Reshimbandh~Silken Threads

18. Lost Innocence

Target : 15+ votes; 100+ inline comments

TW: Mention of death, abuse, r*pe

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Later that night

Neha was sitting in her room near the window nook, drying her hair and silently sniffling. It was drizzling and little raindrops fell on her with a gently blowing breeze.

Vikram took a chair next to her, stuffing himself with the cake. "Hey, strawberry shortcake! Is that rain or tears?"

She leaned on the pillow, "Someone said they were going to eat cake?"

"I am." He said with a mouthful.

"Right!" She scoffed. "In that moment, it felt real."

"Real? Woman, don't you dare forget that all of this is just a pretense. We are professionals and there's nothing, between us." His voice was icy cold.

She continued looking out of the window.

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, what's with you?"

After a few minutes of silent sniffles. "Why do you care?"

"I don't care. Just a reminder that emotions are an impediment in our field of work. So, anything that disturbs your peace of mind needs to get out of your system." He said in a matter-of-fact manner, placing a box of tissues by her side.

"Fine." She cleared her throat. "I've never said this to anyone."

"Go on, I'm all ears." Vikram put the plate aside, pretending to listen to whatever she was saying.

She took a deep breath, "Five years is a long time, or so I thought. It was my 18th birthday. Maulik had gifted this dress to me, his first independent design. My bhau had planned a big surprise for me."

She continued after suppressing a cry, "That evening, I was with my friends, giving them a treat when the news channel flashed news of bhau's death in an accident."

"I rushed to his place. I was stunned to see the decorations. Must've spent the entire night putting it up. There were a lot of people. Then a group of uniformed officers brought in a dead body. They said it was my bhau." Tears rolled down her eyes.

"Bhaiya had just come in. He tried to see the face but couldn't. It was badly burnt. I happened to glance at the hands and I knew this body wasn't his. I tried to tell everyone, but nobody believed me."

She wiped her tears, fresh ones made their way down, "They thought I was in shock. I was not. How could I not recognise the hands that taught me how to hold a pen, how to fight. The hands that supported me in everything I did."

She gulped some water. "I came back home. I saw aai and baba fighting. Aai was screaming at baba. My aai never raised her voice, and she was screaming at baba, he just sat there, clutching his shoulder."

"I called in the ambulance. Baba suffered from a major heart attack. They performed surgery, saved him. I spent all night by his side. They say being an adult is not easy. Never knew it would be this hard on day one." Neha chuckled and took a deep breathe.

She wiped her tears. "Everything was different the next morning. I felt like I aged a hundred years in one night. I didn't cry, I couldn't. I was surrounded by people but I've never felt so alone."

"I never wore that dress but I thought today I'd wear it and everything will be normal. But as the night passed, all those memories kept rushing in. And no. Nothing will ever be normal in my life. Fun fact? Not even I am normal." She laughed sadly.