The Royal Mess

Perfect Heaven

Pratap's footsteps stopped at the threshold of his chambers he froze to see Ajabdeh in his room, her back to him, as she stared at the walls. The purple-shaded room was lit up by the morning sun and Ajabdeh's soft sobs seemed like clouds on it. Gulping hard he found a voice.

"Ajab."

Ajabdeh closed her eyes as her name from his lips made a shiver run down her spine. She gulped. She had wished he would call out to her someday. She had dreamt him calling her in her sleep, she had sobbed in slumbers, only Brownie knew those tears. She had often dreamt she was lost, and couldn't find her way back to him. He was calling her. Reaching out to her. Giving her his hand, she couldn't reach him. All those nightmares ended in sleepless nights, and tears and she admitted that she hated to love him. At times she would hug Brownie and feel his presence. But today, Pratap was calling out to her. A few months back when she sent out Heer's wedding invites she had stopped while writing Rani Jaivanta Bai Singh. Her heart had skipped a beat in a hidden wish she denied wishing even to herself. Had she ever thought she would be in his room again and it would be the ray of light in her darkness? She wiped the tears as fast as she could. Her tears always ached in his heart. She had hurt enough already.

"Ajabdeh?" He called again a little unsure if she heard him the first time, narrowing his eyes worried. She was standing there like a statue. Was she alright?

"Hmm?" She managed to make some sound that wouldn't shake her voice. He smiled as he walked up to her as she wiped away the tears and turned. Their eyes met and he could see she had cried, the tip of her nose was a cute red when she cried. She could see worry in his moist eyes, worry and that twinkle that always made her heart beat and her cheeks warm. They stared at each other as he slowly came closer. Each step towards happiness. Her Happiness, Their Happiness. Her heart raced. 

"I..." He found his voice. "I... Actually..." He stared at her as she said a soft "Hush! Don't say anything. Please. Kuch mat kehna" She looked up with dejected eyes as he stared confused. Have I offended her? Again?

"Kya..." He started to get confused. "But..." She doesn't want to hear me explain things? He was dying to tell her what happened with Phool Kanwar. That she was just an acquaintance he went to dinner with, with a few friends, that he was so miffed by the media that he switched off his phone. That he had no idea she would lose trust or leave. That he came back for her. That it was always her. Always was her and will always be. His confused stare made her read his mind. 

"I..." He tried again as she shook her head. "Please stop." It sounded like a plea escaping her lips like a prayer she desperately wanted to be answered. His heart skipped a beat.

Her eyes filled up again. "I will make the same mistakes again of not trusting you, of not believing you." He looked at her first in shock then with moist eyes. "Ajab..." He smiled faintly in the tears.

"It was my mistake that I did not wait for you to explain to me... I was self-absorbed and stubborn." She looked distraught.

"NO Ajab, if I were at your place I would think the same, act the same... I did not even think I needed to explain to you or reach out..." He looked into her eyes with a faint smile on his lips. "I did not even know the news affected you until it was too late."

"I tried to escape from things... I tried to forget you. How could I try to forget you?" 

"Hush!" he stopped her with his finger on her lips. "Enough."

"If I made a mistake why did you not tell me? Scold me? Correct me? " She asked teary-eyed.

"It was my fault I did not... I was angry that you left... I felt like I had no right to reach out to someone who wants to go away from me." Pratap looked away and back at her as a tear rolled down his eyes.