TISHNAGI

CHAPTER 27: NAINA

I entered the room in distress. My heart, thumping with anxiety. The look he gave me before leaving was heart wrenching.

The room was dark and the only source of light was from the window, which didn't help either as it was night time. My eyes scanned the room and I found a silhouette of him sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

I turned on the lights and found shards of glass on the floor, next to the table, my gaze instinctively went to his hand, which was bleeding.

"Mahir ji!!" I ran towards him and held his hand in mine, but he harshly pulled it back.

"Why do you care?! If I die or if I live, WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?!" I flinched.

"Ma- mahir ji you-" I tried reaching for his hand again, but he again pulled it back. "What do you need?!" His words agonizing to my heart. I rapidly blinked my eyes to get rid of the tears and got up to speak to him.

"Listen to me, please." I breathed out. "What do you want to speak Naina?! That how much you love your ex? That how desparate you are to go back to him?! That how happy you must be when he applied turmeric on your cheeks?! What do YOU want to speak about Naina?!"

I shook my head as tears started streaming down my face. "Y-your hand." I spoke between my cries. I tried to hold his shoulder but he roughly pulled back from my grasp.

My heart broke, but I still managed to speak.

Speak for myself.

Speak for my love.

"Leave me Naina. I don't want to see your face!" He yelled as I swallowed the lump in my throat before speaking, "Why are you saying this Mahir ji?"

"What should I say? I see you adorned in someone else's colours and you expect me to say something?!" He took a step closer to me. "You were counting days right?" He took a deep breath in, "for him to come back to you?"

I shook my head as tears spilled from my eyes. He put his hand on my cheek and I sank under his touch. He gently swayed his thumb, before pulling back. He showed me the left over turmeric on my face and scoffed.

Reality hit me and I shook my head rapidly. "You're mistaking Mahir ji." A lone tear fell from his eyes as he intensely looked into my eyes. "Now that I am thinking Naina, I guess I did a mistake loving you."

My heart shattered into pieces as it took me a few seconds to comprehend his words. He walked away from me, towards the door. I held his hand and expected him to look at me. To look into my eyes and notice my sincerity in them.

"Mahir ji meri Puri baat to suniye."
(Mahir ji, please to listen to me first.)

"Baat kya Naina, main toh tumhari shakal bhi nahin dekhna chata."
(Listen? I don't even want to see your face Naina.)

My hold on his loosened, as tears rolled down from my face. My chest hurting from the immense amount of pain. He turned back to look at me. His eyes red.

"Not fair Naina. Not fair." My eyebrows scrunched as I looked into his eyes. "Did I ever force you Naina?" I shook my head, before he could say anything.

"Did I ever force you to stay into this marriage Naina?" No he didn't. He always tried to make this relationship work. He- Omg what should I do?!!

"But you insisted on working this marriage too Naina. You said you would try, to make this marriage work." He took a step closer harshly before pulling me closer. "You told that you would try to make this marriage work Naina."

He slightly pushed me back as if I was suffocating him. "But as soon as you saw your previous love, you forgot about me, ABOUT YOUR HUSBAND NAINA!" I bowed my head down as I didn't have any words to say. He was right though.

But not fully.

And I wanted him to understand that.

"No no Mahir ji. It's not like that!" I begged him. " It's so easy for you and Yash right?" I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "You both love to play with other people's emotions right? and then step on their hearts as if they meant nothing to you?!" I shook my head as I tried reaching for him.

"But I am not like this Naina. I don't play with other's feeling nor do I let anyone play with MY feelings." I couldn't help but cry at my fate.

"Congratulations Naina. You won what you once lost. Now go before I do something bad." I shakily grabbed his face and made him look at me.

"Mahir ji, trust me."

He removed my hands before wiping away my tears. "You broke my heart so bad Naina, that I feel like fool for trusting you again."

He walked away.

He walked away.

I fell on the floor, not able to bear my own body weight. My life didn't take a second to turn upside down.

Why couldn't I say, that I loved him so much?!

Why did I never speak?!

-

This chapter was comparatively shorter, as I didn't want it to be cliche.

This chapter is basically about the misunderstanding and all the shit Mahir had to go through, even though Naina had promised him that she would keep a distance from Yash.

Tell me about your opinions, how would you like the story to end. How should the couple solve the growing misunderstanding between them?