Forever Yours, Vrinda

Part 30

"How is Vrinda? Is she alright? Did she get her memory back? Is she able to walk by herself now?" Vijay shot questions after questions without giving any chance for them to be answered by the other man on the call.

"She is okay, better than before. She still doesn't have her memory back, but I told her the truth, and she wants to talk to you," replied Vivaan, trying to keep his emotions in check. Guilt, melancholy, fear and jealousy danced to devastating tunes, and the terrifying rhythm had caused his heartbeats to go out of rhythm.

"Talk to me? Why?" asked Vijay, despite anticipation and excitement rushing through his veins at the mere thought of speaking to her after more than two years.

"She is angry at me, justifiably so, because she knows the truth now. She wanted to leave from here, and I did not let her go away. I think she wants to punish me by moving on, with you, and so be it," exclaimed Vivaan, glancing regretfully at her numb self through the window which separated them.

"Okay.." answered Vijay, but he could make out that the other man was not okay with the happenings, and he could not blame Vivaan for that, despite the innumerable complaints that he had against him.

"I will arrange for the video call. Please call on my Facebook in five minutes," said Vivaan before disconnecting the call and sighing deeply in resignation.

Destiny, indeed, had unusual ways to prove one wrong. He was put at the spot of regretting every time he advocated that love was sacrosanct and hence beyond all the sins, when his own love was adulterated and built on the basis of those sins. In the guise of doing the right thing, he had chosen the most godforsaken and desperate path, and there was nothing remotely right about it.

He brought his laptop from his room mechanically and began to set up the call with Vijay as Vrinda looked on, wondering if the forlorn man would let his emotions come to the surface. She had overheard his conversation with Vijay, and it erased any remnant of doubt that remained in her mind about his guilt.

The fact that he was ready to let her go to her ex-fiance, if it would prevent her from walking away from her own house into the wilderness of the world, overwhelmed her, and yet the raw fury coursing through her refused to bestow any mercy upon him.

"He isn't online yet. He will call in a few minutes," stated Vivaan in a trembling voice, suppressing his wish to explicitly lament the disappointment of his ladylove due to him once again.

Vrinda nodded in response and averted her unintentionally accusing gaze from him. An overpowering urge to stop him walking out of her was suppressed by the sense of betrayal stung her, and before she could choose between the two, her thoughts were interrupted by a video call from the one she had wanted to talk.

Vijay's sharp features had look of gloom dancing upon them when they flashed on her screen as she accepted the call. With his green-brown eyes shaped as wondrously as a poet would describe, with perfectly arched eyebrows complimenting them, and his trembling lips which curved into a half smile as she flashed on his screen, Vrinda was sure that he would have stolen scores of hearts till then. Wheatish complexion, slight stubble, and from what she could see, towering height; he was quite the textbook example of tall, dark and handsome. But alas, her heart refused, neither in the past nor in the present, to throb for the supposed heartthrob.

"Hey, this is Vrinda," she started nervously, realizing that she had absolutely no idea where she would lead the conversation to. The dark desire to punish Vivaan was turning into a punishment for her own self, and she had no one to blame except for herself.

"I know. I am Vijay. Vivaan told me that you wanted to speak to me. How are you?" he questioned, letting his gaze wander over her dull and pale features which were in stark contrast to those that he had memorized and held onto over the years.

"I don't know. Just like I don't know about my own life. I am sorry, I am not sure what to say, but I guess I wanted someone other than Vivaan or Daksh Bhai to be my confidant for once. Selfish. I know," she sighed.

Her words were not entirely untrue because despite her bonding with the rest of the family, she did not share the bond that she once shared with them, and did not know if they would be willing to hear against their dear Vivaan. Talking to Vijay seemed to be the one alternative that checked several criteria at once, and she wasted no time in choosing that.

"No, it's not. I yearned to be your confidant for years, but either our age gap of two years or your preference for others kept us away. I guess, it was the same yearning that made me force my parents to propose an alliance to your father when he began to look for grooms. I am sorry that it went downhill from there, and for not looking out for you through the years you were kept captive," he replied apologetically.

She could see his eyes stinging with tears, and she would be a fool to not realize that he had loved her through the years. She could feel guilt rising up at the back of her mind as the realization struck her.

"It is not your fault. No one would have expected my Aunt to behave so inhumanly, and you did look out for me in your own way. You prompted Vivaan to search for me and finally free, although I wonder, why did you not do it yourself?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her and her already betrayed soul desperate to know every bit of truth that she could.

"Trust me, there wasn't a day in those years when I did not pry for any news about you or miss you. My parents did not want me to step into your home after everything that had happened. They asked me to choose between my love for you and my love for them, and it was the toughest choice of my life. I did not want to let them down again, so I chose them, but I could not stop myself from questioning Vivaan when I saw him. And the rest, as they say, is history."

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Another man in Vrinda's life who was forced to choose between family and the woman they loved, and chose their family. What do you feel? Please VOTE and COMMENT!