Us

"That's what happened", Krish finished.

"Are you hiding something?", asked Vansh.

"No"

"Then why did she run away and where did she go?", questioned Vansh loudly as he started pacing the room.

A moment later, Krish cleared his throat that grabbed his attention.

"Well, when she was leaving...", he started hesitantly.

"What did you do?", interrupted Vansh as he narrowed his eyes and raised his voice.

"No, I didn't do anything. I just told her that the best way to shift perspectives and think clearly for me", Vansh's glaring eyes probed him to continue and so he did,

"She was confused, out of context with the reality she had been believing for so long and she couldn't come to grips with it, so I told her to do and think what her negative feelings told her to do. Without questioning or debating with any of her insecurities, her doubts, her feelings, just hear what they say"

Vansh interrupted him as he boomed, "You advised her to listen to the wrong side of her head? Are you out of this mind"

"Let me complete", Krish groaned and added, "And then, reflect over them with your logical mind. After letting your feelings free, shut them off and reflect over them logically. Take into account whatever I told, take into account your principles, take into account the reality without your negative feelings clouding you.

So, I have a feeling that she hasn't actually run away and you know, just listening to her insecurities"

"So you are telling me, she is temporarily listening to the wrong side of her head and will soon return to her senses?"

"Basically", he nodded with a proud smile on his face.

"Oh, you dumb fool! What if she drowns in it? What if she cannot pull her back?", Vansh shouted in his face.

"Uh...", with a blank look on his face, Krish stood without any words to speak.


It was nine in the morning and Vansh was back in the entrance of their hotel room, after having searched all the likely places Shreya could be in.

She wasn't a very social person, didn't like going out much, so there weren't many places he could look for her. Worry and a weird sense of longing filled his heart, but he was hoping what her abuser said was actually true. That she would come back. That she was only testing waters by listening purely to her negative feelings.

The creaking of a door grabbed his attention and a moment later, he saw Shreya standing at the doorway with a huge grin on her face, a book and a white carry bag in her hands.

"Vansh! Vansh! Vansh!", she cheered as she ran towards him and encircled her hands around his torso.

"I love you", she announced loudly as she pulled back from him and directing her attention to the white carry bag cooed, "Look what I bought, your favourite - Vada pav" and shook the bag in front of his face.

Only then did she notice his face, it wasn't smiling, it wasn't warm, it didn't even look happy instead he looked angry and his eyes seemed to block her out and keep her at bay. His forehead was covered in slight sweat and his jaw was clenched, hard, he looked about ready to punch someone or was at the verge of crying - she couldn't which.

"What's wrong?", she whispered in a soft voice, concerned.

He didn't answer, instead, he walked to their room and she followed behind. Once inside, he stopped and bending down picked up a crumbled piece of paper lying on the floor. She watched his back with growing apprehension in her stomach, and as he turned around to show the note, the note she had written at three in the morning when she decided to do something about the growing headache and battle in her head by heeding her uncle's advice.

Silently wiping the tears that fell from her eyes, she had written the note and with a message sent, had gone out to clear her head of doubts and reflect logically.

As the hours passed by, she had forgotten all about the note and with lightheaded happiness and a jump in her step returned to Vansh, to tell him all about her internal discovery.

But now, as she looked into his eyes, dread settled in her lower belly. She couldn't imagine the worry and pain he suffered when he woke up to an empty bed and found the note.

"I'm sorry", she apologized as she lowered her head, "I didn't mean it, I didn't intend for you to ever find out, I was just trying to figure the mess in my head and... I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry"

"Do you know how I felt when I found the bed empty? How I felt when I read this?", asked Vansh in a voice that cracked her heart.

She shook her head slowly.

"The woman I married yesterday was nowhere to be found and she left me a note. A note that said that I deserved better, that said that my wife was degrading, and that labelled my love to be superficial.

I get it, you have issues, you have insecurities, and I try to be patient. But you have to understand that I'm not a supernova, Shreya. I have feelings and they hurt when I find my wife running away the very next day of our wedding. They hurt when you tell me you don't trust me or believe that I love you. They hurt when you constantly find ways to push me away.

I can't keep fighting, Shreya. It gets tiring.

I feel like I'm forcing you in a relationship.

Am I?", his voice cracked at the end and wiping a tear that escaped his eye, he raised her chin to meet his eyes.

"Tell me, am I fighting a lost battle here, my love?", he asked and as he stared into her eyes, she could see all the doubts, worries and losing hope she'd gifted him.

This sight broke her heart. Her heart clenched as she saw the shiny tears in his grey-blue eyes, courtesy from her. She never realized that while she was dumping her demons on him, she was invariably hurting him.

It was the first time she saw that her insecurities were not just hurting her, but it was hurting her love too. But this morning has been a great realization, it wasn't just a quick fix and she was determined to fight her demons, she just needed a little more time.

"No", she shook her head as her eyes started watering.

Holding his face between her palms, she said, with as much confidence as she could muster in her voice, "No, you are not fighting a lost battle. I promise. I won't let this fail. I'm working, I'm trying, and I promise I'll be there. Just a little more time, please.

I know I'm asking a lot here, but give me a little more of your patience. Please. I love you and this isn't a losing battle, my love, it's just a very long one."

"Please", she sobbed.

She stood on her tip-toes just as he bent down, and as their lips met, hope sparked and soon turned into a huge, red fire. They moved their lips to convey what they felt, and on his lips, she tasted fear and despair as they blossomed into hope. She tasted worry and doubt as they progressed into love.

They parted their lips but their faces loomed closer, grey eyes gazing into his as they breathed each other.

He sat down with the headrest supporting his back and as he stretched his legs forward, invited her to sit. She sat sideways on his lap and adjusting herself found a position to comfortably look at him.

"Where were you?", he asked and caressed her face.

"Near the swimming pool"

"Of this hotel?"

"Yeah"

"Why didn't you pick up your phone?"

"I left it here, in the drawer", she pointed to a drawer near the closet.

"Huh? But I called and never heard it.....", he stopped and then shaking his head glared at her, "Oh you and your habit of keeping your phone on silent. I will never understand it"

"Sorry. I have a lot to tell you, but can we eat first? It will get cold"

Putting everything on hold, they ate their breakfasts sharing smiles and kisses along the way. The tension in the room still hung heavy but the intensity reduced. They had a lot on their minds and a lot to discuss.

It wasn't a morning one would expect after their wedding night, but after how their wedding went down, this was a lot better.

After cleaning their hands and throwing the dishes, they settled in their previous position.

"Why did you go? What did you do? And why didn't you inform me?", he asked, trying hard not to let emotions flow through his words.

"I'll start from the start. When the video was released, I was in shock and I didn't know what to do. I wanted someone to hold me, to shut up the thoughts screaming in my head but there was no one around. You were busy fighting, mom was busy calling the police, and I was alone.

I felt all the things I don't want to feel. It was suffocating.
I wanted to cry but I couldn't, I wanted to scream but my lips wouldn't move, I wanted to get out of there but my feet wouldn't listen. With some luck, they moved, slowly at first, but soon I got a full range of motion in my body. I ran out of the hall as fast as I could and stopped in the parking lot where I could finally breathe without a crowd.

I met uncle there and he asked if I wanted to stay in his room for a while, I nodded and off we went", she paused.

"I know, I met your uncle", Vansh added.

"You did?", she asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yeah, this morning. After I read your note, I re-read it, trying to find clues to tell me where you could be. Then it came to me, your uncle. You told me you were at his place yesterday and you didn't look like yourself then, so I was sure it was your uncle doing your head in.
I called your mom, found his number and address, and banged his door at five in the morning looking for you"

"Oh", she mumbled.

"Yeah, he told me what happened yesterday and the piece of advice he gave you. He said that you were probably just taking advice and would return soon. I was hopeful - the only reason you are finding me here and not in a police station, screaming at them to search for you."

"I'm sorry", she repeated.

"You didn't mean for it", he soothed and gently asked her to continue.

"So after I came back from my uncle's, I was confused. He told me things that put a new perspective in front and I wasn't able to handle that. Everything was happening too fast and I had too much to process. I shut off. Half of my head was sleeping while the other half worked in overdrive.

I didn't want to feel so lost, lost in my own head. I was newly married, it was my wedding night, I wanted to feel the part.

I wanted to forget everything else and bask in your hold, in your presence - the one place I can always feel safe and home. The one place I didn't feel lost.

I asked and you delivered. You gave me so much more than what I asked. You gave me the reprieve I wanted, I needed, but once you slept, my demons crawled back into my brain. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't shut off my thoughts and that is why, at 2 in the morning, I crawled out of bed and sat in the living room.

I heeded my uncle's advice and allowed myself to feel. I didn't judge, I didn't correct, I didn't push any new information. I let myself feel and allowed me to do what my feelings wanted me to do.

I tore sheets out of a book I found on the table and wrote the notes, put it in the drawer and after sending a message to you, I left the room with the book in my hand", she showed him the book and opening it, she shifted so he could see what was written inside.

He glanced inside the book and found the sentences overwritten again and again. The page was covered in splotches of years and blue ink was spread in several places, but he was able to read the three sentences written more than ten times.

'I am NOT a slut'

'It is not my fault'

'I am worthy of his love'

"I wandered for a while repeating these sentences in my head and then, once I found a place to sit, I started writing. I wrote the same sentences over and over again until I could drill it inside my head. I was still crying but after a while I was able to think clearly and do as my uncle suggested, shut off my negative emotions and think logically.

My hands moved automatically after that. I wrote and wrote and wrote

Writing was a therapy I needed. It was amazing, I feel so much better and my head can speak sense", she smiled warmly as she turned to at his face.

"What did you write?", he asked.

"Us. Our story"

"Wow"