A Letter - That Changed Life

Avantika was sitting on their three year old marriage bed, her gaze roamed around the room, which she has shared with her husband, for almost three years. It seemed like yesterday when he carried her over the threshold of this room as tradition demands.

They both entered this room giggling like teenagers, with dreams of future shining bright in their happy glowing eyes.

Aditya gently placed her on bed and stared down in her eyes with all the love and adoration he felt for her.

"You know that you are my life, my soulmate, my life, my very reason for existence. Promise me you will never leave me." He asked her vehemently, as if scared of her answer.

Avantika smiled and took him in her arms as if to reassure him.

"Where do you think I will be without you. You are my heart and I don't think a person can survive without their heart" she replied seriously to him.

Aditya pulled back, took her lips in his to kiss her passionately with all his love and said with a sheepish smile on his handsome face "Ah good to know that you are equally passionately in love with me, and here I thought only I was going crazy in love."

With this he kissed her again but gently, then more passionately and finally with so much ardent that they forget all about talking and lost themselves in each other's arms for their entire wedding night.

How did they reach to such bitter end was beyond her. They have always been happy, he was her soulmate, always supporting each other through life's ups and downs.

Something has changed this year, she couldn't pin point what exactly. Aditya was more at office than home, it seems as if they are drifting apart slowly.

She still trusts him with every fibre of her being, knows that there is no one else in his life but her. She loves him and knows that he loves her right back, but she never expected him to put all his focus on work, so much that she started feeling neglected.

Everyone in his family says that they are soulmates, just like his grandpa and grandma, Vasudev and Sudha. Their love was so strong for each other that they left this world on the same day, to start a new life together in another.

But it seems that everyone is wrong they don't have that kind of love, if they did this wouldn't be happening to them.
She took a deep cleansing breath, got up from bed and started packing, she has decided to take a break from Aditya to get some well required perspective on their life.

She has informed Aditya about it, but his reaction perplexed her, it seems as if he didn't believe that she will leave him.

She was going through her drawer and found a wooden jewellery box, gifted to her on their wedding day by her mother-in-law, it belonged to grandma Sudha.

She was about to put it back, when her gaze landed at the edge of a paper, peeking out from a corner of the box, what looks like a secret compartment. Curiosity got better of her, she fumbled a bit to open it but finally managed to open it. She found only a sheet of paper in it which turned out to be a letter, addressed to grandpa Vasudev.

Dear Vasu,

I have missed you terribly. I know that it was my decision to leave you. You were always so busy with the ranch that it seemed like you didn't care anymore about me and I had to do something to know whether or not I mattered to you. So I thought it would be best to leave you.

But I regret every second living apart from you. I love you. These two months apart from you have helped me in putting things into perspective, I guess this distance might have helped us in the long haul. I have always put blame on you for things which were beyond your control and same goes for you. We both expected a lot from each other and fall short in delivering them.

You are my life, the very reason for which I live. Let's forget the past, begin with a clean slate without any expectations on both parts. I love you, always will.

Yours stubborn
Sudha

Avantika started crying and read the letter again and came to a mind boggling conclusion. History is repeating it self. This is what happening to them albeit their situation is bit different but ironically with same result.

Aditya came home tired and called out Avantika when he didn't hear her, he got worried. She had been threatening to leave but he thought, he will sort out everything before this actually happened.

He rushed up to their room and found her sitting in the middle of their bedroom floor, crying her heart out, while clutching some paper to her heart. He could do nothing but stare at her for a while in shock, then reached to her and enveloped her in his arms as if to shield her from the world.

"It's all right darling. Please don't cry like this. Tell me what is wrong. Is it that you want a break from me...? Take it if you want I wont stop you but please stop crying, my heart. You know I don't like tears in your eyes, you know it breaks my heart.. "

She lifted her head from his chest and saw the love shining in his eyes for her. She cupped his face lovingly and kissed him with passion.

They came up for air, looked deep into each other eyes.

"I was a fool to think I could live without you for a minute." She said huskily.

"It's my fault I should have told you the reason for working long hours. I was planning to surprise you with it, but on my hindsight I didn't realise that it would put such drastic effect on our marriage for which I am truly and deeply sorry, my love." He said gravely.

"Surprise? what surprise? What are you talking about Adi" she asked in confusion with a cute frown on her face.

Aditya reached out and smoothed her frown with a smile.

"I wanted to surprise you with your dream house, as a birthday gift. I knew it was your only dream and I wanted to fulfill it. Even knowing that you were feeling being neglected by me, I thought that once the house was completed everything will be fine but I never thought that it will cost our marriage so much that you will decide to take a break from us."

She was speechless and could do nothing but hug him to death. chanting over and over again " I love you and don't you dare do that ever again even to surprise me."

Five years later...
Avantika looked out of the kitchen window, from her dream house gifted by her idiotic loving husband. Aditya was playing with their four year old son Logan.

She is pregnant with their second child and couldn't believe that she was going to leave this loving, kind, and patient husband that fate has given her.

She didn't even want to think, what would have happened that fateful night. If she hadn't found grandma Sudha's letter, it was like a light which showed them path to what actually being married entails.

Marriage is not only about love, rather its about trust, faith, respect, equality, friendship, sacrifice, compromise, which a couple have with each other. If one thing is missing then a marriage can't survive.

Luckily for them, they both have these things along with their undying love for each other.