TO BE LOVED

Epilogue

I looked at Anushka. She was in tears. I passed her a tissue, trying to hold back my own emotions. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and she gave me a small smile in return.

"You are really a man of your word, Virat. Playing in that kind of condition is not everyone's cup of tea," Anushka said, her voice filled with admiration and sympathy.

"Thank you," I nodded, grateful for her understanding.

"I think we should go now. Siya is waiting for us," Anushka suggested, and I nodded in agreement. Together, we walked out of our Dharmshala home.

With each step I took towards her, my heart pounded faster, and my mind filled with memories of Siya. She had a profound effect on me, and I couldn't help but yearn to hug her once more, to feel her presence beside me.

But I couldn't.

I envied the soil that now embraced her. Siya had left this world the moment Mahi Bhai hit that ball. India won the World Cup, but I lost my love, my heart, my everything.

As we reached her grave, I sat down, my eyes welling up with tears. I didn't want to let them fall; I knew Siya hated it when I cried.

"How terrible it is to love something death could touch," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

"I miss you every day, Siya," I said, my emotions overwhelming me.

"Everything will be fine" Anushka said.

"It will," I managed to smile through my tears.

I then shared the news with Siya, speaking to the air around me. "Siya, have I told you today is a big day?" I said, my voice trembling. "Your book is finally published, and we are going to release it today at your beloved orphanage. You did it, Siya. I love you, and I wish you were here to see it all."

Anushka and I continued to reminisce about Siya, sharing stories of her strength and love, how she had touched so many lives at the orphanage. Her legacy lived on through her words, and I promised to keep her memory alive in my heart.

As I stood near her bike, I couldn't resist running back to her grave. "Hey... I'm missing you," I whispered, "come in the air tonight, I'm breathing today!"

And with a heavy heart, I bid her goodbye, knowing that she would always be a part of me, and that someday, somehow, we would meet again.

Escapism.

The title said.

-By Siya Kohli.

I read the writer's name in the end, she always wanted to have surname. We weren't fortunate enough to marry each other but I knew she loved me so much that she always wanted to be known as Siya Kohli. She loved my surname and always wanted to have it.

She was mine and we don't need an arrangement like marriage to make our name one.

I walked in side of the hall, Indian Team was there, Akka was there, Maa was there, Yash was there, each and every person Siya loved was there, for her.

I walked ahead of them, and started my eulogy. I wasn't brave enough to speak it before, but I think the time has come now. This day is best for eulogy.

"My Siya...I have bid good bye to her long long ago...but today when we are at her beloved place, her home, her orphanage, finally relishing the book she wanted. I feel like I am letting go of pieces of her, that only I know until now, but I was so wrong, I am now, finally giving Siya's love she left for us. She is alive in between this book of her. She left us so soon but I know with less regret she was more alive than the rest of us, she lived more than the rest of us. She is still living with us with her words.