PROLOGUE
He stood by the window sill, watching the rumbling clouds. It was about to rain again, and everybody on the streets rushed to varying shades. Mihir turned towards his little side table and picked up his cup of tea, his back facing the window long enough to miss one figure exit a BST bus in agitated strides.
He'd only resumed gaping out of the window in his living room; this was the closest to a balcony he could afford; when his doorbell rang.
His brows creased.
10:50 PM
Who could be visiting him now?
Mihir placed his cup of tea on the table and hurried to the door.
Her teal kurti was soaked wet, water dripping down her curly ringlets as she stood before him taking heavy breaths.
"Ad...Adrija?"
She gazed at him quietly, her eyes giving away the turmoil he could tell she was in.
"I...I don't know what I'm doing here."
Mihir gulped, now feeling concerned at how dishevelled she looked. "Is Pritha okay? Um...why are you standing outside? Please come in!"
"Mihir."
He stopped short, eying her sceptically.
"I want to talk. I want to tell you. Everything."
His heart skipped a beat, adrenaline surging through every fibre of his being. How much had he craved for this moment in all the years they'd spent apart? How many times had he wanted to storm to her house like this and demand answers? How many times had he imagined this moment in his head?
Mihir pulled the door further open in invitation, studying his living room hesitantly. It was a mess, and he wished he'd cleaned the place up a little more.
"You...you probably want to change." He offered distractedly.
Adrija; who was so far busy taking in her surroundings; turned to face him. "Um...yeah. That would be nice."
Mihir wet his lips, "Straight and left. That's my room. There's a bunch of clothes astray...you...can pick any." He paused, "...I've washed them don't worry!"
She let out a small smile.
"And...and there's a towel in the washroom." He stated; and then added again, "You...can take a fresh one from the cupboard if you want to."
Her face visibly flushed, as she gave a short nod and walked in. He hurried to fix the living room in her absence, adjusting the pillows on the couch, removing the pizza box from the table and placing it in the fridge and even rolled away the tea stained rug on the floor he'd been ignoring for weeks.
And then, he seated himself on the couch and waited for her impatiently.
When she stepped out, her beautiful, luscious hair still wet, but her face fresher than it was when she'd walked in, he felt his heart pound in his ears. Mihir gulped, his gaze dropping down to the couch and then springing up to his feet to keep as much distance between them as he could.
Despite his clouded thoughts from the skyrocketing temperatures in the room, Mihir found the first question slip out of his lips as, "Pritha? Where is she?"
"Archana was kind enough to take care of her for a couple of hours."
"Oh." He sighed thoughtfully, their gaze meeting again.
Adrija fidgeted with the strap of her purse. "Vedant...m...my husband he...he was not seeing anyone."
Mihir eyed her knowingly as she continued, "I mean...that's not why we got a divorce...." He settled next to her on the couch slowly, sensing she needed to speak uninterrupted.
And with the backdrop of the rains and two untouched cups of tea, they finished...what remained unsaid and undone.
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Class differences, disapproving parents, incomplete revelations and heartbreaking compromises, Mihir and Adrija have seen it all.
But there's more to EVERY story, isn't it?
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Shoutout to chaashnee for making this wonderful banner for me!🙈 This out of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me!❤