Mohini Thakkar Solanki and Adhrit Solanki stood opposite to each other in front of the courtroom entrance, their lawyers standing behind them, waiting for them to move forward. It had been almost eight and a half months since Adhrit had slammed a divorce notice on Mohini. Three visits, multiple missed calls and ignored messages later, they were once again standing in front of each other.
As they stood in front of each other and looked at the eyes of their significant other, they could not help but lose themselves to the memories of years of togetherness they had, in which circumstances, relations and emotions changed but the eyes could still find the same emotions, one for the same person and another for someone other than the one standing in front.
"You are my very breath, Mohini. I cannot see my future without you. You are the epitome of love for me, the one who has taught me how to live, the one to quench the thirst of my soul. It feels as if I don't stand beside to support you, there is no meaning of my very existence," said the eighteen-year old Adhrit, proposing her for their marriage on the occasion of their graduation, rendering her speechless.
"Thank you, Adhrit. I love you too," she confessed, engulfing him in a bear hug.
The lack of poetic response from her had broken his teenage heart but only she was aware of the regret that splayed the memory for not expressing her love for him in a more exquisite manner and keeping his spirits up.
"Adhrit, I am being felicitated at an International Film Festival and am invited as the guest of honor. It is also my first event after marriage, so I thought it is only right that the first invitation of the event comes to you," she said, forwarding the beautiful invitation card towards him.
"Congratulations, Mohini. But I am sorry, I will not be able to make it. I have a meeting with a client," replied twenty-two-year-old Adhrit Solanki, who had setup a company of his own at the early age of twenty-one.
The lack of company from him when she had fought with everyone to get an invitation for him much earlier than others shattered her from within. The hushed whispers and the knowing looks she got when she arrived without her husband and a date for the night made her feel devastated.
It was the code that the guest of honor would have a date without fail but she had given that position to a man who refused it and she chose to not offer it to anyone else, respecting him and his decision but it was tough to not sway when the wind stood against you.
The look of disappointment on her face had haunted him for years but he only wanted to work his way to the pinnacle of success so that his wife would not see anyone but him as an achiever and her thirst for fame and status, as per him, would be quenched.
The heartbreaks they had endured till then were forgettable and forgivable but the bitterness which brewed in them due to the incidents made them commit mistakes they could never rectify or justify.
"My sincere condolences to you, Mohini. I am sorry, I was not able to make it," apologized a twenty-three-year-old Adhrit over the text as Mohini waited in the airport to catch her flight.
Storms ensued in her heart as the last words of her mother and the words of everyone present there haunted her. While her mother's unfulfilled wish ignited the spark of pain and the wish to sway in her, the taunts of her relatives and friends fueled it.
The one, who had not realized his folly when she had cried out in her last message while begging him to be by her side in trying times, how would he realize if she complains again? He would just tag her as nagging and distance himself from her completely but was it what she wanted? Absolutely not, since she cherished every moment she spent in his company and relished the way his gaze caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach even after years of togetherness.
"It's fine," she replied, sighing deeply as myriads of emotions took over as she told herself that she loves him beyond everything.
But was it enough to hold her walls high against the storm of depression which was surging towards her?
They never quite felt the same ever again in their relationship, both due to Mohini's pain regarding the incident and Adhrit's incapability to own up to his mistake and his inability to console her in the moment of dire need.
"What is this, Mohini?" questioned Adhrit, pointing to the magazine cover exploring her rumors and controversial side. For someone who had once hated her for being a reason for the pressure his family was inflicting on him to someone who went to fight with hers to make them agree for their marriage, cheating felt like the very last enemy to be fought.
"Just a part and parcel of my career, Adhrit," Mohini Thakkar, twenty-five years, answered, looking out of the window at the greenery.
How he wished that she took some time to look at her husband who yearned for one look of hers? And he knew that it was the same reason for which he could not think of separating himself away from her. The only consolation being that he felt like her refuge, the one she would always return to, irrespective of everything.
Both of them had been equally responsible for the undoing of their 'happy love marriage' but what stung the most was the not betrayal of their spouse but the fact that they had swayed away from the vow they had taken along with the seven sacred vows without the knowledge of single other soul, including the intended.
"Whatever affairs I had in the past were due to teenage hormones. I vow that you would be the only one in my life henceforth," she vowed, decked up in bridal finery, hoping that her husband would give her the love and affection she had missed from her father.
"No matter how busy I am, my topmost priority would always be you. I promise to upkeep your happiness irrespective of the situation," he promised, dressed as the charming groom, praying that his wife does not subject him to the pressure of standing up to her expectations.
Their vows and their wishes, both had broken, and it was the time that their relationship was going to be broken for once and for all.
A phone call, like always, pulled Adhrit's thoughts away from the woman standing in front of him. He did not need to be a mind reader to see that she was struggling to hide her tears, much like him.
"Adhrit, Neysa has gone into labor. You will have to be here very soon. She wants you to be by her side when she delivers," informed Swati, panic visible in her voice and the honks confirming that they were on the way to reach the hospital.
"I will be there right away," said Adhrit, disconnecting the call and strategizing how he could reach the fastest.
"What happened? Anything serious?" asked Mohini, concern lacing her shaky whisper.
"She, I mean the surrogate mother, has gone into labor. I need to reach there soon," replied Adhrit, looking into his phone as he searched for flights available, but it would be too late by the time he reached. An unknown surge to fulfill Neysa's wish developed in him as he was determined to do it at any cost.
"You can use my chartered plane. I will call it right away," offered Mohini, pulling her phone out with a genuine yet weak smile playing on her lips. They might have separated but his happiness would always give way for hers.
"Thank you very much. Tell me how can I return the favor? I will surely fulfill your condition," propositioned Adhrit, his tone formal and eyes cold and nonchalant much to Mohini's pain but she had her wish outlined much before he had asked.
"I want to see your baby, your dream being fulfilled after years and be privileged enough to share your happiness, even if it is for one last time.”