Cupid never had a chance in their messy, parental-restricted love story
Karishma Jha, a twenty-one-year-old recent graduate with the world at her feet if only she chose to face it. Plagued with the worries of the future and yet healing from the scar...
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Rishabh's change in demeanor troubled me for some reason, it needled me. It felt like that annoying tag on the back of your shirt that exists for the sole purpose of scratching you.
I pondered over my feelings to his reaction for hours in the night tossing and turning and finally giving up to lean against the headboard, staring at the dark ceiling before coming to a conclusion. I was mad.
Mad that he was the only person with whom I could be the most vulnerable, the only person for whom I lowered my guard. And I could not be the same for him. Something triggered today's episode. And I did not know what it was.
I should have just agreed with him and not fought on his opinions. I should have respected his feelings. I exhaled as I hung my head down. I could not even be a good friend.
I knocked on his door as soon as my parents were out of the building, ready to tell him that he was right and I apologized for arguing with him. But when he did not open his door, I left thinking he was sleeping. However, my texts and calls later that entire day remained unanswered.
The next day was the same too. Radio silence from his side of the wall. He even stopped playing his guitar at my bedtime. Any other person, I would have given up on them by now. No one was worth getting my heart broken over. But it was Rishabh.
So with one last hope, I tried one more time.
On the third day when I went over, he opened the door. The happiness that bloomed in my chest was unparalleled. Though it deflated soon enough at the first look of his face.
"What do you want?" He spared me an irritated look. A grey tank top covered his torso while he glared at me with bloodshot eyes. The headache must have bloomed into a migraine.
"I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?" I tried to peek into the house over his shoulder. The other day, his mood swing had left me startled and I mistook it for fear. I was too curious about the reason to stay away.
Despite being much taller and bigger than me, he never posed a threat. However, I still carried a small pair of scissors in my pocket. Paranoia was another talent of mine.
"I have company." As if on cue, a hand snaked up his right shoulder and a pretty face of a woman soon followed. My stomach revolted.
He shut the door soon after, so he missed seeing me blink back my tears. What did I do so wrong?
The next morning soon after my parents left, the bell rang. I rushed to open it, completely expecting Rishabh to be on the other side. He was here to talk to me finally. Only it was another man.
"Atharv!" I exclaimed and gave him a big hug. He was one of the people I had known since my school days. We all belonged to the same class and used to play badminton in the evenings. Rather he and some of my friends from the society would play and I could visit them on the days the library was closed.
