The Beast And The Prodigy

The Beast

My chest constricts even taking her name. This is how pathetic I have become because of her. But this is nothing.

I deserve hell. And I bloody know it.

" She was into community service. And she started living with me and the kids in Dharavi. She was persistent, stubborn, headstrong and naive in some ways. At that time all I wanted to do was to earn money and save Aju. I didn't have time to waste on anything else..."

" But Reinan. She was everywhere. As I told you she was too stubborn for her own good."

My throat clogged as I talked about her but Adhira drops beside me and places her palms on my knee. Urging me to continue.

While any other woman would have slapped and moved on from me, she was here. Listening to my life story patiently.

I was not lying when I said any man would be lucky to have her.

" She didn't give the kids her money. She didn't buy them expensive gifts or spoiled them. Rather she taught them to give, to donate. To care for others."

" She gave them her time. And in barely few days not just the kids but the entire locality became a fan of her. The philanthropist is what they called her.Always smiling at the most stupid thing, finding happiness in the basic of pleasures..she was my complete opposite. "

" I was fighting for each penny while her? She was spending it on unknown people saying it brought her happiness."

I scoff remembering that time and Adhi smiles sadly.

" I don't know when it happened but slowly she started being a part of our lives. We were getting so used to her that her presence became something permanent in our hearts. The kids loved her, she became their favourite and before I knew I started searching for her smiling face everywhere....her smiles... her spirits was like a light in a dark hole which has forgotten what light and its warmth felt like."

" Before I know the walls I build around me were wrecked brick by brick and I didn't even realise."

" But I started liking her. "

" I tried. I tried so hard to push her away. To make her leave us. But the woman was adamant."

" I insulted her, gave her a cold shoulder, shouted at her. I behaved like a complete bastard. Yet she still didn't leave...."

" Her eyes? When they looked into mine? I knew my fascades can fool the world but not her."

" She could look into my soul. She...."

Before I know a heaviness hits my chest and I feel my lungs constructing.

" She showed me the light when I was drowning in darkness. She stood by me when everyone left. She helped everyone like this entire world was her family..... And she taught me how to love."

Adhi looks at me in surprise and I rake my fingers through my hair.

" She was the first woman I did it with. The first person I thought was special enough to deserve it."

" And it wasn't just me."

" It was equally special for both of us. We took from each other that no one else could. We sold a part of our souls to each other which could never be taken back."

" It was more of a contract of souls than just bodies because for both of us..... It was way more than just casual sex."

" I wanted her in my life. It wasn't like I was playing with her. But I had to make a choice that night. And it changed everything."