SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 29

Abhishek watched as the waves relentlessly crashed against the shore with the same
unwavering force each time round, "It was...difficult," It was a understatement, a very mild way of portraying the pain he'd felt because it had honestly felt like somebody was pulling his heart out of his chest, tearing it into pieces and then shoving it back in there without stitching it together again.

Abhi:-"She used to call every day, then it turned to every other day, then once a week, then every other week, and eventually...no calls at all," he said, wanting to laugh at his younger self for actually believing all the false promises his mother had fuelled his hope with. He used to wait
for that phone call religiously, it used to be the highlight of his day and his motivation to get through school, but like mostly everything else in his life, it was only temporary.

He swallowed down his emotions and carried on, "I know I don't see eye to eye with my dad all the time, we've had our disagreements and we've fought and argued and he hasn't been there during some of the moments I needed him most but...he's still my everything. He didn't have to raise me...I had absolutely nothing to do with him, yet he still gave me his name and a roof over my head and all the love he possibly could. He stayed when my own mother left," he took a deep and shaky breath as he thought about his father, "He's my dad and he's the only family I have,"

The relationship they had was imperfect but it was the only one that had been constant
throughout Abhishek's life. He knew that his father had tried to do as much as he possibly could, and he knew that single-handedly raising a son and a business at the same time at a young age made a lot of things impossible.

His mind travelled back to all the times he'd felt angry at his father, all the times he'd felt
resentful and all the times he'd wished for a different family, and he found himself regretting ever having those thoughts in the first place. Cracks appeared on the surface of manisha heart as she saw Abhishek blinking back the tears he was too prideful and too stubborn to allow to escape.

Abhi:-"You thought I was amazing?

Mani:-abhishek, you're ten times more amazing than I am and twenty
times more amazing than I'll ever be. And the world is blessed to have somebody as strong and wonderful as you in it,"
She slipped her hand out of Abhishek's as she snuggled into his side and wrapped an arm across his larger frame in what could be described as an awkward sort of side-hug, hoping that the action would convey everything else that words simply wouldn't be enough to express.

As her head rested against his chest and her ear rested dangerously close to his galloping heart, as her arm lay loosely over his torso and her hair tickled his jawline, something in Abhishek twitched at the intimacy of the situation and pure bliss flooded his entire being, straight to the very core.

The effect of her words had been profound. They'd touched all of his heartstrings and
instantly made him feel like he was on top of the world. He also marvelled at how Manisha was so good at putting her thoughts into the perfect words and were able to articulate her emotions so well; it was something that he'd always been horrible at doing.

He settled for replying through his actions too, hoping they'd convey what he wanted to say as he perched his head on top of hers and softly enclosed her in his arms.
He could hear all of her unsaid words loud and clear too; he could hear her saying that she is there for him, that he could share his burdens with her, that she understood his
complicated feelings, that she always be there to listen.

There were still so many things he had to tell her - that he wanted to share with her - but he decided that it could all wait; he had forever to spend with her anyway.
Neither of them wanted to question what this was, what this meant, and what the two of them, so manisha just chose to enjoy the moment and enjoy the new sense of hope and happiness that had embraced her that evening. So both of them detached themselves from the world for a little while and wordlessly sat there in each other's arms, watching as the sun dipped below the horizon and the cold darkness of the night began to take reign around them.
All she could feel though was the warm radiance that had filled her hearts and brought them both one step closer.