Salvation
After spending a completely futile day at the office Raman decided that it was time to go home. Ever since the day that he had heard Ishita say those dreaded words to Mani in Ruhi's Taekwondo class, he didn't know what to do. It was as if his entire existence had been questioned once again. But this time the hurt was tenfold. This time he couldn't really say that he was not at fault. After pushing Ishita away and insulting her the first two days, he had started to avoid her altogether. He hadn't treated her well, what right did he have to expect her to feel anything for him. He was nice to Shagun but to Ishita he was mostly rude. But how does he make his heart understand that continuing to love her will only hurt it more. That pining for her will get him nowhere. Mihir had asked him to talk to her but what is there to talk when she has already given her heart to someone else. He would never have believed it if anybody else. How can he ignore it when he has seen and heard them himself?
Staying away from her was also taking a toll on him but he couldn't guarantee that he would be able to hide his feelings when in front of her. So he decided to take the middle ground. Spend some time with that one person who joins them together. Their daughter. A perfect carbon copy of her mother. Which is why maybe he was able to shower his love on her now rather than push her away in disgust.
He entered the Bhalla apartment and saw his mother in the living room instructing Neelu on how to clean the sofas for Diwali.
"Raman puttar, you're home early. Should I get you some tea?"
"No, Maa. I wasn't that busy so I thought I will spend some time with Ruhi. Where is she?"
"Good thought. She is in her room. Go on."
Raman went towards Ruhi's room. The door was slightly ajar and he could hear voices coming from inside. Ishita was in there with Ruhi. From the sound of it she was telling her a story.
"Then what happened Ishima?"
"Then? Then the king fought with the evil witch and defeated her. And then he rescued his little princess and brought her back home to her mother the queen."
"The princess didn't get hurt?"
"No, the princess didn't get hurt. How will she? The princess' papa the king will never let that happen."
"What happened to the witch?"
"The witch? Hmm... all her powers were taken and then she was put in the dungeon so that she would never harm anyone again."
"And then?"
"And then... the king, the queen and their little princess lived happily ever after, together forever. The end."
"Just like Papa, Ishima and Ruhi will stay together forever, right?"
"Hmm... Papa and Ishima will stay together forever but my Ruhi will have to go away."
"Haw... why Ishima? I will always stay with you. I will never leave you."
"But Ru beta, when you get your prince, you will marry him and then you will go and stay with him in his house. Just like Ishima had to leave Paati's house when she married your papa."
"So if I get married, I will have to stay with my prince forever?"
"Yes."
"And even you will stay with papa forever because you married him?"
"Yes."
"But Shagun mama had also married papa, then why didn't she stay with him forever? Why did she leave him?"
"Ruhi... Shagun mama does not love your papa. She loves Ashok uncle. That's why she left."
"But then why did she marry my papa? Didn't she love him when she married him?"
"Maybe... she loved him a little. Not completely."
"You said you will never leave papa. It means you love him completely?"
"..."
"Tell na Ishima... do you love papa?"
"Ru beta... I... I do. I love your papa."
"Completely?"
"Yes, completely."
"How you know you love him completely?"
"Hmm... let me see. You know na... how your papa can be so bad? He shouts at me, he says bad things about me and then he troubles me... but still I like these things about him."
"How can you like it when he is being bad? You should not like him then."
"Because I know that when he shouts at me, he is worried about me. When he says bad things about me, he wants me to become better. And when a boy troubles you, it means that he wants to be with you."
"Really?"
"Really. My Ruhi's papa is the bestest in the whole world. And sometimes he does some really nice things too. And if I love him inspite of all these things that means I love him completely."
"Okay Ishima."
"But don't tell your papa all these things."
"Why?"
"Because boys should say I love you first."
With that Ruhi and Ishita both started tickling each other and laughing. It was only after some time that they both noticed Raman standing at the door which was now wide open and looking at them. His eyes were moist.
Cricket
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