by Vaanya Singh
Malhaar quickly got up from his chair and offered it to Priya.
‘Hi,’ she spoke timidly. The room was silent for an entire minute before everyone bombarded her with questions simultaneously.
‘I’m pregnant...’ Priya began but Malhaar cut her short by saying, ‘She is pregnant with my child.’
As we all gasped, Malhaar concluded, ‘And we’re going to get married.’ The room was in silence again before mum jumped up and yelled, ‘Oh, my God! I’m going to become a grandma! I’m so happy for you guys.’
While mum and dad started to congratulate the couple, I teased Malhaar and Aditya jumped on top of him, wrapping his legs around him.
Excusing myself from the celebrations, I left home because I had some really important work to do. Someone had sabotaged my picnic with Faith and I intended to put that person in their place.
‘Hey, Mrs Woods, is Damon home?’ I asked her as she opened the door to her house. ‘Oh, he’s up in his room. And please, Vaibhav, call me Casey. Mrs Woods makes me feel old,’ she joked. ‘Thank you,’ I replied before going up to Damon’s room. When I opened the door, he was typing something on his mac.
‘We need to talk,’ I declared, shutting the door behind me. He looked up from the screen and confusion took over his face.
‘Hey, man, what are you doing here?’ he asked, shutting down the machine.
‘We need to talk,’ I repeated myself.
‘Sure, about what?’ I took a deep breath before firing the question at him. ‘Why the hell did you sabotage my date with Faith?’ ‘I did not,’ he began but I cut him short.
‘Don’t play innocent with me, Damon. I know it was you,’ I said calmly. He kept quiet. Both of us simply stared at each other.
‘I did it.’
‘Why?’
‘I have my reasons.’
‘Just tell me why, Damon? Are you in love with her? Is that why you did it?’
Damon stood and thought for a moment and then he began.
‘I do love her,’ but I didn’t let him finish the sentence and landed a punch on his jaw. He started to say something but I silenced him with a couple of more punches.
He finally managed to say, ‘I do love Faith but like a sister. I care about her well-being.’ A wave of relief washed over me.
‘Then why did you destroy my picnic with her?’
‘Can’t you see, Vaibhav? You are not good for her!’
I was desperately trying to keep my anger under control. ‘Who the hell are you to judge me?’ I yelled.
‘Look, Vaibhav, you’ve hurt her before and there is no guarantee that you won’t do it again.’
‘But I won’t! I will not hurt her,’ I began but he cut me off.
‘You weren’t there when she broke! You destroyed her! Her heart shattered into a million pieces. And you were not there when she opened her eyes after being in coma for two whole weeks. They say eyes are the windows to your soul, and her eyes looked so empty, so lifeless. And I’m sorry but I can’t let her be that way ever again.’
I could understand what Damon meant. He was right on his part but he was still no one to decide what happened in Faith’s life.
‘You can’t take her decisions for her, Damon. It’s her life and she decides what happens in it,’ I said matter-of-factly.
‘I know I can’t but I’m still going to try to do whatever I can to prevent her from getting hurt. Even if I have to keep you away from her, I’ll do it.’
‘But I’m not going to hurt her again. Why don’t you get this simple fact?’ I lost my temper.
‘Who is she to you anyway? You both just became friends again and it is not like you both are dating,’ Damon began but trailed off confusedly.
But his words hit a nerve. Who was Faith to me?
The answer was very simple. She was everything to me. She was the one who I thought of when I woke up every morning. She was my light in the dark, lifeless sky. She was the rainbow I searched for after a rainy day.
And in that moment, I realised something which I should have realised a long time ago. I was in love with Faith.
I was in love with my best friend.
‘I love her,’ I whispered, not sure if Damon heard me or not.
But it seemed like he did.
‘You what?’ he yelled.
‘I’m in love with her,’ I said more loudly and clearly. ‘You’re not in love with her. You just think you’re in love with Faith, or maybe you like the idea of being in love. But you possibly can’t be in love with her,’ he began to ramble.
‘Damon, I’m in love with Faith.’
CHAPTER 33
I want you. All of you.
Your flaws. Your mistakes.
Your imperfections. I want
you and only you.
ALEX
Faith and I were playing basketball just outside the house when we heard something crash. We looked at each other and sprinted inside.
The sound had come from Nana’s room. As we rushed there, mum was sitting on the floor, glass shattered all around her. She had dropped the vase of fresh flowers she had brought for Nana’s room. Tears were streaming down her face. I helped her get up from the floor and seated her on the sofa while Faith checked on Nana. She was no more.
Faith broke into sobs as she announced this.
This could not be happening. I had just seen her this morning humming in the garden.
‘Alex ... please call James...’ I heard mum say in between sobs.
I didn’t know where to begin between consoling mum and Faith or calling up James.
‘Faith,’ I called out gently, placing my hand on her back.
In a sudden jerk, she turned around to face me. Her eyes were wide but no tears were streaming down her face.
‘I just saw her this morning. She was humming in the garden, Alex. How can she be dead? Tell me it’s not true. Please, Alex, wake me up from this nightmare!’ she started crying as she finished speaking.
VAIBHAV
I was sprawled on the sofa watching TV when mum came running inside.
‘She’s dead,’ she declared dropping her bag on the floor. ‘Who’s dead?’ I asked, sitting up.
‘Faith’s Nana. She’s dead and the family is distraught...’
But I never heard the end of the sentence because I was already running across the street to their residence. The front door was already ajar so I went right in.
James, who had apparently just come home, looked at me with wide eyes before asking,
‘Vaibhav? What are you doing here?’
‘I’m sorry for you loss, James, but I need to make sure that Faith is fine,’ I managed to say before running up the staircase.
Alex was walking down with a glass of water in his hand. A puzzled expression took over his face when he saw me.
Before he could ask any questions, I simply hugged him.
He was shocked at first but eventually hugged me back.
‘Alex, man, I’m really sorry for your loss but I need to make sure that your sister is fine at this moment.’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked, pulling away.
‘When was the last time you saw her?’
‘I ... I put her to bed after she fainted hearing the news about Nana,’ he said frowning.
‘Around what time did you put her to bed?’
‘Around noon...’
I checked my watch. I was past 2 PM.
Damn!
We needed to ensure Faith had not done something stupid like harming herself out of an enormous sense of grief. Both Alex and I walked to Faith’s room. He tried the doorknob; the door was locked.
‘Faith? Please open the door, love,’ he tried to coax her into opening the door.
There was no reply. ‘Come on, love. Just open the door,’ he tried again but in vain. ‘Open the door, Faith,’ he tried for the last time.
‘I don’t want to talk to anyone right now!’ her voice boomed from the other side.
Alex sighed and ran his hand through his hair. I walked up to him and touched his shoulder.
‘Hey, man. I got this. Trust me,’ I said, giving him a gentle push towards his room.
He looked at me for a couple of seconds before walking to his room and slamming the door shut. I turned towards Faith’s door and knocked lightly.
‘Faith, it’s Vaibhav. Please open the door.’
‘I don’t want to meet anyone. Go away.’
‘Come on, just open the door. Everyone’s worried about you.’
‘I said, go away! Leave me alone for God’s sake. I don’t want to meet anyone.’
‘Well, that’s too bad because I’m not moving till you open this bloody door.’
There was a lot of shuffling on the other side before Faith yelled while opening the door.
‘What part of “go away” do you not get?’ she started off but I never let her finish the sentence as I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight.
She squirmed but eventually gave up fighting and wrapped her hands around my neck.
I could feel my T-shirt getting soaked with her tears.
I shut the door with my foot, lifted her off the ground and carried her to her bed. Carefully putting her down, I sat down next to her.
‘Shhh ... It’s going to be okay,’ I spoke, rubbing my hand up and down her back.
‘It’s not going to be okay! It never is! Nana ... Nana’s gone, just like mum. She left me, Vaibhav, just like mum did! And she’s never coming back,’ she yelled before breaking into sobs.
‘Faith, I understand what you’re going through.’
‘You don’t understand what I’m going through! You never will! Don’t you remember once upon a time you, too, had left me?’ she yelled, pulling away from me.
Her words stung but they were hundred per cent true. I did leave her when she needed me the most. As if realising what she had just said, she turned towards me with wide eyes.
‘I’m so sorry, Vaibhav. I didn’t mean that.’
‘No, it’s alright. It is true that I did leave you once, but I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.’
She looked at me, puzzled.
‘I will not leave you alone ever again. And that’s a promise.’
‘Promise?’ she asked, taking out her pinky finger. ‘Promise,’ I said, entwining mine with hers.
Nana’s funeral was scheduled for a week after her death to enable all her friends and relatives to come down from different parts of the world to pay their last respects to her.
There was only one word which could describe that entire week. Hell!
Nana’s death had shaken up the entire family. Beth had taken refuge in baking. She had ‘surprised’ our family with different kinds of cakes and dishes every single day. James had drowned himself in work and was rarely seen at home.
Alex ... well, Damon and I had gone to see him two days ago. He threw us out of his room, saying he was perfectly fine, which of course, was a total lie. For a week he hadn’t talked to anyone, not even Cory, and had not stepped out of his room either.
As for Faith, there were no words which could describe her misery. It felt as if she had given up on life. She cried all day and then cried herself to sleep. I was there for her, as promised, holding her in my arms as the tears fell freely.
Today was the funeral. I was going to pick Faith up and we were going to go together. When I went to her room, I couldn’t believe the mess it was in. Clothes were lying on the floor, drawers were thrown out, there was a broken chair lying next to her bed with splinters everywhere and in the middle of it all was Faith.
She was running from one place to another. Sometimes opening her wardrobe and throwing more clothes out or opening drawers and dumping all the contents on the floor.
I saw her wince as a wood splinter went up her foot and it began to bleed.
‘Faith, what are you doing?’ I asked, stepping forward to help her.
‘I don’t have a dress for the funeral. I can’t find a single dress,’ she cried.
As I pulled her in an embrace, she said, ‘I miss her so much, Vaibhav,’ and started crying.
‘I know,’ I whispered before carrying her to the bathroom.
Gently I set her on the edge of the bathtub
I said, ‘I’m going to remove the splinter, okay? Then we’ll find you a dress.’
At the funeral, Alex, who still looked miserable, was wearing a black shirt with a black suit jacket and slacks. He had a slight stubble from not shaving and his eyes had dark bags under them. And then something amazing happened. His eyes lit up as he saw someone. I followed his vision and found Cory staring at him.
She, too, was dressed in black, like everyone else. Both of them stared at each other and then Cory began to run towards Alex. Literally flying into his arms she began to cry, and so did he.
‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered, holding onto her. ‘I’m sorry, too,’ she whispered before kissing him. I turned away from them giving them their privacy and found Faith coming towards me. We walked slowly towards each other, never breaking eye contact. I extended my hand and we stood hand-in-hand as the funeral began.
CHAPTER 34
All you need is Faith, trust
and a little bit of pixie dust.
FAITH
Where could he be taking me was the first question that popped up in my mind as soon as I hung up the phone. And the second question was: what should I wear? But I got the answer to the second question soon enough.
Vaibhav had left a green T-shirt which said ‘I’m with stupid’ and had an arrow pointing to the right side. I pulled out my ripped denim shorts and my blue Converse to go along. After quickly taking a shower and getting dressed, I went downstairs to the kitchen. Dad was sitting at the table eating breakfast and Beth was dancing around flipping pancakes.
As if on cue, Alex walked in, humming a tune. Seemed like as a family, we were able to move on from the gloomy days following Nana’s passing away.
Alex read my mind and said, ‘I realised that Nana would never have wanted us to sulk and be sad. She always said life was meant for enjoying and living to the fullest.’ We all agreed, of course.
‘And that’s why, baby sister, you’re going out on a date with Vaibhav. He took my permission,’ Alex pulled my cheeks. I swatted his hand away.
‘Ya, he asked us as well,’ dad said and Beth nodded in agreement.
I turned a deep shade of red. ‘Go now; it’s noon already,’ Beth gave me a slight push. My family was awesome!
Sure enough, Vaibhav was waiting in front of his car near my front lawn, wearing the same T-shirt as mine, only that the arrow on his pointed left.
‘Hi,’ I squeaked. What was wrong with me? Why was I so nervous? It was just Vaibhav!
‘Hey! You look beautiful,’ he replied, opening the car door for me.
‘You look nice, too,’ I said.
‘Where are we going?’
‘It’s a surprise,’ he said.
We drove for about forty minutes before Vaibhav brought the car to a halt. He insisted on blindfolding me and gently taking my hand, guided me along for half-a-minute before lifting me up and carrying me up a couple of steps. He then put me down and opened the blindfold. The scene in front of me made me speechless.
A lone cottage stood in the midst of the most tranquil surroundings. He had covered the path to the cottage in marigold flowers; the inside was decorated with fairy lights. A huge spread of delicious food lay before us, the aroma of which was driving me crazy.
‘This is to make up for the picnic gone bad,’ he said, finally breaking the silence.
Without further ado, we started gorging on the food. ‘This has been one of the best meals of my life,’ I spoke after I could eat no more.
‘I have to tell you something important,’ Vaibhav said in a somber tone.
‘Go on.’
‘I love you.’
And the fireworks began.
His one hand s
naked around my waist and the other behind my neck. My own hands wrapped around his neck for support as he dipped me and kissed me deeply.
The kiss slowly went from hungry to soft and finally stopped when both of us could breathe no more.
‘I’m definitely in love with you, Faith.’
A wide smile took over my face as he repeated the magical words once again.
‘And I love you,’ I answered back, hugging him tight.
An expression of relief and then pure bliss washed over his face. We snuggled on the couch and there was no need to speak until a thought popped up in my mind.
‘Vaibhav, I have one question though.’
‘Ask away, love.’
‘How did you never stop believing in us?’
He smiled a sweet smile before answering.
‘Well, I simply believed in one thing: All you need is a little Faith!’
EPILOGUE
Dancing under a starry night.
VAIBHAV
It was Malhaar and Priya’s wedding today. After the ceremonies at the temple in the morning, close family and friends were invited for a reception in the evening. Priya had recently given birth to a daughter and she was named Maya, a coming-together of the first two alphabets of the father’s name and two of the mother’s.
I went to Malhaar’s room. Dad was already there.
‘Last chance to bail,’ I teased, passing him his tie. ‘Shut up,’ he said, struggling to fix it.
Just then, mum entered, holding Maya. Everyone’s face lit up by her presence in the room.
‘I can’t believe you’re married!’ mum gushed and started crying.
‘I’m so happy that you’ve finally settled down ... that you have Priya and Maya in your life...’ she said.
Just then, Faith walked into the room and she looked like an angel in that white dress of hers. It was strapless and shimmered when it came in contact with the evening light. It reached her ankle and there was a slit showcasing one of her legs.
Her hair was tied up in an elegant bun and a few tendrils were falling on her face. She was wearing wine-coloured lipstick.
‘Where have you been?’
‘Around,’ I whispered, turning her towards me and kissing her on her cheek.