The Stigma Called Love - Chapter 67

The moment he heard him, Nishant’s eyes widened with realisation. His vision clouded with doubts and he closed his eyes to shut out words whirling in his head. But instead, everything played in his mind’s eye like a movie. Scared and anguished, he opened his eyes and saw his shadow standing at the other end jeering mockingly at him.

“Go away,” he commanded.

But the shadow stood there and kept on mocking him. 

Irritated, Nishant got up from the floor and went inside. He has to leave otherwise, he will go mad. All he wanted to do right now is find a place where he will find peace. 

He shook his head knowing well that there is no place in this world where he can find tranquillity. Resting his head on his palms, he closed his eyes and instantly an image flashed in his mind.

Determined, Nishant got up from the bed and picked up his wallet and keys from the bedside table. The moment he stepped out, he saw Siraj sleeping on the couch. Sighing, he scribbled something on the stick-on paper lying near and stuck it on the bedroom door, and then silently slipped out of the apartment. 

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Dhruv blinked twice just as the rays of the sun fell on his eyes. 

Dammit! He had forgotten to draw the curtains. He was about to stretch leisurely when suddenly his brain reminded him of the past events. 

Nishant!

Jumping out of bed, he rushed towards Nishant’s room and opened the door, only to find it empty. Thinking he must be in the bathroom, he knocked but still nothing. Next, he looked in the balcony but he wasn’t even there. Dhruv was about to panic when his eyes fell on the yellow sticky on the door. He came near it and instantly his eyes narrowed as his recognised Nishant’s distinctive scrawl. 

“Tosh.” 

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Aparna looked at Prakriti going inside the school and waved when she looked behind. As she turned away from the school gate, she suddenly felt extremely cold. She hugged the lapels of her coat to herself and started to walk towards the cottage. Her mind was preoccupied with many things, mostly centred on the cash crunch she was going to face in the coming months.

How’s she going to manage her daughter’s school fees?

Let alone that, what about the house expenses?

Getting her kind of job in this area was definitely difficult and going back to Delhi was completely out of question. She sat down on a bench at one of the pathways, tired with all these questions zipping through her head. Closing her eyes, she weighed each and every option she had and refuted each one of them.

Aparna knew well that soon her savings will run dry and then she will have nothing to fall back on. Although, Madhu and Harish had offered help but she had refused. They had helped her enough; she cannot press anymore. Sighing, she was about get up when a whisper in her ear stopped her.

“Don’t shut me out.”

Stumped by the voice, she turned with a jerk and stumbled back. A tell-tale feeling of longing engulfed her body just as a familiar arm pulled her.

Aparna collided with Nishant’s chest and his musky scent stormed her senses. She closed her eyes trying her best to suppress the sensations rising in her body. As she started to squirm, he let her go but then grabbed her again and tightened his arms around her, and pulled her even closer.

She saw him lowering his lips towards the exposed skin of her shoulders and squirmed as hard as she could.

“Don’t,” he whispered huskily.

Her eyes messed with his and suddenly everything around her ceased to matter. She was again on that terrace in Tosh experiencing his feverish touches and sensing her power over this wonderful man.

“I love you.”

His husky tone, half-closed eyes and lowered lips took her breath away. Stop him before it’s too late, her head screamed at her.

“Nishant, please.”

“What?”

“Let me go.”

“Why?”

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

Nishant stared at the horizon and sighed. It had been raining hard since he and the other trekkers had started off from Kheer Ganga. Right now, the rain had stopped but the clouds were still dense in the sky that meant more rain.

He had actually thought that coming to Tosh and his favourite mountains would give him some peace but instead everything around had only reminded him each and every moment he had spent with Aparna here.

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

Aparna squirmed hard and felt his arms fall off her body. Free, she stepped back and again felt extremely cold. She hugged herself and was about to turn away when she heard him say.

“You can’t keep on doing this.”

When she looked at him strangely, he smiled and came closer, and whispered in her ears.

“You can’t keep on imagining me everywhere.”

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

Closing his eyes, Nishant breathed as hard as he could.

He needed to see her.

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

Suddenly anger flared inside Aparna. How dare he? What does he think of himself?

“I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t. And, stop all this nonsense. I don’t care about this. So, please go,” she said with conviction.

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Pulling out his wallet, Nishant flicked it open. Then, he pulled out her only photograph left with him. Her smiling face stared back at him as if asking why the sad face.

He looked at the picture with longing and suddenly the pain inside him intensified.

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

Aparna saw Nishant's eyes narrowing and then they suddenly flared with something she knew well. As he came near her, she backed up but still he caught up and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“You do care. Look in your heart, Aparna and you will find nothing else but your love for me. Every time you close your eyes, you see me. Every time you open them, you want to see me. You sleep in my arms every night. The breath in your body is me. Your heart beat is me. The blood that runs in your veins is me. Your tears are for me. You yearn for no one but me. You crave for my touch every moment. You find my scent in every breath of yours. You dream about being with me again. Every time you hug yourself, you want to feel my arms hugging you. Look around you, Aparna, I am everywhere. You are bound to me as I am to you.”

“And, Ms Mathur, you can do nothing about it.”

Aparna’s world started to whirl around as her mind registered the words. Her whole being knew that he was dead right, but somehow her brain refused to accept the fact. She jerked his hands off her and pulled herself off.

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

Quickly, Nishant opened his wallet again and was about to put the picture back in it when a gush of strong wind blew it away from his hand.

As it flew away, he rushed to save it and saw it get stuck at a rock.

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

Aparna’s hand pushed him hard and she saw him stumbling back right at the edge. When he did not let go of her hand, she pulled her hand with a jerk and saw Nishant slipping from the edge to the deep gorge below.

She saw him smiling as he his fingers slowly slipped away from hers. As the last of his fingers brushed past hers, Aparna rushed towards his falling form and stretched her hand to catch him but it was too late.

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

Nishant crouched low and stretched out his hand to pick up the photograph when a sudden rumbling sound from behind attracted his attention.

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

Aparna stretched more, but Nishant had already plummeted to the deadly end of the gorge.

“Nishant!”

Her painful scream echoed in the valley as he disappeared from her vision.

And then everything went silent, except the storm raging inside her.  

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Nishant looked behind and saw a mass of mud, rocks and boulders sliding down the hillside. His eyes widened as he realised what was happening.

He shouted at the top of his voice alerting the other campers. He started to run towards the other side but a rock came sliding right at him, knocking and taking him along with it towards the gorge.

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