2 Sides

Is all well that ends well?

Kabir didn't know what to do. Palomi was very rigid to take no for an answer. Kunal walked to the bedroom and looked at both of them and said, "Palomi. You know that Kabir loves you a lot. Why are you doing this?"
Palomi looked at Kunal as if the answer was very obvious but she didn't have one.
She said softly, "Please I'm not in the mood to be patient. For the last time, just leave Kabir. Please."
Kunal still looked at Palomi and asked with disgust, "Are you for real?"
But Kabir got up and started packing his stuff in an untidy manner. Kunal scolded, "What the hell are you doing bro?"
Kabir didn't answer. He just grabbed his belongings and said, "You wait downstairs. I'll come in a while."
Kunal left with a lot of regret in his mind.
After Kabir had checked whether he'd taken everything. He looked at Palomi, who was still sitting on the bed and was probably thinking something in her complicated mind.
Kabir said softly, "Bye Palomi."
Palomi looked at him and got up. She said, "Goodbye Kabir."
They both were looking at each other's eyes. Kabir came forward and kept his hand on her cheeks. He then kissed Palomi and she didn't stop him from doing so. In fact, she kissed him back. Kabir then slided one hand on her waist to bring her closer. Palomi surrounded her arms around his shoulders.
Kabir then stopped kissing her and he hugged her tight. Kabir then whispered, "Now I will always remember the last time we kissed."
Palomi hugged him back. It was an awkward but a long hug. Kabir then stopped hugging her and Palomi was still looking at his eyes, hoping he would try to convince her to give their relationship another chance. But he didn't. He looked at her for the last time and he left the house.
He took his bags down and loaded them in the boot of the car. Kunal looked at him with a lot of sympathy but Kabir didn't care to look at him.
Kabir then sat next to him and said, "Shall we go now?"
Kunal asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
Kunal started to drive to his home. They both had planned that Kabir would stay another day in Mumbai at Kunal's house and in the evening he woume catch his flight to Bangalore.
After the silent drive, they reached Kunal's home.

***

Palomi started cleaning her house. It was a new thing for her to clean and dust the house every alternate day. She had formed this OCD for cleanliness. She plugged her earphone and selected soft - rock songs that were meant to make her feel more guilty and sorry for herself.

***

Kabir and Kunal were sitting on the couch in their pajamas. Kunal asked him, "What medicines were you talking about? What kind of anti - depressants? Why didn't you tell me?"
Kabir consoled him, "Palomi told me not to tell anyone."
There was an awkward silence in the room when Kunal demanded, "Are you going to tell me now?"
Kabir let out a deep breath and said, "She was bullied a lot during her college days because she was very shy and reserved. People expected her to flaunt her beauty and to stick with boys but Palomi was never like that. She still isn't like that. So once, a group of boys touched her inappropriately and they humiliated her in front of the whole college. Unfortunately, we were not in the same college so I couldn't help her. Because of all the bullying and humiliation, she lost all her confidence and she also lost her self - esteem. After college, her mother and I convinced her to go for therapy because she was not improving. She was getting worse. That's when her fucking mind started going nuts. She went for therapy for almost five years. But she gave up last year thinking everything was fine with her. I told her not to leave therapy unless the therapist says so, but she didn't listen to me. And now, she's like back to what she was. Even worse now. During these years she's tried to kill herself as well. So many times she's done a lot of crazy stuff."
Kunal whispered, "Holy shit!"
Kabir then looked at him and said, "Those college days have scarred her for life. I didn't take it seriously at the beginning but then I had to. She never told me what exactly happened that day because she didn't wanna talk about it. She has bottled up all her feelings and she must have assumed a million stuff by now. Her mind is crazy. Like really crazy."
Kunal let out a long breath and said, "I don't know what to say."
Kabir continued, "You know, after I shifted to Bangalore, we started fighting a lot. Things were not really great between us. But still I always made sure she was okay. I mean I tried my best. You know its like a brother - sister relationship. They fight a lot. They hit each other, but at the end of the day, they know they're there for each other no matter what. Its kinda like that I feel."
Kabir was upset. He felt he had lost something really precious. He wished Kunal good night and went off to bed thinking about all the memories Palomi and he shared together.