Vows of Misfortune

30.

"Hey baby, you're back. I've been waiting for you." Varun opened my door, dressed down in a crisp, white shirt.

"Wh—Varun?" I turned. Romir wasn't there with me. I had no luggage or anything, either. "What are you doing in my house?"

"I have a spare key. Did you forget, babe?"

"Don't call me that...what are you doing here?" He leaned in to kiss my forehead, dark brown eyes, that I used to love, twinkling. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to Claudia then."

"No, that's what I want to talk to you about."

I inched backward but he pulled me into him by the waist. "I know it's too late but I made a mistake," he whispered, face creased and lips trembling. "Claudia isn't the one I want. It's you."

My heart thumped. This was what I had been waiting for. "I'm married, Varun—"

"I don't care. Please, take me back. I love you." He pulled me into a hug. I wasn't sure if I embraced him back or what exactly I was feeling.

"I love you too, Varun. Always. I love you."

All of a sudden, I opened my eyes. I was at Varun's apartment, standing in the hall. It wasn't fuzzy like a dream or anything. I rubbed at my eyes. I heard faint noises in the background.

I was dressed in a white trench coat and the big purse I used to take to the office when I was still doing the law internship. My personal laptop was on the couch, half open. The cup that I used to make tea with at his house was half empty and sitting on the coffee table.

Wait, so the other one had been a dream? Was this the real deal? I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked the same. It was real. It felt real.

Oh my gosh. Did that mean we had never broken up? I patted myself down and nearly cried.

Clicking open my phone, the glare of the white screen read Friday 18th. A few days before the wedding.

So everything else had been one big old nightmare!

Romir wasn't in my life. Our marriage didn't exist. I nearly jumped for joy when I heard a male voice.

Varun was here.

"Varun?" I heard myself ask, my socks pattering across the timber floors. "It's Chinese take-out night!"

The noises got louder the more I got closer to his room; my hurried steps lagged as my chest rose and fell. My heart thudded in my ears. "Baby?"

The door was half open. I didn't need to push it open to see or hear the moans getting louder.

Claudia and Varun were in bed. They were both fully naked. Varun looked at me, a smirk on his lips before he cupped the back of Claudia's neck, bringing her lips down to his.

"No, no, this can't be happening," I mumbled. It wasn't a dream. It was real. It had happened.

I screamed.

I awoke with a start, my hands gripping the handrest, gasping for air. The red blanket draped over me slipped down. I cleared my vision by blinking, the baby hair on my forehead sticking to my damp skin.

We were on a plane. Looking out the window the sight below was pitch black. People were mostly sleeping or watching movies. Romir was here next to me, asleep himself.

So they were both dreams. I rested my head back against the seat. I was glad the last one was a dream even though a part of me thought I had gone back in time somehow.