Twelve Weeks of You

Week Ten

Week Ten

Rooman had the same ritual for the past seven days. Every day he would jog down the law department instead of attending his classes, watch the clouds outside till Rumi would walk past him like she didn't see him.

She would keep walking, willing to get lost in the sea but Rooman wouldn't let that happen this time. This time when he saw her, he lept. She wasn't a cloud he couldn't touch, she was here. He gripped her arm and she stopped almost immediately but didn't turn.

"Rumi, please listen to me."He whispered, his voice aching. He felt her take a deep breath before turning and he saw his pain resonate in her too. Her eyes had dark circles and her skin looked much paler, but that could be the morning sickness.

He felt sick too.

"Rooman, I don't feel like talking to you." She spoke softly and he could sense she was tired. He was tired of fighting too. He let go of her arm but he couldn't help but pull her close to him. She resisted the hug for a few seconds before letting it devour her. They both needed a bit of love amidst all the chaos.

She pulled back after a few seconds, he could see she was annoyed at herself. Pee Juan yeh ghum, Rooman wanted to say but he knew better. She would puke all over him, but at this stage as much as he hated to admit it, he would want her to puke over him. Anything would be better than this stoic silence where his voice echoed and echoed.

He let her walk outside of the corridor, as the sun passed through his withering body. She stopped when she reached a bench, sitting down.

The sun fell on her face and she looked down, quenching her eyes. She looked weaker, almost as if the baby was eating her from the inside. But he knew it was not the baby that was eating her, but the ache he had given her. Rooman stood in front of her, blocking the rays. He was hurting her enough.

"Rumi, I am sorry. I am sorry for everything that has been happening," He gulped, pushing his hair away. "I want to be there for you, in whatever way you want me to be yours."He spoke, he felt tears coming to his eyes.

"I know you want to Rooman."She spoke softly, looking up at him before shaking her head. His lips parted but she closed them. And Rooman was scared, she had always words for him. "But you can't do anything right now."She answered and he felt his knees wobble. "I can Rumi, just come back to our house. We will sort it out."He promised her but she shook her head.

"It's not your house, it's not mine. It's Aarav's."She stated and now he was frowning. Aarav and he were like brothers. They shared everything, Aarav had shared his mother with him and Rooman had given everything he had in return.

"Rumi you know it's not like that, Aarav-"She held out her hand before he could complete. "I know, I know Aarav is your brother and you are in-debt to him. I have heard this too many times but I am not in his debt. Why am I paying the price then?"She asked, hitting the points home like the lawyer she was.

Rooman felt guilty. Had he committed the crime?

He opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head. "And I think if you start counting the things you have lost to him, you will realize the debt may have been already paid.."

Was Rumi the price of his debt?

—-

Aarav: So you are not going to talk to me now?

Samira: Are you going to find a new way to tell me how you are still in love with Abhishiri?

Aarav: How many times should I tell you I am not in love with her!

Samira: How many times do you need to hear it?

—

Mridula felt her head throb as her eyes fluttered open. She didn't remember when she fell asleep or when she was even awake, the room dark as the last of the sun crept in corners.

She rubbed her forehead, twisting in her bed. The room was so silent, she could hear her heartbeat slowly against her lungs. It felt faint and tired like she did. She barely could feel her bones in her body. She looked out the window. The sun was going to set anytime now and she could hear the chatter of students roaming outside. Her head ached more now.

She sat up and frantically reached for her phone. Her tired lungs had stopped inhaling, her body was burning up. She was chocking and drowning at the same time and she could't figure out what to save herself from first. She knew she had talked to Karna but she wasn't sure if it was in her sleep or real life. What hurt her more was she didn't know which she hoped it would be, for him to come back or to let him float away. Her phone told her there was no call or message from him. Just like the past two weeks.

Her tired heart quenched and she felt like she couldn't breathe for a few seconds. Her head fell heavy and she wanted to sleep again. All she wanted nowadays was to sleep and to wake up fresh, someone who didn't feel this abandoned.

Her phone however did have messages from Samira. 'Pick me up from the court when you see this.' 'Where are you? I need to have tea.' Mridula knew she didn't mean either but this was her attempt to get her moving and out. She looked at the door and sighed, she didn't want to go. She wanted to sleep again but when she closed her eyes, the cursed Karna came to her head and she jolted straight up. She couldn't push through him right now and she feared, if she let him cloud her mind she would lose again.

She pulled her hair in a bunch and slipped on her sandals. She had to save herself before this autumn of grief withered her completely. She was shedding, it was taking all of her with her. Hurriedly, she urged her body to move, pick up her keys and walk out. As she turned to lock the door, her eyes caught a white flower on the floor, a whole bunch of them lying on her door as if the cement wall was growing them. She knew if she looked down she might just find the pieces of her broken heart.

As much as she hated to accept it, her heart was broken. She had let a man of few days and even fewer words store flowers in her heart and now it was rotting somewhere deep inside.It's scent had intoxicated her and now she was lost. 

Ever since the day he had his fight with Aarav, Karna had disappeared. She had left him alone until she realized, he was not coming back. She didn't see him around anymore, he didn't pick up her call or her messages- he had disappeared and taken her with him somewhere she couldn't return from.

Mridula was tired of wondering what happened. She knew he was safe, he just didn't want to be with her. The stupid Champa flowers all over the campus were like salts on her wound and now they were creeping up to her door, trying to eat her alive. But she knew she had to be stronger than some flowers.

She stepped ahead and crushed the flowers she found on the doorstep with her foot, letting her tears fall as she made sure the flowers were torn.

She didn't need to pluck petals to ask whether he loved her or he loved her not.

He had made it clear.

——

Roooom: Rumi, please talk to me.

——