We Will Always Come Back......Together

47. Letting You Down

Shivaay entered his guest room and gently laid Amu on it. He then pulled the duvet on her and kissed her forehead. He had one more important work left to do. He switched off the lights and went towards his room. He tried to open the door but it was locked from inside. He knocked but didn't receive any response. He tried again for sometime but when again it didn't bring any results, he went towards the window and knocked on the glass. He was sure she was inside because he could hear muffled sobs. And that is why he was getting so impatient. He had to console her.

"Annika, it is okay if you are crying. But please listen to me"

At this, Shivaay felt some noise near the window as he realized that she is there by it. And it was confirmed that she is sobbing but because of her silence, he knew she was attentive.

"Annika, try to understand... ", Shivaay trailed off but Annika cut him off.

"No words, no explanations and no consolations are going to justify what you feel as a father, what Amaya feels as a daughter and I have been such a failure", Annika cried.

"Annika, I am here right. Just here. Please open the curtains and talk to me. Please", Shivaay requested her and she slowly got up, opened the curtains and immediately sank down on the floor seeing his face.

Noticing that, Shivaay also quickly sat down. Now only the glass was separating them and they were facing each other. Shivaay kept his palm on the window and Annika followed suit.

"I am sorry Shivaay. I didn't know Amu wanted to talk about this. If I knew, I wouldn't have allowed you to go to her. It is all my fault."

"Hey hey Annika. What are you even blaming yourself for this. How on earth would you know that Amu wanted to talk about this", Shivaay tried to pacify her.

"She could have talked to any of us"

"Annika, maybe she didn't because she cares about your feelings too much and didn't want to hurt you. She understands that this is a sensitive topic and thought it would be better to talk to me"

"But Shivaay", This time Annika wiped her tears before talking "That means that she does not consider you as a part of her family and hurts me"

"I don't think it is true. She confided in me and don't you think that does signify that I am very much a part of inner circle"

"But..... "

"She also said that with me there, she doesn't miss her dad and that she feels safe around me. And do you know, she also said that she wants her dad to be exactly like me. Now tell me, isn't that progress?"

"Stop trying to show me something that is not there"

"I am not Annika. You ran away and didn't hear what she said later. I mean we both wanted to know what exactly she thinks about her father and now that we have gotten to know exactly how she thinks about him, it is a good sign na. We have already taken the first step"

"I know that this is what we had decided and I also thought that I would be able to manage, but I am not that courageous. I couldn't see the both of you going through this. And moreover when you haven't done anything wrong. I had no right of keeping both of you away from each other. And today, seeing Amu finally ask what she had buried in her weakend my resolve. I am not strong Shivaay, I am genuinely not. I feel like I have let you down, I have let Amu down and also the whole family.", And Annika again started crying and turned her face away to hide her tears from him.

"Annika, you are shutting me out again. Don't do this. And please, you haven't let any of us down. We don't hate you Annika. Please don't push me away from you. No good has ever come out of doing so. And we can together solve this. Amu doesn't hate her father instead she misses him. Now we can soon tell her about me"