A/N : Hello fam, so I am back with a little Eid gift for you guys! I am not sure when I will write a full fiction on AnuPre next, but I have these musings on their star-crossed love and this is where I am going to put them together for you guys!

Happy Reading! Please tell me how this was!

A.

***

I sat there by the bank of the Ganges as I waited for her to meet me, she was running ten minutes late, by the clock. I smiled to myself, when was this woman ever on time?

We could meet at some fancy restaurant too, but we both were eminent business tycoons and rivals in Calcutta, we had spouses warring with each other and us, well we could kill to snatch tenders from each other too! What joins us, you may wonder?

Well, there is this invisible thread that binds us from the time we laid eyes on each other, during Durga Puja all those years back - and another, our bundle of joy, Sneha.

"Anurag?" her clear and confident voice broke through my reverie, as I looked to my right. She had arrived. I was seeing her after a couple of months today - as in, really seeing her, outside the corporate backdrop where we are at loggerheads every other day.

The woman standing before me today was Prerna, not the feisty Mrs. Bajaj.

She swiftly glanced around once to ensure no one, not even our body-guards were around, then she settled in the seat next to me, much in her business-like way.

"What's wrong?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me. I smiled.

"I am feeling very restless today" I replied, in a small voice, waiting for her to admonish me.

"So?" she asked, after a few seconds of holding my eyes fixed in her sharp gaze; she sounded slightly softer.

"That's why I wanted to see you. I needed to." I replied back, looking down at my hands, not meeting her eyes.

There was silence.

"You can't do this, Anurag; you can't keep misusing my promise." she sighed, gone was her crispiness of voice. I looked up at her with vulnerable eyes. It's true, we weren't together anymore.

She had chosen Mr. Bajaj long back, she had chosen him to honour his feelings for her, it was her way of paying him back for taking care of her & Sneha for all those years when I wasn't there. I had chosen to respect her decision. I had kept my marriage intact with Komolika too, there was no love in our nest, we both knew it - for her, it was the sweet victory of winning Anurag Basu, the one guy who didn't pay heed to her and for me, I was in it for Diya - I was already a terrible father to Sneha, I didn't want to disappoint Diya too.

"I know, Prerna. I just wanted to be with you for a little while; for respite" I mumbled looking back at her soul-piercing eyes. When Prerna and I had parted ways, back in the day, I was shattered. I knew she was starting life with a man she at least trusted, for me it was going back to hell and burning for the rest of eternity; I had no out, but I had to live for my responsibilities.

Seeing my state, Prerna had promised me one thing. She had told me, if I ever lose it all, and I needed one wall at least, behind me to rest on, I should call her, and she will come to me and be that wall holding me up, till I could get back up on my feet - but I should call her only when there is no out, it was to be my last lifeline.

I had agreed.

It was my only hope, Prerna wasn't going away completely.

However, over the years I couldn't honour my bargain; I couldn't use Prerna as my last resort. Time and again I needed her near me, before my eyes, as my Prerna, not Mrs. Bajaj and I have exploited my open promise. Over the years every time I sent her a blank text - a relic of her blank promise, she came to meet me.

Everytime I disappointed her, because I wasn't going through anything colossal, I just needed to see her, be around her, feel her presence.

Everytime she admonished me for misusing her promise, but even then when I texted next time, she turned up.

Maybe every time I texted her, she felt, this was a real call for help, this time?

I found respite in the fact that however far away she was from me, this action of hers' pacified me showing I still owned her heart, there was no one there, not even Mr. Bajaj.

Maybe she secretly thanked me for exploiting her, so that even in idealistic denial, she could come visit me and get the same peace that she longed for?

"Anurag, I don't know what to say anymore" she whispered, looking ahead at the vastness of the river before us.

"Just tell me, will you keep coming to visit me every time I ask you to, like this?" I asked expectantly, that's all assurance we were capable of giving each other at this point, that was all that was left of us.

She looked at me with her sincere eyes, that was now carefully crafted to hide all her feelings for me and said, "I will stand by my promise Anurag, I will come every time you beckon me"

***

Until next time!

Love, 

A.