Chapter 6

IAdoreYou

@IAdoreYou

| Part Six |

Bowed down with the guilt of failing her, breaking the promise he made to her, making her cry, he was too remorseful to face her but he had to, regardless. He unlocked the door ensuring not to make a sound to attract anyone's attention towards him. He wasn't up for having any conversation with anyone except his wife.

Lavanya? With Mrs. Shergill? Though he had no doubt that his wife was very much capable of single handedly turn down Lavanya in the wickedest way, he wasn't sure if she would be able to do it today, in her emotional state of mind and he wouldn't let Lavanya upset Mrs. Shergill more than she already was. He climbed the stairs in the fastest speed he could where Lavanya and Drishti stood.

"Mrs. PA. You are too shameless for your own bad, aren't you?"

His legs froze at Lavanya's words just a little distant from them.

"Rakshit baby wants to divorce you. He doesn't want you around and you are still here. Jabardasti ka rishta banane ki koshish me lagi hui ho. Have some self respect and leave my Rakshit baby. He always wanted to marry me. Tum to bas ek galti ho jo ab use realise ho gayi hai aur wo sudharna chahta hai. Listen you -"

"That's enough, Lavanya." He had to step in. He had waited for Drishti to speak up on her own but now when all that she did was being a mute one there, he felt he shouldn't have and shut Lavanya up at her first statement itself.

He was besides his wife in two long strides. He turned to Lavanya. "Who are you?"

"Rakshit, what are -"

"I asked, who are you? Should I put forward a better question? Who do you think you are to utter this nonsense to my wife?"

Drishti's eyes turned to him, flabbergasted. Now, what has gotten into him suddenly? Was she expecting that? No way on the earth after all that happened between them. She still kept mum, too tired to question her husband who was ready to divorce her hours back, and now was taking a stand for her, showing his right on her as a husband.

She looked at him, rooted on her place when he locked her fingers within his.

"This woman is my wife. She does not need to make any forced relationship, because we are already tied in a relationship and that is a beautiful relationship. Besides, even if we hadn't been in this marriage, she wouldn't need to put in any efforts to pull me towards her. I doubt if she herself is aware of the way her soul warms mine. Galti ye nahi hai. Galti tum thi. Jise mai sudhar chuka hu or rather I should say, she rectified it. Doesn't matter how we got into this marriage Lavanya, doesn't matter. This relationship is the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me. You have known me for quite long. Have you heard me say these amount of words in a go ever before today?"

By the time he finished himself, it wasn't just Lavanya who stared at him as if he grew another head but also, his wife, standing beside him. The only difference was his wife did that out of surprise and Lavanya, out of fury, jealousy, and heartburn.

"Rakshit, you -"

"Enough Lavanya. Really. Enough." He held his palm up in front of, gesturing her to just stop. Was this woman never going to understand in a nice language? "I was respecting the fact that we were together once but this is really the last time, I am letting, you disrespecting my wife go. Stay away? I think you have got my point. Good night." That was the last he spared a glance at her. He got his hand on his wife's back to get her moving towards their room, away from Lavanya.

•

She effortlessly stepped away from him with a swift separation of her hand from his. Her eyes began questioning him about whatever he just did. "What was this? Aapne khud kahi thi divorce ki baat. To Lavanya ne keh diya to itna aur aise kyu affect ho rahe hai aap?"

"Oh so you wanted me to let Lavanya continue whatever she was blabbering? I can say anything to you. None else can." Strolling up to the bed, he laid down, slipping his right hand under his head. The headache was increasing, bit by bit.

She was still standing on her spot. Did he really not realize the extent to which he was hurting her? A minute before, he gave a voice to probably one of the most beautiful confessions regarding their relationship and a minute later, he was reasoning it with his logic that he could hurt her but wouldn't tolerate anyone else doing the same. Wow. She did not know if she was supposed to be glad or upset.

The throbbing headache had given a start to the tremors of his hand. He forcefully digged them in the bed to keep them stable. He didn't dare look up to her. If he was holding his faith in the emotions he had always seen in her eyes for him, then at the same time every minute was heavy on him knowing the half - truth. How was his wife connected to that one eyed woman? He wanted to know. Besides, he could now sense his wife was surely in some trouble, reason of which was probably, scratch that, mostly, that one eyed woman and he would no longer let her deal with her alone but for that, he needed to know things and he would use his own way to make her say everything.

"Have your dinner."

He glanced at the covered plate on the side table. She had kept his food in the room. How thoughtful!

She forced shut her eyes momentarily to see the stubborn man refusing to get up and eat. She had seen him clutching the bed sheet in his fists. She knew what was happening. His migraine was back after long and she wasn't a bit good to see the same.

"Eat before migraine worsens," she told him curtly, and turned her back on him.

"Tumne khaya?" He asked, slowly getting up.

"Koi farq nahi padta." Her quivering voice gave it away again. Damn it.

"Mrs. Shergill."

Why, why was he using that loving tone to call her? She hated him for playing with her that way. His enamored voice was a threat to her self control. She did not wish for another breakdown in front of him. No. Not happening.

"My head hurts bad, Mrs. Shergill. I will not eat without you."

Two mere lines from him and she found herself foolishly getting on the bed, beside him, keeping the plate in front of him. His face acquired a small smile. The smile was neither happy nor sad one. It was rather a mix of both. A mere say about his pain and she forgot everything and there was he, who had put her through so much of pain.

Afraid of hurting her again, he bit back his lower lip, and tried to focus on the food at the front, suppressing the urge to take her in his arms and seek forgiveness for breaking his promise and making her cry.

•

Her gaze adored his sleeping figure as she was at the door after keeping the plate downstairs. Perhaps he wasn't asleep. How would the migraine let him fall in a slumber so easily! She quickly stepped in, switching off the lights, leaving the room in absolute dark. The moonlight coming through the window lit the room up in the faintest light.

It hardly took her a minute to recall the time she had witnessed his migraine attack for the first and last time, until today. Back then, she had read almost enough to write a whole thesis upon migraine. She had kept the all possible triggers in her memory and worked from the next day to avoid each one of them and she succeeded for he would get headaches, but of less intensity and certainly not the migraine ones.

Today, quite a few triggers were unavoidable, counting in stress and his meals that he skipped. She could do very little about it. Destiny was playing its game and she had started to feel that she might just would end up losing the man her heart couldn't beat without, in the destiny's game.

He was lying still in the bed, without any significant movements. She thought, the headache probably reduced after having the dinner, helping him fall asleep.

Having fought a lot with herself to keep away from him, she couldn't just do it after a point of time. With slow and steady footsteps, she walked up to the bed and sat beside him and that was it. Before her mind could argue with her heart to get up and move back to the couch, her hand slipped on his forehead. Her tender caresses was to make sure that his headache would subside if it already hadn't.

She gasped when out of no where, he gripped the wrist of her hand that was on his forehead. He was awake. Stupid Drishti. She instantly regretted giving in to her desire and tried taking her hand back but he didn't allow. A tear drop that fell from his eyelid only added on to her misery.

He was crying.

He was crying.

That was all that her mind could process, forgetting every blame, every accusation, every word that he had uttered to her.

He was crying.

That was all that she could really process and what she heard him say, next melted her heart like an ice cube under the sun in May.

"I am sorry, Drishti."

He brought down her hand from his forehead to his chest, clutching it closer to his heart. Opening his eyes, he looked at her with another tear drop rolling down his cheek.

Her head fell a little as she tried to contain the amount of emotions rushing in her inside. Perhaps, another reason was to not let her moistened eyes visible to him.

"I am sorry." The patience with which he was holding back how repentant he was, ended in an intense way, resulting into a frightening breakdown.

Pushing himself up, he wrapped his arms around her, continuing apologizing with his quivering voice and stammering words. "I... am sorry. I made a promise to trust you and I... cou... couldn't keep it when it was tested. Though the deepest corners of my heart... could never accept that you... you could ever deliberately hurt me, I let my anger ruin eve... everything. I am sorry. I am sorry, Drishti." He squeezed her, pulling her more in the hug pouring all his desperation and longing in it, dipping his head in the crook of her neck.

Her hands stayed on her sides, with her eyes welling up. The absence of her touch struck him. He had hurt her to the extent she was restraining herself from going closer to him, mayhap fearing that it was temporary and a while later, he would do the same that he did a while before.

He pulled himself back only to rest his forehead against hers, scooping her cheeks in his large palms. Staring in her eyes that were already seeing him through the tears in them, he took in the swirl of emotions he saw there. He wiped the tears that began escaping her eyes with his thumbs. It was a moment to confess. The need for him to say it verbally to her, and the need to let her see, hear and know what his heart held for her, what emotions he felt for her, was intensified.

He tucked the locks of her hair behind her ears that flopped over his hands resting on her cheeks. "I love you."

Her eyes lifted to meet his, only to find adoration filling them. I love you. He said that. He did. He just did. A fresh stream of tears flowed from her eyes. 

"Don't. Please don't." He wiped her cheeks dry. "It hurts here," he got her finger to point at his heart, "Here, when you cry. To see you silently cry for your parents always does something to me. It makes me angry for being helpless. I cannot bring back your parents though I really wish I could but I cannot. You have been through a rough childhood. I do not wish to even imagine what your Chachi who said so much in front of me, must have said to you all these years." Reminding her about the painful memories was the last thing he wanted to do, but his confession about his love for her couldn't just be expressed in a sentence as simple as an I love you. His love for her was much more than that.

He held her both hands in a delicate grip. "I promise you, all these years that you spent without your parents, yearning for their love, would not return. My love for you will fill the emptiness in your heart. No, I absolutely do not mean my love can replace the love of your parents but my love would occupy your heart so much that there would be no place for misery and sadness." He pressed his thumb and index finger. "Not even this much."

Her lips broke into a smile.

"Just like this. I would give up anything and everything to let this smile stay on these lips forever even if it means not to ask about the one eyed woman to you."

She looked at him, taken by surprise. He nodded at her, assuring her that she heard him right.

"I'll wait, until you yourself come and share it all with me and I know that day will come very soo-"

His last word stayed incomplete with her leaning over him, falling in his embrace, letting him hold her entirely. He smiled softly, enveloping her in his secure hold.

"You are my missing piece," she whispered in his ear, snuggling more in his warmth.

He retracted himself, shaking his head at her. "You are my other half."

She bobbled her head upside down childlike. The feelings, the emotions were too intense to keep in. The euphoric feeling was indescribable. "Sometimes in this lifetime, you come across someone who despite being a stranger doesn't feel a stranger. Someone who sweeps you off your feet without your conscious realization. Someone whom you want to protect from the slightest of hurt. Someone who completes you like the other missing half of your soul. You are that someone for me, Mr. Shergill. You are that someone for me."

He would be lying if he said that didn't make him emotional. He was a practical man who had mastered a good hold on his emotions but ever since she stepped in his life, the hold was certainly loosening.

His right hand rose to cup her cheek gently. He leaned forward, almost touching her nose with his. Elevating his face a little, he lingered his lips on her forehead, dropping an affectionate kiss. "I love you."

Payegi Tu Mujhko Na Khud Se Judaa, 

Tu Hai Mera Adha Sa Hissa Sadaa!

• • •

This is long again. I did try to keep it short but alas! It is amusing the much I am involved in this tale. I really have to cut down on my sleeping hours to write this but reading out your comments, knowing you are liking this make me feel this is worth writing!  

I can't believe the word count is already 14,050 in mere six chapters. 

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