Petrichor to his Heart

2.14

The cold bedsheets, which touched him when he shifted on his back were not due to the conditioned air but the window was the soothing blessing; Pallavi had opened the window for some fresh air as she often did in the last few weeks after a heavy rain, he mused with the closed eyes.

Within seconds a gush of cool breeze fluttered the transparent curtains and behind it, the dark sky whispered some soothing words to him...

He switched on the small lights above their head and the small corner around it lit up with a soft yellow glow enough to show him it was half-past 3 in the morning. The weather announced rains hitting the nearby hills arriving in the city in a few minutes and that's why it had turned cold and also disturbed his sleep.

Soft breaths and if he was right he could hear her small nose in the silence of the night... she had had a tough time in the last few days, she needed to rest well.

His mother and sister were not willing to agree to him and that was their choice but sleeping next to him was a person who had made the choice to stick by his side in the roller coasters of a ride the life was and so far life kept giving them surprises in the form of guests from his past.

he rested on his arm and stared at her sleeping form, the woman has shown sheer strength of resilience in every situation and he wanted a life with her and only her, he didn't acknowledge this fact till this morning when on his birthday he made a prayer to Lord Shiva for her safety and for a life with her...

In her sleep, he witnessed a small smile making way on her lips,

"she was dreaming something beautiful and he just wished he was there with her..."

He didn't know there would come someone in his life he would stare at like this just to wish how her nights disappeared in the dreams and what were those... a sudden yearning to touch her, ran past his head but he wanted her dream to complete so with a smile he rested on his back again.

The last few hours were the most rushed hours of his life to date, after he calmed down, the realisation hit him as it had hit everyone; Bushra had committed suicide, no one was at fault but stars had aligned some other way that day...

If he had left without telling her, she might have been alive...for a moment one such guilt crept towards him but then Pallavi's face came to his eyes and he understood there was no better planner than the supreme power over them.

So many would have been, could have been followed after they put the blocks in proper positions of the puzzle, Bushra' father was still not convinced but Fiza tried to make peace and for the sake of her ailing mother they had decided to keep the past in past.

There were still a few questions that needed to be answered but as Pallavi told him last night, a few things were left unasked, unsaid ...if they started running behind every detail then details were going to get vivid and life fade.

Flashback...

"I think Bushra's story got a closure ... are you still thinking about her?" she asked him when she entered their room with a big plate.

"Would it worry you if I say Yes.." he turned and got to know that the question had surprised her for a moment.

Everyone knew the art of hiding their feelings behind masks when they wanted to but a person didn't use that mask in front of you that was overwhelming to know, he felt the same when she didn't hide her feelings, good or bad ...her face expressed it all.

"of course it would worry me." she kept the plate on the table and walked to the door. "but because I would get restless knowing you are hurting yourself...if you are visiting the good times you two had that would be a relief to know." she closed the door and turned to him.