Metro City Love Part 5 (The Finale)

20th December Present day,

It was the last thing Tashren wanted to hear. It was clear that her chaotic mind was unable to comprehend the torturous amount of information being heaped on her tired, little shoulders. She sat on Kaval's humongous bed, trying to contain the monstrous anxiety and grief trying to crawl its way out of her ribcage. Her wide dark brown eyes locked with Kaval's steely grey ones and she felt the ground disappear from underneath her. But the invisible bond they were sharing was too intense, too nerve-wracking for her to continue it. For this irrational love of her had been diagnosed with 1st stage cancer just a few hours before and it still felt like God was playing the cruellest tricks with her.

To seek solace, she looked away from the gorgeous creature at the foot of the bed and stared into the nocturnal skyline across the enchanting beaches of Pulau Tioman. The scenario, however, took her back to the memorable days spent on the white shorelines with Kaval; the careless laughter and the tantalizingly beautiful smiles that were emblazoned on her mind and tattooed on her heart. Soon, she felt unbidden tears stinging her eyes, blurring her vision. But she couldn't let Kaval see her fall to pieces, at least not when she was supposed to transform into his backbone and support him through those incredibly hard times. So she crawled out of bed, pulling on one of Kaval's favourite Nike shirts to put on; but how could she hide her naked fear for the star crossed lover? Before Kaval could wrap his strong arms around her and pull her close to his warm body so that she could safely breakdown, she ran past him into the ultra-modern living room.

By the time she reached the mini bar that offered all kinds of alcoholic beverages right in his apartment, Tashren's tears were flowing relentlessly. She couldn't deal with it. How could she? For he was the first man she had ever loved without conditions, the only religion she was willing to get on her knees for. She wasn't ready to let go of him because she was terrified. She was terrified of breathing without him for she had built her world around Kavaldip Singh, the demonic angel who had stolen her wretched heart. With a tumbler of amber brandy, she walked over to the glass wall on the west side and dropped to the floor.  She could let go of herself now. Wet sobs wrecked her bruised soul but she soon covered her mouth to muffle the sounds; she didn't want Kaval to see the defeat and the despair. Not yet. Tashren was so absorbed in her own misery that she couldn't see the seductive and elegant yet weak panther approaching her.

"Hey, you silly little girl. Stop crying, please, because your precious tears cannot change the inevitable end. But you and I are going to make it through the dark and reach the light, okay? It's hard for me to even think that I could ever be the reason for your tears. Baby, I  love you so so much. Please don't make it harder for me, I feel like a  sinner. If there's another world after death, I promise I'd always keep loving you. But I need you to make a promise too, would you keep it?" Tashren stood absolutely dumbstruck as Kaval spoke out the words pulling her onto his lap.

"Anything for you.", Tashren spoke out with a sobbing voice.

Kaval spoke out his most predictable wish while wiping out Tashren's tears with his soft, but cold hand. "Baby, promise me you would not stop living. Promise me, you would start afresh. Promise me you would stay happy. Promise me you would find someone who deserves you maybe more than me. Promise me you'd forget..." and before he could complete this sentence, Tashren's fingers pressed his lips and he instantly knew he had to shut up.

"Please, we had a deal to keep one promise. I'm seeing you are actually taking advantage of the situation. I-Can-Never-Forget-You. Not  in my wildest imagination."

"ok ok, I promise, even if I die, even if I'm gone, I'll stay right here and haunt you because I love you beyond a mad man's imagination.  Listen, marry me. Let me love you forever. Let me give you our little  infinity within my limited time." Kaval stared intensely but Tashren just giggled despite the dire state.

'Okay'

''I vow to continue loving you for better and for worse, till death do us apart."

"I vow to just love you. Don't expect too much." Tashren said in mock indifference which made Kaval laugh in the most enchanting way possible.  She added, "And I vow to bring our child to this world and make him or her the kindest of human ever. Just like his or her daddy." And as she said that, a teardrop appeared at the corner of her eyes while Kaval stood thunderstruck.

"You...Ahh... You are expecting? Kaval?" The delight in those metallic grey eyes didn't know its bounds. Tashren shyly nodded her head.

"Now, by the power invested in me by the gorgeous wife and my unborn, I pronounce us man and wife. May I kiss my bride?"

"You may."

Kaval leaned in and kissed her chastely on her plum lips, connecting his frayed existence to her equally tattered one. It was then that she realized that maybe existing wasn't such a bad thing if she could stay with him. For she held everything she wanted right in her hands; her happy ending.

"Be with someone who can love you wildly not only behind the locked doors but in front of the whole damn world. Someone that accepts you with all his or her heart."

In loving memory and dedicate to my Late Aunt Jagjit Kaur who helped me with these stories, your love and present will be always cherished with love.

(The End.)...