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Chapter 4.
Dear Diary,
It's been three months since she's gone. Now I understand why she always asked me to be strong, because she knew that one day I would need the strength to bear her loss. I still remember the day when my whole world fell apart. I always believed that we would find our way back to each other but I never knew destiny could be so cruel to us. She left me. She's not coming back. Ever since she's gone, nothing has been the same. Every day, every hour, every moment has been worse than the last. How could she just leave me here to live without her? You know that Place between sleep and awake; That place where you still remember dreaming? That's where I will always love her. That's where I'll be waiting. I know she's here, around me. If I knew our time was limited, I would have spent each and every moment of my life with her. I love her and I always will. Life's not the same without her. Empty. Yes, That's how I feel. She is still there, I can feel her. It's not easy. Every single moment is a torture without her. If a tear fell from my eye every time I wished she was with me, I would have a puddle of dead wishes lying at my feet. I wish she was here, by my side. I wish I could hold her hand and tell her how much I love her. I wish I could hug her. I wish I could apologize, one last time. Now she's gone. She's dead and I'm here like a walking dead, waiting for her. The only time I feel something is when she haunts my dreams and invades my consciousness.
Swayam.
REY's POV.
3 months and 4 days. I still can't believe Sharon is no longer with us but the truth is, She's gone but it's not just Sharon who left 3 months back, She took a little of each one of us with her. Specially Swayam. He's no longer the Same and the sad part is that this time, I can't do anything to heal his pain. Tough luck, isn't it? Isn't it weird that one single moment, just one damn moment can change your life forever? The academy though? Only losses! No one reports on time, no one is interested to dance anymore and even if they do, that Magic, that Spark, everything's missing. I can't let them do this anymore. I have to talk to them. I need to tell them everything. Sharon would never want them to miss this. There's still a day left, Rey. You have to do this.
POV ENDS.
My cellphone rang and it was a message from Rey on our D3 WhatsApp Group. It said, Meet me at the Dance Academy in 45 minutes. I want all of you to be there. Please Swayam, do come. I groaned. Honestly, I was seriously dodging all of them. In these three months, I never reported at the academy on time and whenever I did, I made sure that none of them were there. I had been avoiding their calls and their messages specially, Rey's. I had tried every trick on the book to be alone and away from them for three months. However, the good or should I say the surprising part was, they still never gave up. There was always one call or a text, everyday, from any one of them. Fine. I told myself, I should go. I wiped away my tears, and left for the academy.
As I stepped inside, I saw everyone there. They immediately looked at me and Rey took a sigh of relief. Maybe they thought I won't come but one thing was clear, they were happy to see me. "Thank God, you're here." Said Simmi, as she side hugged me.
"So Guys," Began rey "I know we're still not over that incident and maybe, we will never be able to forget that but then, it has to be done someday, right? I mean, we can't do this to our academy. This was Our dream," I looked down, to avoid eye contact with anyone. "And 'Our' Includes Sharon as well." He said this looking at me. One name. Thousand of memories down the lane!
"What do you mean?" Asked Simmi.
"See this," He said as he kept some papers on the table.
"Ye kiya hai?" Asked Nilesh.
"Is academy ke past 3 months ka progress. Only losses! Or aisa chalta raha na guys to I'm sorry to say but we will have to shut down this Academy."
No one replied to this. Deep down inside, no one was ready for this. "Okay so let me come to the point," Said Rey "D3 Dance academy ko Delhi me honey walay ek bohat baray dance competition ki offer ai hai and if we win this, humari academy ko bohat benefits mileynge and also, the winning prize is huge!"
"But we can't do this Rey." Said Simmi, angrily.
"But Why Not?" Asked Rey.
"It's been just 3 months and you want us to dance? Sharon was not an ordinary person for us Rey and this is not a small thing, Damn it. Our best friend Died and you want us to Dance?" Died. It killed me inside. Simmi's reaction was justified though.
"If you have forgotten Simmi then let me remind you that Sharon was my Best friend too! She was that one person of my life who knew my darkest secrets. Sharon was not only my friend, Damn it, she was my savior, My strength, My support system!" Rey was literally screaming and his eyes were blood red, "Do you think it is Easy for me? Do you think I don't miss her? I miss her every day, Every hour and every second but you know what? I know she will never want her friends to mourn over her death. She was a fighter and she would never want her friends to lose this opportunity. Have you forgotten how much she sacrificed for this academy? She even left us and joined St. Louis Dance academy to free Kriya from the contract." His words hit us hard. They really did.
"I'm with you, Rey." Said Nilesh confidently.
"Me too!" Amar and Bharat said together.
Kriya stepped ahead and hugged Rey. He surely needed that hug. He was struggling hard to control his tears. "Let's do this!" Exclaimed Vicky.
After about 2-3 minutes, Simmi stepped ahead and said, "For Sharon." Rey was extremely happy to hear this. Now, They looked at me to get an answer but I didn't say anything. "And you Swayam?" Kriya asked in a low voice.
"I can't."
"Not even for Sharon?" Asked Rey.
"Ye performance humara akhri performance hoga, As partners. Uskey baad, tum apne raastey, or me apney." These words flashed in my head. That actually turned out be our last performance. I was not in a state to say anything. I left the academy and went outside.
"When is the last date to register?" Asked Nilesh.
"Today." Replied Rey.
"What!? And you are telling us now?" Complained Simmi.
"Simmi, That's not the issue right now. We need Swayam for this. We have to do something."
I was sitting on a bench outside. I was getting flashbacks of the day when we received the call that changed everything. "Yeh yahan ek blast hogaya hai or yeh cellphone mujhey yaheen mila. Sab ko city hospital lekar jarahay hain, ap waheen ajayen." Just when I was on the verge of crying, I saw Rey and Simmi standing in front of me. There facial expressions said it all. They had come to talk to me. They were ready to breach it. They were ready to speak about the unspoken. Ready to unleash a storm on me that I was sure to drown in.
"You can't run away from us, all your life or can you?" Rey's tone was strict. very Strict. It was loud and was surely laced with anger.
"Swayam you have to do this for us. For the academy." Said Simmi.
"I can't." And I said that again. This time, Rey lost his cool.
"You think we are very happy to do this? I know that you love her Swayam but what about us? Don't we love her? Don't we miss her? Do you what was the last thing she said to me?" Asked Simmi. "What?" I asked. "Take care simmi, Take care of everyone. This. I can't even tell you how many times this one sentence echoes in my mind." A lonely tear escaped her eye as she said this.
"And you know how much it hurts to know that the last conversation I had with Sharon, was no less than an argument? Do you know how much it hurts to think that I couldn't make things better? I'm living with this Guilt. This Guilt that I gave up on her. Our story didn't end on happy note. I couldn't do anything to stop her. To protect her. To save her. It's all my fault, It's all my fault." I broke down. Tears came rolling down my face. For the first time in these three months, I said this.
"That was not your fault Swayam! This had to Happen. If we knew ke aisa kuch hojaega, tujhe lagta hai humne usay bachanay ki ya roknay ki koshish nahi ki hoti? We know you can even sacrifice your life for her then how can you even think ke ye sab tumhari galti hai?" Shouted Rey.
"I'm sorry rey. I can't do this." I said in a voice laced with immense pain.
"And what if I tell you Sharon knew about this?" He said. My head snapped as I heard this. She knew about this? How? When?
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What if I tell you this was Sharon's last wish?" Continued Rey.
"Please be clear Rey!" Simmi was also astonished to hear this.
"Remember the day when I called you all at my place and Sharon came late? I called you all for this but I couldn't tell you all because obviously, Sharon and I had an argument." "So?" Questioned Simmi, "I mean, then?"
"Look, for this competition, We must have 3 couples and I knew that Sharon would not want to dance with Swayam because obviously, their ugly breakup changed everything. So, mene socha ke mae sharon ko pehle he sab batadoon and usay convince krloon because I knew, Swayam to manjaega, but Sharon ko manana is next to impossible. Tou, I went to her place and discussed about this. I told her how this can change our lives by boosting up our Professional Career. And you know what did she say?"
"What?" I asked.
"She said she will definitely do this. She said she won't bring her personal problems in between all of this. She was very much determined and she seriously wanted to do this guys. She gave me so many ideas for this competition and I want to use those ideas but this is not possible without you, Swayam."
"Why didn't you tell this to us, when she was alive?" Asked Simmi. "I wanted to but then Swayam ka call aya and he told us that he wants Sharon back in his life to mene socha ke ye good news me tab hi doonga sab ko. Mujhe kia pata tha ye sab hojaega. 3 months se I'm trying to tell this you all but chance he nai mila and trust me guys, ek time per to mene soch lya tha that I won't tell this but then last night, Sharon's words echoed in my mind and I decided to do this."
"We will do this," I said wiping away my tears. This was surely unexpected and Rey Jumped out off happiness as soon as he heard this. "What do we have to do?"
"Sabse pehle to humen register karna hai but don't worry I'll do that. You guys just pack your bags, we will leave for Delhi tomorrow." Said Rey.
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Okay so what do you think? Sharon already knew about this competition and now they're going to Delhi. So, Let's see what Delhi has in store for them. ;) Please do leave your comments and let me know your reviews. :) 😃
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