The Eternal Love

She loved him way more than she had ever thought she'd love someone. She knew that she can’t live without him, and neither could he live without her. They both were made for each other. But after all that happened that day, she lacked the courage to face him.

She was her life. He weaved many dreams with her. He had promised her that it’s either she or no one that he can even think of spending his life with. But today he knew that he can’t live with that girl any more. He knew that he was not going to see her face ever again. But for one last time, he wanted to see her.

For one last time, he wanted to see her. And for the first time, she didn’t want to face him.

___________

"Why is he coming? I feel like killing him when I see him around." There was more of jealousy than anger in that tone.

"Hey, calm down." She very well knew what he was concerned about.

"How can I calm down?"

"Take a deep breath inside…"

"Wow, thanks. But how can I calm down with him being there? With him and you."

"I know Raj. But you don’t need to worry about anything. You know that."

"I know. But I hate his face."

"Hey, calm down. Just look into my eyes and…"

"No, not again. I am not getting into that again."

"Raj trust me. I love you. You don’t need to worry about a thing, unless you don’t trust me."

"But Simran…"

"Raj, he is Preeti’s brother. It’s his sister’s wedding. You can’t ask him not to come to his sister’s wedding."

"Couldn’t your brother love any other girl? I agree the sex ratio is less in the country, but it’s not zero. There are millions of girls in the country and he only had to love her, Kuljit’s sister!"

"Raj…Raj..Raj…" she knew it wasn’t going to be simple to calm him down, but she had to. "Kuljit and I are just good friends, you know that. There is nothing more to it. When he proposed me, he had no idea that we were in love. From the moment I told him, he never looked at me like that again. Even when we met after that day, that too only once or twice, we never talked on any topic even remotely associated with his romantic feelings or proposal, or anything. You are my present and you are my future, no one else. Trust me."

"Simran, I trust you." His eyes expressed the love and belief that he had in her partner. "It’s just that I can still see the love in his eyes for you. I know that he never expressed his love for you after that, but he still loves you. Deep inside you, you too know that. When I see him, there is a sense of insecurity inside me that warns me. I am afraid that I might lose you. I know that shouldn’t be if there is trust between us, but maybe I am insecure, and I don’t shy away from accepting that."

"Raj, that proposal was a mistake. We are in touch even today only because we are over that moment and we want to live as normal friends as we were before. We don’t want that moment to ruin the beautiful friendship that we had."

"But…"

"No if, no but. Common, we should leave now. We are getting late." She knew that he wasn’t going to stop there. So she took the luggage and started moving out of the room. He followed.

___________

"Hey, he is calling you. He wants to see you."

"I know."

"Then why are you not going?"

"Because I can’t face him."

"But you have to…, you know that."

"Yes I do. But I also know that if I go to him, I’ll make things difficult for him and for me."

"You know what he is going to say to you, don’t you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Simran, Kuljit is a nice guy. What Raj is asking you for is right."

"Maa, you too!" her voice expressed her disagreement clearly. "That will be cheating maa, and I can’t cheat Raj, not for Kuljit, not for anyone."

"But Simran…"

"Please maa…"

___________

"See, told you. It’s only an hour and he has started making rounds. Look at him. Every now and then, he is looking at you."

"Raj, please stop. Now you are being childish."

"Raj, beta." Simran's mother seemed to be in real rush. "Simran's dad is busy with some rituals going on. Can you please get me these things fast?"

"Yeah, sure maa." He didn't want to leave Simran there, but he had to. He took the list from his mother-in-law and went out.

"Shit, it’s raining. Maa, please send Chhotu for help. We need to keep those fruits inside." It started raining heavily in seconds and she had to rush without waiting for Chhotu. But that wasn’t some job she alone could do. And it was then that he came for the help.

"Let me help you."

"Kuljit, what a pleasant surprise. I didn’t see you." Well, she did. It was just that she was ignoring him because she didn’t want to meet him with Raj being there. And suddenly that reminded her of something.

Where is Raj?

Did he see her with him?

Oh God! He will again start reacting over nothing!

She tried to look around for him, only to find him looking back at her. She shouted, "Rajjjjjj….." But it was too late.

She shouted, and she shouted again.

Everyone came out running. A car was hit by a truck badly and the driver was bleeding heavily. They rushed to the driver to check if he is alive.

"Hey, someone call the ambulance. He is still alive."

"What do you mean by alive!" she shouted, in panic, in fear and in anger. "He is fine. Nothing happened to him."

"Simran…" she was in tears herself, but she knew she had to console her daughter.

"Maa, Raj…he was looking at me and..." and she fainted.

____________

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I was waiting for you for long. Where were you?"

"I was…I was just outside." she was short of words to answer him.

"Simran. Please don't leave me. I want you to be there with me in my last moments."

"Raj...please stop. You are going to be fine. Nothing is going to happen to you. I am here with you."

"Simran, be practical. You also know this might be the last few seconds that I'm seeing you. Next second and..."

"Raj," she stopped him there, but she didn't know what to say, and started crying.

"Hey."

"I…I can’t. I can’t see you like this." She looked at the nurse standing beside him. "Sister, please do something. Please. I can do anything for you, but please."

"Simran, ssshhhh…" he tried to stop her, so that he can start.

"Simran, do you remember the movie P.S. I Love You? We saw it together?"

"Yes, I do."

"Simran, I want the same for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean to say that I want to see you happy. I want to see you happy even after I die. I want you not to cry over my pictures, but live a happy life with someone," he stopped for a few seconds, adored a smile back and continued.

"See, the irony of life. I hated Kuljit for my life. And the reason I hated him then, is the reason now that I want you to be with him. I know he still loves you as much as he did before. He is the perfect one for you and he will take better care of you. Had I been there, I would have not even let him be around you, trust me. But now that I'm gone, I want you to spend your life with him."

"Not again Raj! I want to stay with you, stay here. Please don’t say things that makes me not. Nothing is going to happen to you. We will live our life together forever. I am going to spend the rest of my life with you, and only with you."

She continued and continued, but he didn’t reply.

"Are you even listening?" she was in a perplexed state, a state of anger, fear and love. But he lacked all of them. After all, no emotions reside in a dead soul.