Enigma

Clarity

"Teju, teju....teju stop.....!"
She runs out of the venue and sits outside on a bench. It was cold outside. But the emotions inside her, clouded all the outer conditions. Sam ran behind her and saw her sitting. She went to her and said,
"Teju...kya hua...tu ro ku rahi hai...kisine kuch bola kya tujhe ...tu bol na mujhe please mat ro ese....teju"
"Karan doesn't like me Sam. He doesn't. In fact I am just another girl in his life. I was stupid jo maine sach maan liya fairytale maan liya. Jo bhi hamare bich tha itne dino se it was just a facade..."
"Kya....ye sb kisne bola tujhe..."
"Karan ne...Mene uski baate suni...and thank god ki mene sun liya sab nahi to mai to aj use sab batane vali thi...about my feelings for him. How stupid was I Sam!"
Sam hugs her tightly and felt that she was shivering due to cold. She excused herself for a minute and came in to fetch her coat. She was just going back when Karan stopped her and asked

"Sam, what happened to her?"
"Seriously Karan? Just stop this drama already."
"Drama? What drama....kya hua hai please tell me...she ran away crying why?"
"Listen...she is fine....just stay away from her. Even if she is not fine we are there for her. You don't have to show your concern 🙏 Now please, if you can move ! "
Confused, Karan moves from her way. Sam runs back to Teju but she was not there. She saw her phone on the bench itself but Teju was nowhere. She screamed her name but she was gone. Sam got scared and ran back into the venue to get help.
"Amy... Amy...I can't find Teju anywhere! We have to find her please come with me"
"What....where is she...and what happened why are you panicking?"
"Amy ...this is not the time for all of this... Please come with me. "

They went to find her. But Karan heard their conversation. He was about to leave to find her when Avika appeared in front of him.
"Sad right?"
"Avika move...this is not the time "
" This is just the right time. In fact this is just the beginning of her doom. Dheere dheere mai usse sab kuch cheen lungi jisse use khushi milti h..."
"What are you saying....?''
"Oh God Karan, can't you see....she likes you .. in fact she is head over heels for you. The day you started talking to her, she started feeling for you...and gradually it increased...but sad for her...her happiness was short lived. I snatched it away and now she might be somewhere..heartbroken "
"What did you do....and where is she ?(He said in anger)
"You really wanna know right now...or you wanna maybe just bring her back ?"
"If anything happens to her I'll not leave you. I swear"
He turns back to go out but Avika again calls him,
"Karan, the funniest part is that ...she was about to confess her feelings for you but then you had completely different things to say to me about her... Ohhh. You should have seen her face that time hahaha"
Karan closes his eyes and starts feeling guilty. He knew he did wrong but he had no other choice. If he had told Avika about his real feelings, she would have reacted in a negative way for Teju. He didn't want any danger for her so he decided to hide his real feelings and deny feelings romantically for teju. The truth is,he did feel deeply for her. But he didn't know, about Teju's feelings. And now that he got to know, that Teju too feels for him, it was too late maybe. The damage was done. He comes out of his reverie .. and runs out of the venue to find her. He had no idea where to find her ...he unlocked his phone to call Dane for his help....his eyes fixated on his wallpaper. It was his and Teju's picture, he had clicked the other day at the sunset point. He remembered her saying," ....this place has become my only escape." He knew, where she was. He also messaged Sam to reach the place and he drove to that place immediately.
He could see a figure sitting there on the edge of the cliff. He took his coat and went towards the figure. He couldn't see her face due to darkness but could understand that it was Teju from the very dim lights of the moon. Her face glowed like a glowworm. He could also see tears in her eyes...he wanted to wipe them but didn't have the courage to do  so. He silently covered her with his coat as she was already shivering. He tried to hold her hand, but she jerked his hand away and just said,
"Please leave me alone....I am fine...I will be okay....just leave me alone...I don't need you to console me. If you ever considered me a friend...please let me be." Saying this She again went silent. Karan didn't say anything in return, his heart ached seeing her like this. He wanted to scream it out that he feels for her but he couldn't. After a while, he saw Sam and Amy, he just stood there. Amy mouthed a thank you to him. They took Teju and dropped her home. Karan also drove away.

At Teju's house, Sam and Amy were there with teju in her room. Teju was just silent. She was like normal, like nothing happened. This was scaring both of her friends. Amy said to Sam,
"Why do I feel she has become ghajni?"
"Shut up Amy"
"Whatt...."
"Amy....zip your mouth" "Teju we are leaving ok, you take rest, sleep over it... you'll be fine I know you. You are much more stronger than this."
"Bye"
"Sam"
"Haa..."
"Darwaza band kar ke jana "
"Ok sure. "

Sam and Amy left and went home. All this while, there was one person who was waiting for them to leave and for Teju to sleep. At midnight, somebody climed up the pipes and entered Teju's room through her window. He saw Teju sleeping soundly. He went and sat near her head and softly touched her hair and tucked them behind her ear whuch were disturbing her sleep. He covered her with the quilt and gently massaged her head. He said softly,
"I am sorry, I couldn't express my feelings the way I wanted to. I am sorry, for being the reason of your pain. But trust me, this is not what I wanted you to feel. I wanted you to feel all the love all the attention you deserve. But I can't. I just can't. It's better if I stay away from you. I love you but I can never say this out loud. I can't put you in danger. I can't be selfish when it comes to you. I had the best days of my life with you and I'll be grateful for you to be in my life even if it is for a short time. I promise, I'll always be there to back you up even if you don't want me near you."
He softly kissed her forehead and left her room.
Teju opens her eyes and sat up. She had tears in her eyes. It was getting too hard for her to control her emotions. She wanted to wake up and hug him tightly. But she couldn't. She didn't want him to stop. She wanted to listen to him so she had to act as if she was sleeping. She holds his coat that was lying beside her and hugged it tightly and she could feel his scent. She quickly wore it and decided to know the reason why Karan couldn't express his feelings. She wanted to know, what was stopping him. She smiled remembering the kiss in her forehead. She lied down and now she knew what she had to do.