💙

|The temptations that promise forever are scary because sometimes even the powerful vows ashen to become a myth|

by medicallymessedup

•present•

{•when she sleeps on his promise•}

The wind chimes hanging on the window ceiling giggled like a new-born infant along with the exhilarating noise produced by the running stream nearby. The melody of peace in the air soothed down the two lovers having the best time of their lives without any inhibitions of the future or regrets from the past while their present swayed in happiness.

A feathery caresse of his lips on her forehead cradled her out of the slumber with the much-needed affection, compensating for its deprivation in the past. Her eyes fluttered open like she was eager to see the outer world for the first time but it shook in absolute shock after finding him still beside her.

"You did not leave me?" Her voice emerged out in disbelief, "Why are you still with me?" Her questions were laced in a dilemma.

"I did not come to leave you so easily, my love." His words answered and reassured the flooding mistrust in her onyx orbs, "My little world exists somewhere in-between your universe."

Her heart swooped in elation while her eyes glistened with tears because the overwhelming agony had the power to dissolve her budding happiness. He was giving her some serious hopes which none else in her life did and even if it filled her with newfound ecstasy yet it also brought untackled fears with a greater force.

"Don't give me hope for you just like others will leave my hand at the crossroads. I have never complained about it to anyone because I knew they didn't owe me anything but I don't want you to do the same to me because it will immensely hurt me." She croaked, "You'll abandon me after you feel I'm of no more use."

His eyes mirrored an unfathomable ache that spoke volumes about his pure feelings but the scars of her past were gnawing at their beautiful present and at the vision of a surreal future. Amidst the pang in his chest, he knew she needed him not due to her selfishness but for the sake of her sanity. The old wounds that she wore with confidence now were still painful and terrorizing for her just like they were in the past except that she had learnt to live with them. Therefore, he wasn't going to prickle them but appease the scorch of her bruises.

"Do I owe you something too?" He asked her softly caressing her frail cheeks and she shook her head, "No you don't." She replied when his eyes demanded her for the accurate response, "Yet you are not the same, Aryan."

"Then who am I to you?"

She took a deep breath before mentioning his significance in her unhappening world, "You're like my forbidden star, Aryan." She smiles unconsciously even while thinking about him and the mere action warms his heart like no one else, "My subconscious each time thinks that you are in my reach but then the next instance my consciousness rebukes, realizing that you're miles away and untouchable for someone like me. I can admire you from afar but the reality remains unchanged but I cannot forget that there is a distance of a million light years between us." She highlighted her misery with an ironic chuckle, "Even if I want to, I cannot cover this distance between us."

He calmly listened to her, entwined their fingers and waited for all the time in the world to make her realize that he wasn't a calamity that would fade away with passing time or a temporary phase that would end soon for he was a parched traveler who had dared to imagine his home in her. He's the one who had worshiped the strongest of powers to bestow him with a blessing of their togetherness and he was the one who could love her whole-heartedly even if it was meant to be one-sided.

"You cannot cross this distance but I can and I will." He was determined to make her believe. "Nothing can stop me on this voyage."

"Let me go!!" She appealed with a palpable frustration that rebelled against her actions. "You're eventually going to do it anyway. Save me from the devastation before I get lost in the depths of melancholy in another unmeasured ocean of hopelessness."

"I might have to kill my soul and stab my heart to see you walking away from me but I would still let you go now for I know and trust my love more than anything else." His excruciating words agonized her heart and she froze in the moment as it promised her insecurities along with an unsettled forever, "No matter what day, year or lifetime it takes for you to return back to me because you will find me here, waiting for you, in the same place. The ages and time have nothing to do with my infinite love for you."

"Why?" She whispered. "My company won't take you very far." She muttered, "Why do you want to suffer with me, huh?"

"Our stars are aligned to meet even if it is for a fleeting glance and I'm selfish enough to impatiently wait for that one moment to arrive, Ruchi." He remarked with a vow for an eternity. "You are mine to love just like I am yours." He articulated.

{•the dream ends•}

"Baby Di, are you still asleep?" Archie shouted from the other side of the door, ending Ruchi's dream abruptly and she woke up with a whoosh. "Open the door, yaar!!" Her cousin whined while it took a whole lot of minutes from Ruchi to get familiar with her surroundings.

[Yaar - Buddy]

Her heartbeats escalated in both fear and anguish realizing that what she saw and felt was just a dream. He wasn't here promising her forever. He couldn't be here. The raw emotions she was trying to cage within a jar of impassiveness was banging against the walls of her reality. Aryan's absence was messing with her brain and toying it with a mind of its own.

"Aryan!" Ruchi whimpered, clamping down her palms over her mouth to conceal her sorrows from the world. "Why are you everywhere, Aryan?" She cried while holding her hair and scratching her skin where his imaginary touch had stilled her entire existence. "Why is this happening to me? Why am I not able to accept the truth?" She questioned herself.

She was used to nightmares but weaving a dream life with Aryan sounded scarier than ever. Her untamed feelings were making her walk on the path of destruction. Her love for a man who wasn't the one destined for her had the intensity to shatter the beliefs of her loved ones. She was evidently inviting a tsunami that could not be prevented.

Ruchi turned immobile once again hearing the familiar noises outside her room and urgently wiped the remnants of her breakdown for it could raise unavoidable suspicion. She picked up the shawl lying near the bed and draped it around her chest for she was sweating profusely even in the chilly winters.

"Baby Di! Why are you sleeping so much till now?" Archie complained impatiently, settling on the bed with a loud huff, "Your friends aren't on time even today and all the make-up arrangements are on me. Akhir main ek akeli jaan, kitna kaam karungi!!?"

["How much work can a single soul do after all!!?"]

"Why are you tiring yourself out then, Archie?" Ruchi inquired out of concern, "BadiMa had booked make-up artists for the evening and they'll help you out too-"

Archie's lip stitched in a grim queue along with an apologetic smile that deepened the lines of doubt on Ruchi's face. She fiddled with her fingers before replying. "My evil mother had canceled your appointment with the beautician tonight stating that it would be a useless expenditure because the main event is going to be the marriage day." She added urgently, "But you don't need to worry as I've informed about this change to ThakuMa who would definitely look into the matter."

Ruchi's shoulders slumped in defeat fighting against her Aunt's unending differences. She doesn't think that she has it in her anymore to endure Sushma's hostility and it wasn't like the engagement was her dire dream that wouldn't be accomplished until she's dolled up like a front-page model of a bridal magazine.

"I'm sorry Baby Di. Only if your crazy Aunt hadn't been my mother by birth then I would've disowned her long back-" Archie grouched.

"She's your mother regardless of how she treats me." Ruchi pointed out and it was Archie's turn to reprimand, "Don't try to label her as a saint in my eyes, Baby Di. All these years she had been anything but good to you. My mother or not, nobody has a right to consider you as trash." She hypothesized, "And why don't you ever stand against such viciousness!?" Ruchi remained silent but Archie was reluctant to let it slide, "Answer me!"

"Archie, I don't want to talk about this right now."

"But Baby Di-"

"Please, Archie!"

Archie was forced to keep quiet, feeling the void in her cousin's tone but still she couldn't refrain herself from speaking her mind out.

"Don't bear so much that someday everything becomes too much to confine, Baby Di."

🖤🖤🖤

"Baby girl, don't worry everything is going to be alright." Chhaya assured a low-key Ruchi as her girlfriends finished up with her makeup for the evening. "If you change your mind anytime then do let me know and I'll help you to run away..."

Ruchi hoped for positivity but there was still an unusual fear prevailing in the corners of her mind. The offer of running away appeared tempting but the reality was equally disappointing.

She wanted the night to end smoothly without any hint of problems but what if something happens...or worse.. if Aryan arrives...?? No! No! No! Ruchi's voice echoed against the walls of her head. He was Aryan Mallik, who would have more important things than to think about a no one like her. If she's being practical then how can he be crazy enough to risk the reputation of his golden surname just for a minute of momentary pleasure, in fact he might have even forgotten the incident because he had greater conquests for seeking out pleasure while she was a mere unwilling, inexperienced and troubled young girl.

"Chillax yaar, Baby! Your makeup will go to waste if you sweat like a pig." Sarah joked, "You have a night to outshine, Babygirl." She cheered her up from the deadly silence she had embraced since her return.

"Who knows about the engagement from the campus?" Ruchi questioned rather impatiently.

"Mostly everyone from our batch knows that you're getting engaged but you weren't planning to invite irrelevant attention so no one is here except our group." Chhaya divulged, "Why? Were you planning to invite all of them here?"

Ruchi flouted the playful jibe and paid attention to the answer of her queries until the other people occupied the room. "Aakash's family is here and he looks no less than a dapper." Samiksha announced happily.

"You never told us but you're color-coordinating." Bhavesh exclaimed in disbelief as soon as he saw his friend, "But seriously, since when did you start choosing hot pink over others?"

"They must have talked it out, Bhavo!" Sarah preached, "It's a couple things. You won't understand."

"Yeah! As if you know a lot about couples.." He snorted.

"Of course, she does. She's been carrying the same boyfriend for two years now." Chhaya crooned, "Faiz is one lucky guy and Sarah babe," She added with a wink, "You're one lucky bitch!"

Sarah's smile flipped for a while but it was soon plastered back when this time she didn't find a certain pair of eyes on her. It wasn't easy to not react and digest the ignorance but she was doing it well until now. Faiz was a fine man to plan a life with and it's not like everyone gets lucky in their hit at first love. Vivek too would get someone better who deserves him and even waits for him to stand on his feet in the future.

"Thankyou for the loving compliment bitch!!" Sarah replied back with a small smile until Bhavesh's words picked up the interest of the rest, "Boys and girls, I know my luck with Visa-I mean, Vishakha didn't go well but I think that I have a potential chance to make a girlfriend by the end of this night. What do you say?" The big and toothy smile never left his face all the time.

"Uh.. whose girlfriend or wife this time did you ogle and mistook her to be open for your unlucky singlehood, Bhavesh?" Samiksha sang sarcastically.

"Don't be so mean to me now, Sammy!!" He complained, "I have confirmed her relationship status with Aakash and he allowed me to go ahead with my skills."

"Oh really..?" Chhaya vouched, "Who is it then? His sick-in-the head sister...?" She laughed.

"Oh, yes. How did you guess? I'm getting lucky with Misha tonight. I'm gonna ask her out and by the day of Baby's marriage who knows that I might get a wife too.." Bhavesh quipped excitedly while the rest were ready to blast at him for his unreal nitwittedness.

"The whole fuckin' universe and you got her picky-ass to make your girlfriend!!" Samiksha snarled.

"Eww...!! She's rude as fuck." Chhaya curled up her nose in disapproval.

"I hoped better from your good-for-nothing arse but anyway very soon you'll be drowning..." Sarah commented.

"Girls!!" Bhavesh huffed, "She's not a bad choice." He glared at his boy best friend who ignored him like a plague after hearing that he was going to approach Misha which wasn't a very wise decision.

"You need water, Baby?" Vivek inquired instead upon sensing Ruchi's discomfort and dis-attachment under the laminations of cosmetics shielding her with a mask of confidence. "No!" She whispered quite unconvincingly.

The predictable consequences of the news of her affiliation with the country's business magnet's son Aryan Mallik could bring down the shards of her virtue and slur the reputation of the entire Batra clan. She had risked everyone's happiness but the least she could do was owe truthfulness to the man she was getting hitched. She had been in a bid for an opportunity to dialogue it out with Aakash but one or the other thing held her back but she had to take risk for this last one chance.

Ruchi pulled Vivek aside keeping distance from the others who were bickering and uttered carefully, "Vivek, I need your help." He nodded and urged her to continue, "I want to have a word with Aakash before the engagement-"

"He's surrounded by guests and his never-ending family, Baby. Why do you want to see him now?" He asked in confusion.

"I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't urgent. I need to talk to him before it's too late-" Her request was subdued by her grandmother's jovial voice.

"Girls, is my granddaughter ready? Everyone is waiting downstairs." ThakuMa gasped in delight, walking over and hugging Ruchi, "Oh My Goodness! You look like an angel, dear. God Bless You!" She cried with love, "May God cast the evil eyes away from my little girl." She said placing a black dot behind her ear as a sign to cast the evil eyes away.

"Let's go ThakuMa, purohit ji is calling for her downstairs." Kartik knocked before opening the door. "Babyy!!" He began weeping for no reason much to everybody's surprise. He was saturated with emotions upon watching his baby sister all grown up, so much that it was the day of her engagement today.

[Purohit Ji - Priest]

"Doesn't she look like a princess, Kartik?" Bhavesh posed letting out a hearty laughter to navigate through the heavy emotions each one of them was feeling right now. "I've never seen her like that before." Chhaya said.

"No!! She is not a princess..." Kartik trailed wiping away the overbearing moisture in Ruchi's eyes, "Because she was born a queen." He proclaimed with pride swirling through his chest, "A queen who wouldn't be identified by her relationship with a man."

"Bh-Bhai..." Her lips wobbled and she hugged him tightly. Their equations had been on the road of rocks for the situations had been aggravating lately but that couldn't keep them away or break their bond for long. Her brother understands her more than she had put it into words.

"Children, let's get going." Mamta who was silently watching her children share happy moments then wiped her own tears and everyone progressed for the evening proceedings.

Ruchi shared a worried glance with Vivek who wordlessly asked her to let it pass and go by the flow of events. She too hoped the same and half-heartedly abided by the upcoming customs.

"Save some tears for her departure too, Kartik boo." Samiksha laughed out at Kartik who was wiping away the tears he had shed in an unoccupied corner.

But an emotionally exhausted Kartik overlooked Samiksha and her playful taunts but she still fervently poked his shoulder to gain his attention. "What the hell do you want now, woman?" Kartik snapped, irritated, which didn't faze her attempts and she began with an extra sweet smile.

"A pretty compliment."

Kartik sneered, "Why? Did your new boyfriend dump you just now?"

Samiksha clicked her tongue adapted to his sour remarks, "Boyfriend or not I still have you.."

"Can you not trouble me just for today, Samiksha!"

"Don't be so cranky and tell me, Kartik!!" She whined.

Samiksha twirled around to flash her dress and his pupils blazed to seize upon the female goddess who could effortlessly pose lethal to his sanity. The wine red lehenga closely hugging her plump body and the deepest shade of maroon lipstick lauding her bewitching mouth did everything in its control to enhance the mischievous beauty of Samiksha Khanna which could never go unnoticed by Kartik Batra who often tried to behave impassive to her radiating presence. He pasted his twitching lips in a wooden line running his brain to stealthily cross the enchantress who was staring at him wide-eyed.

"How do I look, huh?" She demanded.

"Like a thirsty witch who's running behind me to suck off my blood." He gritted his teeth hard before dashing out of the room to calm down his rushing blood and leaving a vexed Samiksha behind.

"Inu iha vi nahi pata ki ini sohani kuri naal kive gala karani hai..." She swore. "Khote da puttar!!"

["He doesn't even know how to talk to such a beautiful girl.. Son of a donkey!!"]

"Tu ladki hai?" Bhavesh was standing behind mocked.

["You are a girl?"]

"A hundred times better than that Visa of yours..." She reported sassily hitting Bhavesh's weak spot, "Don't bring her up over and over again. It was a one-time-mistake, okay!!" He grumbled.

Samiksha let out a cackling laugh and threw away her glittering clutch in his face, "Take care of it till I return back." She ordered and walked away into the crowd of guests to follow and chide her brother's best friend leaving Bhavesh to sulk alone or better to concentrate on wooing women.

Lots of Love,

ANKITA