The Imperfect Couple (Complete)

Chapter 20

It was dark when she opened the door. Her eyes had swallowed up. She cried so much that she felt as if even her tears had dried up. But when she saw him sitting on the floor against the wall just beside the door, her eyes filled up again. His eyes were closed but she could still see he could feel her pain. She sat down beside him.

He quickly opened his eyes as he felt her presence and felt a sharp thorn piercing his heart as he saw her pale face, swollen eyes, trembling red lips, and her tears.

"Charu" he cupped her face and she broke down completely. She wrapped her arms around him crying profusely.

He hugged her back tightly as if he wished her pains to dissolve in him through that hug. He didn't want her to bear the pain all alone.

Charu sobbed uncontrollably trying to inch closer and closer but there was no more space. As if she wanted to dissolve in him.

For almost two hours she just kept on sobbing in his arms half lying on him. He just held her caressing her hairs unable to hold his own tears.

"I had to tell her something," she said so faintly that he wouldn't have heard if he wasn't so close to her. But he still couldn't make much sense as in what did she want to tell her?

She slightly raised her head and said clutching his shirt's collor, in between her sobs and hiccups "I need to tell her that I love her."

His heart ached as he heard her wish. All these days she had tried hard to show that she hated her. And the worst part was that no matter how much he wanted to soothe her pain right now, he was still incapable of fulfilling her wish.

He hugged her again unable to answer the wish in her eyes. He sat there for long with her head on the right side of his chest and her hand place on the left side. He held her with his one hand around her waist and other behind her head in her hair. Her sobs had subsided when he finally gathered the courage to speak to her.

"Charu," he said softly and continued after a pause, "We need to leave today for Bangalore to – to- you can see her" he completed being as much cautious in using words that wouldn't hurt her in any way.

When she didn't speak and only clutched him tighter in response, he pulled her out and asked cupping her face in his hands "Don't you want to go?"

She nodded in her tears and he helped her stand upright. He didn't want to let her out of sight for a second but he left closing the door behind her.

By the time he arranged for their air tickets, she changed into a light blue cotton salwar suit that her mother had gifted on her last birthday.

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As she saw the lifeless body of her mother, she stood there numb, blankly gazing her, as if her mind couldn't make much sense of what her eyes were showing it. Aditya didn't really want her to go through all this. When everyone always hid everything from her then why was she made to face the reality all of a sudden? But his grandma and father thought it was her right to see her mother for the last time. He felt so helpless for the first time.

But even Sarojini and Sanjay regretted their decision of bringing Charu there as she fainted the very next moment she saw her mother dead. She had not even heard of such harsh realities of life leave alone facing them with her eyes. Her mother always protected her from the real world. She was too weak mentally to accept it like a mature. That is why she knew she won't be able to endure the truth. No one on this earth could better know their child than the mother.

Adi sat beside her on the hospital bed as his elders went for the funeral. He slowly and continuously caressed her hair as she was lying unconscious.

She slowly opened her eyes after a long time making him sigh in relief. But as she opened her eyes, they filled up instantly and she bit her lower lip to stop those inevitable tears.