beacon of hope.
The light reflected in his widening eyes as his gaze fell on what her hands were holding.
His souvenir.
...
Wounded souls bound together for a life time
You will always be my 'once upon a time'
..
Edited by -Koeli_Appy- - 8 years ago
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