Love, How does it feel?

• 4

Shruti

I wore a white cotton kurta with flower embroideries with a multicolour rajasthani dupatta and white palazzo pants. My ears were adorned with silver earrings as I hooked a silver bracelet on my wrist, along with my usual silver chain with diamond heart pendant dangling on my neck.

As I completed my look with a nude lipstick and some Kohl on my eyes, I heard a throat clearing.

"Shruti is looking different today, isn't it, Swetha?" Rishita nudged my other roommate as they stood and admired my look.

"Indeed." Swetha gasped.

"Guys, we are getting late." I spoke, irritated at their drama.

"What's so special today, Swetha?" I heard both of them gushing as they went a little far.

It's been two weeks since that conference.

In almost four days, three of us, Swetha, Rishita, and I, received our email of being selected into the super sixty team. Though we have completed our master's from reputed central institutes still, we never expected it, being just freshers at IISU.

We were over the moon.

The first meeting of the super sixty was to be held last week, yet, it got delayed due to some last minute miss outs. Then, our usual classes started and kept us engaged.

Well, it was happening today.

"We are so excited." Rishita and Swetha jumped on me as I was slumping on the bed, scrolling my phone.

It was just 8 AM. The meeting was at 11:30 AM. Still, I was up early and all ready to go while, my friends were jumping in their night suits.

"By the way, something is seriously wrong with you, Shruthi!" Swetha stated, sitting before me.

"That's what I've been telling you, Swetha Padmanabhan!" Rishita gave her a 'I told you' look.

"What's wrong again?" I sighed, tired.

"Seriously? Do you not realise, Shruti? The girl who never wakes up even thirty minutes before the lectures, is sitting here all dolled up for a meeting which is like more than three hours away. Why is it, girl?" Rishita asked me in a dead serious tone.

"I'm just excited. I don't want to get late." I uttered, looking into her narrow eyes.

"Is it just because you don't want to get late or you don't wish to miss out a single second with a certain someone?" She wiggled her brows at me as I playfully hit her.

"You are being too much now." I spoke, rolling my eyes at her as I moved to the balcony to study for today's evening lecture.

"Yes yes. I know, that someday will definitely come when you come running to me to say you love him." She chuckled as I fumed in anger.

"That someday won't come." I gritted out, looked out of the window.

"Never say never, girl!" She hi-fied with Swetha as they got to complete their chores for the day.

After they went, my hold on the railings of the balcony tightened as my eyes shut close. The picture of my father's cries and begging played as a broken tape, followed by my shattered sister, who lost her husband and my crying aunt, when she found out how she had been played by her husband for fifteen years. Like a nail on the coffin, my brain soon registered a frail image of my maternal uncle, hanging from the ceiling fan, wordlessly with a smile, fisting onto his wife's cotton red scarf on his right palm.

Love? That's never happening in my life.

I've known enough about how love ruins. I saw it my whole life. I saw love ruin my whole family, weaved so beautifully.