Vows of Misfortune

30.

"Hey baby, you're back. I've been waiting for you." Varun opened my door, dressed down in a crisp, white shirt.

"Wh—Varun?" I turned. Romir wasn't there with me. I had no luggage or anything, either. "What are you doing in my house?"

"I have a spare key. Did you forget, babe?"

"Don't call me that...what are you doing here?" He leaned in to kiss my forehead, dark brown eyes, that I used to love, twinkling. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to Claudia then."

"No, that's what I want to talk to you about."

I inched backward but he pulled me into him by the waist. "I know it's too late but I made a mistake," he whispered, face creased and lips trembling. "Claudia isn't the one I want. It's you."

My heart thumped. This was what I had been waiting for. "I'm married, Varun—"

"I don't care. Please, take me back. I love you." He pulled me into a hug. I wasn't sure if I embraced him back or what exactly I was feeling.

"I love you too, Varun. Always. I love you."

All of a sudden, I opened my eyes. I was at Varun's apartment, standing in the hall. It wasn't fuzzy like a dream or anything. I rubbed at my eyes. I heard faint noises in the background.

I was dressed in a white trench coat and the big purse I used to take to the office when I was still doing the law internship. My personal laptop was on the couch, half open. The cup that I used to make tea with at his house was half empty and sitting on the coffee table.

Wait, so the other one had been a dream? Was this the real deal? I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked the same. It was real. It felt real.

Oh my god. Did that mean we had never broken up? I patted myself down and nearly cried.

Clicking open my phone, the glare of the white screen read Friday 18th. A few days before the wedding.

So everything else had been one big old nightmare!

Romir wasn't in my life. Our marriage didn't exist. I nearly jumped for joy when I heard a male voice.

Varun was here.

"Varun?" I heard myself ask, my socks pattering across the timber floors. "It's Chinese take-out night!"

The noises got louder the more I got closer to his room; my hurried steps lagged as my chest rose and fell. My heart thudded in my ears. "Baby?"

The door was half open. I didn't need to push it open to see or hear the moans getting louder.

Claudia and Varun were in bed with her sitting on top, moving against him. They were both fully naked. Varun looked at me, a smirk on his lips before he cupped the back of Claudia's neck, bringing her lips down to his.

"No, no, this can't be happening," I mumbled. It wasn't a dream. It was real. It had happened.

I screamed.

I awoke with a start, my hands gripping the handrest, gasping for air. The red blanket draped over me slipped down. I cleared my vision by blinking, the baby hair on my forehead sticking to my damp skin.

We were on a plane. Looking out the window the sight below was pitch black. People were mostly sleeping or watching movies. Romir was here next to me, asleep himself.

So they were both dreams. I rested my head back against the seat. I was glad the last one was a dream even though a part of me thought I had gone back in time somehow.