Contradiction & Reality

Chapter Fourteen

"...as long as nothing happens between them, the memory is cursed with what hasn't happened."

- Marguerite Duras, Blue Eyes, Black Hair

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Dedicated to KitkitMkb who is the sweetest and selflessly supportive with infinite patience and grace... Thank you for you... *hugs*

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"What's wrong with you?"

She had asked him as soon as he had walked out of 's room. Seething in rage, she had held his hand in a tight grip when he had attempted to walk past her.

A few minutes ago, she had been there, listening to him as he talked to Nanu, every word coming out of his mouth wounding her, stabbing her in most cruel ways, she had stood still, unmoving, pressed against the wall, shedding tears as he had confessed his silent sufferings, wounds that he bore on his soul but never let anyone know about. Her heart aching with the amount of guilt she had felt for being one of those who caused his sufferings, that was, until he walked out of the room after declaring that now to him it didn't matter to whom she would be married to.

"Look at you, Suman Tiwari, once again eavesdropping conversations that aren't meant for you to hear," he said in a calm but cold voice, eyeing his hand in her grip.

His words were meant to make her feel guilty and ashamed, but they only fueled the anger she felt towards their inability to make their relationship as once it had been, a decade ago, when he used to come running to her to confess his fears and inhibitions, about every biggest and smallest thing that happened to him, sometimes even whine about the surprise quizzes that had gone wrong.

Why didn't he come to her when she was the one to whom he was supposed to confess his darkest fears and open wounds?

Why did he stop letting her know how much he still was affected by his parents' broken marriage when she had been the only one who had witnessed him crying over his parents' fights a decade ago?

Why wasn't she the one whom he chose to open up with?

What has changed their relationship in the past months? Why now when even after their reunion - a decade of separation - the bond between them hadn't been affected? She remembered; when Kamini Chachi's concern for the heritage of Malhotra law firm had troubled him, he had come to her to share, to seek comfort, he had. So then what had stopped him from coming back to her whenever he had been having a tough time in the past months?

But more than anything, how could he give up on them when everything else was finally starting to fall in place? How dare he? She thought as rage consumed her.

The dark night that was supposed to separate them has actually ended up being what was needed to make everyone around them realize how perfect they were for each other and now when even his father was impatient for their reunion, it was him, Shravan, it was him who was hell-bent on ruining everything. What was wrong with him?

Now when every hurdle, every thorn has been cleared from the path that would lead to their reunion, why it was him who was refusing to walk up to her who was already waiting for him midway?

She glared at him before dragging him up to the rooftop, away from others who could disturb them.

"What is wrong with you, Shravan?" She asked him again with a whine, desperate for an answer, her eyes misting when she looked up at him who once again was looking away from her, lost in finding his horizon.