What say!

Posted by: Sakhi on: February 13, 2009

• In: Fiction | Friendship | Life | Love | Marriage | Nostalgia | Relationship
• 31 Comments

How many years have passed!! 10? No, it was exactly 12 years since she last saw this sea. She used to love coming here. When Maanushi was a toddler, her parents used to bring her here and she would giggle and laugh and loved riding on her father’s back. As she grew older, parents’ place was taken by a bunch of friends and they used to hang out here. Sometimes till wee hours debating on anything and everything! How many times had they saved this world from economic crisis, from terror attacks and even UFOs!!!

It felt like home coming. She inhaled deeply as if to keep the essence of the sea within her. She was elated and way too nostalgic!!

It was getting darker and she decided to head to their “once favourite” café. Maanushi felt as if nothing had changed in these years and yet, so much had changed.

That applied specifically for her friends, Ketki and Manan.

Maanushi was to stay with them till she got her accommodation from office. She tried to convince them to stay in a hotel, but they would not hear of it. In a couple of days she could make out that Ketki and Manan were not whom she remembered from her past. They had grown to be different people.

Ketki was not as bubbly and Manan has become considerably quieter. In all those years they talked on phone or kept contact on chat, she never felt anything amiss! She attributed this soberness to the hectic work schedule they followed.

Though Ketki was happy to have her, she seemed aloof; not only with her but with Manan too. Something was seriously wrong. Both were tight lipped and she too didn’t want to prod.

As the days passed, her friends’ drift was the last thing on her mind, as something else was eating at her heart and mind. In the last few weeks she realized that Manan was popping in her head way too many times than needed. His thoughts kept Maanushi occupied even at night. Just a thought of Manan sleeping in the adjoining room gave her a warm feeling. She kept going back to their conversations, replayed them in her thoughts and kept staring at her laptop screen during work hours.

She knew, Manan was not to be blamed for the state of her heart. He had never, ever given any hint in that direction. She tried reasoning to herself saying that this is just a physical attraction since it’s been a long time since she had a male company.

But that did not change the fact that she had fallen head over heels for her best friend… and best friend’s husband!!!!

She wanted to be held by Manan, not like his usual hugs. Not a friendly hug but a hug of a lover. She wanted to be close to him, close enough to hear his heartbeats. She wanted to be the part of his being.

She had dated a couple of men earlier but she had never felt this way for any of them.

She was confused with her own feelings. She did not feel guilty. And, yet, she knew these feelings were not acceptable to the society and probably will not be acceptable to Manan too!

But who is going to tell him, anyways!!!

No, she will not run away from him. She can’t even think of doing that. But she can’t tell him and risk the rebuke. Also she needed to understand her own feelings, whether it was temporary attraction or pity or what???

No, she won’t run away. Instead, she would test the waters. Who knows what is in store for her! 😉

Tags: Fiction, Friend, friends, Friendship, Life, Love, love marriage, love-affair, Marriage, relation, Relationship, Short story, wife, woman, women