“Rula ke gaye sapna mera
Baiti hu, kab ho sawera…
Wohi hai gham-e-dil,
Wohi hai chanda, taare
Wohi hum, Besahaare”
-Rula Ke Gaya Sapna
(My dream left me crying
I'm waiting, wondering when the sun will rise
The pain of my heart is still the same,
Same are the stars and the moon.
I'm the same too, still without support)
_________________________________________
“WHAT?!!”, Ray’s voice blasted in my ears as I moved the mobile away instantly.
“Tina will come there today. Act like I'm not involved in anything. Just. Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut.”, I repeated myself as I massaged the side of my head with my free hand.
“NO! Not happening. What were you even thinking? Where, or rather, how did you find that woman? Anyway, I don’t want her anywhere near my brother.”
“She regrets her mistake, Ray. Relax. Chase will be so happy. This is the best way to end everything. Everything’s back to how it was. Perfect.”
“Don’t kid me! Perfect?”, he laughed, “…Just come here and I’ll introduce you to Chase. We can slowly pick the right time to tell him everything. Then, its perfect.”
“Shut up, Ray. That’s called messing up all the hard work we put in.”
He scoffed, “Do you think no one sees that you love him?”
That. is… what the hell? “Bullshit. Can you focus on the fact that Chase loves Tina and wants Tina back? Now, Tina’s coming back. Happy ending.”
“What is bullshit?... Happy ending? Are you crazy? You think that woman is worth his love?”
“I told you already, she regrets leaving him”, my voice grew louder in frustration. What couldn’t he understand?
“Ya, right.”
“RAY! She’ll be there any time now. Just go with the plan. Think about how happy Chase will be. Oh, and change my number back to hers in his mobile. Do that fast, okay?”
“Not okay, Sis.” He had started calling me that a few weeks ago but now I know he’s using it to calm me, so that he can convince me. That smartass.
“Ray, I'm hanging up. It’s decided. Good bye.”
“Hey that’s…”
I hung up.
I placed my mobile on the side table as I leaned my head on the headrest. With my hands falling on my lap, I sighed, “It’s all over… It’s really over. Feels like a dream.”
It was an amazing dream, when it lasted, but it did leave me crying.
Even though I was protesting, my mind just couldn’t agree with me. It had to go ahead and think of how Chase’s face would light up on seeing Tina. How he would hug her tightly and maybe even kiss her. He wouldn’t leave her side, would keep her near him every minute, to assure himself of her presence. I know, that’s what he’s going to do.
Imagining his smile makes me smile unconsciously. But when the image stays in front of my eyes, for a few seconds too long, all of a sudden, I burst out crying. Hot tears roll down my cheek and continue to fall as I try to sniff them back and rub my eyes clean with my palms. My sobs became louder and my rational side blanks out.
He won’t EVER call me again.
I won’t be able to hear his voice ever again.
He will look at her the way I longed to be looked at.
He will show her the smile that I long to see.
He will be… hers. For life.
“Chas-se…”, I call out, trying to make myself see that it wasn’t all a dream. That it really happened.
“Chase”, I whispered lovingly. Will he ever, ever, even glance my way?
My breathing slowly goes back to its normal pace. It is the only thing I can hear, with the interruption of my occasional hiccups.
It is ironic, it all started on Sunday and it ends on a Sunday.
I did not tell anyone but I had actually, gone to see him once. He was in the garden like he would be every day in the afternoon. He had told me that, knowing which, I couldn’t resist walking down the road to his house, when I had been so near. I had gone there for work purposes, but had arrived almost an hour late to the scheduled place. I had spent that time admiring the one thing that had made my life anything but boring. Him.
That scene where he was sitting in his wheelchair, looking straight ahead in deep thought, with a calm expression and a small smile on his face, which was illuminated with the rays of sunlight, was etched in my mind. I wished I could borrow his talent and paint it out for me to admire. The fact that this memory would fade away one day and I would have nothing to remember his face with, made more tears roll down my cheeks, over the dried ones.
But in the end, I smiled.
I had taken away his pain. He was happy.
__________________________
The End.
NOT ;)
YOU ARE READING
To Take Away Your Pain ✓
Short StoryAn artist who could mimic just anyone's voice. A man who loved the wrong girl. An accident. A guy who just wants his brother back. A mission to help. Pain... exchanged! What will happen in the end?
