The Beloved

Let it go!

Although Arohi walked away without giving SK a second look, she couldn't help but feel butterflies in her heart and stomach. She walked into her flat and shut the front door but stayed there, with her back rested against it, for a few minutes. She heart wanted to open the door and run back to him but, unfortunately, her fear was far too overpowering. She convinced herself that she will go to the office the next day and look into the possibilities of moving to Bangalore. She just needed to get away from him.

She slowly took a peek from the window to see if he had left. She smiled catching at glimpse of him reversing his car out only to pause for a moment to give a glance at her flat before driving off. Arohi sighed and sat on the couch staring at nothing in particular. She wondered about the works of destiny. She had faced a traumatic childhood and teenage. She had yearned for love all her life, yet when it comes knocking at her door, she is unable to accept it.

She sighed and walked up to her room. She realized what a mess she had left. There were clothes lying everywhere, her washed clothes still unfolded, her make up stuff on the bed. She nodded her head but her thoughts immediately went to SK and how tidy his house was. She chuckled thinking how incredibly opposites they were. She wondered what a terrible household it would be if they did live together but the chuckle soon vanished reminding her that this would never happen.

She first pulled her phone out and placed it to charge next to the bed. She, then, quickly cleaned up the mess and after that decided to have a shower. She got comfortable in her pajamas and went into the kitchen to cook something. She thought how wonderful the past two days had been. She was able to just relax while he cooked. It did feel nice to be pampered but such beautiful moments can only be temporary, like her trip to Kerala with her dad, only to be followed by a huge push down the cliff. She kept reminding herself Love is temporary.

The water boiling brought her back to the present. She cut open the masala packet and added it to the water. She stirred it before adding the pieces of Maggi. Once it was cooked, she poured it in a bowl, grabbed a glass of water and decided to sit in front of the TV. She skipped through channels until she found a feel good romantic movie. All this looked so good in a movie.

Once the movie was over, she took her dried up bowl to the sink and poured water. She decided to wash it the next morning and smiled thinking of how SK probably would have washed, dried and put it away by now. She lazily dragged herself to the bedroom and turned on the night lamp before switching off the hallway lights. She crept into her blanked and quickly glanced at her phone. There was a message.

She smiled. He was too cute. His message read, "Good night Ruhi. I miss you and I mean it. I hope you will reconsider moving in but I respect your decision." For some reason, this message made her blush, "Ruhi" she mumbled. She had been called by several names but no one had called her Ruhi and she loved it. It felt special. She wanted to reply back but instead she just sent a smiley emoji and put her phone away. Sleep took over as she was lost in thoughts about every single moment of happiness that she had experienced while with him.

There she was on a mountain. She was alone at the end of the cliff. She could hear a voice screaming for help. There was no one around. She inched forward. She was afraid to look down but the scream was eerie. She looked down and it was her mother. Her face was covered in blood. She was looking at Arohi and crying for help. Arohi bent down extending her arm. Her mother was trying to reach her. The moment she held Arohi's arm, the crying stopped and she started laughing an evil laughter. She pulled Arohi along with her. They were falling off the cliff, she was going to die. Just then she felt an arm wrap around her waist pulling her. The voice was asking her to let go and that she is safe now. Arohi was still holding on to her mother, looking at her eerie bloddy face but the voice said, "Look at me. It's ok to let go."

She gasped and sat up breathing heavily and sweating. Her heart was pounding. She sat trying to catch her breath. She grabbed the water bottle placed next to her and gulped it all down. She lay back down staring at the fan on the ceiling. There was one voice, familiar voice ringing in her ears, "Look at me. It's ok to let go" but how could she?

Brinda Subramanian