Rehnuma

11. Moment

She lays on my right, her chosen side in my bed, like she had every night before this. The difference today? We are not hanging down the corners of our side to avoid each other but we've found the middle ground.

Her in lust. Mine in fear.

Such a dramatic emotion fear is. It's a bait. A dangle in the air, the question is that of bravery. If you're brave enough to face your fears you win over them. But if you don't take the bait, you remain in that fear for the rest of your life. I haven't felt this emotion in nearly a decade and a half. Or more. I didn't win over my fears, I didn't go and face them in the face. I just stopped caring about them.

Why do we fear things? Some are afraid of heights because they think they will fall and die. Some of water because of the fear of drowning and dying. Some fear snakes because they can sting you and you can die. We fear different things but the main thing that scares people is death. I stopped being scared of dying. If I were to die today, I wouldn't care.

But that fear crept back into my conscience, holding it hostage in its vice grip again. I am not scared of dying. I am scared of having to live in a world without my wife. The one who has for the first time chosen to plaster herself on my side in her sleep. I don't complain. I want her close. So that I know she is fine.

That fucker came close. This close to have shown his face to my wife. I've been looking for him for the last thirteen years, pushing myself forward in hopes to atleast have one chance to come face to face with him. I hired private investors, did my own research, but everytime I got close to finding him, son of a bitch vanished into thin air.

But not this time, I was way too close to let him slip this time and he knew it. So he came out of his burrow and stared the one person I would drag him from hell for. For years that I tried to find him, I was invincible. I was strong, I had the guts, and I had the will to skin him alive.

And I still have all three of those. But I have one more thing. A weakness. Veera. My pineapples. And he saw that as an opportunity of a lifetime. If he touches a hair on her head, I would enjoy watching him die. He taught me all that I know today, I owed him that much.

The ringing of my phone cuts through the otherwise silent room. I cringe internally before silencing it, then turning to see if her sleep was disrupted. It wasn't luckily. I pick the phone up and press it to my ear, ready to lash out at whoever called me at two in the fucking morning.

The voice from the other side makes me alert. I straighten up quickly before gently pulling Veera away from my neck and laying her back down. She grumbles slightly, but my hand in her hair, running through the silky tendrils makes her fall back in her slumber.

My attention snaps back to the person on the line. Heavy breathing, pain etched in the undertones. I am surrounded by idiots through and through and there is nothing I can do to change that. This fucker got me out of my bed, away from my wife in the middle of the night. He better be having some serious problems or I'll chop his dick off.