"May I?" Neil raised his hands in front of a beautiful lady. She smiled lightly but her eyes gleamed with her inner happiness.
She slowly raised her palm staring into Neil's eyes. He pulled her close in a swift moment earning a light shriek from her which earned chuckled looking at her big doe eyes. Eyes filled with innocence.
They both started swaying, still lost in each other's eyes. Neil pulled her, reducing distance between them, he cupped her face.
"You are beautiful Myra." Neil kissed her forehead with closed eyes. He kept his lips over her forehead, the feeling to call her his was pure, serene.
He lowered his face hoping to see her innocent face covered with excessive blush.
But the moment his eyes landed on her face, he flinched back looking at her vicious eyes filled with cruelty. Her face was a true picture of evil. He took a step back not believing his own eyes.
"Myra?"
She chuckled curtly. "Meera."
"What are you doing here?" Neil seethed at her gritting his teeth. His palms ached to strangle her to her death.
"Myra, Meera, what difference does it make?" She replied relentlessly.
"There is world of difference. She is an angel. And you? You are a witch."
"She seems very special to you, my dear husband." Meera replied seductively caressing his cheeks. "Do I need to take care of her?"
He jerked her hand feeling disgusting.
"I will kill you if you even think to touch Myra." Neil threatened.
"You were trapped in my facade earlier also, you will be trapped again." She replied and pushed him to fall down from the cliff.
Neil could not manage his balance, his feet slipped, he was about to fall into the ditch when someone held his hand. He knew her touch, one glance at her innocent eyes and he knew he was in safe hands. She was his knight in shining armour.
"Myra" His lips stretched with a smile. She put all her strength together to pull him up. The moment he was on his feet, he circled her in his arms in a bone crushing hug.
"Myra" Neil woke up sweating profusely. He felt breathless remembering his nightmare. His throat turned dry like scraped paper. Only one thing running inside his mind was, 'Myra.'
'You were always looking for Myra. She was your destination, but you just got lost a little on the way.' His heart whispered.
He threw his blanket and went out towards her room. Door was closed, but he wanted to see her face to settle his anxious mind and frantically thumping heart. He thought to knock but thankfully the door was not locked from inside and she could open it from outside.
He stepped inside to see his wife and his son were sleeping peacefully. His lips stretched with a small smile looking at how his son was sleeping, he had buried his face in her chest and she had wrapped him in her embrace covering both under duet.
His heart was at peace looking at his two precious possessions. He himself could not realise when Myra, became so important for him just a thought of losing her took the floor beneath his feet. He was scared.
He stayed there for a long time and then left for his room engulfed in his own thoughts.
'You will need to find an answer for this question... not for me or anyone else but for your own sake and Myra.' Niren's words rang in his ears which he voiced on the night of Neev's birthday. It's been almost two weeks to that day but Neil could not find an answer to it.
But these two weeks he could not neglect the extreme pull he felt towards Myra.
The way she giggles when Neev pulls her cheeks, her melodious laughter felt soothing to his ears.
The way she rolls her eyes when father and son give tough time to each other over her attention. It acted as a treat for his eyes, encouraging him to put up a fake fight with his son over his mother.
The way she always slid back the hair strand covering her face during their discussions. He himself knew how much he used to control his fingers from not helping her with it.
The way she taps on her forehead when Neev makes some childish blunders, he used to suppress his urge to hold her hand and wrap it around his torso.
And the list was endless.
It was a regular office day, when Neil and Niren were busy in business discussions. Niren's eyes were moving towards his brother, who was not focussed on their discussion but on his phone, very much unlikely to his elder brother.
"What happened?" Niren saw his brother after the meeting and started to pack up his things.
"Myra has had a headache since morning. I was not coming to the office but she pushed me here as she knew there was this one important meeting."
"So caring husband and all that haan?" Niren teased.
"Say whatever you want." Neil replied carelessly.
"Wooohhh. It's a miracle. You, the great mighty Neil Singhania did not lash out at me." Niren was taken a back with his elder brother's unexpected stand.
"You are exaggerating." Neil continued sluming down on the couch. "It's not that easy."
"And why do you think this is difficult?" Niren countered.
"Niren, I have a past... a brutal past." Neil again sunk in his old days.
"But Myra is your present and future." Niren gave a reality check with surety..
Neil nodded his head in agreement.
"She is an angel who brought me back from darkness. It's to her credit that I am standing here today. It's her patience she showed in our relationship that made me think about something beyond the betrayal I went through. It's her care towards me that I am back to my family, back to myself again. It's her trust over me, that I am gaining my self confidence back. It's her mere presence in my life, at my home, I started feeling, I am alive again." moments he spent with her over the last 6 months replayed in front of his eyes.
"Then what's the issue?" Niren was clueless.
"There are few unwanted strings which attach me to my past. And Myra deserves someone who can only belong to her. Only her... I don't know if that can ever be possible with me." Neil knew his own limitations, he had developed trust issues, insecurity and hollowness for this pious bond.
"Then why can't you break those strings?" Niren always wanted to see his brother happily move on with a girl like Myra.
"I am trying... but I don't know when I will be fully free from those vile tie-ups. I don't want to be selfish." his mind and heart was in dilemma.
"Did you ever talk about it with Myra? Talk to her. Let her decide if she wants to wait or not."
"I don't have courage. What if she says no."
"Why will she say no? Come on, Neil."
"I cannot forget one thing. Dad blackmailed her for this marriage. That time she might not have had any choice but now she is free from her responsibilities. She loves Neev more than her own life but with this relation... I don't want to jump on any conclusions." He shook his head tiredly.
"First thing, she has been freed from her grandmother's responsibility long back. If she wanted to give up on your marriage then she would have walked away on the day her grandmother passed away. But she did not..." Niren knew he needed to knock some senses in his brother's over practical brain.
"Second thing, Dad blackmailed you as well. When today, you are thinking about giving a chance to this marriage, she might also think the same way."
"I know she loves Neev like anything. She is his mother. But, have you ever seen her with you?"
Niren's question made him think about their own moments.
"If she had only linkages with Neev, she would have never tried to interfere in your personal space. She would have never cared for your pain. She would have left you all alone when you hurt her but I guess she was always there for you to support you. She would have never gelled up with our family. How can you not observe her with Mom and Dad?"
"She must have some deep feelings or hope about this relationship which she might not be voicing out, maybe thinking not to pressurise you with it."
Niren's every word acted as a booster for Neil.
"Yes, you are right. I should talk to her." he finally agreed.
"Why don't you take her with you to London? Next week you are going. Just take her and Neev with you as well. New surroundings, new places, new vibes might start brewing new feelings as well." Niren's dreamy train was on jet speed
"You are hopeless." Neil knew, there was a long way to go.
"Hope... boosts your optimism." Niren suggested with a smile.
During dinner time, Neil was busy on call whereas Myra was feeding Neev his food along with a story session while waiting for her husband to finish.
"Sorry. Why didn't you start?" Neil cut the call and joined both of them on the dining table.
"It's ok." She started to fill up his plate.
"Myra next week I need to go to London for a few weeks." Neil carefully broached the topic after discussing their daily routine.
"Ok. I will pack your things. Let me know if you need anything specific." Myra was eating her dinner as well as in the middle she was feeding Neev.
"Mumma, wa wa." Neev raised his hand towards his sippy cup. It was his way to grab his mother's attention from his father.
"Here you go my baby." Myra immediately concentrated back to her son.
"Mumma, tuii... tuiii." He started talking in his own language. He glared at his father for interruption.
"Sorry baby I forgot I was telling you a story of a cute little puppy." Myra turned to her son with a bright smile.
Neev nodded his head vigorously flashing a smile which showed his front two teeth. He did not miss to pass his flashy smile towards his father over his small win.
Neil shook his head over his son's over possessiveness for his mother.
Myra started telling him a story.
"Myra, will you and Neev also come with me?" Neil took a breath before voicing it out.
His statement gave pause to her story telling session and she jerked to look at her husband with wide open eyes.
"Me and Neev?" she asked again.
"Yes. Why not?" He shrugged his shoulders, "It will be a good change for all three of us."
"But it's your business trip, what should I and Neev do over there?" Myra became hesitant, she was never prepared for his unexpected ask.
"Yes it's a business trip but we can stay there for one more week and we can look around." he looked for an excuse.
Neev was getting hyper by each passing moment as his father was keeping his mother busy.
"Mumma tuii.. Tuii" Neev shouted, grabbing her attention.
"Neev one second baby. Mumma and Dadda are talking." Neil said with little clarity, he could not suppress the pang of jealousy in his heart felt over his own son for his wife.
"No...Mumma tuii." Neev was also Neil's son... stubborn in his own ways.
"Give me a sec baby." Myra caressed his cheek with smiley request.
"But what about the weather over there? I heard it is always rainy over there. I don't want Neev's health to get affected by it." Myra was still clueless about his sudden ask.
"If I am not wrong Neev's mother is a doctor." Neil spoke with absolute surety.
Myra rolled her eyes.
"Mumma... boo boo." possessive instincts inside Neev reached to its peak.
"Neev hold on." Neil widened his eyes over his son's continuous interruption.
"No Mumma no." Neev started throwing his hands in the air.
"Neev I said wait." Neil raised his voice.
"My Mumma" so his son.
"I know she is your beloved Mumma but she is my wife too." Neil blurted out. He could not realise when his inner thoughts played over his lips.
'She is my wife too.' Myra jerked with his last few words. 'His wife.'
It was for the first time after six months of their marriage when Neil recognised her as his wife.
She was gawking at him without a blink. She did not even realise when tears started streaming over her cheeks. This was a moment she was waiting for.
Feeling her unwavering gaze he realised his earlier words.
"My Mumma. My Mumma... No Dadaa No....Dadda Go '' His son was showing his door to go out where as they both were sharing an eye lock.
It was Myra who broke their eye lock and concentrated back to feed Neev. She could not gather courage to raise her eyes to look into his. Silence spread over the dining area except Neev's baby voice.
Once Neev was done Myra got up from her seat to escape from the situation. Neil held her hand and eye gestured her to settle down again and finish her food. He called Julia when they both were done with their food.
"Julia, take him for a round outside." He knew with his son he wouldn't be able to talk to his wife.
"Mumma. Come." Neev raised his hands asking Myra to take him. Myra was about to get up from her seat but Neil shook his head in negative.
"Neev, go with Julia, she will take you out to fireflies and stars, moon. And then Julia will give him ice cream as well." Neil tried to bribe his own son.
"No. Mumma. Come." Neev was not the one who would fall for his father's tricks.
"Myra please." Neil requested, "we need to talk." He knew if any one can convince his son then it's his mother.
Myra convinced her son somehow. She kissed his cheeks when Julia picked him up.
"Julia aunty please, small scoop. It's started getting cold. Also make him wear a jacket." Myra was back with her motherly care.
After all instructions Julia took Neev out leaving two thumping hearts to decide about their future.
"Myra, I want you and Neev to come with me." He kept his eyes on her, "I want to take this trip as a new beginning for us."
"New beginning means?"
"I want to give this marriage a chance. A true chance." He was honest yet straightforward.
Myra was left in a flabbergasted state.
"I know, this marriage was not your wish. But Dad blackmailed you. And I was terrible at the start. I used to compare an angel with a witch. I even throw you out by bad mouthing about....Ohh god" He could not voice out his own sins.
"I am sorry. I am sorry for every single tear you shed because of me."
"You were always there for me to pull me out from the ditch but I always tried to keep you away from me... But your unsaid support and care helped to break those old shackles. I know, those have not still entirely broken but at least there are cracks. And I know with your support I will be able to liberate myself from the horrendous past to my future. And I ... I want to see... I see my future with you."
Neil raised his palm in front of Myra.
"This is what I want but what do you want, Myra?"
His honest words, his teary eyes glistening with hope for their future left Myra without any words. She kept on staring at him shedding tears trying to process all the words he spoke a few moments back. She gaped like a fish trying to find her own voice.
"Myra there is no pressure on you? What happened, why are you crying?" he spoke tenderly.
Still there was no response from her side. Her continuous tears left Neil in a shocked state, "I am sorry Myra, if I had said something wrong. My intentions were not to hurt you. Please say something."
"You are scaring me Myra. Just tell me. Listen, just ignore whatever I said." he felt a pang in his heart, assuming her reluctance for the new start. He stared at her face for a brief moment before getting up from his chair.
"No..." she mumbled, holding his hand. "I... I too... I also want to."
"Myra, it's ok. Take your time. There is no hurry for anything."
"It's already late Neil." She could barely murmur between her hiccups which was not audible to Neil.
But Neil stayed holding his breath. He waited for her to calm herself. His hold over her hand helped Myra to gain her stature back, with free hand she wiped her tears.
"Let's start afresh." new hope brewed in her heart for their future.
Neil nodded his head with a smile but his heart was throbbing with ecstatic feelings.
"Yes... not just as Neev's parents but also as a husband and wife." This one assurance acted as a remedy to her earlier wounds.
"Mumma" Neev shouted, breaking their moment.
"Sorry, he started crying calling for Myra." Julia gave explanations for their unexpected disturbance.
Myra ran to her son to pick him up from the stroller. She clutched him near his chest showering him with her kisses. Neev laughed loudly, feeling his mother's happiness.
"Thank you Neev." she mumbled in his ears. Truly, behind her today's happiness was only her son.
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