To Love Again !!!

Chapter - 9

Now that the big secret was out or should she say the big shocker she was at a loss for words. Her family wanted her to marry a divorcee. What was wrong with them? Was this the only match they could find for their unmarried daughter? Granted she had turned twenty nine but...wait what was she thinking? How could she think like that? Is this what her education had taught her? How was she any different from any of the other then? She had no idea what had caused that divorce neither who the woman was. It could be anybody's fault or nobody's fault. Without knowing the details how could she possibly decide something like this? He had been sensitive enough to not poke her about her past then why was she judging him for his. This was not right. He seemed to be a nice man before she had heard that he was divorced. Did that mean he was not a nice man now because he had told her the truth? How many times she had dealt with the same kind of judgment for no fault of hers? And here she was doing the same to him. She saw the light fade from his eyes and she was sorry she was the cause for it. She had to rectify her mistake. Whether they got married or not this was not going to be a reason for either thing.

A part of him regretted at the shocked look she gave him. He sadly watched her eyes go round in her face. Funny, how he hadn't noticed she had big eyes. So she hadn't known. By his standards it was strange because her family did know and they should not have hidden something like this from her. What if he hadn't told her? And here he had been harping about being true. His parents knew what had occurred in her past and hadn't bothered to tell him maybe it wasn't as big. He gave her some time to get used to the idea of him being a divorcee. Weird. It was a concern mostly associated with women and how it was such a big taboo, in his experience it was just as big for men too.

"You okay," he asked in the same quiet tone.

"What?" she said flustered and then closed her eyes then quickly opened them. She looked much more in control, "I am fine," she said her voice a bit screechy but much better than before. "I am sorry," she said and took in a few breaths to get her disoriented self back to functioning order.

"Why are you sorry?" he said, "You had nothing to do with it," he said.

"No," she said, "I am not sorry about your divorce," she said hastily. What? That did not come out right as he furrowed his brows. "I mean I am sorry for that but I am more apologetic for the way I reacted," she said in a much more calm tone, "I should not have reacted like that but I didn't know. I am so sorry for that," she said earnestly.

He smiled though it did not reach his eyes.

"I cannot take offence to that," he said, "you are not the first to react this way," he said a bit strangely and she didn't like it one bit.

"Look, I don't know why this wasn't told to me but I will pick that up with my family later," she said reasonably, "you got married and then divorced I am sure you must have had your reasons and I am not judging you. We all have our pasts to deal with. And I know exactly how you feel right now," she said wistfully, "being rejected for no other reason but your past. Most guys who came to see me knew about mine and some rubbed it in before leaving," she said and her lips twisted sarcastically, "at least you got married I never did get that chance," she said, "anyway as I said I don't talk about it but coming to yours trust me when I say this, if I decide to say no it won't be because of that factor," she said firmly.

Abhay was amazed. She was not judging him, well, that was a first for him. His relatives, cousins even friends who knew what had happened hadn't paused before doing that and later carried on as if nothing had happened. It had hurt to see his own not trusting him, casting aspersions. And here she was a perfect stranger, someone who might get married to him and be his wife refused to be judgmental. If possible he would say yes just for that alone. Her clarity and her broadmindedness intrigued him. Right now he didn't know what to make of her and people called her a shrew. Why?

"Thank you Amrit," he said gratefully, "I don't know where we will go from here but trust me if I get a chance I would love to get to know you better I probably need more friends like you than I had thought," he said honestly.

For the first time Amrit felt he was the right man for her. Such honesty and humility was not to be found elsewhere. And before she could stop herself she posed the question to him.

"And what if I say yes?" she asked.

Abhay wasn't expecting that. He took in a deep breath.

"I don't know Amrit," he said, "I will need some time to think. I am not saying no but I need some time too to get used to the idea of finally settling down again," he said truthfully.

"What does that mean?" she asked confused but not taking offense on his needing more time.

It was important they didn't take any decisions in haste. She herself would need time because she had been so averse to getting married and suddenly she felt her decision changing. It was just she didn't understand what he was saying.

"My mom told me today in the afternoon that I was coming here to meet with you," he said and saw her surprised, "yeah I know it is strange but she had kept it a secret till I reached here this afternoon and prior to talking to you I was sure I was going to say no," he said and shrugged, "so if I change my decision now I have to be very sure this is what I want. I hope you understand that," he said.

"I do," she said, "because I was informed yesterday evening about this and just as you I was meaning to say no," she said, "so I guess you are not the only one who feels the need to think about this," she said honestly.

"Alright," he said, "would you be averse to the idea of meeting one more time before we take a decision," he asked.

"I would like that," she said, "meeting in a different setting would not be a bad idea but I leave for Delhi tomorrow evening," she said.

"Let me get back and see what I can come up with," he said, "I will let your parents know," he said.

She just shrugged. And started fidgeting with the dupatta again.

"You don't have to wear it," he said.

"Yeah, you could say that again," she said and pinned the stupid thing back on her head, "I think we should be getting back I don't want either family to get any ideas," she said and he pointed for her to go before him.

He followed her quietly just as he had done before. Both preoccupied with what they had found about each other and what they wanted to find out. While Amrit wanted to have a nice long chat with her grandmother Abhay wanted to discuss with his parents about arranging another meeting between the two before he took any kind of decision.

What destiny had in store for them was the same thing. They had a long way to go but they had to take the journey on their own she could only show them the way.

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