11 PM at night...
..
A car was speeding down the road, cutting through the silence like a whisper.
It was Aditya’s car, which came to a halt directly in his apartment’s parking space.
Getting out, Aditya quietly walked inside. He looked utterly exhausted.
Without a word, he tossed his coat onto the sofa and made his way to the kitchen.
Opening the fridge, he pulled out a bottle of chilled water, took a long sip, and then went straight to his room.
Unbuttoning his shirt, he collapsed on the bed and closed his eyes.
And the moment his eyes shut, one face appeared before him—Anamika's.
Letting out a deep sigh, he murmured to himself, “She must be asleep by now…”
Then he sat up. After a few moments of stillness, he stood and walked out to his balcony.
Tonight, the moon was hiding behind clouds. Aditya stood there, waiting patiently for it to come out.
But it seemed like the moon had no intention of revealing itself— Just like Aditya.
He smiled bitterly and whispered, “So… you’re upset with me too, huh? Just like her.”
As he stood there, the memory of that moment came rushing back—
The moment when he kissed Anamika while she was asleep.
Remembering it, he muttered, “I don’t even know how… or why I made that mistake. I had no right to touch her.”
He turned to go back inside, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
A soft beam of moonlight had finally broken through the clouds.
He looked up… the moon had come out.
A smile touched his lips as he sat down on the swing in his balcony.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The wind gently tousled his hair, and with his shirt still unbuttoned, it fluttered lightly in the breeze.
The moonlight bathed his body in silver,
but his heart remained cloaked in shadows.
His mind wandered back to the day—
Anamika had come to see him twice, but he pretended to be busy.
She had quietly walked away from his cabin door.
He even ignored her in the lift… and in the corridor.
Now he couldn’t stop wondering— Did it hurt her?
The thought made him chuckle bitterly to himself.
Smiling through his frustration, he whispered, “What a strange fate I have… even when you’re right there in front of me, I can’t bring myself to meet your eyes.
And I don’t even know why— why I keep getting pulled towards you even when I know I don’t have the right to look at you… to touch you… not even to dream of you.
Who else could be this foolish?”
I’m running away… because I’m scared that if I get too close, I’ll lose even the right to help you.”
He looked up at the moon as if asking it a question.
“What do you think? Is she thinking about me too right now?”
He shook his head. “No… I don’t think so.
I’m not even a small part of her world. Why would she think about me?”
And just like that, Aditya fell asleep right there on the balcony— thinking about Anamika.
The night was cold, but the ache in his heart numbed everything else.
Meanwhile, on the other side…
Anamika too was restless.
After giving Ruhi a portrait lesson until around 11:30 PM, she finally went to bed.
Ruhi was invited by Saaniya to sleep in her room, while Anamika walked alone into hers— but sleep was nowhere to be found.
She began going through some of her old things— as if trying to find her heart hidden within them.
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
She wanted to cry, but not a single sound escaped her throat.
As if her voice had been trapped in silence… as if crying alone had become a habit.
She sifted through those things like someone searching for a reason to live inside a bundle of memories— and perhaps… she found it.
Her hands paused over an old drawing book.
It was worn-out, yet carefully preserved.
She put everything else aside and went to bed with just that book in hand.
She began turning the pages slowly, one by one.
Each page held a memory that played like a soft film in her mind.
And with every memory, a soft smile danced on her lips— while a tear quietly glistened in her eyes.
The first drawing was of a little girl with an old woman— the very first sketch she had made at her grandmother’s house.
She kept flipping through the pages gently until she stopped.
Her eyes fell on a painting spread across two pages.
On one page— a girl was painting the broken walls of a castle with the colors of her imagination.
On the opposite page— a boy watched her lovingly from the castle’s window…
but behind him lurked a dark shadow.
She lightly touched the boy’s sketch and whispered, “No… this shadow won’t follow you anymore. I won’t let it.”
She took out some colors from her drawer and began painting flowers over the shadow, trying to hide it— but the more she painted, the worse it looked. The darkness spread like ink.
Her hand trembled. Her breath hitched.
And suddenly— Someone held her hand.
She looked up — startled.
It was him. The same boy from the painting. Exactly the same. The boy from her imagination.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
He looked at her and asked softly, “Tears? For me? Why?”
Choking back a sob, she whispered, “Because I love you…! Why did you leave me?”
He smiled, gently but sadly. “Because of you. You were always the one who ran away when I appeared.
Did you ever think… that one day, I’d stop chasing?”
She reached out to touch him, voice breaking, “I did… A thousand times I did. But I was scared.”
Before her fingers could meet his skin,
he began to drift away — walking into a shadowed corner.
“No… not there!” she cried out. “Please… wait!”
And then — a woman’s voice echoed around her.
“Why not? Let him come… To me.”
Anamika turned in horror.
A shadow stood there, dark and silent.
She screamed — “No! Please! Let him go!”
to be continue ...
To be continued...
