Broken Strings

C H A P T E R F O U R

"You were red. You liked me because I was blue. You touched me and I became a lilac sky and you decided purple just wasn't for you."

- Colors by Halsey

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Anisha slipped into the green dress. Her hair was in a bun and her makeup was light. A few strokes of foundation, a hint of bronzer, light tan eye shadow and a faint pink lip color. It was enough to make her look alive and happy. It was enough to hide her pain.

No one ever noticed the paleness that shadowed her face or the dark bags under eyes. No one noticed the cuts on her wrists or the bruises that adorned her body. No one ever noticed that she was getting frail, day by day. She was fading away, right before their eyes but no one cared enough to notice.

All the fake smiles, the laughs, the jokes. It would be enough to hide the truth. No one could look at her and realize how much pain she was in.

After all for fourteen years, she had hidden her scars.

She understood that her smiles and laughs hid her pain. But what about the emptiness in her eyes?

She always wondered why people said that one's eyes gave their true emotions away. It didn't make sense to her. Because if it was true, why didn't anyone ever notice the emptiness in her eyes?

No one ever noticed.

No one could ever guess that the same woman who slowly waltzed across the room, kindly and whole-heartedly socializing with everyone was the same woman who cried herself to sleep every night.

No one could ever guess that the same woman who held onto her husband's hand all evening was the same women who would stand and watch her husband as he took other women to his room, right before her very eyes.

No one could ever guess that the same woman who filled her kid's plates with fruits was the same women who begged for any kind of smile from her kids.

No one ever noticed. And no one ever cared, not enough at least.

All she wanted was someone, anyone to notice. To notice how much she was hurting, to understand how hard it was getting for her to deal with the pain, to tell her that she was enough.

She wanted to be fed lies. She wanted someone, even her husband to sit there and tell her that it would be okay, to tell her that she was okay.

But it didn't matter anymore. It was all getting to be too much anyway.

Each person has their own limit as to how much pain they can endure. Some can endure more pain than others. Some know when to let go of all the heartbreaks and lies and tears. Others, like her, hold onto every string of hope.

But a person can only take in so much pain. Despite all the hopes and dreams, people do reach their limit. The limit where they realize it's time to let go. The limit where the pain becomes too much. The limit is where everything gets to be too much and it's no longer worth holding on. The limit is the breaking point. When enough is enough.

And Anisha, she had endured enough. She was near her limit and now, there was nothing left that could save her.

Anisha sighed and slowly dabbed the tissue as she tried to dry the tears that were threatening to fall.

She looked as though she were enough.

She picked up Andrew's gift, it a simple watch. Nothing too expensive or extravagant. It was simple and enough, just like her.