The Abyss Called Love

Part 1

"Ashna Agarwal, how many times do I need to tell you to stop taking these anti-depressants and alcohol together?" berated Dr. Preeta Sharma, shaking her head at Ashna's lips stretched into a smile.

Ashna had fainted during shooting for a scene for the upcoming movie, when her team had called for Preeta. Loss of consciousness, one of the side effects of consumption of alcohol with anti-depressants, had caused her third blackout for the week, and it did not take Preeta long to diagnose the same.

"You know why I take it, and why I cannot stop," said Ashna, clutching her head, which throbbed with a heaviness that made her dizzy again. She rested her back against the support and continued to massage her temples with her shaky and dainty fingers.

"These pills cause you to gain weight, and you follow fad diets and overburden yourself at the gym to lose the extra pounds. You cannot have the opposite ends of the spectrum, Ashna. Why don't you confide this to Aniket? He has a right to know, and I am sure he would understand without fail," said Preeta, taking her seat on the couch next to Ashna's bed.

"That's the whole point, Preeta!" A wry chuckled escaped Ashna's lips. "He would understand without fail, but in his own way. He would not understand my point of view. I remember, he had told me the reason he fell for me was I had no expectations from him like his family. I don't want to take away the basis of his love, Preeta. It's just his love which keeps me going."

She gestured to her secretary to bring some wine for herself, despite the frown etching itself onto Preeta's features.

"Alcohol, anti-depressants, strenuous exercise, sleep-deprivation, and crazy schedule. What is this if not the perfect brew to ruin your health? I understand you don't want to lose him, but as your doctor, I cannot allow you to take any more of these anti-depressants before you quit alcohol, Ashna. You must find another way out of this," said Preeta, pouring herself some orange juice as Ashna indulged in the very habit she protested against.

"Love, depression, and addiction are like an abyss, Preeta. Once you fall into it, there is no way out if you are the one with a weak will, and now I don't think I have any will left in me," said Ashna, swirling the golden liquid in the glass as she eyed the shimmery sky.

__________________________________

Aniket Rawat stared out of the window beside his desk. The clear navy blue sky twinkled like someone had spilled a shimmer over it and had drawn a marvelous art using the sky as the canvas. On the 31st floor, his cabin boasted of one of the best views of Mumbai.

For a normal observer, Aniket Rawat had everything one would want. He had married the love of his life, ranked as one of the top business executives of the world, and blessed with good health.

But the man in question himself would deny the claims with a regretful sigh. He had married the love of his life, but the marriage was far from a happy one. He often found his thoughts wandering in his meetings to the unfortunate fate of marriage and the pile of complaints at the back of his mind.

His mind drifted into the past, and he reminisced about the way he had colored the town in red with his current wife and then girlfriend. The passion that had possessed them had dwindled and died out, not long after their marriage.

People would kill or die to be in his place to marry their childhood sweetheart or their first love, but he knew better. He wondered if he had not handed the pen that wrote his destiny to his parents, would he still fall for the same woman? Or would love knock his door through a different person, and would bring along peace?

A knock on his door interrupted Aniket's gazing of the world on the other side of the glass. He shook his head at his recently developed lack of focus, and granted the permission to enter. Aniket's secretary, Rupa, walked into the room.