A Life Of Lies | ✔

14 - Part 1

April 18, 2018

The sun's up, but the warmth is barely felt. The sky looks so pregnant with all the dark, heavy clouds, ready to pour down anytime. If one had a sufficiently long pin to poke the sky, it would trigger the downpour. Hansika wants to do it so bad.

She turns to glance at the clock. There are fifteen minutes left before Anirudh comes back. Meaning, time to risk it for her.

She looks around for people, and when she spots none, she quickly slips inside the room where they had Ayansh. He's on the floor, clothes shredded from the beating, skin bleeding out and burning at even the contact of thin air.

Her heart gnaws at the walls of her chest, wanting to take him in her arms and nurse him. But, time's ticking. And it's goodbye, so she can't show any more love. She can't give him any more reasons to stay.

"Ayansh, it's me."

He immediately jolts up, suppressing his moans of pain. His face is swollen up from the beating, so he can't see her properly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you alone with him again! You passed out, there was so much blood, and I tried to take you to the bathroom to clean you. But then, he came in and then dragged me away and - " he chokes as he speaks.

Hansika's lips quiver. This is so much harder than she thought. He doesn't have to go through so much. And for someone like her, she thought.

"I've talked to Anirudh. He said he'd let you go today. Some guy would take you to the outskirts of Pune and drop you there. Find a phone somehow, and call back to your family. Please don't expose whatever happened here. Please," she says, her voice so monotonous Ayansh is questioning his ears.

"Hansika..."

"Please leave, Ayansh. This is your last opportunity. Don't waste it on me. I belong with Anirudh," she doesn't dare wipe the tears from her face. Those are the least she can spare on him.

"Hansika," he breathes through his teeth, "You love me."

"Erase any thoughts you have like that," her harsh words sting him.

"I can't. Ever." His heart weakens as he says it, still not able to recover.

"For my sake, please do." With that, she walks out of the room, praying it's also out of his life.

And right on time, because as soon as she settles back in the kitchen, Anirudh comes in. He walks directly to the kitchen and hugs her. His hand slips to her bloated stomach and she bites her lips, the cramping and palpitations still not over. The after effects of any death is after all traumatic.

"Missed you, baby," he says. She simply hums.

"How's the weather outside? Will you be able to send him off today?" She asks, placing a soft kiss above his heart. A sharp sense of pain jabs her chest right in the middle. And Hansika truly feels her return to her old self: someone she loathed so much it was suffocating to breathe.

"I think so, but not just send out."

Her gut does a somersault inside her. "Wh - what do you mean? We talked about this."