Always Is Not Forever (Breaking Myself - Part II)

K I A R A ' S P O V

People lie. People hide. People betray.

I was associated with those sentences for quite a long time, or maybe from my childhood, I would say but you never expect them from your closed ones. I never expected the same from my closed ones especially Kiara who could never hide things.

Her face was an open canvas to study. She tries to lie, she smiles. She tries to hide, her eyebrow draws together. She betrays-well, that wasn't her trait. That belonged to me. I miss that open canvas, not the mirror of pseudo emotions which stood in front of me all day and night.

"What you doing?" I raised my eyes to the traitorous voice to enter my cabin without a knock. He raises his hands in the air. "You need my help."

"It is comical how I need a fifteen-year-old to help me."

"Never for me." Bundle of white papers thumped down on the table. "This was all I could find in Adi Bhai study." Even that was enough. Leaning forward, I grabbed the stack, opened the first report to study the writings but the door opened again and I closed it shut. "Di-"

"Kiara," I whispered, and despite the fear of being caught, my eyes didn't wander from that face and a healthy smile. I always wondered what drew me to her but I could never get the real answer. Was it her face, her smile, her arms, or just her in a whole?

It had to be just her.

Who else could trap me in their claws unlike her?

A perfect blend of her father and mother.

"What are you doing here?" She directed her sentence to her youngest brother. "Are you entertaining my brothers as well, Abeer?" She walked to stand next to me and placed her hands on my shoulder. "Why is he here?"

"I wanted to meet him," Yuvraj spluttered out while I closed the file with my index finger. "I should go."

"No, wait." No, let him go before he uttered out the truth of our truce. "You bunked school." He rolled his shoulders in reply and I controlled my chuckle.

"You were the one who taught me how to."

As expected of her.

"Bhua is at home. Scurry." She snapped her fingers, and within seconds her brother was out of the room but left the treasure in my hands. "Now that we are alone. We have to discuss something." That didn't sound good, but nevertheless, I took her hand and rubbed my thumb on her palm.

She smiled nervously, cleared the mess from the table and placed herself on top of it with her legs dangling next to my black chair. Why am I thinking this won't end good?

"Don't your company need you?"

"It can survive with my brother." She paused. "If he can handle it." Before I could chuckle, she added hurriedly, "Mama called you for dinner." Before I could process the words, she grabbed my shoulders and smiled as if it would take the blow of her mother's invitation.

A mother who wasn't fond of me.

"Why?" I managed out the simple words out of my mouth but the weight felt heavier. "She is," I paused to find an accurate word, however, one look at Kiara and the words swallowed back. "I will be there." I grinned. "Red wine?"

"Works." But her troubled smile gave road to an unspoken sentence. "There was something we needed to talk about." I nodded for her to continue while my attention stuck on the line running down her eye. I was never able to take my eyes off it-as if calling me to pay attention to what had happened because of you, to see the past which couldn't be changed but it was something else. "Let's take it as a fresh start."