"Everything is fine, life is good, mom & dad are good too. How about you?"
"Going good, I've started a small business near the place you used to live. Everything else is fine."
"That's really nice. You always wanted to start a business."
"Yeah, now I have one." I replied, not feeling anything happy about the fact.
Things started to get awkward. Beyond that neither she nor I had any idea what to say or ask. "How Akash is doing?" I asked the question I never had the intention to ask.
"He is..." She widened he eyes & fixed them on me. "You don't know!" her eyes pierced through mine, "he is...he is not with us anymore."
That last line she uttered, hit me like a shock wave. I clearly don't remember what I felt; it was an unusual mix of feelings. I know it is gravely wrong to feel or even say, but somewhere in my heart I felt glad, I felt free. I felt sad for Ayushi & her undoubtedly, but somewhere deep I felt a guilty pleasure too.
"What you mean he is..."
"He is dead." She didn't let me finish. She said that as coldly as a heartless person could say.
My body froze. That word, 'dead', gave me a fright. The look on her face sent shivers down my spine. I swear my heart stopped beating for a split second. Her eyes looked cold. No feelings, nothing. She wasn't the old Ridhi I knew anymore.
YOU ARE READING
The Merge
Short StoryHe sees her after a very long time, unexpectedly, with her little daughter. Thousands of questions run through his head. How was she doing, where had she been all those years, did she follow her dreams or not, was her husband a kind man & was she ha...
