The Country Clubs banquet hall bustled with nervous energy, the air thick with the aroma of food and unspoken emotions. Anu clutched the worn photograph, its edges softened from countless caresses. Today was her son Nick’s wedding day, a momentous occasion tinged with a bittersweet truth. Nick’s bride-to-be, Annika, was none other than Asher’s daughter. Asher, the name that echoed through the caverns of her heart, a constant reminder of a love lost 25 years ago.
Anu spotted Asher across the room, a silvering at his temples the only mark of time on his still-charming face. A flicker of something, perhaps recognition, flitted across his eyes before he quickly looked away. Anu straightened her sari, a silent steeling of her nerves. This wouldn’t be easy.
Nick, a handsome reflection of Anu in his suit, approached them, a grin splitting his face. “Mom,” he said, gesturing to Annika, radiant in white, “Everything set for the big moment?”
Anu managed a smile. “Almost, sweetheart. Just finalizing a few details.” The air crackled with unspoken tension as they discussed the ceremony. Nick and Annika, blissfully unaware, were a whirlwind of youthful excitement, their love story blossoming where Anu and Asher’s had withered.
“Anu,” Asher finally spoke, his voice a low rumble. “It’s… good to see you again.”
Anu met his gaze, a lifetime of emotions swirling in her eyes. “You too, Asher,” she said, her voice betraying a tremor. “Though the circumstances could be different.”
A shadow crossed his face. “Indeed. We were young and foolish then.”
“Or perhaps just unlucky,” Anu countered softly.
Asher nodded, the unspoken words hanging heavy in the air. Their love story, vibrant and alive in the bustling streets of Mumbai, had been a casualty of religious differences. Fear, a chilling serpent, had coiled around Anu’s heart on that fateful monsoon night by the Bandra Stand. Tears blurring her vision, she had surrendered to fate, marrying a man chosen by her family.
“Anu,” Asher reached out a hesitant hand, his touch sending a jolt through her. “I understand if you wouldn’t let our past not affect the children’s present—”
“Past & Present” Anu cut him off, her voice tight. “What happened to us won’t happen to them that’s why I agreed to their wedding Asher, although I do not expect you to understand that.”
“Anu, I didn’t mean that, I just…” Asher pleaded, his eyes searching hers. “They shouldn’t suffer, that’s what I…”. Anu again cut him off by saying, “If I had to make them suffer, I wouldn’t be standing here, I am not the monster Asher. If you must know that night in the Band Stand your rich fathers assistant threw the money on my face and said that it was for my dying fathers treatment but he still mightn’t live despite of all the treatment if I don’t leave you, you see Asher I am or never was the monster by deciding to marry Samar, who turned out to be richer than your entire family, it was always people like you who thought it’s all about money.”
A flicker of guilt crossed his face. “You didn’t dump me for Samar? Anu you…” Anu answered straight, “No… get the facts checked, although as of now I don’t even care if you would believe me, you never believed me that night when I came to your house to tell you what your dad did and you asked your securities to throw me out. I remember the words… what were they? Yes…. Asher sahib had asked to throw the filth out as he has had his fun with her”
Asher was shocked because he never knew anything of it, he never knew that this had ever happened. All he knew was Anu ditched him for rich Samar and it was confirmed for him when he saw their wedding card. Now he knows the truth, the truth about his family’s betrayal, the truth why he could never be happy despite of having everything. But now it was too late. Anu took a deep breath. “You want your daughter to be happy with my son, I have a deal for you.”
“Anything,” Asher said eagerly.
Anu’s voice softened. “Once they’re married, our paths diverge. We go our separate ways. You never show your face to me”
Asher’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Of course,” he murmured. “Whatever makes them happy.”
The wedding ceremony was a simple affair, devoid of religious rituals but overflowing with love. As Nick and Annika exchanged vows, Anu couldn’t help but see a reflection of a younger, more carefree Anu in Annika’s eyes. A bittersweet ache settled in her heart, a reminder of the love she’d once known.
Later, as the last guests left, Anu found herself alone with Asher. The balcony of the club, once a battlefield of emotions, now held a poignant silence.
“Anu,” Asher began, his voice hoarse.
“No,” she said, cutting him off. “We made a deal.”
He reached for her hand, a silent plea in his eyes. Anu hesitated for a moment, the memory of their stolen kisses a searing ember in her heart. Then, with a shaky breath, she pulled away.
She whispered, her voice cracking. “I did what I had to do.”
A single tear escaped her eye, tracing a path down her cheek. Asher, his face etched with sorrow, understood. Their love, a beautiful flower bud, had been crushed before it could bloom. All that remained were thorns of regret and the bittersweet fragrance of a love story forever incomplete.
Anu turned and walked away, her back ramrod straight, but her heart a tattered mess. Asher watched her go, the echo of her words a constant refrain in his mind. “I never betrayed you.” Was it a justification, a plea for understanding, or a confession of the love that could never be? What was it?
They will never know
