The Things That I Left Behind..

Chapter-69

I told I will update by night. But here you go! A bit early update :)
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C h a p t e r - 69

"When someone loves you,
the way they talk about you is different.
You feel safe and comfortable."

― Jess C. Scott, The Intern

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I stood numb.
I tried to process his words.
He looked back at me for reaction but instead was met with a blank look of mine.
I tried to speak but my mouth went dry.
Everything suddenly seemed like a lie.
Instead of bursting out or shouting,I ask in a low voice,"Who are you,Mr Malhotra?"

His brown eyes turned to look at me. He doesn't seem surprised.
His hand is still at my waist,supporting me. We both are looking intensely at each other.
He instead just speaks,"I am Aditya Malhotra."
At his words,I leave his support and I instead fall to the ground.
Tears spill out of my eyes.
I gasp as I feel breathless.
This time,I don't try to make silent cries.Instead I cry too loudly.
But this time,I hardly care.
Mr Malhotra...or Aditya kneels down and looks helpless.
At the moment his eyes seem welled up.
He removes his spectacles and wipes his eyes.
After doing this,he forwards his hands and I instantly hug him tightly.
He doesn't think twice before hugging me back.
Uncaring at the moment,I cry as my fingers hold him too tightly and instead of wincing,he holds me gently.
Still crying,I ask,"How did you take all of this pain alone?How?"
He didn't answer as I kept on crying and sobbed.
He ran his fingers through my hair in an effort to soothe me.
He seemed to whisper a few minutes later,"I wish I could ask you the same."
His words as if breaks me from some trance,I stop crying hysterically before hiccuping.
I try to decipher his words,"What..What Do you mean?"
His hands turned to scout me closer as I leaned near him.
He spoke,"Sara.You went through all that hell alone."
I instantly knew what he was talking about.
We were quite close as we sat with me,facing him.
I keep my hand at his shoulders as I speak,"You lost your parents,Aditya.It is nothing compared to mine."
I could see his eyes were red from tears. His deep voice seemed to resemble a broken child as he spoke,"You are right.We can't compare each other's pain."
I watched him as he laced his fingers through mine as he said,"But we can get through it.We can fight our own battles."
Battles?
I only nodded at his sentence and gulped.
Without thinking much I leaned my head on his shoulder while he sat.
He didn't complain.
Instead we sat in silence,letting the whole thing settled in our mind.
Only occasional hiccups from crying was heard.

I took a chance to break the silence as I asked,"How did this happen?"
He seemed to contemplate and stared forward as if in some flashback.
He then answers,"It was an accident. We rushed and she fought hard. But..."
He stays silent.
I tighten my grip around his fingers and he leans his chin on my head.
I ask again,"So how did you meet Susan and.."
He answers instantly,"They are good people.They found me at accident site and knew my whole plight.They adopted me soon then. After adopting me,they had Susan."
I nod and wonder about the destiny.
He continues to say,"I am really grateful to them that they let me embrace my true identity and culture.They made me aware of it and also arranged for photos and rituals every year on my parents anniversary."
I smile at his words as he says further,"Susan too never questioned my ethnicity or anything.She helped me fight my inner fears."
My smile drops as I ask him,"Fears?"
He looks at me and seems to think again.
Just like the Aditya. He thought too much before answering.
He licked his lips as he spoke,"I had this fear of losing out people I loved.I..I really hated driving and refused for four wheelers."
What?!
But he drove me last month and this month too?!
And suddenly his sentence made sense.
Susan had been an active member for cause of campaign program for PTSD since 13 years.
She knew how important it was to battle the inner fears and demons.
She always spoke passionately about it.
I spoke,"Susan is one hell of a girl. There is no one like her."
He smiles and nods at me.
Suddenly his phone rings and he looks at the caller Id before rejecting it.
And it suddenly hits me how close I am to him.
I guess he notices it too.
But instead he does nothing to get away from me.
Our fingers are still tangled and we do nothing but stare at each other.
Like we are trying to memorise each part.
My insides warm up as his gaze speaks nothing but of something new.
Something had changed but what?

Author's note:
Yes. You people were right!
There you now know! Mr Malhotra is Our Aditya!
Anyone happy? I am! Lol.
Diwali holidays starting up. So Happy holidays!
Stay safe and enjoy! Happy Diwali,Dhanteras,choti Diwali(whatever other names you know!)...And uh..Yes! happy New year in advance!
Don't forget to vote,comment! Looking forward to all your responses ❤️