BEYOND THE CLOUDS (Completed)

Chapter 54

Shehnaaz suddenly felt all the sluggishness wear away.

Even her nose which was painfully hurting until now, suddenly seemed to have stopped throbbing.

With a bounce in her gait, she set about showering and putting on fresh clothes and makeup which she hoped would hide the redness on the centre of her face. Shehnaaz selected the same saree that she wore on their wedding day, in the hope of recreating the magic which that particular day had failed to create.

While fishing out the Ruby earrings, she also found a delicate diamond mangalsutra, that probably belonged to Badi Maa.

Since Sidharth and Shehnaaz both weren’t too big on the stereotypical Indian wedding trimmings, none of them had even thought of the black beaded chain which a new bride adorns.

Infact Shehnaaz had been so off, she had been annoyed at Sunaina’s swiftness at producing the Garland and sindoor.

She had found it unnecessary then, but today she felt differently about the whole thing.

Today she wanted to look like a blushing bride, she wanted to feel like one when she presented herself to him, yet again.

Excited with the thought, Shehnaaz went all out, brandishing the new bride essentials which consisted of the Mangasutra and a blazing red powder of vermillion, of which she took a small pinch and touched it slightly at the centre of her hairline, just like Sidharth had done, on the day of their wedding.

When she was ready, a restlessness came over her and she couldn’t wait until her husband came home.

A guest onboard her flight turned boyfriend turned lover turned soulmate and now her Husband.

She gently smacked her forehead and blushed, feeling shy of her own thoughts.

What a fool she had been to waste a few precious days of their married life.

Why didn’t better sense prevail into her earlier? And in her anger she had made Sidharth suffer too.

She felt sad as she imagined his face tightly wound up when she was lashing out at him.

“Ohhh Sidharth, I cant even begin to understand what you must have gone through. I am so sorry baby” She muttered and her eyes fell upon the rack of his shirts.

She instinctively pulled out a beige one and held it close to her, dunking her nose in its chest, to inhale the faint remnants of his scent.

“You know how your doll is…I just go mad when I am angry, until something or someone makes me differentiate between the right and wrong” she spoke into the shirt, sighing. It was going to be him soon, and her arms would be laced around his neck as she said all that she had spoken to the shirt and more.

Twirling with happiness she held the shirt close to her and broke into a slow, joyous waltz.

Fuck everything, fuck the materialistic world and its travesties her thoughts screamed.

All that mattered to her right now was the realization that his love for her was one hundred percent true and she loved him back, equally if not more.

Tired of waiting in the closet, she finally moved her party to the terrace of her painting studio.

Soon as she picked her brush to add a stroke of color to a beautiful sketch of their Chalet in Gstaad, she found her hands automatically moved to the brighter colors.

And the realization made her smile to herself and yet again chastise her for being a fool of another kind to have believed anything or anyone above Sidharth’s love.