‘I don’t deserve happiness,’ she says. ‘That’s what I keep feeling. It’s nonsense, of course. We didn’t hurt him, he hurt us.’
On the darkest of my days, I have said these words to myself a lot of times. ‘No offence, but he did a terrible thing to us. Absolutely unasked for. You know what they say about addiction—’
‘I’m a licensed therapist.’
‘It’s in the genes or whatever.’
‘Keep mansplaining me.’
‘He had everything; he didn’t need to do anything of what he did.’
‘That kind of thing is common among the rich and the spoilt,’ she says.
‘Good to see Aanchal achieving all her dreams of being rich and spoilt.’
‘Never thought I would say those words about our family, but that’s what it is.’
‘Umm . . . congratulations?’
‘We used to look at people like you and imagine problems for you guys, so we could say, yes, they are rich, but they have strange problems. And here we are...’
‘Gaurav threw a good thing away.’
‘He made this happen,’ admits Aanchal. ‘. . . or . . .’
‘Or.’
After a small pause, she says, ‘Had he not done what he did, we would have been together, Daksh. Now... it’s just wrong.’
‘Is it?’ I ask, adding, ‘I’m old enough to shed my arrogance and admit that I’ll never get over you.’
‘I know that, Daksh.’
‘I will never stop being in love with you. I can find replacements, but I know where they will end.’
‘I don’t think you will find substitutes.’
‘Cocky,’ I remark.
‘That’s you. The cockiest.’
‘Are we talking about organs or attitude? If it’s organs, Iagree.’
‘Still a teenager inside despite the grey strands of hair, Daksh.’
‘I think a large part of why I have remained sane is because you’re alone too. Merely considering the possibility that you might end up with someone else burns me up from the inside.’
‘That’s—’
I interrupt her. ‘Rabbani would call this toxic.’
‘So would I.’
‘I can die alone; I can watch you die alone—that’s acceptable. But the thought of you being with someone else is... blasphemous.’
‘Blasphemous, interesting choice of words. That would mean—’
‘My love for you is a religion, unyielding, unchanging, irrational.’
