Chapter 41: Chapter 41

Anahita scrunched her nose in discomfort as she was blocked when she decided to toss other side. The substantial weight on her left made her immobile. With her closed eyes, maneuvering her free hand, she tried to loose Yuvraaj's grip on her waist but that turned out to be her mistake because, she was anchored closer to him with a powerful shoving.

He gripped her waist more possessively, breathing softly in the crook of her neck and the warm breath that was fanning her neck, deepened. Sense started trapping her and her gallbladder gave a call. She shook him a little and in his deep slumber, Yuvraaj started kissing her neck, rubbing his hand on her bare waist.

"Yuv...Yuvraaj! Put your arm aside." She rasped hoarsely taking his hand off still half asleep but he remained fix in her neck and groaned lightly, he tightened his grip. Irritated, she pinched his arm and wincing, Yuvraaj took his arm aside, tossing on his back and hugged the side pillow tightly, dipping his face in it.

Throwing the blanket aside, revealing herself to light she experienced the cool breeze swaying against her, making her shiver. She propped herself on her elbows, still rubbing her eyes and blinking softly. Dangling her feet to the side, she groped for her dress but the first thing that she found was his T-shirt and pulling it over her head, she staggered to the bathroom.

Being done with her routine, she had a quick bath. An important event was awaiting for her. She needed to clear her matter with Mukund and having the discussion before Yuvraaj was probably not something she wanted to do. She never wanted to keep these two man face to face. They must be hidden from each other as long as possible. She was aware of Yuvraaj and Mukund both. She didn't want a bloodbath for her. Now, when she was certain that she loved Yuvraaj and she had an idea that he loved her too. There's no way she was going to ruin it. But at the same time, hurting Mukund was also going to be tough.

Loyal or not, Supportive or not, love or not, Mukund still acted as a catalyst between Yuvraaj and her. If he wasn't the reason, she would never be with Yuvraaj. At least, he deserved a proper adiós. Getting ready, she came out to the bedroom to witness the Yuvraaj sleeping peacefully and snoring soundly.

A smile crept on her lips, as she watched that he had clutched the pillow tightly to him. Probably he is mistaking it as me. She fondled the thought. Crouching low before him on the ground, she adored his face and kissed his lips soundly, after removing the tufts of hair on his forehead.

"I'll be back soon. Bye. And I love you." She murmured against his lips. She sucked his lip one other time and rose to her feet. "Sleep well."

Closing the door behind her, she escaped out. She didn't have her cellphone with her, hence she couldn't contact Mukund and decided to wait for him by the poolside.

Anahita edged up by the pool with very calculative moves, her body was there but her mind is back in Villa with her husband, laughing, bickering, kissing, cuddling. Blush rose to her cheeks as last night danced before her eyes.

"Anu.." She stiffened at the echo of very familiar brittle voice that belonged to none other than mukund, once her beloved.

"I am so happy to see you, baby. It has been weeks but I feel it has been years I last saw you." Mukund blabbed, hugging her but none of his words fell in her ears.

"Mukund!" She pressed one hand on his chest, distancing their frame and smiled contemplatively, "It is good to see you too but I am here to come onto something more important."

"I know, I know you're angry right?" He cupped her face, not heeding her discomfort and went on, "I know I have hurt you with those contemptible words I had thwacked but I feel extremely ashamed of it. I am abashed, I can't glance at my own reflection in the mirror Anu. Forgive me for my callousness."

"But you didn't call next day."

"I didn't get time. Deadline was close..."

"I won't forgive you, Mukund." She declined, stepping back "Neither will I forgive you, nor will i go with you." Her words drained colors of his face as he pretended to be shocked, "Anu..?"

"No, please let me complete, Mukund." She interjected, adamantly, "It was not you who was wrong. It was I, since the start. Now the time has come, I've to fess up. I didn't love you because I find something special or anything like that, I did that because you were the first person who approached me and I was so rebellious to go against my father's decision that I accepted you."

She started from the very beginning.

"More than jitters, I felt satisfaction to outsmart my dad who adamantly wanted to wed me to Yuvraaj. I never accepted you because of you but because of my dad, I wouldn't have done that if my dad hadn't pestered me to meet Yuvraaj. Basically, I stuck to you because I thought the more I'll stick to you, the more I'll stay away from Yuvraaj. To not be with him, I would've gone to any extent. I never wanted to marry her. You seemed a nice option." She exhaled, finger combing her hair.

"Gradually as you peeled off your layers, I was glad that I'd not taken wrong decision but that was until you started taking me granted. You kept disappointing me and I kept building my faith because you were the only source who could help me in escaping from the clutches of Yuvraaj." She divulged and guffawed humorlessly, "How naive of me! Only if I had known that you'll be the ultimate chain to bind me with him, I would have never resorted to you."

"So I was just an resort?" Mukund asked, offensively.

"Not until you propped me!" She retorted, "Not until you left me alone to fight against everyone on my own for both of us. Not until you beguiled me to marry Yuvraaj for selfish reasons."

"I did that because I had to....leave that, I love you Anahita." He desperately tried to proselytize her, grasping her shoulders but Anahita jerked off his hands.

"It is not love Mukund, if you have really loved me, you would've stayed by my side, you would've found any way to reach to my father, you would've done anything to see through it but you gave up without even trying." She screamed out, what was hidden deep in her.

"You chose to build a future that has no grounds. If I were not in your present, how could you envision future with me?" She reasoned not giving him a chance to speak.

"However, with my naivety, I took the risk to hurt everyone, my family, my in-laws, Yuvraaj and myself as well, but you were nowhere near me. You never consoled me when I was crying, not that I needed your sympathy. You had the guts to ask me to maintain distance with Yuvraaj, not let him touch me but you did not have trust and that was the last string, you broke."

"Anahita, I was..."

"I am not done yet, Mukund." She showed her hand, "Amidst all this, one thing I am glad about." She smiled, gratefully, "And that is Yuvraaj."

She blinked up at him, "Thanks Mukund for not turning up that day, because if you had, I might have never gotten the chance to know Yuvraaj. And I might never have liked him. I might never have seen his soul. I might have made a big mistake by rejecting the blessing, that he is, to me. Thank you for being a coward and making me meet my soulmate."

She completed, being nostalgic about the time, she and Yuvraaj spent together.

"Anahita... I...Liste..."

"Nope." She grinned, "Don't ever contact me because I am so happy. I am so happy with my husband, so don't try to reach for me ever. Goodbye!"

She turned to go when Mukund interjected, shoving his hands deep in his pockets, "So, you're saying that you love him now? What are you Anahita, back five weeks you loved me and now you love him, is this fast your interest wavers? Guys for weeks, days and hours."

Instead of getting hurt or angry, Anahita dealt with it coolly, "Nice to know the real asshole you are, Mukund but yes, this is how I am! My love for you wavered so quickly that now I hate you and tomorrow I won't even spit on your dead body." She said the cynical words so ever lightly as if causally making remark.

Taking a step ahead, she glinted confidently, "But I love Yuvraaj for what he is. Not because he is something which can save me, but because with him, I am in the safest place. Because he is a man. I love him and I am willing to fall for him, deeply. I am planning to fall so deep that no one, like you or so, ever make me get over him. Never! I am planning to sink deep down in his love."

"One thing, I must remind you. Yuvraaj has a very bad temper and damn good physic. So if there's even a tiny winy thought is mushrooming in your head about hurting us or confronting him, I suggest leave that. Yuvraaj will chafe you into pieces." Throwing a statutory warning, she waltzed away instantly missing to be in her husband's arm.

"Bitch!" Mukund cursed loudly and Anahita laughed, waving her hand at him on her way. "I know that's your mother's name but you don't have to shout it and moreover, ask her who's your real dad. Bitches are notorious for not knowing the father of their puppies."

***

When Yuvraaj woke up on an empty bed, his instincts were on alert. Sifting in the bathroom, balcony and the deck - Anahita loved to perch upon - when he couldn't find her, he was devastated. She probably had left him that was all he could think. He clutched his head in his hands, slumping down on the bed after ruining the room. Last night, they'd taken a ride to the heaven on it but now it was empty, void. Vacuumed.

Just like him.

"Did you really leave Anahita?" He murmured, dejectedly. Torn, he rubbed his face and sucked in a deep breath. With his fingers steepled under his lower lip, he clenched his jaw. Venomous serpent of anger crawled in his veins, making him hit the roof. He was unable to understand that if she had to go ultimately, why the hell she bothered to tell him what she felt? Why the hell she wanted to hear him saying he loves her? Was that a cunning way to break him more than he already was? Was that a scheme to pretend to tend his broken heart and then crush it into million pieces?

With each negative thought running in his mind, he lost his calm. His head throbbed and he slammed his fist on the wall. She had no reason to leave like a thief if she wasn't trying to hurt him. His anger condensed in his eyes and a tear dribbled down on his cheek as he rested his head against the wall.

Crying over a girl was not he ever pondered of doing. Yet, Anahita wasn't any ordinary girl. She was His girl. His wife. His first love.

"You should've waited, Anu. You shouldn't have gone." He intoned, closing his eyes. "Wasn't this the whole game about? To take you away from everyone, to make you fell in love with me, to show you that I'm the one who deserves you, to tell you that I love you. You are mine, only mine."

Yuvraaj was so scared to loose her that he escaped from his own home with her, coming up with the best excuse of 'Honeymoon'. How could he tell her that she wasn't allowed to go because he loved her? How could he wear his heart on sleeve's for her when he knew she would've probably made fun of his emotions.

She hated him then. Yuvraaj wasn't from those who would let their possession slip past their hands like sand. He was determined to make their marriage work.

The plan was simple. Let her fly free like a bird with her outspread wings and she'll come back home, like any other bird out there. He was drinking the real smile she always wore on her face in these days. Not the one she faked back in home. When he decided to heal her wounds, he only got to see more of them. So many that he hadn't even comprehended to see her bearing without showing the pain on her face.

Now, she was not breathing only, she was living. He had hurt her enough for ditching him about the marriage only for few days but he couldn't bring himself to hate her. She became the same chirpy eighteen year girl he left behind. He knew it correctly that she had started feeling for him when she plastered him on the wall, demanding his attention and he acquiesced silently that he would not be able to live without her if she went missing.

However, he decided to let her find that. He opted to behave how he always have with her. He wanted her to come to her. He craved to be her priority. He needed to be demanded, to be chosen, to be conquered.

Just when their worlds were fitting together. Lines were twisting, breaking and aligning according to each other, it all ruined. The castle he'd made up with his hopes ruined. He did everything, he tried not to hurt her, he made sure to not his ego bruise hers, he adjusted himself with her. He was sure he did everything in his hands to win her but perhaps, they were just not meant to be.

Perhaps he was dreaming last night.