The Stigma Called Love - Chapter 66

Shefanjali and Naresh Naik rushed to her as Vikrant sat his mother down on the sofa.

“Now look what you have done,” Naresh Naik said to Shefanjali as he sat down next to his wife.

“She has done nothing. It’s us who are the culprits. Me and you, Naresh. All these years, we have yearned for our son to be with us and don’t you dare say that you haven’t. I have seen you looking through his childhood photos every now and then. So, don’t lie.”

Naresh Naik looked away trying to control the feeling of tell-tale desolateness that he had tried to hide from everyone.

“Dad?” Vikrant called out to him.

Naresh Naik closed his eyes and turned his face towards his eldest son.

“After Nishant was born I felt a need to concentrate on the business and that took most of my time. Your mother was always there for you but Nishant got neglected most of the times. Papa also felt left out. That’s when he offered to take care of Nishant and I like a selfish person agreed to it.”

He breathed hard remembering the look on his father’s face the day he had agreed to let Nishant be with him. Shaking his head, he continued.

“I thought maybe somehow that would take your grandfather’s loneliness away a little. But in that process, we lost Nishu and by the time I realised it was too late. Papa was already gone and your brother was miles apart. Both I and your mother tried our best to get to him but somehow he had grown to live without us.”

“Nishu?” Shefanjali asked looking at Vikrant.

“Ya, that’s Nishant’s nickname. Mom, Dad, why did you stop calling him that?” Vikrant asked looking at his parents.

“Don’t know. Maybe because he had become more Nishant than Nishu,” Naresh Naik said feeling a sudden urge to hug him.

Meera Naik sobbed against her husband’s chest remembering all those times when she had yearned for her younger son.

“Naresh, I don’t want to lose him again, please. Vikrant, can’t we bring Aparna back?” she asked clutching Vikrant’s hand in hers.

“Don’t worry, Aunty. We will bring her back,” Dhruv said standing behind them.

Meera Naik instantly stood up supported by her son. She held out her hand towards Dhruv and beckoned him to her.

Dhruv clutched her hands and said, “Don’t worry; everything is going to be okay. But now, you need to go home. Actually, all of you need to be home. It has been a long day. Siraj and I will be here. So, don’t worry at all.”

“Yes, Mom, Dhruv is right. You need rest. We can speak to Nishant in the morning,” Vikrant said looking at Dhruv who nodded in affirmation.

Meera Naik was about to sit inside the car when she turned towards Dhruv and said, “Take care of him.”

“I will, Aunty. Don’t you worry.”

As Vikrant climbed in the driver’s seat, he pulled out his phone and typed a message.

Shefanjali’s phone beeped and she unlocked it and found a message from Vikrant.

“Sorry! I love you and thanks for putting up with me for all these years. I owe one to Nishant.”

She smiled but did not reply to the message. She had the entire night to do that.

Dhruv watched the car pull out of the apartment gates and thought to himself:

There’s still hope.

**********************

Nishant twisted from one side to another and then suddenly woke up with a start.

Where is she?

Why is the other side empty?

Why is her scent not there in the sheets anymore?

He groped in the dark and switched on the bedside light, and instantly winced as its sharp intensity pierced his eyes. He closed his eyes and suddenly every event of the past came back to him. Not able to take it any longer, he tossed the covers off and walked out in the balcony.

As the cold air touched his face, he clutched the railing hard and breathed in and out trying to numb the anguish inside but failed. He shook his head as her face kept conjuring in his horizons. Opening his eyes, he looked beyond and saw her standing with an accusing look on her face. He turned away and closed his eyes again, and there she was turning and walking away from him.

Nishant once again turned towards the railing and pressed his palms against his face. But no matter what he did nothing appeased the aching torment erupting inside him. He pressed his palms against his ears to stop the constant echo of her words and voice.

“So, now her voice is torturing you?”

Nishant turned and saw his own shadow standing on the other side of the balcony. He looked at it with disbelief.

“Don’t explain yourself to me. I know everything.”

“What do you know?”

“Well, I know the reason why she has left and it’s not because what was said to her.”

He watched his shadow walk up to him. Scared, he stepped back till his back collided with the wall.

“The reason is you,” his shadow whispered in his ears.

Nishant shook his head looking with transfixed eyes at his shadow.

“Nobody, but you are the reason for all this. You are the reason for everything. You are the reason for the pain she has suffered.”

As the words filtered in, he slowly collapsed on the floor not knowing what to say.

“You ruined her life. She is pretty okay before you came in her life. In fact, she was better off without you. But you had to get her. Nobody says no to Nishant Naik.”

Pain constricted inside him as he his scornful words.

“I love her.”

His shadow laughed hard jeering at him and then lowered himself to his level.

“Who do you think you are? Why should she love you? Just because you love her doesn’t mean she will love you too.”

“I know she does. She doesn’t say it but she does.”

“Dreams are wonderful, Nishant. They give you the privilege to live the most wondrous and make-believe moments. But they are not life itself. That’s why they get shattered as yours has.”

Nishant shook his head hard not believing what his shadow was telling him.

“You don’t believe me right?”

He again shook his head, this time with confidence.

His shadow again came near him and whispered in his ears, “You were unconscious and she knew that, but she still blamed you for everything. Is that love?”

Copyright © Paromita Majumder. All Rights Reserved.