Alora

CHAPTER 1

This is dedicated to my friends HariniPadavala and Harshu179  for encouraging me to write this story ☺

                              Bhavna

"Wakeup Bhavnaa!" I hear my grandma shouting from kitchen.
I woke up with a heavy heart knowing that I have to leave today .
I reach out for my phone which is wandering somewhere on the bed for checking the time. It shows 8am. Ugh! I hate mornings.

    You guys are probably wondering why I'm not like the sanskari South indian who wakes up early in the morning to do household chores, actually I'm the exact opposite. If it wasn't for my grandmother, I would probably lie in bed all day, and I suck at household chores except for cooking of course. I feel bad for my future husband coz I'm gonna make him do most of the work Hahahaha   (evil laughter)

  Dragging myself out of the bed, I go to the washroom completing my morning chores. Wrapping myself in a towel I walk into my room looking for a proper outfit. I have to look productive today since some of my relatives are coming up

I walk into the kitchem looking for break fast . I see my grandmother making dosas, I told her that I've got it and started making for myself . I grab a plate for myself and sit beside my grandfather who is reading newspaper in the living room. God I'll miss this! . My grandparents are the most important people in my life . If it weren't for them I couldn't imagine how my life would be.They are more than parents for me They were with me in every part of my life and took care of me and my brother since my poor excuse of parents failed to do so.

But sometimes I wish my life was normal, I used to wonder what's it like to have normal parents, I used to be so jealous whenever  I saw my friends with their parents. I'm not complaining about my grandparents, they are perfect, they even suffered through a lot because of my mother who eloped with some guy years ago. 

I can remember it like it was yesterday, I was so happy that my mom was with us. We all were having a movie marathon, and then my mom told us she would bring something for us to eat, I still remember the last hug she gave me, I used to love her hugs so much because it gave me a warm feeling when I'm enveloped in her scent. It felt like a slap to my face when she didn't come back, I was so worried wondering if something bad happened to her, but when I found the letter she left, it broke my heart, she clearly mentioned in it that she's choosing him over us.

But I moved on from it, it's not worth being sad for someone who doesn't care for you, I'm happy with what I have and I'm grateful for it, some people don't have what I have right now.

"When are you leaving?" my grandfather asks me still looking at the newspaper. He's not looking at me because he has tears in his eyes. He'll pretend to be tough but I know that he's a cuddly teddy bear.     

"Today evening" I say to him and I move over to hug him. I remember that my grandfather used to say that I'll come with you wherever you go and I will take care of you. I used to laugh it off back then , now I wish it could be true, but that cannot happen, they have a life here. I can't force them to move with me, they've been taking care of me since forever, they need to rest now. They've had enough responsibility until now.

I check my phone for any messages, most of the messages were from my friends wishing me luck and happy journey and I'll miss you's and all. But one message caught my attention, it was from Abhi , he asked me if we can meet up today for lunch  before I go and I typed "okay". We used to date back then in high school, he was my first boyfriend.

I told my grandfather that I'm going to meet my friends at the mall. Of course I lied to him , If I told him that I'm going to meet a boy, he'll probably shoot that guy with his gun and not allow me to keep my foot out of the house. Just typical orthodox family things. I asked my brother to drop me off around lunch time.

I arrived at the mall and I saw him almost immediately, he waved at me but I didn't respond because my brother was still here. After my brother left , I walked over to Abhi . He definitely changed a lot, his shoulders became broader, he's gotten tall too. When he texted to meet up I said yes, not because I missed him, not because I wanted revenge or something. I just wanted to say goodbye and see him for the last time

Standing in front of him, memories flood over, and there comes my past self. There are emotions, feelings and flashes once that were mine.

"Come let's sit and talk" he says to me. I nod at him and follow him to the second floor where we're gonna be having lunch. I see his friends around. I chuckle remembering how they used to call me Vadina ( sister in law).

I sit opposite to him and look at him, really look at him, he looks kinda mature now, only looks wise, I still think he has some growing up to do, not physically though. I still remember how he used to make me feel pathetic whenever we got into a fight because I expressed what made me upset, and instead of apologizing, he used to blame me and make me feel bad about it, I used to take blame apologize for the shit he's done, The great part is he still doesn't think that he's done anything wrong.

But the day I finally said "fuck it" and let go of him, I realized that I've been pointlessly holding on to him, staying in a relationship just because you love somebody is not worth it. He doesn't deserve me if he's not respecting me or my feelings.

We start to eat, while talking about normal things, I'm controlling myself not to roll my eyes , because of the shitty things he's saying. Yeah! Yeah! Whatever!. And lastly I paid for myself even though he insisted that he's going to pay. Not gonna happen bro!, I can't inflate his ego by letting him pay for me.

And now he's telling me every single problem of his life, I know that he's trying to gain sympathy from me and exaggerating things, he knows me very well! . I can't help but feel bad for him. "You can call me whenever you want to talk to someone okay? Not as a girlfriend but as a friend I'll always be there for you." I say to him . No matter how much of a jerk he is, he's the first guy I loved with my whole heart, and he is kinda special to me. And I mean every word I said to him. He holds my hand thanking me. We part our ways saying  "goodbye" to each other.

At that moment I felt relieved, something is founded between my past and current self, the difference!, I am no longer painfully helpless to him, I am not who I was. This me, the person who sat with my ex, I was not intimidated or shrinking. I became myself who got over and grew up very well.

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