My theme for this year's A to Z Challenge is A Reader's Take, where everyday I will be picking out a novel title corresponding to that day's letter and write my post based on it. To make it more challenging, I have decided to write a serial story. The novel I have selected for today is 'Kaleidoscope of Hopes'
Leave Me Never
Chapter 11
(Read the previous chapters here)
Ayaan boarded the plane, his mind unsure. Was he
doing the right thing? He didn't know. He replayed the conversation he had with
Lucy in the previous morning for the 100th time.
He had repented the
slip of tongue during dinner and he wanted to apologize. But Lucy,
like she always did, knew what he was about to say and stopped him before he
could utter a single word. "Do you love me Ayaan?" She had asked. He
was ready for many things that might have followed the apology but not this!
Where had this come from? He had just stared at her, trying to understand the
situation when Lucy threw yet another question, which crumbled the perfect
world he had built around himself in the past 7 years. "Do you love me
Ayaan, as much as you love Kayra?" she had asked. He opened his mouth to
say that he didn’t love Kayra, that she was his past when Lucy stopped him again. “I know you want to say yes, but I want you to think about it
before answering. Have you really moved on with your life? Are you ready to
leave Kayra and her memories behind? Forever”
He had felt his heart
twitch in pain upon hearing that. ?Could he do that? He had wondered but even as he thought about it, he knew the
answer – he couldn’t. He had loved Kayra like he hadn’t loved anyone in his
life and when he had thought that everything was perfect in his life, she had
walked away; just like that, without telling him anything. What killed him more
was he didn’t know the reason behind her decision. He knew she was hiding
something. Even today, his heart kept wondering what made Kayra take that
drastic step. He just couldn’t let go of her thoughts, no matter how hard he
tried.
Lucy must have seen the
emotions playing across his face because by the time he had reached the
conclusion, her face fell. “I so wished your answer was otherwise Ayaan, but I
know you can’t forget her” They both had sat quietly after that, each lost in
their own thoughts. Suddenly, Lucy had said something that changed everything. “I
think you should go back to India and find out what happened” she had said. “But
I don’t want to!” he had protested. “You should Ayaan. You should find answers
for the questions which have haunted you all these years. That is the only way
for you to make peace with the present. If you don’t do it, you will never be
able to start over, no matter how hard you try”
Ayaan had spent the
night thinking about what Lucy had said. He knew she was right. He had to find
the answers. Only they held the key to find the peace of mind he longed for. But should he go? What if he couldn't find
her? What if she refuses to answer his questions yet again? There were so many
questions. But as the sun rose in the morning, so did Ayaan’s hopes. He would
go back and find out the truth. He decided to take the journey back before uncertainty clouded
his mind again!
Little did he know what truth he would discover and how it would affect all their lives!