May be forever

S I X T E E N

When I said, I love you
I counted your scars too..

Vinny made a cup of masala tea in her tiny kitchen of her studio apartment. She wasn't a tea person but days like this, when Kriti wasn't home and she naturally missed her chatty friend and the queasy feeling she was getting from the morning, over powered her, masala tea made her feel better. She followed the recipe exactly like her mom.

She added crushed cardamom, clove , cinnamon along with ginger and tea powder to the boiling water. When the flavours infused well she added milk and waited till it got thick. The aroma filled her nostrils as she poured it into a mug and added sugar.

She placed the mug on the side table letting it cool down a bit before taking a sip. She closed her window since the wind was getting a bit strong and chilly. She took a long breath as she stood Infront of the closed window. Closing something for permanently is not easy, because you will itch to open it again. Vinny knew how it feels now.

It's has been more than a month since she had broken up with Rishi.
After four years of suffering, gaslighting, emotional and physical torture, jealousy and hypocrisy, she had asked out of the relationship.

Like every other time, he had apologized, cried and tried to hold on to her. But this time Vinny was sure that she doesn't want to go back to her perpetual state of torture. Kriti stood by her, even her friends from NGO supported her. No matter how Rishi tried to console her, Vinny knew that she wasn't going back to him..not ever.

Vinny had thought that he was going to follow her everywhere or turn up in her college or apartment, but it didn't happen. He followed her around for few days then gave up. She was skeptical about it even though it was a releif.

Rishi was not the kind of guy who would let go of her that easily.
Kriti thought so too, that's why she had asked her to go with her to Bangalore this week but Vinny denied since Kristi's dad was hospitalised and was critical. She didn't want to burden her friend and she has to attend a seminar next morning, moreover it has been more than a month now. Rishi was out of her life for good, she hoped.

So she had stayed behind, with a queasy feeling unsettling her with trepidation.

' Stop overthinking Vinny... it's over..' she told herself as she pulled out a light blue kurta from her cupboard.

'jeez...' she frowned at her wrinkled kurta. With a sigh she decided to iron her top, anyways it was a distraction.
After ironing may be she could watch a movie or something she thought to herself.

She sipped her tea and stood at the ironing board running the iron over her wrinkled kurta, humming an old Hindi song .
She had almost done with her task when someone knocked on her door. It was just past eight, but she wasn't expecting someone to visit her ,considering this a weekend and most of her neighbours, college going kids, were either visiting their home or was out with their friends.

So when she found a visibly drunk Rishi on her door step, a shiver ran down her spine.

She had imagined this very moment many times during the past few weeks but when it really happened she realised that she wasn't prepared to see him ever again because his very presence scared her.

' What are you doing here, Rishi?' Vinny tried to sound strong when her heart was beating erratically.

' We are meeting after a month Vihani....
God I have missed you.' he shoved her sideways and stepped into her apartment.

' I was waiting till your bitchy friend was out of town. She won't let me talk to you. I know you still love me..and she is manipulating you ' his breath filled with the stench of alcohol fanned her face. He was towering over her, Vinny flinched.