Chapter 4
Preeta stared at the pregnancy test, a mixture of joy and worry making its way from the pit of her stomach. The two pink lines confirmed her about the imminent life for her and him. She quickly hid the stick and then smiled as she imagined it telling him the news. They were just a month away from the wedding and she was sure they were ready for this.
She couldn’t hold her excitement and finally decided to call him instead of waiting for his return. It was raining cats and dogs and he wouldn’t be home till it died.
“Hello Rishabh?”
Her gaze was into the far distance, unseeing but fixed on the trees while sitting on her roller chair, numbed by the painful memories. As much as she loved rains, she couldn’t help but feel choked once in a while in the middle of the rainfall. The harbingers of the past she so strongly wished to eradicate.
Moving on from a person was easier than moving on from memories. She could throw and burn every bit of last six months, but what would she do to get rid of the moments incised in her soul?
She felt the wet hot tears fill up her eyes, her throat closed tight and each word pitched higher than the last in an effort to squeak out. “We shall overcome, someday”. She recited her mantra and wiped off her face. No. She wouldn’t let the horror take away another day from her already handful of life that she was left with.Her family didn’t deserve this. She would not just pretend but be genuinely happy, for them, for herself.
The rain had stopped and so did her tears. She pushed the wheels towards her room as she murmured, ‘until next time’.
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There was an ambiguity in the sky as the darkness of clouds and brightness of evening sun wrestled to take over. It was time for the sun to set on the horizon, painting the water and sky with the reflection of all shades of rainbow that were gradually spreading. Rishabh stood at the center of the beach as he looked at the mixing of colours in ocean. Now that he was alone, he didn’t need the sham. Karan was not only his kid brother but he had literally raised him like his son. It had been months since he had seen him and today when he was standing just a foot away, he couldn’t go and hug him just like old times. Things had changed and the man he saw today wasn’t his little brother anymore.
Listening to the sound of the water as the waves crest against the shore, Rishabh watched the kids playing and chasing each other through the water; his own heart broke a bit as he remembered his days with karan. Beach had been karan’s safe heaven and every time he used to get upset, Rishabh knew where to find him. Was this the reason why he himself stood in the middle of the vast spread of sand because the longing that he saw in karan’s eyes stirred his soul?
‘Focus' he thought to himself harshly. Apprehension twisted in his stomach like a snake, awoken from hibernation as he recalled tomorrow he had to meet the doctor to know about her progress. He opened his wallet to look for his saving grace. The small photograph always was the source of strength and hope in him. The tiny little bundle of joy in grey always encouraged him.May be all was not lost. Yet. He still remember the time when she gifted him this photograph. Nothing had ever brought so much of contentment and happiness on her face.
No, he would never forgive karan. And neither was he in mood to go back to home where he knew his mother would ask him to talk to him. Rather, he had other plans. He needed to know where she was and they, for sure would know it.
“Hello, salil? I want you to book me a flight to Delhi.. Yes today night”
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Preeta looked at the clock every now and then. It wasn’t like he was late but she couldn’t wait to see him after so long. Vansh was her best friend who also was her neighbor. He was living in one of the two flats of the floor where she lived. He knew everything about her, well almost everything; and she couldn’t thank her stars enough to send him in her life like a guardian angel.
And today, he was coming back after a week long tour. She wished to welcome him like a family would do generally but her confinement on the wrecked wheelchair often left her frustrated.
A sudden knock on the door made Preeta almost jump inexcitement. “ Just a second!” she yelled.
As the nurse opened the door, vansh entered and leaped the moment he saw her.
“Hey princess! I missed you!”
“Gross man, you stink! Get off me” She pushed him off her and immediately regretted. He was not in a good shape. The dark circles beneath them showed his obvious lack of sleep. May be he needed the hug more than she did, but hey. He stank.
“Tough week?”
“Hell yeah. The case we were working on had got major lead on Tuesday and from then on, I am on my feet through n through.”
Preeta smiled as he kept complaining about his week. He was a journalist and was recently working on a murder case of a minister. She didn’tunderstand much of his job but she tried to be as supportive as she could.
“…so that’s how I ended up in his room” Preeta didn’t realize when she zoned out but it was too late because he already noticed.
“What’s wrong love?”
“Nothing. And you don’t always have to call sweet-names. I am not five and definitely not a princess.”
“Alright, come here.”
He took her near the mirror. “You are perfect, Preeta. Nothing short of a princess as I call you. And I don’t say things I don’t mean ,you know it” He caressed her hair and kissed her cheek.She didn’t have to tell him because her dried up tears told him the story of the day. He knew her inside out. No, not her story, but her. He couldn’t do anything to change what had already happened but he vowed to make things beautiful for her, just like her. Today, however was not as beautiful as he wanted it to be and he knew just the way to make it better.
He turned on the stereo and put the volume high as he started to sing along.
Oh her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining.
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying.
She's so beautiful and I tell her every day." He sang and he made preeta sit on her bed.
"Yeah I know, I know, when I compliment her she won't believe me
and it's so, it's so sad to think she don't see what I see." He wiggled his brows as he asked her. All this while a smile crept on her lips and eyes sparkled seeing his putting so much of effort. She must have done something really good in her past lifetime, as they say, to have him.
"But every time she asks me do I look okay?
I say when I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change
cause you're amazing just the way you are."
He took one of her dolls from her bed and twirled her around
"And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while
cause girl you're amazing just the way you are." He kept romancing with the doll till preeta laughed exuberantly. He looked at her and smiled. She was happy, and that was all that mattered to him.
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