UN-RAVEL : The inner strength.....

UN-RAVEL 25.... NEW DAWN....

UN-RAVEL 25....

NEW DAWN.....

With a throbbing head, heavy heart and burning eyes Zamira had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. The series of events had been too overwhelming for her. She wanted to apologise to Manik and talk to him in order to clear the misunderstanding so she sat waiting in the living room for him to return. As clock ticked by there was absolutely no sign of him. Sitting turned into laying down and then drifting into sleep. Pain and tiredness had enveloped her to an unconscious sleep. The clock clicks 1 in the morning and rambling in the room wakes her up, startled. Manik had walked in, in a tipsy state. The last time Zamira saw him so drowned in alcohol was when Ivaan had helped him in and taken care of him but today she is all by herself. She walks upto him and without facing any repulsion she is able to support him. As his weight weighs her down she barely manages to hold both of them and walk upto his room. It's a dark huge room no trace of light entered as the curtains weren't drawn away. Zamira searches for switch board and after five minutes when she lights up the room it appears bigger then before. She escorts Manik to the round bed and they both fall due to excessive weight. Getting off Manik's hold Zamira tucks him properly as she helps him out of his shoes. His coat and tie were already missing.

For the first time she turns around to look at the huge room and her heart melted. The wall right behind Manik's bed held a wall size portrait of their family, Manik, Nandani and herself. This was the first family picture that she had come across and it warmed her heart. She didn't remember this being clicked but the portrait made it so real that with every ounce of her soul she wished to have that moment again. At least once in her life. A table lying near the opposite wall has series of photo frames with some familiar and some unfamiliar faces on them.

Murmuring from Manik distracts Zamira's observance she turns to look at him coughing. Rushing upto him she hands him a glass of water and he gulps it down. His eyes meet Zamira's and a sweet smile breaks on his face which soon turns into a grumpy one as he mumbles, "Don't hate me baccha..... Please don't...." Zamira's eyes tear up, "I don't. I am sorry." Her voice comes out muffled with tears as she collapsed on his chest and he engulfs her in his arms. The night that seemed to be doomed in horror now felt protected, where it was hard for Zamira to fall asleep she had never felt so peaceful in ages.

The night splits into dawn and the darkness is far gone. It's a rise of new dawn. The rising sun clicked Manik's biological clock and even before he opened his eyes he could feel his head spin with pain and something on his body made him weigh heavy. His eyes skirt through the room and his arm feels numb. He looks at what is weighing him down and his eyes tear up seeing his daughter in his arms. He creases the contour of her face and the moment wakes up Zamira, she sits up startled and so follows Manik. As the recollection of the previous night downs on both of them they realise why they were their.

"About last night....." Manik starts with a deep sigh of regret but Zamira cuts him, "Forget it." Manik feels disappointed but her next move takes him aback.

She snakes her arms around his neck and whispers in his ears, "I need to talk to you about something really urgent please find a place where nobody can hear us or trace us." She nods looking into his eyes with confirmation and getting up from the bed she wears her shoes and bending down she kisses his cheeks, "I am sorry." She looks directly at him and with a broad smile continues, "And.... I love you."

Manik's headache had disappeared for the particular while and he smiled foolishly. Yes, the morning felt like bliss. Few minutes after Zamira had left he felt his head throb with pain, "Shit." Mumbling the word he threw himself back on his bed. It's only a while later he remembers the seriousness of words Zamira had said first. A part of him had curiosity while the other confusion and all in all he was filled with questions. Questions that had now begun to make him feel uncomfortable. The questions whose answers were becoming more of desperation then need.