Chapter 66 - I do not hate you... (2/2)

He had done a lot for me.

It was my time to do something for him.

”I was watching a movie. The couple in the movie was irrevocably in love with each other but one misunderstanding… and, they were pulled apart from each other… forever.”

'Oh, what?' He took me by surprise. Had he not told me, I would have never been able to figure out on my own that he was upset over some fictional movie. I wouldn't even have considered that possibility.

His cracked voice told the tale of his misery. Was it just about the movie or there was something more to it? I wondered.

Slowly pulling my hand from him, I got up. I was aware of his eyes that followed me all the way to the side-table from where I poured the water in a glass from the jug. I handed it to him, and he obliged without any attempt of denying.

His fingers were curled around the glass, but the glass hadn't touched his lips yet.

”Drink, Eshan,” I urged him earnestly. Irrespective of the reason for his anguish, all that my restless heart wanted was him to feel better.

I heaved a relieved sigh on watching him taking a few sips of water. I took back the glass from him, kept it on its original position, and returned to Eshan.

”It was just a movie, Eshan. Why would you get yourself this worked up for some fiction?” I asked, genuinely willing to know what it was that had got him so upset. As I pondered a little, I was almost sure that it wasn't only about the movie. Eshan wasn't that kind of person. There had to be something else that had bothered him to the extent where he couldn't hold back his emotions.

”It wasn't just a movie, Innaya. It was a movie where… in the leads… I saw – us.”

'Us… in the leads?' I was beginning to understand where it was heading, but I chose silence for, I didn't wish to presume anything. I waited for him to continue, for I wanted to hear it from him.

”I don't know why, but I saw us in them. I could just relate to them. They had an arranged marriage, like us. They adored each other like we…” He trailed off, perhaps, unsure of saying it aloud for we still weren't at that stage yet. ”And just when they were at the peak of their affection… one misunderstanding… ended everything. It just got me thinking -”

”That the incident would repeat with us,” I completed the rest of his sentence.

Eshan looked at me, horrified. Deep down, in some corner of his heart, he had the same thing, but hearing it from me just added on the damage. He exhaled before he softly pulled me beside him.

”I am just afraid, Innaya. The mere thought is deadly. What we have… is precious to me, and I can't afford losing it.”

His honest confession moved me, and for several moments, I was at a loss of words. I just did not know what I was supposed to say at that moment. Words, anyway, had never really been in my favor. I do not know what came over me that made me turn to him. I circled my hands.