VII. Tainted

A HAPPY BEGINNING

What is love without a little compromise, a little inconvenience?

Story so far:
Suhas and Siri were enjoyed their time before they departed to different cities with promises of a better tomorrow and their future together. But then like a stone in a steady water causes the ripples, everything started to seem to fall apart, the dreams, their future, everything, and that phone call seemed to be the reason. And however it was hard for both of them, they decided to make a choice of not seeing each other at least until the college is over. Will they be able to stay without talking to each other for the next two years. Meanwhile, Suhas couldn’t take the distance nor the agreed silence between them and he finally makes that call to her. What does she do after that?
Read on…

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Suhas call was like a surprise to her and she hadn’t seen it coming. But she was glad that he called which made her believe that she wasn’t the only one who was going through a tough time and they were feeling equally miserable and devasted by the silence amid them. After that call, that awful evening, neither have had proper sleep nor were eating properly. The call had told explicitly for both of them to not see each other and she didn’t want to go against her parents at any cost so they made sort of a truce that they will focus on their studies and not talk until the college was over. When Suhas had asked her whether she would tell about them after the college is over, she said she might not be able to. Because they were already showing disinterest and she might not be able to bring the topic of marriage to Suhas. There were seemingly two options that were in front of her. She was in no position to marry anyone else and she would never while the odds of a possibility of that happening were stacked against her and she might not have that chance to fight. The one option that was that Suhas has to bring up the topic to her parents and the other was that if her parents ask her about marriage then and then only she will bring up whim she likes. But the time until that to happen was two long years of college and which was supposed to be no contact with each other.

Varun got the wind of this almost immediately but he was on the other side of the world, but if Suhas needed him, he would have taken the next flight out and saw what needed to be done and see it through. Such sort of friendships are rare but that was what they had. He was even willing to give his share of the will that he would get from his family and sign it to Suhas if it was the matter of money. Fortunately, it wasn’t the money that was causing the hinderance in their relationship but perhaps it had to do with the conservative family background who rarely accommodate something like a ‘love-marriage’ and however marriages in the distant relatives is a common thing, there was something that was not set right. Hence, a phone call from Siri’s brother brought the world, their beautiful little world crashing down. Varun was there every step of the way, since the very beginning and still going strong and he had seen Suhas at his best and at his worst. However, he was the happiest when he was with Siri and he had every once in a while complained that Siri was spoiling him and that she should leave him alone but all that was to tease her. But now, he was ready to even sacrifice his share of the will for them.

Suhas was very devasted. It had been a few months and he hadn’t talked to Siri and he just couldn’t take the silence between anymore. He decided to do something about it hoping that things will turn around and they will be at least in talking terms until their college. He knew that it made the both of them extremely happy and he would do anything to make her happy. He decided to give her a call and talk things over and also to convince her to talk to him. Siri was extremely happy to receive the call but also scared that she would be going against her father by talking to him. To her surprise, she hadn’t seen him so emotional and that heartbroken to say the least. She could sense that in his voice, his awkward pauses and what affected her the most was how much he had missed her, missed talking to her, her voice and her everything. She could feel a lump forming in her throat but she wanted to the stronger this time and not encourage it for one sole reason that her dad didn’t approve of that, just yet. She was trying her best to be that conservative and stick to what they had decided a few months ago. Suhas completely understood what she meant and what she had asked him for, time. The time which was burdening him by the second coupled with the distance. They talked her for an hour while Suhas was trying to convince her to talk to him at least once a month and that too he would text before so that she could tell him whether it was okay for him to call her. She was okay with that but she was still very uncertain about what the future holds for them and she didn’t want to raise his hopes up meanwhile. It could either way and she would be devastated if she hurt him if the things don’t turn out as they should. The call was over after what felt like a short while but it had been more than an hour and all the while Siri maintained her composure during the entirety of the call. But once she kept the phone down, she cried herself to sleep and she was feeling so devastated seeing him sad and hurting on the inside. So much had happened in barely eight months since they joined the college and the latest one that was happening was Suhas’s brother’s marriage. Siri and Suhas decided to meet and see if they could find a better solution to the situation that they were in. However, they seemed to talk every other month, but Siri was feeling guilty for even doing that.

The marriage was great with all the family members and loved ones gathered around and having the time of their life with music and fun activities and what not. During the wedding proceedings, Siri and Suhas decided to meet and to find a quiet place where they could talk things over. Their faces lit up like a Christmas tree the first time they saw each other after all that time and distance, and also with so much happening. There was an ardent awkward silence for a while as they didn’t know how to convey the unsaid things to each other. They walked for a while still holding the silence and a million things to say to each other in their minds. Slowly, upon reaching a quiet place Suhas started to talk and after a few minutes, he asked her what she thought of them together and the future that she wishes. She had no doubt about the love that they shared and she was very certain that if she were to marry, it would be none other than him and there was no question in that, but having said that she didn’t want to go upset her family and that she would have to make this happen the right way. Suhas wanted the same thing but he was very much bothered by the current situation that they were in and most importantly the not-talking part. He proposed something to her that since they want the same thing, why waste the good two years that they could have meanwhile. And also after the college was over and he had secured a good job, he would himself ask her parents for her hand in marriage. Siri was in a complete dilemma on how to go ahead with the whole scenario. He had a point and it made no sense to feel miserable until the college was over. They could be talking to each other and be the same happy that they were before all of this happened. She knew that she would feel guilty for even doing that but she needed some time to think it over.

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What do you think Siri would say? Will they get back together and be the normal selves that they were earlier to all this melodrama? Or will things be any different? What are their together dreams up to? Will they ever be a possibility?
(To be continued …)

Read about the characters and the story from the start here:
A Happy Beginning