The Abyss Called Love

Epilogue

The bustle of a grooving crowd brought a wide smile to the lips of Ashna Agarwal. The tunes of the clarinet and the beats of the dhol reverberated in her ears as she cheered on for the exhilarated relatives and friends.

A pair of tiny arms found their way around her knees and it took no longer than a moment for Ashna to guess the owner of the arms which could barely encircle her knees.

"Hey, sweetheart!" she said, picking up the tiny tot in her arms without the slightest concern for her pink and pista green ensemble. She took her seat in the chair next to her with the child seated on her lap.

"Late, Bali Maa! Saanvi not like!" said the little one with a pout that made the older woman chuckle and shake her head. She pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I was trying to find the right gift for your Maa and Hero! And look at you," said Ashna, scanning the pastel pink princess gown on the child, accessorized with a tiara. "Aren't you the cutest princess?"

Saanvi's toothy grin filled Ashna's heart with an inexplicable warmth. "My choco?" she asked, arching her eyebrow as she imitated her mother, Kriti. Ashna could see Shipra walk in from her peripheral vision. "In the car, sweetheart. But only after the dinner later tonight."

Saanvi jumped from Ashna's lap despite her attempts to stabilize her and stop from hurting herself, but there was no stopping the young lady when her eyes fell on Shipra's son and her best buddy.

The kids took off despite the attempts from the ladies to stop them and Shipra slumped into the chair - draped with a white satin cloth - next to Ashna. "I heard the adoption went through two weeks ago, Ashna. Congratulations!"

The mention of the adoption brought a resplendent twinkle to Ashna's eyes and her grin widened. "Thank you, Shipra!"

"I didn't expect you to adopt another child after Abhimanyu and Shikha. Not an infant with Down's," she said. Her former friend and Kriti's bosom friend had come around after the birth of Saanvi and they had put their differences behind.

With a solemn apology rendered to Ashna, Shipra revealed how she regretted trusting Aniket's words without an inkling of suspicion and for denying a chance to Ashna to explain herself.

Ashna dug out her phone from her purse to show her dear daughter to her friend. A smile stretched on Shipra's lips to see the joy dancing over her features. "She looks like an angel!"

Pride danced to the tunes of joy over Ashna's sharp features. "I-I couldn't dream of doing it years ago, Shipra. But this child could have been mine if I had never undergone that test. And I have made peace with myself over the years, so I felt secure enough to take Myrah in. I'm glad I did."

"The transition has been almost unbelievable," remarked Shipra with a thoughtful smile on her lips. "Years ago, I could have sworn nothing scared you more than loneliness. Nothing terrified Aniket more than shouldering expectations, and there was not a thing that petrified Kriti more than realizing she had loved the wrong man. How unfortunate that your worst fears turned true!"

Melancholy kissed Ashna's eyes, and her rueful smile faltered for the slightest of moments. "Yet, if we had never confronted those fears, our long cherished dreams would remain unfulfilled. Kriti wanted respite from the angst of unrequited love, Aniket desired to embrace fatherhood, and I longed for peace."

A wry chuckle escaped her lips, and she shook her head as she blinked back her tears. "I think... we were ready to pay any price to see our wishes fulfilled, but we did not realize we had to embrace our worst nightmares for that. I would say it was worth the sorrow and heartbreak."

Shipra placed a comforting hand over Ashna's clenched fists with her warm and compassionate eyes glimmering with assurance. Shipra's eyes fell over the stiff form of Aniket Rawat over Ashna's shoulders. The man's clenched jaw was evident despite the distance between the woman and him.

Shipra's scrutinizing gaze attracted Aniket's attention towards the ladies, and he was more than glad to shrug the company of the prying relatives and friends as he made his way towards the ladies. "I'll go grab a drink, Ashna. Take care!" said Shipra, rising from her seat before Aniket had reached them.

Almost five years since the events surrounding Saanvi's birth and Shipra still found herself unable to stomach her yesteryear friend's company. His lies had wedged a gap between Ashna and Shipra, and as she delivered the news of their latest fallout to Kriti, she had fanned the hopes of the young doctor.

The potent brew of remorse and fury had kept the blaze of distaste alive and the blatant display of the same made Aniket's shoulders droop. The crumple of the lawn behind her compelled Ashna to divert her attention to the source of the sound. "Aniket?"

"Ashna," he said, with a weak smile stretching over his lips. But the mechanical stiffness at his joints remained sustained and the edges of his lips twitched to maintain the smile. "Are you okay?" she asked, rising to her feet and locking her concerned orbs with his stormy ones.

"Um, it's nothing. I-I, uh, I'll be fine," he said, nodding his head and stretching his lips wider, but the way his eyes averted from the direction of hers, she did not have to guess that the truth was far from his words.

Ashna's eyebrows furrowed, and she contemplated her course of action. Aniket's constant looking over his shoulder and the way his jaw clenched when his eyes met with any of the wedding party made it clear to her he could use a change in the atmosphere. "Let's have a walk."

Aniket arched an eyebrow, but he relented, for nothing appeared more appealing than the prospect of a reprieve from hushed whispers and accusing looks of those around you. Aniket tailed Ashna as she ambled towards the open parking.

She settled onto the bench and she gestured with her eyes for him to take his seat next to her. Aniket slumped into the chair with a vexed sigh escaping his lips. "What happened?" she asked, eying him from the corner of her kohl-lined eyes.

Aniket's head shot up in her direction. In the meager light from the adjoining security cabin and the waning moon, which danced off the ornate kundan jewelry she had chosen for the day, she appeared no less than a compassionate angel.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees and shaking his head. "Everyone has something to say about how Kriti's marriage to Vishal would affect my relationship with Saanvi. How... how my daughter would forget me! How she would no longer ask for me!"

Ashna hooked her arm around his shoulder. "Saanvi loves you! Will things change henceforth? Yes. But it does not mean it will be for the worse. You will always be her 'Papa'. No one can take that from you," she reassured, offering a gentle squeeze to his shoulder.

The twinkle of her eyes had compensated for the sky bereft of the stars. Warmth of her words had shielded him from chilly winds of self-doubt. Aniket's quivering fingers found their way towards hers wrapped around his shoulder, and with their eyes locked in a frenzy daze, her lips stretched on their own accord.

"Thank you, Ashna! You didn't have to do this, but you- "

"But this is what friends do, don't they? They look out for each other and offer a listening ear when in need," she asked. While he bumped into the bedazzling woman almost every other month, they were yet to accept the tag of friendship.

The day - some day - she had spoken of when he had walked in to console her after her father's untimely demise had arrived. The day they laid complaints, rest and allowed tranquility to prevail.

Whether their newfound friendship would pave the way for something more, Aniket knew not. And it did not matter. Not that night of starless sky. Not the night their fingers lied intertwined after what seemed eons without one flinching away. Not that night when they found the peace they chased after.

Maybe some day. Another day. Another night. Or maybe not. But that night Aniket Rawat and Ashna Agarwal could not have asked for anything more.

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And that's a wrap! It's an open ending, left to the interpretation of the readers. Whether they fall in love again or give each other another chance is left to the discretion of the readers. Hope you enjoyed reading the journey of Ashna, Aniket, and Kriti. Do share your views! Take care.