A NEW MORNING

PART 3 (LAST)

Randhir relaxed as he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders "Our marriage had ended long back...a divorce was just a formality.." he said looking straight in her eyes as she looked on in shock and disbelief...she shook her head and pulled her hand  from his as she shifted away from him on the settee "What are you saying? No..it can't be...you were...you were both so happy...and then Advait..." she said as Randhir chuckled mirthlessly and looked away

"Happy?...we were never happy Sanyu...all that was an act...the truth was that we should have never married in the first place...but I left the decision to my family...if it was up to me, I would have married someone else" he said looking directly at her..."But...but you never...both of you seemed so perfect..." she said as Randhir's face turned hard "Really Sanyukta? You had no idea? Sanaya told me that you suspected something was wrong between us...don't deny that you had felt the cracks in our relationship" he said as her eyes filled up

"I did...but then I thought its just normal between husband and wife...I knew something was wrong when Di would ignore anything and everything about you in our talks...but I thought she was not very comfortable talking about you with me...she had always been a private person...but this..." she said as she looked sideways at her sisters photo "She was always so happy here Randhir...she used to tell me about her friends and her work, that she loved being here..." she said as Randhir nodded

"Yes, she loved being here...but she did not love me...nor could I ever love her...we could not even be good friends...we lived in the same house but different rooms...not even once we came close enough to share our thoughts, forget about anything else" he said as Sanyu felt more and more bewildered and confused at Randhir's words...what was he talking about "If you did not love each other and shared no relationship...how did Advait come into being?" she asked him as he sighed and picked up a little photo frame of Sanyu and Advait from the nearby coffee table

"I know it will sound crass but Advait was a mistake..." he said as Sanyu gasped "How can you say that?" she said as he held her hand back "Sanyu...listen to me...I did not mean it that way..." he said as she calmed down and waited for him to continue "When I felt that things had gone from bad to worse in our relationship...I planned a weekend trip to Las vegas for me and Sanaya on a friend's suggestion...the idea was to loosen up a bit and maybe start over again, but things took a different turn...on our second day there, we got completely drunk...and one thing led to another..." he said as he closed his eyes and looked down

"We both regretted that night Sanyu...it was not out of love or even mutual attraction...it just happened...and that was it for our relationship...when it should have gotten stronger...the last of it crumbled away...we could hardly see each other face to face...it disgusted me that I had probably taken advantage of her in my drunken stupor and she never forgave me for it...the week after we got back from Vegas, she asked for a divorce" he said as he looked away

"Sanyu, I don't know why things never worked out between us...or why we both never put in that extra effort...maybe because we knew from the start that it was a doomed relationship...maybe that was the reason why neither of us fought for it...from the first day of our marriage, we stayed away from each other...we both tried but could not force ourself to feel for the other" he said as Sanyukta shifted closer to him...her heart breaking for both Randhir and her sister...if only her Di had spoken to them about this...so much could have been avoided

"Its not just your fault Randhir...Di had never whole heartedly accepted the marriage proposal...she was under a lot of pressure from my parents and maybe even I had a hand in convincing her, that she finally gave in...if only we had not.." she said as Randhir looked at her "Don't say that Sanyu...we cannot change fate...even Advait's existence is just that...fate" he said as he continued with moist eyes