Once Upon a Heart

15 # The Conflict

Hello folks

This is a small update. A little something I managed to type.

Happy reading . Please ignore any errors or typos .
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For the first time in years, Sanskaar felt like crying. Standing before him was a woman who walked into his life, pulled him out of those confines of darkness he had been dwelling in, and made him taste life and the joys it brought. There was the woman he lost his heart to, longed with heart and soul…only to hear her say …this.

He waited .. for her to say this as one of the teasing sessions, she loved to come up with and laugh it off, to say, Of Course, I love you Sanskaar, and promise she would never toy with his feelings this way. 

He wished he was good with words .. to tell her how much he loved her.. How the last few weeks had been so exhilarating and terrifying for him …

Exhilarating because he felt like a teenager in love … airy-headed. A kind of love he never experienced before which made him hopeful of the future and gave him the courage to spin dreams …

Terrifying because it sacred him … how much she was becoming important to him, how much he longed and craved for her presence every moment, how he would wait for the clock to strike evening so he could rush back to her and that little kid, and how much it scared him, the thought of walking back to a house without her …

Didn't she know? didn't she feel…that evening where he stripped all the walls around his heart and uttered those words of love at his vulnerable most. He looked at her … a thin layer of mist covering his eyes. He literally wanted to plead with her not to do this to him…not break his heart. He loved her ..loved her so much …

But he knew it was in vain. 

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Nothing but silence ruled for an hour. Maybe because he has dealt a severe blow before or somewhere deep down he wasn't convinced of Swara’s words, Sanskaar composed back rather quicker than anticipated. He needed time to process and gather his thoughts back. He sat in silence paying half attention to the absurd theory Swara came up with.

“I am sorry, I have hurt you. I was just trying to be practical. You don't love me, Sanskaar. It's just that I am the first woman whom you have spent a lot of time with. I mean, you never had any love interests in college too. You haven’t met any other women. and It is completely natural for you to feel inclined towards me, experience all this lekin tumhe bas meri aadat hogayi, That's the reason …

“Aadat?” Sanskaar cut in with his calm tone. "You really think I am an idiot, Don’t you?  jisse aadat aur zaroorat ke beech ka farak nahi pata. You think I am not sure of my feelings for you?”

“Yes! Because if you had been sure of your feelings or had the capacity to handle them, I wouldn't be standing here in the first place.” Swara countered.

“Well! I Can’t argue with that,”  Sanskaar nodded. So what now?" He asked after a minute of silence.  If I meet some 100 women, kiss them and come back claiming, I still love you, that's when my feelings hold value? If not, they don’t matter to you? Right!” He asked, feeling a fresh wave of pain.  He could keep up with his feelings not being reciprocated, but it pricked she wasn't even willing to consider.

“Not 100,” Swara replied in the same impassive tone the conversation started with. It was needed to ensure her feelings or emotions stayed out of this discussion.  “ And we can skip the kissing part, “ she said, feeling uncomfortable at the images his words evoked of him and some random woman. “ I think you should meet a few, explore a little more to understand what appeals to you.”