FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN

The Unravelling- Part II

Neel stroked Manjari's hair as she lay fast asleep in his arms. They fit perfectly- like two halves.. that were always meant to be together. Only she never saw him that way, and he knew he had to let her go. For his sanity and for her. He looked at her sleeping form one last time, and kissed her one last time her before dragging himself out of her bed and slowly making his way downstairs. He quickly packed his bags, while booking his cab and a ticket to India. His heart broke again into a million pieces as the distance increased between him and Manjari again.

When Manjari woke the next day, she knew he was gone. She could feel it in her Neel radar. She threw off the covers and winced when she felt the soreness in her legs. Well, she should have expected this. She had been celibate for the past two years- the last person to touch her had been Neel. And last night he had more or less made up for it. She had forgotten the number of times he made love to her. Made her cry out his name over and over again till his was the only name she remembered. She dragged herself out of bed and forced herself to do her daily chores. She tried to keep herself busy but her thoughts kept going back to last night and she couldn't stop a blush from colouring her cheeks. Last night had been explosive- in more than one way. For a while, she had her doubts about what Reeza had told her. And she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She did have a role to play in the way things ended, in the way things were now... Neel had struck a chord when he had pointed out that she had not trusted him, she had expected them to not last and had given up on them, on him too easily. She knew a deep conversation was long overdue. Before she could talk herself out of it, Manjari opened the door to go downstairs, to Neel. But the moment she opened the door, she knew in her heart that she was late. She didn't need to check the cupboards, the bedroom, the living room to know that he had truly left this time. A sob rose in her throat as she saw a letter with her name on it. She could have identified the penmanship anywhere. With shaking hands, she opened the letter and tears that she had been holding back, freely flowed down her cheeks. It said:
Dear Manjari,

You fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You're the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I will continue miss you, in a quite simple desperate human way."

P.S- All I am trying to say is I love you and will love you till the end of the time. I will wait for us to cross paths again because I refuse to accept that we are not meant to be. My home will always be where you are.
I was, am and forever be yours...
Neel

Manjari held the paper to her chest, her heart breaking again but this time for Neel and the pain she had caused him. But no more. Her mind was made up- half last night, half after reading the letter. She should have waited for him, she should have spoken to him, she should have trusted him. Time and again, he had proven his love for her. Hell, he had crossed oceans and continents for her and Amaira. Neel had not given up on her, on them. She would not give up on him, on them ever again now. It was her turn to do the pursuing, to fight for what was hers and Amaira's.
Strengthening her resolve, she began to plan her moves.
—————-

When she landed in Delhi with Amaira in tow, it was a warm June morning. She had to wait for Amaira term to be over before she could fly out.Every day had been a torture for her, as she was sure that with each passing day , distance between her and Neel was only widening. She had informed her parents that she was coming and for an indefinite period of time. The flight had been bad... thanks to COVID, there was no food, no blankets and the fair prices had been steep. But all that didn't matter- what mattered was Neel and if he would be willing to forgive her and give the relationship a chance again. She squirmed in her seat again as her cab took her over familiar landmarks, her fingers hovering over a familiar number. She turned to check if Amaira was still sleeping before she hit the call button.
The person picked up in one ring.
'Manjari .... How are you babes? Where are you? Are you in Delhi? This is your Delhi number. Right? 'It was Nandini and Manjari felt a smile forming on her lips in days.
"Hello to you too", she replied with a laugh. "Yes, it is me. I am in Delhi."
"Where have you been? Why did you not get in touch? Nobody knew where you were. All we got was your resignation letter and all formalities were comforted by your father.. When can we meet? I will inform everyone else too....we have so many questions."
"Toronto. Sorry for leaving like that. I would like to meet everyone", replied Manjari "but I rang you up for a favour".
"What is it?", skied Nandini, now intrigued.
" Do you remember Neel?", she asked hesitatingly
"Yes..."
"Is he still teaching in our college?"
"Yes...why do you ask? As far as I remember, you guys never got along...."
Manjari cursed under her breath. Damn. She had forgotten that nobody knew about the true nature of her and Neel's relationship. "About that...", she began in a halting voice, "there is something that I didn't tell anyone."
"Ooohhhhh.... I have a feeling where this going", she heard Nandini squeal. "He was in Toronto recently. Her met you and convinced you to comeback..."
" kind of...but there is more..."
Manjari spent the next half an hour speed rolling through what had happened in the past three years. When she ended, their was a prolonged silence.
"Nandini, are you there?"
Nandini only hummed in response.
" I need your help...I am lost... I don't know what to do".
"Stop lying Manjari", Nandini almost snapped at her. "You know what you have to do. ..youknow you messed up...badly. And Neel, you should see him. He is a shell of his former self. Keeps to himself. Doesn't joke, doesn't hangout with us anymore... seriously I am so upset with you" , was Nandini's honest response.
Manjari's heart sank even more. "But I am sure that you are the person for Neel... and grovelling and begging in front of him would be a good place to start."
" I know that. I am willing to do that and more. Can you please help? I just want to know his time-table..his off day... his spare periods..."
Nandini began to laugh, "How the mighty have fallen", she mocked. "Stop it", Manjari pleaded, "and please, please, please do not say a word to anyone".
"I won't," Nandini replied. "But you should know, once people know that it is you that Neel had been pining for, you are in for a ride. Yu will be responsible for a lot of broken hearts."
Manjari squirmed in her seat even more.
—————————
Neel was sitting in the staff room when Nandini came up to him. He tried to plaster a smile on his face because he was getting tired of everyone asking what was wrong with him.
"Hi".
"Hello"
"So what are your plans for tomorrow? It is your day off. Right? Do you want to hang out?"
Neel had no such intentions. He wished to be home, alone with his memories of his Manjari. He looked out of the window, trying to come up with an excuse. Nandini surreptitiously clicked a photo of him before he turned around to answer her question.
"Sorry, I have some work", he lied and than made an excuse to leave and left.
Nandini just smiled and pulled up her phone to send a quick message.
—————
It was late at night that Manjari finally had some moments to herself. She had unpacked and answered million questions from everyone for the reason for her visit. She had just blamed everything on COVID and now she was quarantined for two weeks. She checked the picture of Neel again and felt her guilt rising up again. Two weeks. She told herself and then she would wipe out every bad memory from his mind.
——————-
Two weeks later:
Manjari stood outside Neel's house... the same house she had come to, two years ago, dressed in the same clothes. She knew that Reeza was not there. Nandini had informed that Reeza had left and Manjari had been super happy to know that. For the past two weeks, with Nandini's help, she had been sending small presents for Neel..a forget-me-not plant, an chinjabi dinner, a book of Faiz.....anything and everything that she thought would make him happy.
Gathering her courage, she went up the stairs and rang the bell.
No response.
She rang again.
Still no response.
One more time. But no response this time too. Was she not at home too? She took out her phone to ring up Nandini when the door opened behind her.
"Yes, how may I help you?", a familiar voice asked her.
She stood still for a few seconds and slowly turned around. Their eyes met- one welling up, one wide with shock.
"Manjari..." was all he said and the husky quality of his voice was almost Manjari's undoing.
"Can I...?", asked Manjari hesitatingly.
Neel just stepped aside to let her in. Manjari entered the house and froze- all the memories of last time coming with full force. She made her way to the centre of the living room and looked around. Everything had been done aesthetically- beautiful art on the wall with bits of framed poetry, indoor plants (her forget-me-nots wer also there) and cushions.. actually lots of cushions and comfortable couches.