A Blessing In His Curse

•Chapter~16°

Sometimes we think that we want to disappear somewhere but in reality, all we really want is to be found by someone.

Author's POV

In a corner of the exquisite hall of the magnificent palace where his marriage had taken place, Arjun stood. Every guest was in attendance; the men engaged in conversation about trade, politics, and other topics while the women, dressed in glitzy gowns, laughed and gabbed.

Arjun felt strange inside this place, between the people. His eyes felt heavy and exhausted and a pounding headache quickly followed suit. He pressed a hand to his damp forehead. It felt as though a block of ice was pressing against the inside of his forehead.

The shimmering lights and decorations were too much for his eyes to bear, but it was the crowd, the people that truly unsettled him as he had to navigate the throng of people, the constant barrage of greetings, questions, and small talk.

Every sugar coated smile, every  handshake, and every dressed up in fancy words' conversation felt like a draining exercise for a non-meet man like him.

He turned his head to look out the glass window, which offered a stunning view of the outdoors and the surrounding countryside.

The morning sun cast a warm glow over the trees as birds chirped their gentle melodies. It was a serene scene, one that contrasted with the vibrant celebrations of his wedding that had lasted throughout the night, culminating in the emotional farewell ceremony of the bride, known as the vidai, which traditionally took place at dawn.

Sometimes he could be misunderstood as a stone statue by some outsider as the only sign of life was the faint blink of his eyelids.

His face always looked like a blank piece of paper.

His evenings were lost, he himself didn't know where he was. He spent his hardest days alone when everyone believed he was fine and if someone could only glimpse onto the surface of his mind, they would be consumed by an endless ocean of tears.

The pure weight of his sorrow would crush them, a relentless tsunami of pain and anguish that would leave them gasping for air.

He was strong, but exhausted.

A lone, rebellious tear threatened to fall from his frosty, soulless eyes even today on her name, but he refrained himself, a habitual reflex.

His eyes hardened, their expression glazing over like ice forming on a winter's night.

Even eyes grow tired of sorrow.

All he yearned for was to dissolve into nothingness, to escape the suffocating weight of his existence, far from people's eyes and the undescribable  agony that was even darker than any shade of black.

But his heart, though battered and bruised, still beat for two tiny, precious souls and that was why he chose to bear the crushing burden of his pain, to suffer in silence and to bear the weight of thousands of midnight nightmares rather than risking their innocence being slightly tainted by anyone.

After all, he was a father.

His emotionless eyes looking out of the window perhaps were searching for an emotion.

In a while, his father and wife approached and he unwillingly  halted himself from walking out.

Her lips, curled into a saccharine grin, warned him of an impending avalanche of fake concern and manufactured drama and the last thing he needed was another their tired, rehearsed lines, dripping with insincerity.

"You appear a little dejected?"

Anamika taunted him while Abhimaan stood next to her. On any other occasion she would love to enjoy a bit of drama between her husband and his son but she certainly didn't want to create a scene today, in front of thousands of guests that included her business partners.