💙
|She's capable of burning the world alone to return in the safe heaven waiting for her in his arms|
•present•
"How's the day treating you all, my pups?" Sarah greeted us.
Chhaya and Sammy squealed like her real puppies, "We are doing great, our bitch!" While the boys in our group opted to roll their eyes instead.
"Hii, Sarah." I acknowledged her and she radiated looking as fresh as the onset of spring even in this spine-chilling weather.
I couldn't understand what was so exciting about this dull gray afternoon because unlike others who enjoyed winters I was on the verge of passing down in exhaustion.
The cold this year was killing me.
"I'm going shopping at SM." She said.
"I have made a proper, under budget inventory list contrary to last time. Do I have any willing candidates to join?" Sarah raked her hazel eyes at each one of us.
The six of us had expropriated a table in the cafeteria with the sole aim to kill an hour as our respective professors had blessed us with a free period.
Though, I wish mine could've simply declared it a day.
"I'm off duty." Chhaya shook her head while she noisily munched on her salted wafers quite lazily.
"I heard about shopping!" Sammy banged the table avidly. "Whoever it is, I'm in and the treat is on the house."
She placed aside her food tray which had her order of momos. I passed her a tissue to wipe away the sauce that smeared on her fingers and mouth and she took it wordlessly.
She wasn't speaking with me yet.
"The hefty load is basically on Dad's credit card." Vivek jeered to earn a menacing glare from his elder twin. "C'mon!" He said, "It's the sad truth, Madam Menace!"
I pressed my lips in a hard line while anticipating to hear one of her sassy replies. A part of me wished that she was talking to me too but maybe it's a reminder that I should try hard to make up with her and her twin.
"Why is your tushie on fire if I am interested, dork?" She hectored.
"When are you not interested, Madam Menace!" A voice goaded, "Aren't you an ambassador to the tag of universal shopaholics!?" Vivek's ardent disciple residing in Bhavesh's body aped her only to be kicked hard on his knee.
The coarse noise he produced was scarier than a nocturnal animal.
RIP, to our poor ears!
"The next time where I hit you shall pain the upcoming generations of your family." Sammy apprised.
It was too harsh, bestie.
Why punish Bhavo's children and great-grandchildren for his silliness?
"You're no fun, bitch. I just stated the truth." Bhavesh scowled along with Vivek, "Aur behen, iske hone wale bacho se teri kya dushmani hai?"
"Don't worry! Nobody is going to be flattered over his donkey face in the present or the near future." Sammy chided, "Also, it's not like your ugly asses are paying for me."
Trust me, this girl has got no filter.
Never did. Never will.
"Fine! We got it!" Vivek waved it off like every other time because he knew that they weren't winning.
The random conversation caught us up until Chhaya questioned me while pointing at the two mall rats, "Hey, won't you come with them?"
I declined though I knew she was constantly helping me solve my conflicts with the twins.
"I have to meet Aakash today." I apprised checking the time on my watch as he must be here anytime.
Sarah who was engrossed in her talks earlier was now wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, "Oh! So, you want to leave for a date?"
"No! It's not a date." I stopped her wild imagination.
The side effects of the namesake date were still imprinted on my mind and no way in hell I am going to repeat the same mistake.
"Genius!" I couldn't help but groan as she smacked my head, "When you go out alone with your fiancé then it is called a date." She lectured.
Vivek featured with a poker face, "She just said that it's not a date. Why can't you simply digest it?" I, for a minute felt like he knew about me and Aryan but then it wasn't possible. "How can you say that, duh? Ruchi and Aakash are very much engaged-" Sarah argued.
"Well, not everyone fashionably flaunts the wrong man in other people's faces." Vivek shot back placidly.
"Enough." Chhaya meddled before the war of words takes a wrong turn and one of them goes berserk, "You should leave." She told me and I nodded.
My cell pinged inside my pocket just then and it happened to be Aakash. The message indicated his early arrival which did no good to reduce my anxiety. I was making time to prepare myself to have the important talk but I guess it's the way it is.
"I think he's waiting for me outside." I sighed. I wasn't mentally ready to take another blow of words. I almost shuddered when thankfully my best friend's voice reached out to me.
"What about your last lecture?" She surprisingly asked. I wanted Sammy to accompany me but I don't want to burden her more with my endless problems so I chose to stay mum.
"I'll have to skip." I muttered, "I will directly return back home as well."
I picked up my sling bag, bid them my adieu and was ready to walk out when she stopped me again.
"Drop me a text once you reach home safely."
"I will." I mouthed with a twinkle and walked ahead.
She cared.
Bhai was wrong. Of course, I know that my Sammy cared.
She was my closest best friend.
My mood had gotten better since my bestie spared her words to me. I was engrossed in thinking about the same when I happened to pass through the main gates of the campus. An erratic part of me cropped out and I became the eighteen year-old giddy teenager again.
My eyes involuntarily flew out in the opposite direction to catch a glimpse of my crush who was also my husband now.
A touch of thrilling warmth pecked my cold skin and my legs halted at once to admire him from far. Those thick lush eyebrows altered between furrowing, arching and slanting to give me an idea about his wavering emotion. His oil black magnetic eyes glowed with an electric charm, the heart-melting dimples on his either cheek along with an adorable grin that highlighted his boyish features a lot more. Besides, Aryan Mallik had a much more effect on me than just being attracted to his physical attributes.
My own mouth stretched in a robust smile as my treacherous heart soared up high for different reasons.
Nobody else but I knew how much he meant to me, for me.
He was everything an unfortunate person like me would've wished yet the misfortunes never left its reigns on my fate.
I had to be seriously sick in the head to push him away even when I solemnly loved him.
My stupor didn't last for long as it was broken impolitely when Aakash's rackety voice called out my name across the college gates. His unthinkable action startled the other students and their eyes zoned out on both of us and left me to awkwardly shuffle on my feet.
I apologized to no one in particular and ambled out to reach where he stood. I lacked the dictionary for appropriate words to strike a conversation.
Hence, I had chosen to stay dumb for the time being.
But Aakash energetically offered to drive for the reservation in a nearby cafe by his car. I tried to avoid it but my poor attempts to dodge traveling with him failed tremendously and I had to adhere to his wish.
I really preferred to sit at any nearby restaurants around the campus but his plan definitely shocked me further because the fancy coffee shop he had taken me to for this day was a part of a newly inaugurated mall in the semi-posh area of the city.
The host greeted us with a sweet smile and guided us to the table reserved by Aakash beforehand. Thankfully, it was in a quiet corner and at some distance from the hustle-bustle of the teenage couples who had filled the space. I don't care much about the decor of this place but at least it was partially suitable for the big talk.
Once we trotted over to the table, he tried to pull out a chair for me but I did it on my own in the meantime.
I am not looking forward to witnessing the gentleman who marginalized me some days ago.
Aakash sat down too after sparing me an unimpressed stare. My eyes darted behind him noticing the evening had pulled up real quick also because I needed to reach the mansion before it got too dark and difficult for me to navigate through the confusing directions.
He leisurely pursued the menu card and I waited for him to place his order so that I could start.
He was strangely acting too normal for someone who was ready to pick on me and my family for whatever wrong they caused him. It was hard for me to put my mind on a single thing as he talked about his day randomly.
So far, I had understood that he didn't have an idea about my marriage. The task of conveying him the truth was weighing down my shoulders.
I queasily fidgeted with the band on my ring finger and a wave of comfort rushed inside my sensory nerves. It boosted my confidence.
The guilt of cheating would get worse if I won't let everything out. I have to do it before it's late again.
So I inhaled a sharp, deep breath and gathered my crumbling courage. I had my fingers crossed under the table as I interrupted him while he discussed his latest taste twister in rock music.
"I have to tell you something and it's very important for you to know."
I prayed for his reaction to the news won't be as adverse as others.
"Is it that important?" He laughed it out but corrected his words asap, "I mean to say that you look shy." He commented. "I thought we got over the hesitant phase."
We did not. And only if it was easy.
"Kind of but I am not really shy right now." I implored and tried to come straight at the point instead of beating around the bush. It's not one of the dramatic tele award shows to build suspense. "But I somehow hope that you'll be hearing me out to absorb things with a calm mind."
He signaled me to continue, "Aakash! The day when we were about to get engaged but due to my-" I had a slip of tongue at a very wrong time. Why!? I don't know. "Mallik! Aryan Mallik intervened and we didn't-"
"That spoiled rich brat?" He said with utter distaste that twisted my belly in a bad way. "Forget about that guy. I'm not even a bit into his manipulating streak-"
"Aakash!!" I cut him short, "I married him." I dropped the bomb slowly. "We both got together the very next day in a court marriage"
His eyes flared nonvocally although I expected him to call me some sort of detestable names but Aakash didn't give me any signal to convey his mind. He stilled and so I followed my cue to speak ahead.
"Apart from targeting me, this whole society full of good people went far ahead smirching with my family."
Cheemas did make me feel cheap but I didn't point it out for obvious reasons. My own father looked down upon me and made me feel unwanted. I had so much to ask them but words botched me and an unseen sack of burdens pulled me down.
The caviling glares gouged me even in the deepest slumbers.
The harrowed voices echoed in my head each time I embraced silence.
The melancholic waves crashed harder against the shore of my penetration.
"I loved him. I always did, I guess."
I admitted my love openly for the first time but again it's the wrong person who heard my narrative when all I am doing is disappointing a man who's begging me beyond all hope.
"Whatever might have been the reasons from my side still I wilfully dragged you in my mess. The mistake was mine." I intoned quietly, seeming unable to put the effort into being louder. "You, like everyone else, had put faith in me but I couldn't keep up my words." I clattered, "But trust me, I didn't do anything intentionally." I shook my head again, I wasn't really convinced of my apology, "I'm really very ashamed to admit this but yes I had wronged you, Aakash."
"Ruchi-" He incisively took my name but my jitters didn't allow him to say anything.
"I totally understand if you detest me after this whole scenario but please believe me. I had no ill motive-"
"Ruchi! Stop!! Enough!! I accept your apologies." Aakash astutely suspended my rambling, "It's alright." He said.
My eyeballs bulged out in nashville as he careened forwards to clutch my palm resting on the table. I wanted to snatch my hand away from his grasp for the unease that groped me but I resisted the urge somehow because his gestures had foxed me.
"We can't change things now, can we?" Aakash implied. "Yes, you were at fault by keeping me in the dark. I was angry at you too-" I swallowed the bile rising up my throat.
He was exactly beating on my incapacitated nerve. He acted awfully even after being familiar with my past neurotic issues but I had nothing to complain about amidst my own faults.
I am the con artist here.
"I liked you, Ruchi. You should've been a little thoughtful about my feelings, my family and my reputation."
I should've but then I didn't.
God! I'm really miserable.
"I forgive you but give me some time, Ruchi." He put forth, "I do need some time to accommodate myself to this news." Aakash started with an obdurate smile which I acknowledged guiltily. "I genuinely liked you and wished for being with you but I-" He trailed off-handedly. "Now, whatever happened cannot be changed but we can continue to be good friends, right?" He prodded with a slight hint of optimism in his voice and tinge of remorse in his eyes.
Friends never do what he did but still I can try to repay him for the damage caused by my mistakes in some way.
"Sure. I would like to be your friend Aakash." I divulged thoughtfully agin the heart opposing his proposal. "You are a great man. You're everything for someone as good as you." I framed. "I am obliged to have a friend to be like you." The small smile was plastered on my face to not provoke the torpedo of our discussion.
He gradually returned to my convincing body language and unabatingly ordered snacks for me when I tried to take my leave. I stealthily took away my hand from him when he concentrated on the food.
We got out of the mall together when I excused him about getting late. I was rapidly rejecting his idea for dropping me at the mansion on the pretext that it was in the opposite direction and would cost him his time.
"You're never a trouble, Ruchi. Come with me, I'll drop you."
"I don't think so." I really didn't want him to be with me. His fluctuating personality strikes terror into my being. "I'll manage."
I don't understand the reason behind his persistence but for a second I am left frozen as Aakash buoys up his arm in my face.
I predicted a hit was on my way when a big warm arm swaddled around my waist. The gust of air I ceased earlier was discarded out in wheezes along my rocky limbs that gladly stayed on the ground due to the strong grip around me.
"Thanks for your concern, mister but do not worry much." I visibly leaned and relaxed in the hold for I knew who was beside me.
My peace was here.
He was here.
"I am capable enough to ride my wife back to our home." His words were austere while his voice was rugged along with a vein on his neck that appeared constricted.
His touch instantly hushed down my anxiety but Aryan's muscles seemed tensed up for some reason.
"I still insist if you want to join me, Ruchi." I could hear Aakash in the background as he explained to me about his misunderstood action.
He demonstrated an apology but I was too distracted by Aryan's mere presence to pay heed to him.
One might call me inconsiderate but I do not care for this one time.
My sole convergence hung on the man who had canned me unscathed.
I was lodged on my husband too blind to feel ashamed for becoming a hot topic in a place full of people.
Only Aryan Mallik owns that kind of authority over me.
"You arrived here with me, Ruchi and it's fair if only you leave with me."
Aakash haughtily pestered again but I was too preoccupied to explore Aryan with the help of my hazy rationality. I physically curbed myself to run away because I didn't like this controlling version of Aakash and now he was doing it very often.
"I am her husband." Aryan remarked. Meteorically, he palmed my waist gently as if he knew about my remission towards Aakash.
"Ruchi, you're ignoring me-" Aakash blew a fuse.
Aryan was focussed but not for long due to the latter's meddling. "Who the fuck' are you even, bitch?" His crass dialogue established the real point without sugarcoating much.
"Enforced husband, Mallik!!" Aryan was seething and a subsequent fear reflected over Aakash's face too but he wasn't backing out. He saw my reluctance first hand yet still. "She was my fiancée before being yours whatsoever." He repeated.
Aryan chuckled in a sardonic manner, of course. "Stop licking over the past and start fresh in the present." He advised. "It will do you good."
"Nobody forgets the past so easily. So, remember that you're her so-called husband for the time being and I'm her fian-"
What is he actually fighting for?
My husband on a cue strongly glared at Aakash who cowered back.
"I am her friend, with or without your consent I'll be concerned and worried for her well-being."
Oh! That's really unthinkable- I can't really comment much about his bargain.
"Well, to-be fian- but also currently dumped Mr. Ex fiancée stop bugging her or if I put into your words, 'being concerned' in any of my wife's business or you have no idea what I can do to you-"
No! No! No!
I can't stand wrestling.
I urgently fisted the fabric of Aryan's army green jersey in my palm to jostle him back on the spot as he took a predatory step near Aakash who stumbled on his shoe.
I glanced at him in pity. He won't stand a full minute if Aryan goes down on him.
"Yaar-" He groaned. I shook my head in denial and his face twisted up in displeasure and annoyance.
[Yaar - A friendly form of address in India.]
"I'm sorry, Aryan!" I mouthed and he begrudgingly stood still.
I very much trust him and his fighting skills but I can't watch him wantonly falling in a hitch. Besides, he held a bare minimum record of patience whenever I came into the picture.
I found no harm in calling off this day in peace so I chose the easy way out.
"Please, do not worry about me. I'll be alright and get my way home."
I seriously wanted him to go away.
"Are you sure? I mean-" Aakash wasn't very pleased by my answer.
"Thank you so much, Aakash." I called it off and grabbed Aryan's hand while he sulked like a baby who was denied his ice-cream. Oh! My! He's angry. I bit back a resplendent giggle, squeezed my cute but gigantic man's palm and looked back at Aakash forgetting the debacle with him. "He'd keep me safe."
He finally agreed to leave the two of us alone after a while but Aryan was already pissed in this whole period assuming from the way he aimed to throw reckless fireballs at Aakash's retreating self.
Mr. Stupid woke up on the wrong side of his bed for sure.
"Why are you laughing now?" He was vexed by my beaming face.
"Kyu?" I demanded, "Ab mera hasna bhi gunah ho gaya hai kya?"
["Why? Have my smiles become a crime now?"]
"I don't want to talk to you in the first place." He grumbled. "Meri hi galti thi jo main pehli fursat mein idhar chala aaya tumhare liye!" He added, "You don't like my special services."
["It was my fault that I came here in the first free time for you!"]
You don't have any idea about how much I love your concern-filled special services.
I heartily chuckled over his problem and he childishly shot daggers at me in his response. "Aww!!" I cooed and pinched the tip of his jaw as his face had no ounce of fat. His curves are sharper than a knife.
Aryan scowled and swatted my hand away in vexation. "Follow me, now!" He directed and I walked behind him slowly while still seeking fun at his sake. He is like a baby throwing tantrums.
His car was standing on the other side of the road and we were supposed to cross the heavy-traffic road. I stepped back to avoid the crowd gathering to rush while crossing at the red-light.
I hate being pushed in the crowd due to the paranoia of getting lost. I would simply wait for the place to get empty instead.
"You go. I'll come later-" I told when Aryan tugged me next to him.
He weaved our fingers together and blinked his eyes at me reassuringly. I wasn't sure at first as we crossed the road with me clutching on his hand tighter each time as the mania kicked in. I was surprised by myself when I finally made it possible without collapsing.
Aryan held open the car's door for me while I settled inside. I closed my eyes in exhaustion and fluttered them open as he wiped the sweat off my temple.
"Thank you!" I murmured softly when he passed me a water bottle as well.
"Didn't you say that already?"
"Say what?" I creased my eyebrows.
"That.." Aryan drawled tenderly with uncountable emotions surging through his face, "I'd keep you safe."
Oops!
I did that. Didn't I?
Lots of Love,
ANKITA