Silent Whispers

Chapter 42: A Promise

Arnav paused, knowing that he was treading on thin ice; there was no guarantee that the Shyam's casual demeanor was here to stay. "Will it make you any less resentful if I said no?"

"I am a lawyer Mr. Raizada. It's not that easy to fool me."

"Then you must know what she means to me."

It was as if their bubble burst with an inaudible pop. A small frown appeared on Shyam's face as he asked –seriously– "Is that what you came here to vouch for?"

Arnav shook his head. "No," he answered, pulling out an indigo colored jewelry box from the inside of his blazer. "I came here for this."

If Shyam was shocked to see the engagement ring Arnav proposed with only two days ago, he didn't let it show. Instead, he stared blankly at the new situation before him and asked in a soft voice, "What did she say?"

Arnav was amazed! It seemed Shyam knew his sister, and knew her well. "Not what I expected her to say."

Shyam looked at him, an expression of understanding crossing his face. He had been expecting that answer.

"But you knew that already."

He smiled ambiguously.  "Yes, I did because I know my sister Mr. Raizada, the same way you know yours. In fact I knew Meeti had feelings for you even before you must have realized yourself."

"And you didn't have any objections, despite knowing that Khushi and Akash were together?"

Shyam set down his now empty teacup and stood up to look out their small, but well-kept garden. "Not a lot of people understand my sister Mr. Raizada. I think even my mother at some point was gravely mistaken. The problem is that Meeti appears tough on a lot of accounts, as if she can fight even the biggest of storms and not to mention, win..."

Arnav couldn't help but hear the echo of his own thoughts. Didn't he, himself, on many occasions feel that Khushi was too strong-willed, that she can make the sun rise from the west if she put her mind to it? "But you don't believe she can?"

Shyam shook his head, but didn't turn around. "She most definitely can. I have no doubt in that. But the battles she wins are the ones with others. The ones with herself, however... she almost always looses those."

Arnav was mum.

"Things weren't always so complicated," Shyam continued. "But my father's abandonment and my mother's depression hurt her in ways that I don't even know myself. She lost faith on people, on relationships... and as she grew up, she began to lose faith in herself too."

Shyam slowly turned around to focus on a silent Arnav. "I am not telling you all this to gain your sympathy... if I know anything about you and the kind of brother you have been to Anjali, then I know that you must have guessed all of this already."

Arnav nodded, though Shyam didn't seem to notice to him.

"I am telling you this because I need to know that what you did a year ago is not going to happen again; that the sister I spent my entire life taking care of is not going to walk into a relationship that is bound to break. I saw what my mother went through for fourteen years... and even though I know Khushi is a lot stronger than her, I need to know that there isn't even a remote chance of her going through the same."

Everything became still as Shyam finished putting forth his only condition. But even amidst the pounding silence, Arnav could help but feel the last of their animosity disappear.

Khushi was right: They were alike. More than Arnav had ever expected.

Because despite coming from two different places, both of them grew up too soon. Just like how he protected his siblings, Shyam protected Khushi. Just like how Akash and Anjali became his driving force, Khushi became Shyam's. And just like how he made sure his siblings were happy, wherever or however they were, Shyam too was making sure his sister was going to be happy.