Loved- Pyar Ki Ek Adhuri Kahani

Episode 1

My note: 5 votes on trailer, that is great. To be honest I wasn't even expecting 1 vote. So thank you very much to the few that voted.

***

Two people sit together on their bed, the girl's head rests on the boy's shoulder, quiet. She's reading a book, he's grading papers, their usual routine. She closed the book suddenly and his pen stopped on the paper. Raising a brow, not even a word uttered, yet he knew something was wrong, as she cuddled closer to him.

Riya encircled both of her arms around one of Ranbir's, and closed her eyes, her lips jutting in a slight pout. He didn't ask her what was wrong, he didn't have to, the silence spoke for itself.

Ranbir put his papers off to the side, and cuddled closer to Riya, cheek against her head, and closed his eyes as well. Her braided for bed- silky hair tickled his skin as he waited for her to speak. A bubble of serenity, he had almost begun to drift off to sleep when she spoke.

"Kya tum hamesha mujhse pyar karoge?" Asked Riya, out of the blue.

"Yeh kis tarah ka sawal hai? Main tumhe apni aakhri saans tak pyar karunga." Said Ranbir, in a heartbeat.

"Sach mein, mere Mendhak?" Riya teased as she lifted her head off his shoulder, smiling broadly.

"Sach mein, meri Bagarbilli." Ranbir teased in return, leaning in for a kiss.

But suddenly it turned dark.

"Ra- Ran- Ranbir-." A quivering whisper in the night. Bleeding out on the pavement, a trembling hand toward a flipped car. Oil leaking on the ground, igniting fire. Her eyes shut.

Riya wakes up screaming, like she always does. Sobbing for the day she couldn't scream. Tears flowed down her face, like blood flowed out on the pavement. The fire ignited, engulfed him and faded away, but she burns in it everyday.

"Chup- main hoon- main yahan hoon, Princess. Mujhe dekh- meri awaz sun, main yahan hoon, tu wahan nahi hai- main hoon- main hoon- yahi par." Abhishek runs in, holds his daughter in his arms, crying with her as she shrieks sobs, trying to comfort her, but he's never enough.

What she needs is already gone, and with him she died too. What's left is a shell that is haunted by his memory. A recurring nightmare that is in fact a reality she can't escape. Of a promise he once made, that came true. He loved her until his last breath. Now without him, her every breath is painful.

She asked him if he would love her forever, he said until he breathed his last breath. Neither of them knew then that she would die every day in his love, forever.

***

"Haan, sabhi bags packed hain, humari kal flight hai... haan- bye." Abhishek was talking on the phone.

"Main wahan nahi jaungi, maine aapko pehle bhi bataya hai." Said Riya, sitting on a sofa, turning the pages of a book, not reading, just staring. Her stare less blank than it was yesterday- progress.

"Aur hum pehle bhi yeh baat kar chuke hai. Tum mere saath Indian wapas aa rahi ho. Aur yeh final hai." Said Abhishek, softly and sternly too, holding her face in his hands.

"Lekin aapne toh mujhse kaha tha ke kabhi ghar wapas mat aana-." Riya has always had a very blunt way of speaking

But with her abrupt stop, the silence that followed after, and the lone tear that fell from Abhishek's eyes, even she knew she went too far.

So she redirected the conversation, almost whispering. "Mere paas wahan wapas jaane ki koi wajah nahi hai."

"Tere paas jaane ki koi wajah nahi hai? Aise toh yahan rehne ki bhi koi wajah nahi hai. Kab tak- kab tak tu- ek saal ho gaya hai Riya- tujhe aage badhna hoga!" Yelled Abhishek in devastated concern, his daughter was fading day by day. He was afraid- afraid that he would one day lose her completely.

"Yeh kaise karlu Papa, jawab hai toh aap batao na? Aapne sahi kaha, kisi bhi cheez ki koi bhi wajah nahi hai. Kyun woh chala gaya mujhe chod kar? Kyun meri har ek saans mujhe uski yaad dilati hai? Agar woh nahi hai toh main kyun zinda hoon? Kisi bhi cheez ki koi bhi wajah nahi hai, bas sab ek- saza hai." Said Riya, normally, not a quiver in her voice. Expressionless. A punishment for what, she did not know, but she wanted it to end.

And Abhishek was afraid she would end it herself. She needed a reason, he would give her one.

"Ek wajah hai- teri judwaa behan." Said Abhishek, softly. Riya didn't react, but her brow twitched slightly. Abhishek noticed, smiled, and continued. "Tumhari Mom ne phone kiya mujhe- kuch din pehle. Woh abhi ke liye- ateet ko bhulana chahti hai. Usne humein teri behan ki sagai mein bulaya hai. Prachi- hai uska naam- uski shaadi hone wali hai."

Abhishek was honored and joyful that Pragya would think of making him a part in such an important day of their daughter's life. They hadn't talked much, just exchanged a few strained words. Yet he could not make any promises, could not say that he would come. Riya's condition was ever fluctuating, that he could not explain over the phone. What Pragya assumed his reason for hesitation was, he did not know.

Riya got up, and left. She got up. And left just like that. No reaction, no words. What was she supposed to say? A indescribable twinge in her chest, not of pain, not of emptiness, she doesn't know what it is. But she pushed it down, only numbness left.

***

A line drawn on the wall in chalk, straight and permanent, five in a row, a line across, like the cracks on her heart. Counting up or counting down to something she longs for.

"Princess, tu kahan hai?" Asked Abhishek, worriedly, hearing him Riya blinked, got up, and came out of her closet.

"Kya aap aage badhe?" Asked Riya, plainly, taking a seat on her bed.

"Kya matlab?" Asked Abhishek, confused.

"Kya aap aage badh paye- Mom se?" Repeated Riya.

Abhishek sighed. "Riya-"

"Nahi na kar paye." Riya stood in front of him, speaking plainly still, lacking any emotion. "Us aurat ko, jo aap ko chod kar chali gayi wo bhi 25 saal pehle, unko aap bhula nahi paye. Aur mujhe keh rahe hai ke aage badh ja? Aap ki hypocrisy ke liye toh taliya bajni chahiye-."

At the end there is a hint, just a hint of anger in her voice, an emotion other than pain, but Abhishek doesn't notice. Having enough of the arrows she always shoots at him when she's hurting, he grabbed her arms.

Abhishek spoke quietly, but with so much anguished anger. "Haan nahi aage badh paya. Kyun ke meri Pragya wapas aa sakti hai, kyun ke woh zinda hain. Tera Ranbir mar chuka hai! Woh ab kabhi wapas nahi aa sakta!"

Now yelling, tears rolling down Abhishek's face, he shakes Riya to make her understand. But she can't, she won't, becoming numb again.

Abhishek speaks softly again, brokenly. "Maine tujhe kabhi na kaha ke usse bhul ja. Teri, meri zindagi tha woh- hamesha tere dil mein rahega, par tere dimag ko yaad rakhna hoga ke uske- bina bhi teri saanse chalti hain. Kab tak uski yaad mein zinda laash ke tarah jiyogi tum?! Woh khush hoga- woh khush hoga tujhe aise dekh kar?!! Uske pyar mein- uski yaad mein- tumhe barbad hota dekh, kya woh khush hoga?!"

Dead silent. Is he happy? Riya never thought of that. Wherever he's gone- is he happy? Too wrapped up in her own sorrow, she never thought of his happiness. Is he happy?

Abhishek hugs her tightly, sobbing. But Riya's eyes are blank, not a tear forming. She entraps them deep inside of her as she does with her feelings. But sorrows unfelt in the light, release in the dark, with cries and screams filling every silent night.

Is he happy? One question that has a very simple answer. The answer, she already knows. That's why she will go to the place where once, all the questions had answers.

And answers she will find. But the complicated kind.

***

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Sincerely,
Mahi