“You lied to me” he said in a low tone, “that means all this time, you were lying to me” he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing through his eyes, “ALL THESE MONTHS, YOU WERE LYING TO ME, PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MY TRUST AND FRIENDSHIP” he finally spoke in a tone that the entire room shivered with fear and her tears, that she was controlling, were now flowing down her eyes.
“Om…” she wanted to say something but he held up his hand signalling her to stop, he looked at her and she was scared, scared to see anger and hatred in those eyes which had always shown immense love and care for her.
“Leave” he said still maintaining his composure, she was about to take a step forward but he shouted at the top of his voice, “LEAVE BEFORE I SAY SOMETHING THAT I DON’T WISH TO SAY”, she was taken aback.
She turned to go, but stopped mid-way, without looking back at him she said, “Not everything I said was a lie”. Without waiting for his reply, she left the room.
He heard the door close behind him, he collapsed on the floor, he wanted to stop her but his mind didn’t let him say anything, somewhere his heart still believed that she wasn’t completely wrong and deserved a chance to explain herself, but his mind overpowered his heart, for the first time in his life, the person who listened to his heart always, chose to follow his mind. Tears were still flowing from his eyes, he didn’t know how to stop them. He was hurt, deeply hurt, and didn’t understand how to calm himself, maybe because the person who was a relief to his pain was now the very reason for it. He had never thought that the person whom he trusted so much would break his trust. In a short time, he had become so close to her that now this distance, which he could never ever cross, was killing him.
“Why did you this Ishana, why did you do this? I trusted you so much, then why did you break my trust.” He thought to himself.
“I am sorry Om, I know I have hurt you a lot. I am really sorry.” Ishana thought as she fell on the road, tears flowing from her eyes.
The moment, she had feared all this time, had come and it was worse than she had thought. She knew it would be hard but she never imagined it would be so hard that she won’t be able to handle it, she had always known that when the truth would come out, he would hate her, but she never knew that his hatred would be like this, something that would pierce her heart every moment she lived, she knew that it would not only break his trust from her but his trust from any person coming in his life, she knew she had not only taken advantage of his friendship but also played with his emotions that were so true and pure. She wanted to explain him that things weren’t meant to end like this but she didn’t have the courage to say anything. All the courage she had gathered had vanished the moment his eyes met hers and she couldn’t manage to even look at him, let alone explain him.
It started raining and she was completely drenched by the rain.
She was brought back to the reality by the hand she felt on her shoulder, she looked up and saw a pair of black eyes staring at her, she was shocked to see the owner of those eyes, “Om…you…” she uttered the words still in shock, he forwarded his hand, Ishana looked at him with surprise, “Ishu, get up, if you stay here like this, you’ll definitely fall ill”, he held her hand and made her stand, Ishana was still in shock. Om held her hand and walked towards Oberoi Mansion, Ishana just followed him quietly not understanding how to react.
Om made Ishana sit on his bed and brought towel for her, “Ishu, dry your hair or you’ll catch cold.” She quietly took the towel from his hand and started drying her hair. “You wait here, I’ll be back in two minutes” he said and walked out.
Ishana was still in shock as to what was happening, instead of Om being angry with her, he was taking care of her. She was lost in thoughts when Om came back and handed her a dress, she looked at him.
“This is Prinku’s dress, change your clothes before you catch cold.” Ishana simply nodded and went to the washroom.
After changing, she came out and saw Om standing near the window. She thought it was the right time that she spoke to Om before things got more complicated. She was about to say something but Om interrupted her, “You don’t have to say anything” he turned towards her, she noticed something was different about him, there was something different in his eyes. He continued further, “Also, it has stopped raining, so you can leave.” He said in a tone devoid of any emotions, Ishana could clearly feel the coldness in his voice.
“Om…” she spoke but Om again interrupted her saying, “Ishana, you don’t have to say anything. You can leave.”
“No, I won’t leave, not until I explain myself and ask for your forgiveness.” Ishana said firmly.
“You don’t have to explain yourself nor have to ask for my forgiveness.” He looked at her sharply, “Never ever show me your face again, or else I’ll forget that we were friends once. You haven’t seen what Omkara Singh Oberoi can do.”
“This is not you Om, this is definitely not the Om I have known for the past few months.” Ishana said placing her hand on his shoulder, “Yes, this is not the Om you have known” he said holding her shoulders tightly, “This is not that Om, because you have killed that Om today, you have killed him with your lies”, Ishana was scared, she could only see anger and hatred in his eyes, “And you’ll never ever see that Om” he said and pushed her down, Ishana fell on the floor, tears were flowing from her eyes, she was crying badly, “And before I throw you out, just leave.”
Ishana wiped her tears and slowly got up, she walked towards the door, she turned back and looked at Om, and said, “As I have already said, not everything I said was a lie. And one day, you’ll definitely understand.” Om looked away, she was hurt but controlling her tears she went from there.
Three years later…
“It’s been three years since you left, we never met each other after that day. That day changed everything between us, everything. I wish I could tell you how much empty I feel ever since you left me or shall I say I asked you to leave me. Every day I walk out in the hope that maybe you’ll again collide with me just like the first time we met. Maybe you’ll again be sitting on those steps or maybe busy dancing to the musical beats. But you seem to have just vanished. I know I had asked you to leave, but that time I was hurt and angry and I didn’t realize what I was saying but now that I know, I regret everything I said to you. I know I have hurt you but please come back, just once, for me. Please come back Ishana.”
Om wiped his tears and stared at the empty canvas. He took the brush in his hand and started painting.
Three years, the last three years weren’t easy for Ishana as well. She lived everyday with the guilt of hurting Omkara.
“I wish, I could change things, change everything that led us to this moment. I wish I had told you the truth earlier itself. I thought I could fix you, but I ended up breaking you more. I am the reason that the good you believed people have, is destroyed. I broke your trust, played with your emotions and took advantage of your friendship. I destroyed everything that we shared. I am so sorry, I am really sorry Om.”
Ishana wiped her tears and went out.
The music started, Ishana put on her ghungroos and started tapping her feet, as the music played, she started the movement of her hands and then slowly her feet started moving with the rhythm of the musical beats. Grace and precision was clearly reflected in her dance. The moves she made were wonderful. When she danced, she looked like an angel descended from heaven.
She finished her dance and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
The mirror showed her a girl, standing alone, alone. She was sad, heart-broken, and lonely. There was no shine in her eyes, no smile on her lips, nothing that could say she was fine, she wasn’t fine at all.
Ishana saw tears rolling down her eyes, she quickly wiped them off.
“You deserve this. You deserve this for the mistakes you have done. You are yourself responsible for all this. This is your own doing.” She shouted at her reflection and sat down crying.
Om finished his painting and looked at the canvas, it was her again, he had again ended up making a painting of Ishana.
“No matter, how much I try, I cannot move on from you. Every time I decide that I would move away from you and your thoughts, I end up making another painting of yours. Why are you doing this to me, Ishana? Just come back and make me my old self again. Make me Omkara again.”
Ishana was sitting in the flight, lost in her thoughts, she had been away from Mumbai for three years, and now she had to go back, go back to a place where she met him, where she betrayed him and the place where she lost him forever. “Why is life so unfair with her?” she thought to herself, “I wish that I don’t meet him again” she closed her eyes, his face flashed in front of her and she opened her eyes quickly, he won’t let her in peace, ever since she had left Oberoi Mansion that day, her guilt didn’t let her live in peace, she got nightmares of how she betrayed the person who trusted her the most, how she killed and innocent soul and how she took advantage of the pure relation of friendship. Tears collected in her eyes but she wiped them, she deserved this, she thought to herself.
The plane landed and Ishana came out of the airport. She took a cab and went to her house.
She opened the lock and went in. She switched on the lights, she had not been here for a long time, Mona had shifted to Ahmedabad for her studies, the house was filled with dust and webs. She kept her bags aside and went to the kitchen, she had to do a lot of cleaning but she needed to relax first, she went out and sat on the sofa in the living room.
She was busy thinking when there was a knock on the door. “Who can come here?” she thought to herself and went to open the door.
As she opened the door and looked at the person standing in front of her, she was shocked and so was he, their eyes met, they had been face-to-face after three long years. Three years, three years, they had not seen each other, their eyes showed how much they had longed for each other, how much they had missed each other, how much they wanted to be with each other, how much they needed each other, how hard three years had been away from one another.
Ishana took her gaze away and Om looked at her, he couldn’t believe that he was seeing her, that she was standing in front of her. Every day he would come here, hoping that one day she would be here and now, she was here, standing in front of his eyes.
“Om…” Ishana gathered all her courage to say something but before she could say anything, he hugged her tightly, she was shocked, he started crying and now tears started flowing from her eyes also. She hugged him tightly.
“I am so sorry Ishu, I hurt you, I shouldn’t have let you go that day. I should have stopped you. I was angry and I said wrong things to you. I did wrong by blaming you without knowing your situation. I am sorry, Ishu, please forgive me. Please, don’t leave me again, please don’t go away. Please be with me. I need you, Ishu, I cannot live without you” he said still hugging her, he broke the hug and cupped her face, “I LOVE YOU ISHANA” he said looking into her eyes, his love, care and affection seen in his eyes.
She looked shocked at him, tears flowing from her, she couldn’t believe what her ears had heard just now, he, her Om, the one whom she had given so much pain, loved her, how could he be so nice, she gave him so much pain and he, he loved her, she felt guiltier. She moved his hands away and move back, Om looked at her shocked, he was taken aback by her behaviour. She turned around and controlled her tears, “I think you should go from here” he looked at her in disbelief, “I am not the right person for you, you deserve someone better, someone whom you can trust and someone who won’t break your trust” she said controlling her tears.
She was about to go but Om held her hand, “You are the one I trust, you are the one who won’t break my trust, you are the one right for me, and I don’t need better, you are my best” he pulled her and she landed on him, facing him, his eyes clearly showed that he won’t let her go, “Om, let me go” she said struggling to free herself from his grip, “No, I won’t. I didn’t hold this hand to leave it. I am going to hold it forever” she looked at him with tears, “I did so wrong with you, then why do you love me?” she said with her voice cracking, he wiped her tears, “I know whatever you did was for your father and sister, you did what anyone would have done for their family. I have forgiven you long back. I am no longer angry with you” he said smiling, “I LOVE YOU OM” she said fighting her tears, he had smiled at her and they hugged each other tightly.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sometimes all you need is time, time to think what you feel, time to let the other person think, time to understand and time to react. There is nothing wrong in taking time. And if it is for true love, it is worth the wait.