Meant to be yours

Tales from the past

Anamika's POV:

“So, what all did I miss out on you all these years?” I asked Payal as we sat next to each other on the couch.

“Don’t hide anything, please.”
The words left my mouth before I could soften them. The truth was, I suddenly realized how little I knew about the woman who had been part of my life for so long—always present, always smiling, always careful not to hurt me.

Payal didn’t answer immediately.

She stared at her hands like they held a map she wasn’t sure she wanted to read out loud.

“Anu,” she finally said, voice low, uncertain, “I don’t know where to start.”

I leaned back, giving her space but not distance.
“Start wherever it hurts least,” I said gently. “Or most. I’ll stay either way.”

She let out a small, humorless laugh.

“Ok. So, I liked Jazz first,” she said.

The words landed softly, but their weight was unmistakable.

“Not just liked,” Payal continued. “I fell for her. Slowly. Quietly. The kind of falling where you don’t even realize it’s happening until you’re already on the ground.”

I stayed silent. Listening. Letting her breathe.

“She was… hesitant,” Payal said, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Protective. Loyal to a fault. She made the world feel smaller, safer. When she looked at you, it felt like you mattered.”

Her smile faded.

“But Jazz doesn’t choose love,” Payal whispered. “She chooses loyalty.”

I frowned slightly. “Loyalty to what?”

“To you. To the promises she made herself to your parents. To lines she draws and refuses to cross,” Payal said. “Even when it hurt her.”

She swallowed.

“She knew I liked her. I think she liked me too. But when things got complicated—when choosing me meant going against you—she stepped back.”

“She told me not to hold onto her.” Payal added quietly. “That loving me would make her selfish.”

My chest tightened.

“I don't know why she suddenly pulled away. And then you happened,” Payal said, finally looking at me.

I blinked. “Me?”

“You kept telling me I needed a boyfriend,” she said softly. “That I needed someone safe. Someone settled. Someone who could give me a future that wasn’t uncertain.”

My stomach dropped.

“And that Anshul fit that picture,” Payal continued. “Your brother. Educated. Well-spoken. From a good family.”

From our family.

“I didn’t love him at all, Anu” she said plainly. “But I convinced myself that love could come later. That liking was enough. I believed your words. ”

My throat felt dry. “Payal…”

“I am not blaming you. It was you who insisted,” she said gently, not accusingly. “You said he was madly in love. That he was trying to be good. That he needed someone patient.”

I closed my eyes.

“I thought I was being practical,” Payal went on. “I thought I was choosing maturity over madness. I thought I was doing the right thing.”