A Star-Crossed Love Story

Shalini didn't have to put much effort to be part of the Oberoi family. Her smile and big heart were enough to make them accept her as part of the family. The family didn't forget or replace Prakash's first wife, Maya with someone else after Shalini married Prakash. They loved Maya equally as they loved Shalini but they couldn't still understand why Maya and Prakash's relationship soured. Shalini was never the reason for their relationship to turn sour. Their relationship was already broken before Shalini arrived in Prakash's life. Prakash and Maya's love story was a fairytale one but like most broken couples, they never accepted the flaws of each other. They put their egos before each other. They never cleared their misunderstandings and their differences drifted them apart. This affected Shiv more who only saw Prakash's fault and was blinded by his mother's love. When she died, he never forgave his dad or accepted Shalini as his mother. When Prakas...

**** 5 Years Later ***  18 May 2023 London It seemed like a beautiful dream. The sun was setting down. The sky was pinkish orange colour. A cool breeze blew momentarily while the birds chirped goodbye songs to their friends as they flew back home. Her eyes twinkled and her skin glowed like the sun as she smiled at him. He was lost in the moment. He had found peace in her company. He didn't want this moment to pass. He wanted to hold it forever. He walked closer towards him and he felt sparks flying between them. He closed his eyes briefly and at last realized it was indeed a beautiful dream that had ended.  He stretched his arms to brush off the sleep. He tried to open his eyes to stare at his large bedroom. It was dark. The automatic curtain opener app was timed to open the curtains at 7am and there were still a few minutes for the clock to strike 7. He started towards the right side of his bed where his white girlfriend, Tina Shields was sleeping soundly. Suddenly he came ba...

  Nithya sat with her eyes staring down blankly at the table.  Her cheeks had reddened due to excessive crying. As her mind was lost in thoughts, she did not realise her brother, Anish, had already taken place next to her. He did not speak. He was waiting for her to compose. There were things she did not understand - why she wept whilst in a stranger's arms or why she felt lost in his big green eyes or why she felt she found heaven in his arms and the most important question was why she felt guilt engulf her when she got news of her fiance and her best friend’s death.  Pain caused by the ones you consider closed ones hurts you the most. It takes time to heal but the scar is still there to remind you of the pain. And on that unfateful night, she had visited her fiance’s house to surprise him only to witness him making out with her best friend. She was devastated and heartbroken. Her world came crumbling down. They became aware of her presence. They tried to seek her forgiv...

 Bangalore 19th Oct 2018 Shiv asked his driver to stop at a brightly lit cafe on Mysore highway. His driver was surprised at his master’s strange request to stop at the cafe. He has been driving the car for him for the past few days and the only places he has taken him were the office, home and clubs. Anyway, he was supposed to follow orders, not question his master’s request. That was one of the instructions given to him by a man who called himself his master’s right hand.   Shiv was already in an inebriated state. He took a tiny sip from his stainless steel 8 oz whiskey flask while he almost tripped as he got out of the car. He stared at the string light decoration outside the cafe. It reminded him of fond memories of his mum. She would have loved it if she was here. The cool October breeze and outdoor cafes with lighting like this always made her happy. Tiny things like these made her happy. Only if his dad knew his mum well and never broke her heart, she would have be...