UNCONDITIONAL

IX

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ask about it so casually. You don't have to share anything but please sit with me for a bit longer. Just a little bit, please." Harleen begged.

"Fine." Bhuji gave in with another sigh.

"Look, Bhuji. I don't know what happened on that unfortunate night to have caused this...but I do know that it hurts me more than anything to see Noor treated like this. No one deserves this...and Prem, he hates her, he hurts her at every opportunity he gets, why he is still here? Why doesn't he get a divorce and move out? What is he doing under the same roof as her?" Harleen put forth another question.

"Because she's all he has." Bhuji sniffled. "Having grown up an orphan, he believes a known enemy is better than an unknown friend. He says that he hates her, that he cannot stand her but even he cannot deny, that she is his. The only person in this world who rightfully belongs to him and who he belongs to in every way, shape, and form. Their histories, their stories, their struggles, their connection, their lives are intertwined, and he cannot disown that fact even if he wanted to. They were born on the same day, same hour – I was holding one in my arms in England when I received the news of the other being born in America. They both lost their families at the same time to the same devastating event and both grew up in the same unfortunate conditions. They both faced the world in the same way, they both fought their circumstances the same way and both made something out of their nothing, the same way. They both met and found love the same way, and finally, they both love each other...the same way...unconditionally. They both hate themselves the same way. They both suffer the same way. And as long as they live, they will both live the same way. Prem knows this, and separation never occurred to him because even if it's hate from his side, at least it's something to do with her, and as long as he has something do with her, he will live. But the second they separate for good; they'll be destroyed; they simply will not be able to live."

"I've never seen nor heard of anything like this before." Harleen thought out loud. "Bhuji, can this ever end?"

"I don't know. It can come to an end as soon as tomorrow or it can go on forever, till death do them apart. Although, I don't even think death has the power." Bhuji smiled a little.

"What will it take for it to end?" Harleen was dying to know.

"I'm not sure. A significant breakdown, the mourning that is long overdue. Or perhaps a breakthrough, an epiphany that not only reminds both of them the significance of each other, but the magnitude of their togetherness. Something that can dig out the dirt filled in the old wounds that were left open and dress them up so they can heal and be forgotten. Something that allows them to forgive each other, and most importantly, something that allows them to forgive themselves." Bhuji finished off.

Every word Bhuji had said during their conversation, rang through Harleen's mind for the rest of the night. While she was glad, she had received some incredibly valuable insight into their life, she had no idea what to make out of it.