Fire In Hearts

Chapter 17

"Sara Himanchal chali gayi matlab?" he almost yelled at the receptionist.

"Sir please calm down" she pledged knowing how powerful the man standing there was.

"Why did she go?"

"Sir yeh Information main nahi de sakti. Please forgive me"

"Damn it", he banged his hand on the wooden counter and took his phone out.

"Sara where are you? Please reply to me" ~ K

She saw but didn’t reply.

"Sara please ekbar baat karlo...please reply kar do" ~K

"I know you are in Himanchal. Don’t seen zone me"~ K

"Sara I'm sorry please come back. Can I follow you?" ~K

"Kya hain?" ~ S

"Tum Himanchal kiu gayi ho?" ~ K

"Kiu? Tum celebrate karo...tumhari life se dur aa to gayi"~ S

":)" ~ K

"What?" ~ S

"Mujhe chod ke jaane ki adat ho chuki hain na? Kabhi Delhi kabhi Himanchal?" ~ K

She didn’t reply and he messaged,

"Tum wapas aa jao please. I know how idiot I have been! Come back and fight with me...come back and slap me...come back and kill me. Just come back Sara please come back" ~ K

"No" ~S

"Tum gayi kiu Sara?" ~K

"Pahadi se kudne...koi problem?" ~S

"I have regretted not following you once. I won’t repeat the same mistake again so you better be careful when you walk beside those edges" ~ K

She didn’t reply and switched her phone off. Little did she knew that he was already on his way to airport while chatting with her.

He could barely think straight, consumed by the fear, regret and heartache. Every step he took felt heavier as the thought of her despair echoed in his mind.

As he reached to Himanchal in the afternoon, he hailed a cab. He realised he didn’t know where Sara could be. But he knew that he would go every corner if he had to.

He was aimlessly looking here and there while the cab was making it’s way between beautiful mountains. He felt the erge to scream and cry. The pain that he had buried inside his chest for so long threatened him to come out. He was feeling sick.

But suddenly he saw something that felt like the world crumbled around him. There was a cliff that was going down and a tree came out from a curvy edge and there was a dupatta stuck with the thorny branches flowing with the air.

He felt a surge of panic wash over him. Sara had the same white dupatta which she wore on his birthday. But it could belong to anyone else.

"Stop" he shouted to the driver and almost stumbled out from the cab. Before the driver could stop him, he ran towards the branch.

He rushed down the slope, adrenaline coursing through his veins, barely registering the danger as he focused solely on the dupatta. He didn’t care how recklessly he was going down and one slip could make him fall feets down. He didn’t care about anything at all.

He reached the branch, grasping the delicate fabric in his hands. He knew the fragrance that the fabric had, he could never forget it. He clutched it to his chest and he felt that he was going to faint and even let himself fall.

Just as he was about to lose his balance, a voice rang out above him, sharp and filled with urgency.

"Kartik! Tum niche kya kar rahe ho!"

He froze, the sound of her voice piercing through the haze of fear. His heart leaped.

She was standing beside the cab and looking terrified.

"Kartik! Come up now!", Sara yelled again, her voice tinged with a mix of panic and anger.

She took some steps towards as he was stumbling to get up. She pulled him strongly. She realised his legs were shaking so his hands. She sent the cabbie away and they were all alone then.

He looked at her and touched her with trembling hands. His hands slipped from her arms as he fell on his knees.

Without wasting second, she got down to him and pulled him by his neck. His arms wrapped around her and his face was buried in her shoulder as he started sobbing. Her one hand was caressing his back while the other was stroking his hair.

"I thought...I thought..."

"Shhh...mera dupatta hawa ki wajah se waha gaya tha. I'm fine Kartik"

He was crying bitterly and her heart ached.

She pulled him just to meet his eyes. Her palm was resting on his cheek

Kartik took a deep breath, the weight of their misunderstandings crashing down on him.

"I'm so sorry Sara. Mujhe laga tha tum...mujhe...Delhi gayi...I thought you hate me" he couldn’t able to talk properly.

"Aur baad main jab main wapas ayi tab?"

"I thought it was infatuation...I'm sorry Sara...I'm so sorry"

"Shh chup...I'm sorry too Kartik. I left" tears were rolling down from her eyes too. And he was wiping her tears even though he was crying himself. She smiled a bit at his gesture.

Kartik closed his eyes, a tear slipping free, and he exhaled a shaky breathe, he felt his heart aching badly as he let himself feel the weight of everything he'd denied and hid for so long.

"Sara, I don’t want to lose you. But I don’t want to hurt you either. How can I be enough for you? How can I love you like you deserve. How can I tell you that how much I love you...I don’t know from when...at the Gallery or in that theatre or under the moonlight or every single day I saw you in my dreams"

A weak sad smile tugged at her lips as she brushed his hair from his forehead and said, "Maybe you don’t have to be enough" her voice was soft as if a melody to him, her hand coming up to touch his cheek.

"Maybe all I ever wanted was for you not the perfect one not less not more...just you. I just not only love the handsome hunk that I had got a crush on. I don’t just love the perfectionist one. I love you even when you are vulnerable, when you are sad, when you are scared, when you are you"

"I don’t deserve you Sara...I"

He couldn’t reply as she smashed her lips on his. He took some seconds to understand but then his hands went upto her cheeks. Breathlessly they broke the kiss but their foreheads were still touching each other and their eyes were closed savouring the moment.

"Ekdam dhakka marke niche gira dungi agar firse "I don’t deserve you" wale era main wapas gaye to" she threatened.

He chuckled and reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing away the tears that had spilled. "Promise me you won’t ever scare me by leaving"

Sara smiled through her tears, leaning into his touch. "I promise, as long as you promise to always be honest with me"

"I promise", he said, pulling her closer, finally feeling the warmth of her presence steadying him.

They stood up and hugged each other again more tightly.

In that silent promise, with the world around them fading, both broken and whole, two souls merging together in a bond neither could break. And in the gentle quiet, they let themselve believe—just this once—that love could be enough. It could be more than enough if you are not with the wrong person.

Pen dropped!!! boom🔥!!!

[ I was watching the Lucknow interview and he said that many things had changed and how it was close to his heart. I remembered writing " Between Us:)" when they went together to Tunday after years! I know I'm being delulu. It's the only thing I'm good at ]