The sound of wind chimes as the door opened brought Tejo out of her trip down memory lane. She looked at the man that stepped in. His dark hair ruffled as if he had just woken up, his pronounced eye bags spoke of sleepless nights, his untrimmed beard told a story of distraction, the have untucked shirt as if he had been in a hurry and the unbuttoned button on the top of his shirt screamed carelessness.
Tejo's eyebrows automatically drew together in a frown. What had gotten into Fateh to turn up like this? He had sighted an emergency and sounded frantic but she hadn't given it a second thought. The man called emergency when he couldn't find his watch.
Her eyes scanned him, from head to toe and then again and again and again till he had made his way to her and seated himself.
"Before you blast me with questions, just listen. Please" He looked at her and there was something in his eyes that made her bite her tongue and swallow. She patiently waited, not saying a word, for him to continue.
"I'm sorry." he whispered
Tejo went still. She still remembered when she had run into him all those years later for the first time. Three months pregnant, latched onto Rohan's arm giggling at a joke he had cracked. The shopping bags had gone flying into the air, and then like it was a scene from a romantic movie everything had slowed.
But instead of love all she could have felt was hurt. The wounds were no longer raw but they throbbed with the burden of a painful memory. She had blinked in disbelieve. Once and then twice and then thrice.
She had expected tears to flow but her eyes were surprisingly dry, she had expected her feet to go running towards him and her arms to wrap around him but all she wanted to do was get as far away as possible for him.
That day she had walked away with Rohan, not a word was exchanged but he had tracked her down. Called her, several tomes before landing up on her doorstep. He had apologised profusely, even had gotten down on his knees.
She hadn't forgiven him. There was nothing to forgive. You forgive mistakes not intentional schemes, vicious plots and sly plans. The pain still existed, somewhere deep in the corner of her heart she could feel it shatter.
Except that day her entire heart shattered. She had been expecting the three magical words. The words that she was dying to say to him.
When she had first hear him say it, the words were muffled but the rang clearly in her ear. He had said so much after that but she hadn't been able to hear more. A stream of apologies had followed. She had gotten a lot of apologies from him, but none of them had hit her quite like this one. It was simple, soft but meant so much than any other apology he had uttered.
"For what Fateh? Is everything okay?"
Fateh shook his head as tears started to stream down his cheeks. Tejo looked at him carefully, she had taken days to figure out how to love but it took her moths to unlove. It was a tedious path, but she had the courage and she had the determination. She had chosen her diginity, she had chosen her respect, she had chosen her self and she would not apologise for that.
In those days she had realised the importance of closure. She had unanswered questions, so many of them, she had unspoken words, she needed to let it out, let it all out.
And so she did. One by one she penned down letter after letter. To each person who had broken her, just a little but in the grand scheme of things it was enough to push her over the edge. At the end there were 13 letters. All neatly sealed in envelopes which were sealed in a box.
Fateh's voice brought Tejo back to the present.
"Sorry for everything I put you through, everything my family put you through, everything your family put you through... I am so so so sorry Tejo"
"Hua kya hai Fateh?" she asked
Fateh took a deep breath, and then whispered, a barely audible whisper but Tejo heard it loud and clear.
"She's dead"