A Unique Gift

SEVEN

You

Vihaan peered out over the balcony, his eyes taking in the bright colors squeezing through clouds. It had been an hour for he had arrived at his home and Nothing felt normal; like it used to feel before, even his own home seemed to swallow him whole. He felt a stranger in his own body. A never-ending debate was going on in between his mind and heart, making it impossible for him to comprehend what had happened a few hours back.

Was she really there? At front of him? Holding on to him? Was he hallucinating or was it real? Had he gone made? Was this heartbreak too much to handle?

He was sure it was her! Yes, she was there. He had touched her, felt her. She was talking, grunting, whining in his arms. It was no dream. It was a reality. She was real, as real as Sun and moon are.

He had pinched himself numerous times during the drive till home and every time the images were the same, the memories were the same. His heart beats were the same.

Was she back? In his life? Or was it just an accidental collision or was it intentional? She had sworn the last time that she would not show her face to him, even if he would beg her a million times! Then what happened? How can she be there for all people? Was it a trap? Again?

It was chilly, Vihaan thought, pulling his thin cardigan around himself. A cup of coffee was squeezed tight in his left palms while his right hand had clutched his iPhone tightly.

The scent of rain hung in the air as he watched the sky darken and the colors fade away letting the evening fully arrived.

“Destiny plays its own game.”

Vihaan recalled the quote he had read scribbled over the cover of a book he had found fascinating when he had visited Brazil for market penetration strategies of Dasis. The quote stung on a wound in his heart he had been trying to heal.

Shaking his head, Vihaan scrolled through his i********: account absentmindedly and drifted his eyes heavenward watching the day surrendering itself tonight slowly. Pinks, yellows, and reds disappeared first. Blue soon followed, overtaken by the grayness climbing over the building tops. But as the mist thickened and the unmistakable roll of thunder growled threateningly, one color hung on, rapidly fading. Orange with an adequate mixture of deep yellow.

His eyes drifted back on the screen of his cell phone where a picture of an animated warrior caught his attention. It was a crowd-pleasing motivational page he had followed on the suggestion of Viraj. He admired the quotes, exhortation and powerful messages the page had and it was another inspiring picture, admin of the page had updated.

Amidst the picture was a muscular warrior with a huge crown proudly placed at top of his head giving him an exquisite look. At his back stuck two large delicate wings. In his one hand, he was holding a sword in attacking gesture while his other hand was holding a bowl bedazzling everyone in its range. In the center of the Picture had an exhortation.

“You have decided to leave— “Go Away!”

I won’t beg you to stay, instead, I will f*****g make you regret leaving.’

The quote somehow matched with what his brain had been screaming since the moment he had seen her after all those years.

A drop from heaven on his phone Screen brought Vihaan back on the earth and it didn't take long until the husky color faded. Rain splattered the deck and though reluctantly; Vihaan had to retire to his bedroom. His heart was still beating furiously as if ready to fly out any moment and would trigger the questions he had buried deep inside.

“Everyone needs an answer, only some are willing to find it.” The spellbinder’s word pinged his brain, making him alert.

Was it a game the universe was playing with him? Is it his Creator's plan? What does it suppose to mean? The questions were a lot, but there were only a few answers Vihaan could think of.

Nothing in his life made sense anymore. His eyes denied to push back the image of Komal clutching his shirt tightly, that look of pure fear on her beautiful face—the fear of getting injured. His brain denied erasing the memories he had created a few hours back when she was lying upon his muscular frame. The feel of her smooth skin, soft like butter under his palms.

These four years had increased her beauty on an immeasurable scale. She felt more heavenly, more angelic and more divine. ‘I can't stop loving you. I don’t know why, but I just can’t. I still see an angel in you. You betray my affections and leave my heart in shattered disarray of pieces and the part I hate the most is when I still stand defenseless every time watching you play with my heart and feelings, like a loser I am. Every single time you steal a part of me makes me vulnerable and makes it impossible for me to put myself together. And yet, I always come back around you to let you break me again and again. Why is that? Why? God, why? Why can’t I have my share of peace? Why are you playing games with me? I can take no more. I'm tired! I'm exhausted! Just kill me and over this. I accept my defeat.’ his heart whispered in agony.

“Perhaps I hope too much and too soon! Perhaps I am a fool who let his guards down, so easily that it has become a child's game for her to break me.” Vihaan walked till the wall where a plasma TV was placed and saw his own reflection staring back at him.

His soul was grieving.

“I always hope that you would return what you've stolen. My peace! My heart! Even when every part of my body, every inch of my soul knows you never would. You just take more every time your eyes meet mine. You just want more. And for you, more is never enough. You always hide your true self behind the persona of being innocent Komal, but I’ve seen the reality. I’ve seen the real you with my own naked eyes, yet this stubborn heart denies it every time. Every f*****g time that you are not what I thought you would be.” The thoughts made him clutch the cup in hands tightly, making his knuckles turn white.

“You can take me, you can take my heart, you can take the hearts of a million in the world and it would never be enough for you because you are always hungry for more. Your blood is cold. You are ruthless. You are heartless, still, my heart beats furiously whenever I see you. Do I have no such effect on you? Doesn't my presence affect you a little bit? Was it so easy for you to appear in front of me after all those years that you made no attempt to hide? Your heart can't love anything but your one and I realized it was too late.” Vihaan flared his nostrils, inhaling a deep breath.

“You smile, and it's intoxicating for me, but you never understand my tears. Your fingers brush through my hair, and it's addicting, but you never see my wounds. You never understand the consequences of your deliberate actions. You laugh, and it's contagious. Your flirtatious self would shamelessly define you while I stand there like a fool watching you slip away in arms of others. I was never a priority for you and I would never be, yet every time I think of you I wished; you would have understood what we had.” Vihaan could not stop the tears anymore that were freely flowing down, wetting his natural crimson cheeks.

“You know what you do to me Komal. You don't mind the company, but you know that you could never, would never return the love I shared with you. I hate you Komal! I hate you and I hate myself even more because whenever I think about you I can’t hate you enough. How easy it was for you to play with my heart and throw it away like a punctured football while I clung to every single feeling, everything we had shared. I HATE YOU KOMAL! I JUST f*****g HATE YOU SO MUCH.” The cup in his hand shattered so does his heart into million pieces.

The tears he had been trying to push away for so long had finally managed to leak through his orbs. He was broken, he was shattered yet he stood rigid, denying to accept the defeat. His hand stung with pain, but he refused to acknowledge it. The pain in his heart was much more than the pain in his hand. His heart was aching badly.

Putting his cell phone down on a table below the Plasma TV. He turned on the music system and played a track that would remind him of all things he had to go through because of sin he had committed by falling in love with a wrong girl.

The beats echoed through walls of his room while he turned around and walked in the balcony which was drenched with rain pouring.

I know,

You left me last time today,

I feel it will not be easy to live without you.

Heart of feeling your treason today,

Your eyes saw your deceptions today.

Vihaan closed his eyes and spread his arms wide open. Enjoying the sensation of heavy water droplets on his body. Water cascade down his body, drenching him totally, but the wet didn't bother him. On anything, it was soothing in its own way.

Water on the surface of the balcony turned red when particles of blood mixed with pure water. It was thrilling for him. The pain. The agony. The feeling of being broken.

Why does a man love and what does he want?

Meanwhile, those promising cheat lips,

Call to believe in love.

With love, in essence, happiness or abomination,

Well, who will answer?

When you call someone you love, at night,

If there is busy, and then work, and then -

Thousands of thoughts until the morning torment

And the night passes like a century but suffers.

Lyrics made a smile curled up on his lips. Vihaan realized how foolish he was to close his eyes when the truth was floating in front of his crystal-clear.

Heart of feeling your treason today,

Your eyes saw your deceptions today.

I know you left me last time today,

I feel it will not be easy to live without you.

I do not want to lose, but, alas, late

Today she will leave, never return.

Mind not understand

Doesn't she love me now?

Leave! Just leave!, Vihaan mumbled while opening his eyes only to close them again. Heavy water droplets made it usable.

The morning came, the night passed in a thousand miseries,

His body is whole, but his heart is in the blood,

And then by the hidden number

He called, the girl replied: Hello.

Why was the whole night busy? -

With which person will she answer?

After all, is this not cheating?

After all, isn’t this how it all starts?

This time he chuckled. It was bitter. It was dangerous. It was terrifying because the demon in him was waking up. The roar of thunder echoed and everyone heard it, but no one heard the roar of demon that had just awoken, taking over the good soul Vihaan had been preventing from all the evils.

All nights and days thinking about it,

I have not found the reason for your departure.

The only difference is

I could not how you renounce.

I do not want to lose, but, alas, late

Today she will leave, never return.

Mind not understand

Doesn't she love me now!

The song ended, giving rise to a demon, a devil that had been restrained by chains.

Vihaan again opened his eyes. This time rain wasn't able to stop him, nothing on the earth was able to stop him. The demon within had awoken. He had opened his eyes, perhaps that was the reason the color of his eyes were not the same as it used to be. They had turned a shade darker, a shade-deeper. There was no calmness, no self-pity, no pain, and no fear. The feelings had been replaced by fury, rage, fire, and revenge.

A smirk replaced the cheerful smile those lips used to have at some point as Vihaan watched the trees shuffling due to heavy rainfall and humid air. He watched people on the main road running hither and thither to find a shelter, some were in a hurry to reach their home while some of them were worried about getting drenched and falling sick.

It never bothered Vihaan, nothing bothers him at that moment, because he had already lost his calm and —“When a good guy loses him calm, even the devil shivers.”

Closing his eyes, Vihaan awaited for the Storm rising within.

“You!” He whispered with a devilish grin.