First Love

Chapter 16

That evening Anjali found Aditya standing in his usual place by the window, with his arms across his chest. After her brother left, they had stayed outside a little longer. He had told her he was very proud of her making things right with her brother.

He had gone to their room to rest for bit while she went to help with dinner. When he came down for dinner he had been quiet and thoughtful. He hadn't even responded when Kajal teased him about Anjali making his favorite dish again. When he finished eating he had immediately left the table not noticing Anjali and his mom's worried look.

After the ladies finished cleaning the table Ramila had insisted Anjali leave rest of the work to them and to go check on Aditya.

She closed the door quietly and stood by the door watching him. She made her way to him, stepped behind him to wrap her arms around him from behind to hug him. She placed her head on his back, closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

Aditya came out of his deep thoughts when he felt a pair of soft arms go around him from the back. It no longer surprised him that she was comfortable enough to touch him without reservation, but each touch sent thrill through his entire body. He was just thankful she is so at ease with him. He took her hand in his and kissed her palm. He pulled her in front of him so that her back was to his front. He then wrapped his arms around her to rests his chin on her shoulder while she put her hand on top his arms. They stood this way for a while, swaying back and forth, while gazing at dark sky full of twinkling stars. Neither of them needed to speak, the silence was comfortable.

Anjali was loath to break the silence but they couldn't stay that way forever either. She took a last look at the view outside before turning in his arms to meet his eyes.

She sensed a deep sadness in him and couldn't figure out the reason for it. She placed her hand on his cheek and watched him intently. "What's wrong, why do you look so forlorn all of a sudden?"

He thought about distracting her, but by the look in her eyes, he knew she wouldn't be distracted for long. He took her hand, kissed her palm again and pulled her towards the chair. He sat in the chair with her on his lap.

"I am not sure where to start, but I just realized that you are not the only one who let your past experience hold you back, but you have lot more courage to acknowledge yours." He smiled at her faintly.

"Did you know that mom and dad's relationship was lot different from what you see today? For as long as I can remember mom always resented dad for not taking interest in business, and that's why she pushed me so hard to concentrate on my studies, and encouraged me to be the best that I could be." Aditya had a far away look in his eyes, as if he was remembering his younger days. "Dad always resented mom for pushing him, so he distanced himself from her completely once mom's attention was diverted to me and Kajal."

Anjali sensed that he had never talked about this to anyone, and stayed silent. "As I grew older, their argument became less often, they were together yet separate. I decided then and there that I would never give anyone that kind of power over me. I wouldn't be able to refuse to marry, mom would have never allowed that, but I had decided that I wouldn't love my wife. I would never take that kind of emotional liability."

"How would you have prevented from falling for someone you would live with day in and day out for rest of your life?" Anjali asked him.

He knew she could not imagine anyone not falling in love, her belief was that everyone falls in love at least once. "At the time that I made this decision I was too young to understand this, and I also didn't know that I would meet someone whom I couldn't resist."