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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Sorry for the wait but hope the long chapter is worth it! 🤞🤞🤞
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Reading the letter that I had written to Karishma twelve years back for the hundredth time since our meeting at the restaurant gave me no clue about the question I was looking for.
Why was Karishma mad as a wet cat with me?
I wasn't able to catch a break with her no matter how much I tried. In my letter, I was more than frank and clear about my circumstances and my reasons for saying what I said.
She was neither ready to let it go nor did she bring it up.
For a moment I had even entertained the possibility that the letter hadn't reached her but I had made sure to drop it off at her PG in Delhi rather than hand it over to her parents in Bangalore. Knowing them they would have burned it off instead of giving it to her.
Several times I found myself turning to just ask her directly but the fear of reopening healed wounds stole my voice every time. I assumed that she wanted to start over with a fresh slate. Or, as much as of a fresh slate can be with a big crack of fiancé right in the middle.
The flight went well as far as I could say. If you had asked my co-passenger then maybe not so much. She had white-knuckled the handrail as the pilot moved the plane on the runway but as the plane took off, her hands shifted during take-off and she grabbed my hand. She never realized it, but to my poor knuckles, it was very much real. And to my heart which skipped a beat every time she squeezed.
It was the least I could do for her after troubling her for the entire week. I could have chosen any of the venues she had shown me on the first day but that would have given me just less time to hang around with her.
And then the call from Kashish came and I checked out her wedding venue. It was perfect for my gala as well as a perfect excuse to make sure Karishma spent most of the time with her childhood friend.
Weddings were a big deal in my family, not that I attended many over the years. We did our best to be there for the bride or groom not only on the day of the wedding but also on the days prior to it. It was a good way to catch up with everyone with whom we shared blood and name with.
I couldn't believe how Abhay didn't insist and make sure Karishma was in Jaipur for all the pre-wedding festivities, especially since this was her first time.
That fool's loss my gain.
I had done my best to ensure she traveled in the lap of comfort, hoping it would keep the anxiety of being in a plane at bay.
It did not work out as planned.
She was hyperaware and jumped at the slightest noise. Her eyes darted at the window and a shudder ran through her each time there was even the slightest turbulence. Hoping not seeing the open sky would make it better, I closed my window and glared at the dumbass across the aisle flirting with her to do the same.
