2

MJ held Kiara’s hand as they roamed from one shop to another in the mall. The mall was huge, filled with bright lights and endless stores where everything was being sold. But Kiara’s shopping still wasn’t over. She had already bought all the wedding stuff—clothes, gifts, shoes, beauty cosmetics—almost everything. MJ was tired, completely drained, but he still kept a big fake smile on his face for Kiara.

Kiara made up her mind to get closer to MJ. It was an arranged marriage, but for her, it was love. She wanted to be close to him. Many times, she had imagined herself with MJ—moments where he gently kissed her lips. But she always woke up in the middle of those dreams, usually when Dherya turned off the fan in her room to wake her up for school.

Suddenly, she dragged him into the changing room. MJ was shocked by her sudden behavior.

“MJ… we are getting married now… shouldn’t we do things like… that?”

Before she could step back, MJ grabbed Kiara by the waist. He couldn’t imagine anyone else in the place of Dherya, but now he had no other choice.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

Kiara turned completely red like a tomato. She hid her face in MJ’s chest, not daring to look into his eyes or say anything clearly.

MJ held her tightly with his soft hands. Both of them hugged each other, but MJ’s eyes were filled with sadness. He was remembering the days when Dherya was so close to him. What if things hadn’t turned out like this? What if they hadn’t gone apart? What if time went back to the moment when they chose to stay away from each other?

MJ was thinking the same, while somewhere else, Dherya was whispering the same wish in her heart.

Kiara remained unaware of what both of them were actually feeling.

...~•~...

...PAST...

Ringggggg… Ringggggg…

The school bell rang, and Dherya woke up from her sleep. For the past half an hour, she had been resting her head on the classroom desk, sleeping peacefully. MJ tapped her head lightly.

“Oye madam, wake up… or are you planning to spend the night here in school?”

“MJ, you came again to disturb me … go away from here, she has a headache, don’t disturb her,” Swati said. She was Dherya’s close friend. She knew that MJ liked Dherya, but both of them hadn’t realized it yet.

Dherya looked tired. She stared at Swati in a way that clearly showed she didn’t want MJ to know about her condition. But her friend betrayed her.

“Dherya, you have a headache? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Wait, I’ll take your bag. Did you take pills? Or is the headache too strong?”

“Relax, MJ, she’s fine after taking a long nap, right Dherya?” Swati said.

“Hm… MJ, give me back my bag.”

“No.”

“MJ… I’m warning you, give it back.”

“Let it stay with me. You’ll fall on the stairs if you carry such a heavy bag.”

“Wowww… lovers,” Swati teased.

Both MJ and Dherya gave her an annoyed look. MJ’s eyes stayed on Dherya, as if he was silently asking her something—did she feel the same for him as he did for her?

Dherya noticed his gaze. For a moment, everything felt weightless.

“Done? Shall we go home now? If we get late, my mom will beat me.”

“Oh yes, your mom will eat me alive too!” MJ said, fear clearly visible on his face.

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