So, this act is based on the episode where Anupama has finally walked out of Shah house.
Anuj looked around the park restlessly. He had seen a familiar silhouette in pink walking in that direction.
As he quickly scanned over the area, he stopped, on finally spotting Anupama. There she was sitting on a bench, her forehead smeared with red and her eyes blank.
His heart clenched then but he decided to keep distance. And he kept it through the next 3 hours as Anupama loitered around the park in a daze, before she visited a nearby temple and finally reached her mother's home.
Anuj attached himself to the wall as he saw her finally disappear inside the confines. Such a bittersweet memory.
Anuj shook his head then and decided to leave. She was safe, and this time was surrounded by company she needed the most.
However Anu's mother had spotted Anuj as he walked away and her brows furrowed in concern.
~*~*~*~*~
It was lunch time now. And Anuj was worried. All throughout the morning, all Anu had managed to do was to be blank. She should've shared her pain with her family, but he knew now that she hadn't. Probably, because she knew that even the mention of it would open the floodgates that she was barely keeping closed.
Anuj stepped inside the cabin once he saw that she had not even touched her food. He wanted not to broach a topic that would sadden her but he also realized that bottling it up was doing her no good either. She was bound to fall ill at this rate.
"Anu..." He called out softly as she looked at him, while he walked over to her, and sat on the other sofa seat, while placing the chocolate milk on the table.
"If you don't feel like eating, please have the milk", he offered her the glass but she refused to respond, her head once again in places dark.
Sighing, Anuj put away the glass and called her out once again.
"Anu...what you are doing...it will do you more harm than good".
She looked at him once again and his eyes pained as he saw her eyes.
"Please talk....I..main hu..so please don't be like that", Anuj urged her, leaning forward.
The coaxing, the cajoling,her pain being resonated in his eyes was making it all so difficult for her to keep her control.
And then she felt a touch,as she looked down to see his hesitating fingers touching hers, almost afraid that he will break her.
Anuj didn't know what to do. He had a million curses to decorate Vanraj and the likes, but that wouldn't alleviate her heartache. Physical assurance worked in these situation but all he could offer in that department was a fleeting touch of concern, because neither would she accept any more than that nor would he be able to keep himself from breaking down if she did.
He decided to leave then.At least she was with her thoughts when she was alone but he was not being much of a consolation right now. Withdrawing his fingers, Anuj roused from the sofa murmuring a sorry and turned around to leave.
The loss of his touch felt like her support had been snatched from her and she was drowning. Overcome with desperation, she reached out her hand and fisted her fingers around the back of his coat.
"S-Stay Anuj...just stay",Anupama stammered as Anuj got rooted to his spot, hearing her broken voice. Her heartache was his heartbreak.
He decided to turn around then, but she stopped him. "Don't turn...please"
Anuj nodded, looking straight ahead while his eyes gained on a red hue. He could hear her soft sobs and could picture her shoulders wracking with them.
"Anu...kabhi kabhi dusron ke liye kitna hi karo,sab kam pad jata hai. B...but it's not your fault. Khushiyon ka rasta aksar dukh se hi hokar guzarta hai"
She hiccupped then. "G-Ghar tha vo mera. I gave..i..t...26 years".
"Trust me, agar tumhara hota toh kabhi tumhe ye din nahi dekhna padta".
"B..aa ne Mr. shah ko hamesha support kia, aur m..mujhe hamesha kam hi mehsoos karwaya. Maa...khud ki maa se zyada pyaar kia....aur mile...toh bas ilzaam!" Anupama complained between sobs, her fingers tightening around his coat.
Anuj nodded then, a tear trickling down his eye. " You have to stop caring about them. It will be difficult, will take time, but you should Anu. You should. Toxic rishton se acha hai akele hona. And if you think ye selfishness hai, toh be selfish. Koi burai nhi ha—
"Anu!" Anuj paused, as Devika stepped inside the cabin then, her trolley in tow. Leaving it behind her, she quickly approached Anu, sitting by her side as she cupped her face.
"Tu theek hai?"
Anupama nodded in negative then, and letting go of Anuj, allowed herself to be enveloped in her friend's embrace.
She cried loudly now,feeling more at home as Devika caressed her hairs, her expression one of extreme anger.
"Main do din ke liye bahar kya gayi aur ye sab ho gaya. Uss ravanraj ki toh!" And certain colorful words spilled out of Devika's mouth. Anuj just smiled as he wiped his tear stained eye and quietly walked out of the cabin to give Anu her well-deserved time.
Anuj leaned against the wall outside, while Anu cried her heart out with her best friend. Devika had asked of him not to give up without trying, but Anu now had one more baggage.Or perhaps, she was free of the heaviest, the most condescending and judgmental one. Who knows?!
Anuj peeked through the glass then, his heart squeezing and his eyes tearing up yet again.
Anupama withdrew from Devika's embrace as she wiped her eyes off. She was feeling light, and Devika redefining Vanraj's character in her vocabulary, was making her smile too.
It was now she looked around the cabin to find Anuj missing and shifted her gaze towards the door,where she caught Anuj staring, his face tear stained. Caught in the act, Anuj quickly scrubbed his face off, gave her a weak smile and pulled away from her view.
He was so sincere that it baffled her, so understanding that she failed to understand him and he cared so much, that she had seen her pain flowing through his eyes. Why was he like that?
~*~*~*~*~
In the evening, as Anuj dropped Anupama off at her mother's Devika was accompanying them too and jumped out of the car at the opportunity to chat with bhavesh and aunty, who were sitting on the steps outside.
Greeting her mother,Anupama was about to walk in when something dawned and she turned around to see that Anuj was still seated in the car while Devika was making herself comfortable, ordering her to make her tea.
Shaking her head, she retraced her steps and walked over to the car, knocking on the window then.
"Anuj, aap bhi bahar aa jaie"
"I—uh..." Anuj hesitated his eyes darting to her mother and brother, her house and then her. This was one twisted set up.
As she urged once again, he gave in an stepped out as Bhavesh greeted him first and then his mother looked at him, albeit confused as he greeted her.
"Maa, ye Anuj hai, Anu ka partner!" Bhavesh introduced and the woman smiled warmly, thanking him for being a huge support.
Few minutes passed just like that, and then Anupama hollered from inside as Devika rushed in for her tea.
Anuj loitered around at the door, more awkward than ever, old and unpleasant memories surfacing, his regret and sadness building up.
"Aa na Anuj?!" Devika shouted from inside, and Anupama looked too but he just shook his head, his eyes fixing on Anupama then as he smiled, and mouthed, "Some other day".
She nodded in understanding and watched as he drove off. Devika wanted to complain abandonment but decided to keep shut for she knew her friend was quite disturbed.
She hadn't been the only one to notice though as Anu's mother walked over to the dining table in thoughts and Anu tailed behind her.
"Kya hua maa?"
She asked as while her mother looked at the door. He was the one she had seen yesterday....and 26 years back.
"Maa..."
"Main shayad Anuj se pehle bhi mili hu", she spoke suddenly and Devika's ears perked up, as she joined the duo.
"Maa par Anuj toh bahot saal se US hi thhe", Anupama added.
"Main 26 saal pehle mili thi Anuj se. Yahi thhe wo", and then she got lost in the flashback.
Flashback
She had finally married off her daughter and was simply loitering around the colony, trying to ease her mind when she heard soft whimpers from a dark alley, and upon closer look spotted a young man crouching on the steps in front of now closed pharmacy, his knees held together and his face buried in his arms.
"Beta, aap theek hain?"
She walked to the young man, and patted his shoulder. He looked up then, his face stained with tears,his nose flowing. He looked miserable.
"Aap..theek hain?" She asked once again and this time the man nodded in negative, as he wiped his nose with the back of his hands.
"Chod gayi mujhe vo! She left me! K-Kisi a..aur kki ho gayi. I— main us..se bata bhi nhi p..paa.ya that I...that I.." He turned his face away then, striking his fist against the steps in continuation.
"B-bahot der..kardi maine! Bahot der!"
While the man wailed, she didn't know what to do. She didn't believe in the likes of love but could young man truly was hurting.
Before she could think up another word of consolation, the man got up from his position and started to walk...no stagger away, his feet dragging his tired body. She only hoped that god gave him the strength to live through it.
*~*~*~*~*~
Devika side glanced at Anupama as her mother finished with the flashback. To think, he had been spotted by her mother.Oh, heavens!
Did he realize that Anu's mother had seen him that time, or was he oblivious?!
Anupama was deep in thought now. In the back of her mind, she could no longer ignore the telltale signs that were pointing in one direction.
Hope you guys will find this a worthwhile read!