Second Chance Love

Letting Go of the Past and Accepting the Present

Akshara had no idea what had gone wrong. Things were going good with Abhimanyu. Their friendship had grown, although her heart would hurt every time her mind referred to Abhimanyu as her friend. It only took one smile, one laugh from him for her heart rate to increase. And there were times when she would see him looking at her with an intensity that left her kind of breathless. But his expression would turn neutral within a second, making her wonder if she was imagining it.

But Abhimanyu had stopped looking at her completely since the last one week. As she suffered from fever for three days, she could feel the care and love of so many people. Avni, Neil, the kids, her own mother, but most importantly Abhimanyu. Even when she was in and out of consciousness, she could differentiate his tender touch and soft whispers from others.

But the reality was so different that she wondered  if she had imagined it all. Abhimanyu had gone back to the time when Akshara was an employee at the Birla house. Even then he would always talk to her with a smile.

But this version of Abhimanyu was different. Still he was polite and kind to her. After the kids left for school, he would have breakfast with Avni, Neil and Akshara and leave for his work. And their night talks were a thing of the past because Abhimanyu would arrive really late at night, sighting that he was busy.

While she missed their conversations, what hurt her most is that most times she would know about his schedule through Neil. She felt sad that he did not even want to message her. But she didn't feel it appropriate to ask him the same. Wasn't it wrong of her to have such expectations from him,  when was clear that he was marrying her only because his kids needed a mother.

Although the kids rarely gave her the time or opportunity to feel sad or lonely, her heart had started feeling heavy. As it was Thursday and the kids would be in school till evening, she decided to go and spend some time with her family.

Ensuring that Avni was ok and Neil would be working from home, she left for her parents' home. Her mood lifted as soon as she reached because it was Manish who had opened the door. Her father's health had shown great improvement. He had started to go for regular walks albeit with the help of a walking stick. Akshara was happy that her father was getting more independent as the days passed.

The morning passed with talking to her parents and Anisha and playing with baby Aarav, who had started recognizing Akshara and always coo and try to talk to her when she was around. Kairav also came for lunch just to meet Akshara for some time before returning to the store.

Post lunch, her parents retired to their room for a nap while she sang a lullaby to put Aarav to sleep. She laid him down in his crib and turned around the see her best friend looking at her pointedly. "Come on spill."

Akshara walked towards Anisha who was sitting on the bed and laid down with her head on her lap. Anisha gently caressed her head, "you are in love."

Akshara merely nodded. "Dont tell me I told you so."

"No baba. I will not say that. I knew something was up. I have been observing you for weeks, and I know you were avoiding me."

"You knew?" Anisha nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything? That is so unlike you, ANI. You would have definitely given me the third degree."

Anisha scoffed. "I am a mother now. I have learnt patience."

Akshara rolled her eyes.

"But tell me why are you in such a mood. Did Abhimanyu say something to you?"

"No he didn't. He doesn't say anything to me anymore." Sighed Akshara before telling her friend about everything that had transpired in the last week.

They were silent for a few minutes. "Ani, do you think I confessed my feelings to him when I had a fever. You know how I tend to talk when I am unwell. Maybe that's why he is avoiding me. I must have made him awkward."