This is the fifth part in a 6 part fictional story series.
Everything in this story is purely imaginary with inspirations from real life.
Any resemblance to any person or occasion in real life is completely coincidental.
5. The Domino Effect
It took a long time for Miraa to register that Vasuki had made contact with her, after everything she had done to block all further contact from him, after their last meeting, when the pandemic and lockdown had set in.
Furthermore, it had been almost months since Miraa had even checked her own mail since she would usually get notified about assignments through her google classroom and would submit it through there and any other important information regarding classes would be passed through their groups. Why she chose today to open her email, she had no clue.
All these thoughts raced in her mind as she stared at the mail blankly, frozen in shock, her heart thumping furiously in her chest, her palms and feet sweating profusely, her stomach tumbling and her gut feeling queasy. Her anxiety and fear made her overthink tremendously and she, fearing that Vasuki might detect that she had opened his mails, immediately deleted them, sending them to the trash. She then proceeded to block his mail id, preventing his mails from reach her inbox, closed the browser, slammed down the laptop screen and jumped onto her bed, covering herself with her blanket, rolling into a bundle.
"What if he comes here, what if he comes home, what if he pushes away amma and does something to me.... oh God, Jesus, Baba, angels, please protect me! Please protect me!", she started praying and crying silently all at once, her entire body trembling, eventually lulling herself to sleep, tired out.
It seemed hardly a few minutes before a hand started shaking her, stating her name in a deep voice, dragging the covers off of her. She started, quickly sat erect, dragging all her pillows near her and cowered in fear, daring not to see the being that had shook her awake, fearing it to be him.
Silence reigned for a few moments before the voice again spoke her name, now in a softer tone, "Miru papa... Appa da...why are you so scared ma...its your dad....what happened darling?".
Never in a million years had Miraa imagined she would be spoken to by her father thus. Trying to cover up her shock, she mumbled something about being in deep sleep and soon diverted the topic to how he had come home so soon.
A year prior to the pandemic, Miraa's father had gotten a job in a major city which had offered a hefty salary, an opportunity which he had grabbed and had left Miraa in her mother's care. He at first seemed to have enjoyed his newfound 'bachelor life' as well as his job and while he sent Miraa's mother a part of his monthly salary regularly, he had never taken out the time to get to know how they were coping up without him or how Miraa's college life was. Sure, this suited Miraa to a T, since she never had a particularly loving connection with him but as the days went on, she had felt strangely miserable and even jealous when she saw how much the fathers of her classmates seemed to care for them, wanting that sort of comfort herself.
Her relationship with Vasuki had only worsened the ties with her father, since she, being glued to her phone, had stopped taking the calls her father would make to simply formally ask 'Is everything okay? Okay, then bye'. If she had missed her father's awkward and disturbing presence before, she had missed it even more then, since her mother too had gone after her job, leaving Miraa to feel lonely as never before, tied as she was then to her abusive relationship.
She vaguely recalled her mother telling her something about her father being in quarantine (the only time when she felt slightly concerned about him) and his immediate dismissal from the company, stranding him alone in the city unemployed, with him planning to return anytime soon.
It was apparent that even her mother had not anticipated his return, since just when her father was about to start talking of how he had arrived so soon, she too entered her room, mother and daughter staring at the father.
"How did you enter Kumar? I had locked the door!", was the first thing Miraa's mother demanded from the sheepish looking dad. He stared blankly at her, simply raising a key in his finger, stating meekly, "This is my home too.. I also have the keys Archana".
"Home you call it? After leaving both of us to enjoy your cushy city job? I was hoping you would have the courtesy to stay at a hotel instead of barging in here unannounced".
"I thought of surprising both of you Archu, that's all. Sorry for being an inconvenience", he replied, genuinely feeling sorry.
Now it was Miraa and Archana who stared at each other. This man, who had made their lives hell, was actually apologising, that too genuinely. Still feeling doubtful, but overcome with emotion, Archana suddenly ran towards Kumar and hugged him, breaking down, sobbing and whispering incoherently, "I thought you would have died, like the others, because of this disease.. thank God you are safe...I missed you so much darling".
Miraa internally cringed, as her parents seemed to be in a tight embrace, having never seen them so affectionate with each other and discreetly exited the room, ensuring to close the door after her.
'The pandemic brought out the best in them I guess', she thought to herself, going to the drawing room and saw the cartons and bags brought by her father, kept there. One heavy looking carton was marked with her name and she, curious to see its contents and expecting it to be something she hated, opened it. She was floored at what she saw, to say the least.
The box had her favourite chocolates, the latest model of a phone she had been eyeing, baggy and neutral toned T-shirts with matching cotton pants, a power bank, books upon books by her favourite authors (some even signed by the authors themselves, which she saw as she flipped through them), and even a sketch book. Miraa was shocked, since she knew very well she had never discussed her recent preferences with even her mother, let alone her father.
'What with me blocking Vasuki's mail id and my dad having bought all my favourite things, my world is flipping haphazardly', she thought to herself, hardly aware of the avalanche of unexpected events she was yet to experience.
After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, her parents came out of her room, hands intertwined and eyes looking dreamy. Miraa cleared her throat unnecessarily multiple times, to which her parents responded by stuffing her into their embrace, her father repeatedly crooning to her with his hands on her head, "My poor baby, my precious baby, what horrors have happened to you".
This tender care seemed like the magic that dissolved her defences. Miraa broke down, crying, half hugging and half holding her father, completely believing it to be a dream, incoherently mumbled, "I've always wanted this from you". The family of three sat together, huddled in the sofa, mumbling sweet nothings to each other. Eventually, Miraa seemed to wake from her daze, as she immediately backed away from her parents, distancing herself from them, crossed her arms defensively and blurted, "What is it this time ha? Some new technique you've learnt to keep us close to you and show all your anger later on? Because guess what, I won't let you. I'll fight you!"
Her mother Archana looked stunned, and father Kumar looked distraught. Miraa herself was shocked at her audacity, and immediately apologised in a choked voice, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I guess I deserve that and more", said Kumar, face drooping into his palms. Even as Archana tried to console him, Miraa stood her ground, determined not to rush to her father's rescue, determined to ask all her sharp questions and pour her 19 years of pent up frustration.
Kumar pushed away Archana gently, smiling, with glimmering eyes on the verge of tears, and said in a calm voice to Miraa, "Scold me darling .. please"
Caught off guard, Miraa observed him silently, weighing her options and finally deigned to say sarcastically, "Darling, am I?? From where did all this sudden rush of affection come? Definitely not from your heart, you obviously don't have one.. proved it enough to me... for all the years of my existence. You really think you're some hero to have escaped the disease and flown all the way till here to meet poor us? We don't need you, alright...we were peaceful without you. If you think you can buy my love with these gifts, I'd rather throw them away. You disgust me, father.", she acidly said, spitting out her last word through gritted teeth.
Archana impulsively stood up and looked like she was lunging to grab Miraa, but Kumar stopped her, pulling her down, patting her hands. "Go on Miraa", he said encouragingly.
If Miraa had had any form of self control before, she lost it entirely now.
Feeling humoured, blinded by rage, she overturned the contents of the carton with all her force, turning it upside down, scattering its contents all over the room. She then went on to pick each and every item bought for her and aimed them at her father, punctuating each throw with a bellow of "YOU. WERE. NEVER. THERE. FOR. ME, YOU HYPOCRITE! EVERY. SINGLE. THING. WAS ABOUT YOU."
Having exhausted things to throw, Miraa did a rude impression of her mother, as she mimicked her in a baby voice, "Appa won't like it Miraa, don't cry. Don't be so sensitive in life Miraa, appa won't like it. Don't talk back Miraa, appa will get angry. Don't sing Miraa, appa is sleeping. Don't jump Miraa, appa gets irritated"
"Appa, appa, APPA, APPA... every single thing was about YOU. Ever thought about me? You fathered me right, when have you ever been a father to me? huh? Ever asked me what I actually like? Ever asked me what I actually want to do in life? NEVER. It was all about YOU and YOUR interests. Stuffing me with the things I hate, forcing me to do things I dislike... where do you think it lead me to huh? What sort of example were you to me huh? I GOT INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH A MANIPULATIVE ABUSER OKAY? WHY YOU ASK? BECAUSE YOU TAUGHT ME THAT I SHOULD ACCEPT ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR AS NORMAL BEHAVIOUR! "
"You are such a twisted, foul, evil person that I CANNOT WAIT to get done with college and get away from you. I HATE YOU AND I AM ASHAMED TO BE YOUR DAUGHTER"
Miraa ended her rant, standing defiantly, as though waiting for her father to scold or hit her. She knew she had spoken disrespectfully but she didn't care, not anymore. She felt lighter, as though a load had been taken off her heart and felt ready to face anything now.
Her father Kumar, sat quite still in the sofa, motioning only to restrain a visibly agitated Archana, who looked livid and anxious, since Miraa seemed to have spoken words that had triggered an easily angered Kumar.
The tensed silence continued for a while, till Kumar broke it by softly whispering, "Archana told me what you've been through papa. If I had known that taking up therapy would have prevented you from encountering such a danger, I would have taken it up when it was offered to me, Miraa."
"Kumar no, she doesn't need to know this", whispered Archana.
"She does Archu. She needs to know.", Kumar softly replied.
Turning to Miraa, he continued, "Miraa, when I was your age, my mother died suddenly. She was my only source of comfort and the only person who would bear with my behaviour, since my father was a strict disciplinarian and didn't know how to talk to me and didn't attempt to have a bond with me. He felt his duty was only to earn and provide for the family and that it was the lady's duty to care for the children. He had very little self control and would enter rages easily. The only time he managed to behave himself was when he was with his clients and with our extended family.
He never approved of me, since I was a stubborn child, not as submissive as my brother and my father didn't like that in me. He favoured my submissive brother, allowing him and only him to handle the family business, since I was known to be short tempered with very little self control.... I would obviously ruin the chances of getting any new client or keeping up the existing ones. I knew it was fair, but I felt belittled and discriminated.
Rajesh, my brother, was a natural leader and businessman. I attempted to show him up in earnings by dabbling in the easy share market and I incurred heavy losses, most of which was paid for by my brother. I felt humiliated.
And to top it all off, I didn't have a job when I was betrothed to Archu. The entire family was gossiping about me and how I had managed to hoodwink Archu's family into agreeing for the proposal. That shame from the family....that constant disapproval from my father, who I never managed to please, drove me insane.
That's when Archu entered my life. She was the only person who felt like my mother to me, so I would show all my frustrations on her. She too, rebelled like you did and that's when I told her why I was behaving like that. She understood me and even went behind my back to consult a therapist to help me. I was furious when I realised she had told everything about me to a third person therapist and I felt ashamed that now someone else knew what I desperately wanted to hide about me.
I was offered therapy. I didn't take it up, feeling ashamed that I had to go down to such a level. I ran away from my shame and my fears. I suppressed my emotions. I tried to act cold in an attempt to fool the world that nothing could get to me. When you were born, it felt like a new chance at life. I was determined to be a better father than mine. I did try my best to be a good father but I failed. I just repeated what my father did, to you and to my Archu.
I am so sorry for what I have done"
Miraa heard his story, feeling empathy for his trauma, but she had her doubts. She asked her father, this time respectfully, "But why choose to tell it now? Why not keep your shame covered up instead of revealing it to me? What is the reason?"
Kumar replied with a bowed head, "Because... you needed to know... why I was like that... because I had to confess the reason behind my sins, if I could ever think of getting your forgiveness"
"TELL ME THE TRUTH KUMAR.", Miraa angrily screamed, sensing his lies, determined to find out the bottom reason, giving up all attempts at polite behaviour.
It was pathetic to see the man she once used to fear cower under her stern gaze and even more pathetic to see the two of them bow their heads down in utter guilt. Her father replied in a barely audible whisper, "Because I went through the same thing I put you two through at my job. Nothing I ever did was enough for my boss. He would constantly scream at me and take me for granted, insinuating in various ways of what a pathetic employee I was and how he expected better performance. He would squeeze every last bit out of me, yet I remained blindly loyal to him. When I had contacted the disease and was put under quarantine, he didn't think twice before sacking me. Those 14 days of isolation, brought out all my suppressed emotions and bitter memories and all I could think of was you two. And it became very clear to me that I had been doing the exact same to you. The guilt... the remorse I felt...tortured me. It was unimaginably overwhelming. I just wanted to die from shame"
Miraa smirked, feeling gratified as she listened to his tale. "Finally had a taste of your own medicine, have you... good to know.", she said, her eyes catching the cover of the book she had thrown at him previously, now lying face down on the floor, its spine broken with the force of her throw.
"Why the gifts then? Thought of buying me back? And how did you know these were what I had wanted?"
"I wanted to come back, but I wanted to bring some evidence that I had changed or at least was trying to change since I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's why I bought you those books and chocolates", he replied, barely able to cover up his sadness at the rampage his offerings had been through.
"You still haven't answered me. I have never told anyone at all of my interests in these things. I only have their pictures in my phone. Bugged my phone too now, have you? Don't you and mom have any sense of decency or respect for another person's privacy? She shamelessly goes through my personal affairs and you do too... how wonderful", Miraa spat, the disgust at her parent's behaviour evident in her face and her voice.
"Please don't think so horribly of us Miraa... and no, I didn't bug your phone. I just observed your display pictures and statuses in WhatsApp. You would change them to certain books, chocolate brands, clothing styles or whatever else pleased you at that time. Now please don't mistake me for being creepy, I was only trying to figure out your likes and preferences! After I knew for sure whichever things you liked, I ordered them. It was the least I could do to make up for all my years of lousiness"
Miraa outwardly facepalmed, muttering something about having forgotten to block her parents from her statuses and internally softened her attitude. So this person did care for her after all. But she wasn't done yet.
She now turned to her mother, who visibly quivered under her frown.
"What was your reason, for letting me go through the hell that your husband created in our house? Wanted revenge for how he had treated you? Wanted to see me suffer as you had suffered? Tell me."
Miraa's mother couldn't bear it anymore and started sobbing noisily, as she tried to put together words, failing entirely. This triggered Miraa, as she, feeling in her element and feeling next to no sympathy for the vulnerable state in which her mother was, acidly told her, "Don't be so sensitive in life amma... how are you going to face the world when you grow older huh?", making her mother cry even more, her father silently putting his arms around her.
"How does it feel mom? TELL ME. Feels good right... to poke someone in their weak points and to stamp on them when they feel low...feels good right? TELL ME NOW, how does it feel??", Miraa peppered her mother, sarcasm laced in her voice.
Archana pathetically put her shaking palms together, her eyes now puffy and red, tears rolling down her cheeks, the sobbing sounds dead.
She eventually spoke in a barely audible whisper, "It was a new city, your dad had no job, he vented his frustrations on me, I felt cornered, I felt like I had nobody to support me, then you would come to me in your teary state... and I just....I just wanted to keep up the peace...what with your father screaming and you crying...it was so overwhelming...I found no other way ... it was just easy to...ask you to shut up...than to handle you....I'm so sorry..."
"Fine, then what about when I had grown up and you found out about my affair? Would any mother blackmail her daughter by saying that she would marry her off to someone if she didn't behave properly? Honestly, do you even know how to handle children? Can you even try to understand how much it would have scarred me? Or how it would have ensured that I never ever came with my problems to you, since you had proved to me that you were only going to shame me for them?"
Archana felt slightly enraged at being addressed so, but being in no fit state to retaliate, she mumbled something about discipline and correcting behaviours. Kumar held Archana tenderly in his hold, not daring to look at Miraa.
Miraa mentally noted how cute they two looked as a couple, her heart melting at that sight. Now feeling remorse for her careless behaviour, she silently went up to her parents, squatted down to their level and said childishly, "I think we're all even now... and I'm sorry for my stupid behaviour."
Her father nodded in understanding, having never once raged during her highly triggering tirade, and patted her head. Miraa got up and returned to her room, locking the door behind her.
Feeling numb under the weight of all the new revelations, she mechanically reopened her system and stared at the open screen. Something inside her made her go back to her emails, to the trash box, clicking onto Vasuki's mails. And before she knew it, she was reading through the rubbish he had written about her. It was actually a string of consecutive mails, each spaced sporadically apart in time frames, with some having mere hours between them, while others had weeks. He had started mailing her the day after their last meeting, which was, to Miraa's memory, 2 months back.
Some mails were nauseatingly sycophantic poems, describing his longing to eat ice cream with her in the cold rains of her street, along with screenshots of their previous chats, cropped only to show Miraa's loving texts which she had written a long time ago to him.
Others were outright autocratic in nature, demanding Miraa to come back to him. Most were apology emails, either apologising for sending nonsense or apologising for his inability to control his longing for his girl. One mail in particular caught her eyes. It went so:
Hello madam.
I am not talking to the stubborn item Miraa, who is not my girl. I am talking to my wife Miraa, who wholeheartedly said she would change her flaws to be the girl I expected her to be.
Mrs Vasuki, can't you understand what we have done together? We have had a very intense relationship and hence I am responsible for you and it is my duty to be with you as your partner. Didn't I say I would accept you in spite of all your flaws?
Even when you narrated about your past, my beatings were only to correct you, since your parent's had not done it for you, hence I took up the responsibility. Can't you see the love behind my scolding and my slaps? Then when you confessed you had done nothing like that, I lost all trust in you, yet I persevered... only for that loving heart always beating for me, inside my lovely girl.
I overcame all obstacles only for you!! I took up a job near our college just to be with you!! And see what it has done for me. I came behind you, determined to keep our relationship intact, and I ended up losing my job performance! My career itself has been spoilt because of YOU, your highness. You will say yes one day and no another, do you expect me to play these games? Miraa why can't you understand that we are beyond that! Why can't you just come to me?
See, I know your number and your parent's numbers, yet I never called you during this time. Why? Because I didn't want to disturb you my darling. This is your last chance Miraa. Come to me. If you leave me, you will lose on so many things! That loving family, that secure life, those wonderful childrens....yesssss Miraa I will give them to you! In fact the next time we meet, I am planning to talk with your parents and take you away from them. I don't care about your education, it is secondary. Your happiness is primary to me. You are mentally unstable now. You will become alright if you are with me and only me. Come to me baby...let us be happy!!
Thanks and Regards,
Vasuki
Miraa fought the urge to vomit, her body shaking in pure and utter disgust.
She opened a word document and impulsively wrote every single thing that flew through her fingers, uncensored. She then took deep breaths, calming herself, and read through the words she had written, taking care to ensure each and every word conveyed exactly what she wanted to tell him, asserting her right to self respect, pointing out his hypocritic, abusive, disrespectful behaviour, the inconsistencies in his promises, how she would rather die than be with a cockroach like him and his generally disgusting, manipulative character which hid a lousy person beneath that mask.
She read through it twice, feeling satisfied that if he ever read it, he would want to kill himself out of utter humiliation. Copying the text, she drafted a reply to Vasuki and sent it. She then went on to unblock his address, expecting to never hear back from him.
Her screen notified her of a reply from Vasuki, hardly minutes after she had sent her scathing reply.
There were just a few words in it. "Few truths and complete lies in your reply". This was followed by another extensive mail, which mostly contained a long, boring vent about how horrible a person Miraa was, how Vasuki had tried his best to correct her bad attitude into a good one, how he had finally accepted that it was impossible to transform a slut into a pure person and on the whole, how much he had lost in his life because he had chased her. The email ended with him giving her advise on how she should behave with her future husband.
Miraa felt enraged for a moment and paused. A deep laugh started from her throat, making her stomach clench and soon, she was rolling on her chair, laughing. He still thought he was right in what he had done, he still felt he was in a position to advice Miraa, he still was shamelessly coming behind her, with absolutely no speck of self respect, after everything she had explicitly mentioned in her response email! Miraa continued laughing helplessly, taking heaving breaths in intervals, finally calming herself.
"Good riddance to you, you snake.... at least I can move on now...I've let go of you completely"
She deleted their mails, blocked him once again from her emails and went to the bathroom to wash her face, feeling relieved. As she closed the door, she felt the familiar presence of her once hated companion Past. Quite out of habit, she started speaking to it.
"Hey Past... guess what... this madness runs in the family... never knew dad had gone through so much trauma.... or that mom had put up with it for so long....well now though, I feel relieved. Its at least an open book now.. where we know what each other has done. That's a good place to start over, isn't it?
"Yes of course Miraa.. I wish you good luck.
And I'm here to say good bye, since I am no longer needed now."
"Huh what? Dude no! I kinda like you...I've learnt so much from you...and...oh well...I can't force you to stay... but I'll miss you!", Miraa genuinely said, as she tried to look around for the form containing its voice, finally locating it.
"Thank you Miraa", Past said with tears rolling down its face. It looked positively glowing, radiating light like rays of sunshine from its aura. The light was not dazzling but looked warm, comforting yet magnificent, akin to an early morning sun.
"Past?! Wow you look, well, gorgeous to say the least!", Miraa said genuinely, her eyes filled with a compassionate love for the keeper of her secrets.
"Is it too much for me to ask for a hug?", Past asked shyly.
"Anything for you my lovely angel! Anything", Miraa responded, arms extended.
Past glided towards her and they both embraced. Miraa felt it, feeling wrapped in a warm, nurturing, happy energy, akin to how one feels wrapped up in a warm blanket on a comfortable bed after a tiring day of work. As she opened her eyes, she felt its energy merging into hers.
She was at peace, at long last, with her Past.
Now feeling empowered, she intuitively knew what she had to do next.
She went back to the drawing hall, where her parents had tidied up the place, putting back the contents of the carton. Her father still looked wary of her, her mother slightly terrified but both of them seemed to have had some much needed conversations, since they seemed to be ready to tell her something.
Kumar said, "Miraa, we have provided you food, shelter and funding, which are bare essentials. We haven't done anything much to connect with you after that and we are sorry for our behaviour. I understand what disastrous consequences you had to face because of our role in your upbringing and it kills me to know the level of loneliness you would have experienced, if it made you ignore all red flags and fall in love with an abuser. Me and amma are planning to go for psychotherapy and couple counselling, to ensure we clean up our act at least from now on. Will you be okay with it? You are our absolute top priority and we want to be better parents to you"
Miraa looked surprised, since this was exactly what she had meant to suggest to her parents. Still doubtful, she asked him, "Urm... but what will people say? Wasn't it a thing of shame for you? I mean, are you really okay with being the butt of gossip when our relatives eventually get to know of this?"
"The relatives can go stuff their faces for all I care. We want to be better parents and that's that."
"Then we can go as a family. I'm joining as well. We three seem so twisted that its better we all go into this together. At least it'll feel like something we have in common"
"I think there is a lot more we have in common than meets the eye. But we're in this together right?"
"Yes appa.... just don't hug amma in front of me, makes me feel very wierd", Miraa replied jokingly.
"Hugging isn't the only thing your dad is good at", interjected her mom, batting her eyelids at him.
Miraa cringed openly and ran into her room, hearing her parents laugh heartily behind her.
Her dad soon brought the carton of her things into her room, telling her, "You are a gift Miraa... and these are some pretty intensely spiritual books. You are so precious to me baby. I hope I can prove how much I love you, every day if possible. I am sorry for giving you a horrible standard with which you measured men."
Miraa hugged her dad, telling him, "I know how much you love me... and lets take it one step at a time shall we? Right now, I'm searching for good online counsellors"
"Remember that therapist your mom went to, thinking she was helping me? Well, that lady is still practising and we thought of going to her. But if you don't prefer that, we can go with whatever your choice is."
"I never knew how thoughtful you could be. We'll search dad.. till we find one who suits us"
And so started her inner journey of self love and self acceptance.
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, but time seemed inconsequential to Miraa, who tirelessly worked on healing herself, introspecting regularly, spending hours meditating, journaling, pouring love into her own cup and having her online therapy session along with her parents every weekend with a fitting family therapist she had managed to find online.
There were days where the family struggled, days where wounds unexpectedly showed up, days that were too overwhelming and days that made Miraa want to give up on everything. The fear of attracting Vasuki into her life once again and her own drive to be a better person, motivated her to plow on at such testing times, as a mere reminder of the pain she had underwent was assurance to her that the pain of change was much better than the pain of the past events.
She and her dad were slowly working on becoming best friends and yet, there were times when the bond was too much to bear. It was at these times, through many mistakes, that Miraa realised it was better to rest, recharge and continue. Resting was not quitting, she knew that. Miraa and her mother had a much easier time in reconstructing their bond, guided by their therapist in the best way to do so. She finally felt like she belonged to a family.
She tried her best to manage her studies side by side and it got easier to handle as the days passed by. It seemed that the work she had done internally was reflecting on her reality externally, as she got all the help she needed and was able to focus much better on the classes that interested her. As for the ones that she didn't like, well she had enough confidence in her abilities to scrape through them.
She still hoped, hope against hope, that she would meet "The One" for her, being as much as a hopeless romantic as she discovered her father to be. Sometimes her intention to change was only to attract her next love into her life. She had a knowing that would gnaw at her, repeatedly telling her that there was someone out there, just for her, a feeling which Miraa had learnt to accept and ignore, knowing it was going to take a long time before anything of that sort happened.
Being locked up at home didn't give her much dating opportunities and she sometimes would feel lonely. At those times, she would creep into her parent's bed, where she would be warmly hugged by her dad, now a much more changed person.
She felt happy at the state of her family, but that of her lost friends, she was worried. Self doubt ate her up and she spent days in deep thought. Would her friends accept her again, after what she had done, in taking them for granted, abandoning them and betraying their trust?
Could she even attempt to breach that no-man's land and try to approach them? She had tried, a few months back, to get back with her old friend, who was rightfully angry at her behaviour and had rebuked her. Fearing rejection in her vulnerable state where she knew it would sting, Miraa had backed off, deciding to not disturb them after that.
Just when she had come to terms that it might be a long time before they even spoke again, her phone buzzed with a text. Mechanically unlocking it, her eyes froze and her heart jumped out of her chest when she saw the contact. It was a message from her old friend, Vineeth.
