CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 48 : Bitter Love

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Seth closed the screen of his phone . He tightly clenched his eyes , shutting them trying to calm himself down , but it wasn't working . He opened his eyes , wiping his tears from his shirt's sleeve and drove off .

The car speed was fast and he turned the handles barely escaping an accident thrice . His brain was foggy and his throat felt like it was being tied with a chain of thorns.

The car was starting to feel suffocating so he stopped the car near a store on the side and quickly got outside . The memories of Fawad and Safia haunting his mind .

He harshly , shut the door of his car and walked in the store . He opened the gate , as the store recipientionist stared at his condition. The corner of his eyes were reddish as they surrounded his light brown orbs. Beads of sweat covered his forehead which had his hairs sticking into them . He opened the first button of his shirt to breathe properly . He felt as if even his own shirt's buttons were strangling him.

"Do you have any soda ?" He asked staring at the receiptionist who quickly nodded and went towards the side to pull out a bottle of soda .

"Anything else sir?" The man asked Seth ,who just shook his head . All he wanted was to get rid of the heavy lump he felt in his throat .

"How much?" Seth asked .

"Thirty five rupees sir" hearing the price , Seth quickly started to look inside his coat and the side pocket for his wallet . When he finally found it , he opened it only to find that there was no change .

"I have five hundred, will it do?" Seth asked, only to get an apologetic look from the man.

"I am sorry sir , we don't have that much change . So, you still buying or-" the shopkeeper took the bottle of soda in his own hand .

"No , I am buying , just have this" He passed the five hundred making the recipientionist's eyes shine with happiness .

"Wait, have this" A feminine voice came from the side as a hand put the money on the table . Seth looked on the side staring at side the voice came from . It was Sabrie .

She was wearing a scarf over her hairs and had headphones hanging down her neck . She had worn a shirt with an over sized shrug over it and brown trousers paired with sneakers .

"Sabrie-I can pay , you don't need to" Seth said .

"It's fine , consider it as a payback for the orange juice" Sabrie told him while putting a packet of chips in front.

"And add this too" she added . The shopkeeper wasn't happy with that yet he tried to maintain his professionalism .

"Sure ma'am" He added with a gritted teeth.

"What are you doing here?" Seth asked trying to maintain his gentle voice.

"I am doing good , and you?" Sabrie asked , although the answer seemed evident.

"Great too-" He lied and took the soda .

"I will pay it back soon" he told her and got outside quickly not wanting to face another breakdown in front of her .

The more he smiled , the more he wanted to cry.

He rushed outside and removed the cap of the soda bottle . He started to gulp it down as he sat on the stairs of a closed shop without caring that his dress was being dirtied . He started to take big sips almost choking on a few sips but didn't bothered to stop drinking . Until he choked again , and started coughing . He felt a person rub his back only to turn his head and find it was Sabrie again .

"Be careful," She worriedly whispered.

He took another sip slowly staring at her , not knowing that his condition was breaking the heart of the girl who silently stared at him . She passed him a sympathic smile .

"Love ? Isn't it?" She asked and Seth chuckled and gave a slight shake of head , refusing.

"Love is painful, especially the one sided one. One can break the heart of the other in pieces without knowing how much it is paining the other right?" She asked him and hummed with a smile.

"Have you ever been in love?" He asked her , and it was her time to lie as she shook her head.

"No, I just heard such things in movies and books, so I just decided to quote it" she told him and he looked at her.

"Maybe the books and movies aren't just fables at the end of the day" He said and took another sip .

~

"Your wife is here again" The nurse told him with a smile , making a smile appear on Rudhra's face . He had been silent the whole morning pondering about how his decisions led his life to doom.

She walked in , in a yellow saree , dressed just like way she was in their farewell making a faint smile appear on his lips .

"How are you doing today?" She asked . Her voice was cold , but even with all the bitterness in her tone and expressions , she couldn't hide her emotions well. She couldn't conceal her worry.

"Fine ," He replied feeling happy that even today , atleast she cared about him.

"No he isn't, he almost fell unconscious today due to blood loss" The nurse quickly interrupted . She could sense that they were a broken couple and she was in hope to awake a sense of worry in Kalyani .

"You did ?" She asked with her eyes widened, but she quickly covered it with a monotonous voice "You should be careful"

"It's nothing . I have faced more , it's literally nothing" He told her to reduce her worry.

"Great then , I would be going . I just came to inform Adi is gone on his school trip so he won't be able to visit you this week" Kalyani told her.

"Oh, then," he tried to say but felt embarrassed and Kalyani didn't pushed either to ask what he wanted to say either .

"If you don't have anything else to say , I would take my leave" She turned around to go .

"Can you atleast sit here for 15 minutes more?" He asked her . He had been lonely the whole day , and having her by his side felt like the best plan .

Kalyani turned around , "I would have , but I have a date. Give a call to one of your friend , if you feel lonely" She said and walked away .

Rudhra gave a little nod . Kalyani silently walked out . As soon as they were out of each other's side , tears formed in their eyes . Kalyani held her purse tightly almost walking away quickly to make sure nobody sees her tears . Rudhra just rested his head on the bed and closed his eyes as a drop rolled down the side of his cheek which he wiped harshly .

"Don't cry , you brought this upon yourself" Rudhra sharply whispered to himself . "Don't cry you scumbag" he whispered again convincing himself .

Dying would have been way better for him . He would have died if he knew that he would have to face this situation.

To distract himself from the bitter present , he closed his eyes diving into the sweet past .

~

Fawad was laying down on the bed of his hotel room and Safia laid in his arms , as her head rested on her husband's chest .

Fawad pulled her closer and snuggled his face in her hairs smelling the fresh scent of the floral shampoo in her soft hairs .

"Safia , if by chance you don't find me beside you in the future , what will you do?" He asked her with a slight frown .

"I will find you" She smiled making Fawad pull her even more closer and closed his own eyes as tears whelmed in them , even scared at the thought of seeing hate in her eyes for himself .

He knew , the more he waited for the moment of separation the more greedy he will become to have her by his side . So he just closed his eyes getting himself ready for the next day .

He didn't wanted to create trouble for her in the future , where he won't even exist or be there to solve her worries.

He stared at the ceiling , and then at Safia . The lines of a poem echoed in his mind , as he intertwined his fingers in Safia's one as her head laid upon his chest and so did their intertwined hands , just beside her face.

Death marshalls up his armies round us now.

Their footsteps crowd too near.

Lock your warm hand above the chilling heart

and for a time I live without my fear.

He remembered the lines and led out a deep breath mentally preparing himself for tomorrow.

The whole night passed as he caressed her hairs , held her tightly and pecked her nose and forehead. He tried his best to not even blink his eyes a lot so that he can take in every second of his beloved's presence and beauty in his eyes.

But just when the morning's sun rose , he got up from the bed staring at her sadly one last time and whispered "Fi'amanilla"

( I leave you in the care of Allah )

To be continued....

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I am back with another update !! Please Vote and share your thoughts , alsoooo in any case y'all are wondering which lines of poem are these , they are of Judith Wright's poem , In the company of lovers . I absolutely love this one so yeah , just found the moment perfect to add this .