THE HIDDEN HALF

Chapter 40: Just a word!

***CHAPTER 40***

Swara’s soul withers with pain as she descends down the stairs. She feels like a lost child who just wishes to cry out loud for someone to find her, to tell her that this is nothing but a nightmare, and that all of this will be gone the moment she opens her eyes. Her entire being trembles as she tries to contain her muffled sobs. Is this not what she wished for? Then why is the pain in her heart becoming more and more unbearable every time she breathes? The loss she feels wrecks havoc on her entire being realizing what she has done to him and to her own self.

She fails to realize where her feet are taking her, not until the point she finds herself standing at the very doorstep of his room. And then as if she has been awoken from a deep slumber, she gasps. Her heart chides her, urges her to knock on the door but her mind reprimands her for even standing there and not sprinting back to her own room. Shaking her head, she swiftly turns around to run as if her life depends on it, but halts the moment she hears the door click. Her heart skips a beat and her breath stops as she hears his voice.

Sanskaar: Swara? What are you doing here?

Swara: I… I…

Sanskaar: Do you realize that you should not be standing here especially at this hour when I got betrothed to someone else hardly a day ago? You do know that I am getting married in a week, right?

Swara: (takes a deep breath) Why are you doing this, Sanskaar?

Sanskaar: What am I doing, Swara?

Swara: Why are you marrying all of a sudden?

The moment the words roll of her tongue, Sanskaar grabs her wrist, yanks her inside the room, and locks the door before trapping her against the wall with both his hands on the either side of her head.

She opens her mouth to protest but is rendered dumbfounded the very next moment as her eyes get locked with those bloodshot eyes of his… the way she has never seen them before. What has she done to him? In her own inner turmoil, she has hurt and lost the innocent Vidhaan he once had been. He does not deserve this. After all that he has done for her, the least he deserves is the truth about her feelings. She tries to speak but words fail her, the pain tugging at her heart becoming more and more unbearable with every passing moment.

Sanskaar: Is this not what you wanted? You wanted me to get married to someone else.

Swara: But not to someone you have not come to love!

She exclaims in defense as each and every word he says appear like an accusation to her, that she is the reason behind everything that is happening, and in a way she is.

‘Love’… The moment Sanskaar hears the word a humorless laugh escapes his lips and the intensity of emotions swirling in those captivating hazelnut eyes of his knock every ounce of breath out of Swara’s body. Her knees wobble as she realizes that he has been struggling to find the words that will hurt her the least.

Sanskaar: The one I love does not want me, Swara! And I can never love anyone else the way I love her. So, it does not matter whom I am getting married to.

Swara is rendered speechless. Each and every word appears like a splash of ice cold water against her face and she finds herself too numb to form a coherent reply.

Swara: (whispers) I’m… I’m sorry. I never meant all of this to happen.

Sanskaar: Then what did you mean, Swara?

Swara: I…

Sanskaar: (chuckles) Let us be honest with each other for at least once, Swara. I love you and I can say that till the very last moment of my existence, but can you do that? I have asked you already and I am asking you again… Do you love me enough to hold that hand of mine despite what everyone else says? To me, you matter the most, Swara. You still do. The question over here is… What importance do I have in your heart? In your life?