Glassy Dreams

Chapter 1

Before we began :

- Give the story a couple of chapters to set pace and speak to you in the language of your favorite characters.
- Read Nandini and Manik as people who make mistakes, who are flawed, who have as many negative emotions as you and me.
- Most importantly, remember perspectives. What I see has glass half empty, can be your glass half full. Nobody is wrong, and nobody is more right about it.
- Mental health is fragile. And healing takes time.

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“Dil se dhadkan hai gayab,
Aankhon se neende gayab,
Aasman ke taare sare kho hi gaye”

Nandini breathed a lungful as she walked out of Goa Airport, dragging her suitcase and Rishabh tailing behind her. Her steps faltered as she tried to walk out, but no matter how hard she attempted to hide it - this was difficult for her - Coming back to the city that saw her shattering into too many pieces to ever have the hope of healing back.

Especially when few of those pieces she had left behind with her man, and she knew she would never have them back.

Seven months, and she still hadn't healed - a part of her didn't know how to, but a bigger part of her didn't want to. This pain, the emptiness had become her solace now. She had found refuge in the darkness her heart was drowning in and after so many years, she had finally understood why people found that addictive.

“Di, the cab is here”, Rishabh mentioned cheerfully, pointing towards the cab and startling Nandini in the process. She blinked, coming back to reality from that familiar dark place in her head, but like always, it ended with her breathing escalating while she tried to calm herself down by taking deeper breaths. Her free hand fisted the hem of her dress, the knuckles of her other hand turning white because of the pressure with which she was holding the handle of her suitcase. But the physical pain anchored her to reality better - bringing her back safely from the chaos of her mind.

“Di?”, Rishabh called again, frowning this time, “Are you okay? You look a little pale”.

Nandini forced herself to smile, nodding at him and gesturing to walk towards their waiting cab. Rishabh would probably never know how difficult this decision of coming back to Goa or facing Manik was for her, but then again, there was hardly anything Nandini wasn't willing to do to make her younger brother happy. She had raised him like her child, not a sibling, and after everything that happened, her motherly instincts for Rishabh had grown ten folds more.

Soon they checked into their hotel and, while Rishabh passed out after a quick lunch, Nandini sat toying with her food, her appetite worse than what it had been all these months. She had hardly eaten two morsels before she pushed the plate away and cleared the table. Her heart was beating crazy - she couldn't tell if she was just anxious in general or nervous about meeting him, but the entire time she waited for his reply, after texting him for a time and place to meet, she couldn't sit down or relax for a second. When he finally replied, she breathed out, sitting down and clutching her chest while continuing to breath through her mouth.

“You have to do it for Rishabh, Nandini. And you have to be strong. You are all he has. Be strong. Be strong. Be strong”, she repeated it to herself - a pep talk if you can call it that before she finally gathered her courage and left to meet him.

The beach was just as beautiful as she remembered it, but it did not bring her the peace it used to anymore. Nandini stumbled as her eyes found the shoreline - memories of running around with him lifting her up and twirling her in the air making her eyes misty. They used to be so happy together, why couldn't they stay so?