Two pieces of a whole.

The Downpour.

The ones who promised to stand by each other, stood opposite each other, waiting anxiously for the final verdict.

Shravan cracked his knuckles and ocassionally kept drumming his fingers against his legs. Suman chewed on her lips, her hands firm but fisted.

Time passed, proofs were brought up and questions were asked, issues were highlighted and later they reach the conclusion that Devraj is not a traitor, but his negligence allowed two people to misuse their power to produce low quality bulletproof vests. Since Devraj had already served his jail term, he is free to leave now.

"Devraj Malhotra is not a traitor.", the court announced. That one sentence was more than enough.
7 years of struggle, the guilt, the accusations, people pointing fingers, being constantly questioned of loyalty and made fun of, being neglected, the burden seemed to be lifted off his shoulders. He was happy. He looked towards her and called her name, 7 years later too, he didn't know why she was the first one he wanted to share his happiness with. But then he watched her leave, her eyes fixated on the ground, as she rushed through the people in the crowd. Almost as if she was suffocated and needed air. His smile died and all he wanted was to know she was alright. He tried to call Bunty as he limped his way outside the court room, but in vain, there was no signal. He came outside the courtroom.

Suddenly he didn't feel happy but guilty, now that he knew that his father was somehow responsible for her loss due to his negligence. It was raining heavily, it was cold and Shravan had been trying to somehow make call to Bunty. Bunty had promised to pick him up from the court and take him to his house for a family dinner, his best friend had full faith that he would win the case. Shravan smiled, in these 7 years, everything had changed but his friendship with Bunty was the only thing that was constant.

Then he turned to his right to see a distant figure, walking on the road all alone, her hands covering her ears, she was walking away fast. "Suman"., he whispered as he realized it was her. "Suman!", he called out. "Suman wait!", "Sumo!" he said limping towards her, she wasn't listening. She was walking away quickly, almost running, her hands over her ears as though, as if she could hear someone screaming. Maybe it was her mother's cries clutching her dead father lying wrapped in tricolor. He couldn't walk much due to his leg injury, he tried to move as much as he could, limping. She was still far away from him, she wasn't listening, he tried reaching her, when she dropped on to the road, hugging herself, as the rain poured down heavily. "Sumo!" , he said as he finally reached her and bent down to see her. She pulled her hair, then she let out a scream and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She didn't make a sound, that scared him more. Shravan was helpless, he did not know how to help her, he watched her struggle and tears ran down his face. He was partly responsible for her condition. He left her."Suman-", he began.The road was empty, they were alone by the side of the road. "I failed him" "I let him down." She said, shivering as the ice cold water poured down from the sky.
"Suman, listen to me, everything will be fine."
"No Shravan, nothing will be fine." Then she got up as though she realized something,
"Why are you here?" She demanded. "Why do you have to come back now after all these 7 years Shravan?" "For what!?" She said pushing him away. "Suman, I-" , he tried explaining. "Oh right! You came back here for the mission right? How silly of me, I thought you would come back for me, I waited for you Shravan. I thought you would understand me Shravan but you didn't.", she said. She paused and there was silence. Then she began with a low voice-"I called you didn't I?" "But you never picked up." You know-", she said, as she pulled herself up and stood. "You know, I'm impulsive!" "You remember I told you that "Regardless of what I do and what I say, I asked you to never leave me and you promised me you wouldn't. You remember ?" "Suman.", he tried to explain again. "You promised me, Shravan." She bit her lips, she was shivering as she hugged herself, she was a mess.

"Suman, listen to me.", he said cupping her face. She looked up slowly, "I failed him." "I let my father down Shravan, I'm a horrible daughter, I failed." "I failed everyone, I pushed away everyone, and they went away." " I don't want to be here." "I feel pathetic.", she confessed. "I lost the ones loved." "Two were taken away from me, and one I pushed away." "I'm sorry, Suman; I didn't know, It's my fault too, I am sorry", He pulled her into his arms, he didn't know what else to do, what to say and she didn't resist. She cried into his shirt and he let her. He wanted to tell her everything was fine, that he was here, he now knows she didn't mean what she said that day, and that he's sorry but he couldn't so he stood there holding her and balancing himself with his injured leg.

"Suman", he began almost choking onto his words. "I'm sorry."

"Suman I didn't know that you called me.", "Suman, I swear didn't know." "If I did, I swear I would have done something, I-"

"would you have come back? Did you ever think of coming back?", she asked stuttering due to the cold against his chest.
"Why didn't you try to reach me once? Why didn't you try to ask me if I'm okay? You know I lost my father, my mentor and my idol all at once.You were there, you held me when I could barely move." "I called you.", she repeated. "I called you for the first five years, I called you for the last time when my mother died." "But you didn't pick up, Shravan."

"Anjali aunty-", he was horrified, he had no idea. He didn't know what to say, how to react. She broke free from his arms and started walking away. "I'm sorry Shravan, I'm sorry that I pushed you away. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, bye." He wanted to say something, he couldn't process what happened. "Sumo!", he blurted out.

She stopped in her tracks, it's been ages since she heard him call her Sumo, the name that he gave her. The name gave her odd joy and pain. She continued to walk her path.

Shravan felt terrible, horrified. Anjali aunty passed away too, he wasn't there. She called him. He didn't know. He never tried to reach her. He never thought how she must have felt, all he remembered was her words, how he felt when she told him all that. He stood there for a while as the rain poured down heavily.

He started walking slowly, limping his way to a place, where he felt comfort, a place so familiar. Somehow he felt that is where he had to go. That's where he needed to be now.

The tea stall.
Their laughter echoed in his ears, he could almost picture her laughing, covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed, closing her eyes. He could picture himself, his messy hair, his smile and his eyes admiring her laugh. Its hurtful that the same girl now covers her mouth to hold in her scream, the thought hurt him like a shard of glass struck in heart.

He sat down on a chair and it had almost stopped raining.
When the tea stall owner smiled after seeing him after so long and asked him what he wanted, Shravan replied-"bhaiya, Ek chai, doodh kam, patti zyaada aur adrak kootke."

"Sumo special?", he asked with a smile.

"Sumo special.", he repeated wistfully, with a melancholic smile.