"Alan, I trust you," she said, looking straight into his eyes. It had been his honesty that had first drawn her to him all those years ago. They had nothing if they didn't trust each other.

Alan's heart swelled with a mixture of disbelief and overwhelming emotion. Leaning in, he tenderly brushed his lips against hers. As he pulled back, his eyes searched her face, hoping to catch a glimmer of hope. Despite the sorrow that lingered in her gaze, he was undeterred. With a gentle devotion that spoke volumes, he leaned in again, his lips softly caressing hers.

Her eyelids fluttered closed, as if surrendering to the tenderness he offered.

His fingers traced delicate patterns up and down her arm. The sweetness of their kisses, like the petals of a rose, carried his affection. And amidst these soft exchanges, his voice, barely louder than a breath, he said, "I love you. You are everything to me."

When she opened her eyes, they were moist again. "We'll figure this out together, okay?" said Fiza.

Alan nodded. He knew she was still hurting, but she had chosen to trust him, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Faisal, who was heading towards the bathroom, turned around to look at Fiza. As their eyes met, he opened his mouth to say something but shook his head and went into the bathroom.

Faisal had noticed that Alan had spent a lot of nights outside the apartment. When Fiza had called him about Alan's whereabouts, he had asked his intern, Maya, if she had heard anything about Alan. She had told him that her friend Aishwarya had been telling everyone at the girls' hostel that they were involved with each other. Faisal hadn't had the heart to tell Fiza.

He had, however, overheard parts of their conversation last night. Putting the pieces together, it sounded like Fiza had found out about this, and Alan seemed to have convinced her that he was innocent. Faisal firmly believed that Fiza connected more with him than Alan. He believed he could offer her a better future than Alan could. He felt that she was trapped and that he needed to save her, but he didn't know how.

Alan's phone buzzed. Fiza read the name on the screen and let out a small whimper. The sound shook Alan's heart. In an attempt to show her that he was going to be completely open with her, he gave the phone to her to do as she pleased.

Fiza opened the message, it read:
"Is she okay?"

Alan, who was reading over her shoulder, was confused.

Fiza responded to the text, "No."

A few minutes later, the phone buzzed again:
"I didn't mean to hurt her."

Fiza looked at Alan in question, but his face mirrored her confusion.

"I just wanted to hurt you the way you hurt my sister."

Fiza handed the phone over to Alan.

"Who is your sister?" typed Alan. He wouldn't be surprised if he had hurt one of the girls he had slept with, but it had always been consensual.

"You honestly don't recognize me?" she had typed. Her messages came in quicker now.

"I was there when you were fucking her. You had tied her to the bed. Our parents weren't home."

A vivid memory formed in Alan's mind.

"I walked into our room and my sister asked me to leave. You saw me, but you didn't stop hurting her. I hid in the bathroom. I heard her screams."

Fiza read the message. She didn't want to believe that he had hurt someone else. But she then remembered the night he had entered her out of anger. She shuddered.

"You are Aarthy's sister?" typed Alan. He couldn't believe this. His past would never leave him.

"You were with her for two years. What did you do to her? Do you know that she tried to kill herself?"

Alan's eyes widened in shock. He called Aishwarya, but she declined his call. Aarthy had told him over and over that he had meant nothing to her. It didn't make sense.

Panic surged through Alan's veins as his fingers fumbled across his phone, desperately scrolling through his contacts for Aarthy's number.

Fiza's very existence seemed to blur in his peripheral vision as his singular focus was the digits on his screen. With trembling hands, he called Aarthy's number, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

Amidst the cacophony of thoughts crashing in his mind, the phone finally connected. But instead of the familiar voice he anticipated, the jarring cry of a baby pierced the airwaves. A man's voice, unknown and disorienting, broke through the chaotic symphony in his head with a hesitant "Hello?"

"Hi! Can I speak to Aarthy?" he asked tentatively.

"Aarthy is busy. You talk to me. I'm her husband," his words dripped with menace.

Alan found himself grappling for words, a sudden tightness in his throat robbing him of his ability to respond.

Fiza sensed his struggle and took the phone from his trembling hand. "We are from Heartland jewelry company," she began, her voice steady despite the tension that hung in the air, "We are going to give our limited edition bracelets to 5 lucky winners in Bangalore. We are calling to confirm if you are located in Bangalore."

"We are in Udupi," he answered, a sliver of relaxation seeping into his tone.

The disconcerting cries of the baby still resounded in the background, accompanied by the gentle cadence of a female voice speaking Kannada, tenderly trying to pacify the child.

Yet, it was the sound of her voice that held him captive, a haunting specter from his past that had manifested itself in the present. His thoughts raced like a tempest, an intricate web of memories interwoven with the present moment, leaving him utterly speechless.

"Thank you," Fiza's voice broke the silence on the phone. "You unfortunately do not qualify for the prize."

"Udupi is just 20 minutes away," she said softly, her voice a beacon of reassurance as she ended the call. Turning her gaze to him, she found a sight she'd never witnessed before. His countenance, usually marked by strength, was now etched with fear.

Cupping his face tenderly in her hands, Fiza's touch soothed his apprehension. "I'm right here with you, no matter what," she declared, her eyes holding a promise that transcended everything else.

Just then, they received a text from Aarthy.
"Meet me at Bhujanga Park playground."

"When?" typed in Fiza. It was better to get this over with than draw it out, she thought.

"When can you come?" Aarthy responded at once.

"We can be there in 30 minutes," typed Fiza.

"I'll see you there," responded Aarthy.

"I can't do it," Alan's voice was a gentle whisper, carrying the weight of his apprehension. "I can't face her."

Fiza met his fearful gaze, her own expression filled with confusion. Her face however softened with empathy, as she acknowledged the struggle he was grappling with.

"You need to face your past to be able to move on," Fiza's words were both a call to courage and a lifeline of support. She didn't know what he had done. She didn't know how she would be able to get past it if he had hurt another woman. But in this moment, he needed her. She forced back the memory of what he had done to her in Agumbe. He had stopped, she reminded herself. The moment he looked into her eyes, he had stopped.

Her gaze, steady and unwavering, met his fearful eyes. "I'm going to be with you," her voice held a tenderness that enveloped his uncertainty, "I love you. There is nothing that's going to drive me away," her declaration resonated with conviction, a promise that defied any doubt.

She sent a message to Aishwarya. "We are going to meet Aarthy in 30 minutes at Bhujanga Park playground. Come if you want."

With careful precision, Fiza delicately applied concealer, masking the telltale signs of her own emotional battles that had left traces beneath her eyes. Alan's movements were slow, and Fiza helped him choose his clothes after getting dressed.

"Do you need me to drive?" She asked dubiously. Alan shook his head.

To the deserted park they journeyed, an atmosphere of anticipation surrounding them. Alan leaned into her, his head finding comfort on her shoulder as they settled in to wait.

Approximately 45 minutes later, their eyes locked onto a pair of women approaching - one pushing a stroller, the other cradling a baby. His body tensed with fear and apprehension.

The approaching figures revealed themselves more clearly, and recognition dawned on Fiza. Aishwarya, pushing the stroller, was unmistakable. A tense silence seemed to settle over the scene as the two women neared the pavilion where Alan and Fiza sat.

Aishwarya released the older child from the stroller, the child darting off into the park. Meanwhile, Aarthy held her baby close in her arms.

Alan's grip on Fiza's hand tightened, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Fiza, attuned to his inner turmoil, squeezed his hand in a gesture of reassurance that spoke of their unspoken pact to face this together.

Aarthy's gaze flitted between Alan and Fiza, her words cutting through the air. "Girlfriend?"

Aarthy's traditional attire, her mangal sutra and sindoor, contrasted against his memory of her, creating a visual dissonance that seemed to mirror Alan's internal conflict.

Aishwarya looked at her sister. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to," she said softly.

Aarthy shook her head. "I owe him."

She took a deep breath and to her sister's surprise, said, "Sorry. I am really sorry for everything I did."

Alan blinked back tears, and Fiza wrapped her arm around him, holding his hand in hers. "I had just joined as the counselor at his PUC. I met Alan there, and he showed interest in me. He was only 16 and I should not have encouraged it," she said to her sister and Fiza.

Aishwarya looked surprised.

"Remember Purvanshu anna? He used to..." Aarthy's voice faltered momentarily as her attention shifted between her words and her child. "We had an affair for many years and I was in love with him."

"Our cousin," she clarified to Fiza, seeking to provide context for the unfamiliar listener.

Aishwarya, though surprised , held back her own words, allowing Aarthy to continue her narrative.

"When he married Urvasi akki, I was heartbroken," Aarthy's voice maintained a detached quality, as though she were recounting someone else's story. "He threatened me when I told him I was going to tell our parents about us," the revelation unveiled a darker aspect of their past, a dynamic fraught with manipulation and power.

"After the first time Alan and I had sex, he became emotional and told me he loved me," Aarthy's words shifted the narrative back to Alan, their shared history intertwined in unexpected ways. "I had to make sure he didn't fall for me. His innocence reminded me of me. This was just physical. I started insulting him after our encounters. Sometimes I went overboard."

"I built up my anger towards the betrayal from Purvanshu anna and released it on Alan," her words painted a picture of a tumultuous emotional landscape, where Alan had become a canvas for her unresolved pain.

"I didn't know what I was doing. I was hurting him again and again, but he kept coming back for more," Aarthy's voice held a mix of bafflement and wonder. As she gently settled her baby in the stroller and watched her coo, a soft smile graced her lips, offering a glimpse of warmth amidst the shadows of their shared history.

"We experimented a lot," Aarthy's voice held a heavy truth, her admission unraveling the layers of their intimate history. "We played it rough, and I liked the pain to remind me that this was what I deserved," her words carried a haunting revelation, a glimpse into the depths of her self-destructive mindset.

"I was broken. Messed up. And I dragged him down with me," her words held a weight of self-blame, an understanding of the consequences of her actions on both their lives.

She retrieved a bottle of milk to feed her baby. This nurturing and affectionate side of her stood at odds with the relationship she had shared with Alan.

"When Purvanshu's wife became pregnant," her words held a bittersweet truth, "he started coming back to me again."

Fiza's grip on Alan's hand tightened, their shared understanding deepening.

"I became even more messed up. I liked Urvasi akki. She was always good to me," her admission was tinged with regret, a glimpse into her internal struggles.

"At some level, I realized what I was doing was wrong," a flicker of self-awareness colored her words. "It was around the time Alan and I broke up," the chronology began to align, weaving their narratives together.

"No longer having a punching bag for my misery, it became too much," she confessed.

"That's when I took all those sleeping pills," her confessed.

Fiza did not know whether to feel pity or repulsion for this woman who had broken the man she loved.

Aishwarya wrapped her arms around Aarthy and pulled her into a hug. However, Aarthy's demeanor remained aloof, a wall of emotional distance.

"I didn't succeed. I tried again and again," her voice carried the weight of past struggles. Aarthy's journey through darkness was etched in her words. "The psychiatrist tried medicines, shock therapy," her tone spoke of the desperate attempts to find a way out. "Nothing worked."

"I finally found a psychiatrist who listened," her words seemed to mark a turning point. "I told her everything, and she helped me take responsibility for my actions. Blaming others and seeing myself as the sole victim was not allowing me to get better. I realized that was more in control of my life than I had thought I was."

"She made me understand that what I did to you was abusive," her admission held a somber truth that hung heavy in the air.

Aarthy's gaze locked onto Alan's in a moment of vulnerability. "I am sorry," her words trembled with sincerity, "You were too young for everything I exposed you to. You are not a bad person." The confession held a depth of regret that seemed to carry years of guilt.

"I said all those things to you so I didn't feel guilt for what I did to you," her words were laced with a painful admission. "I wanted to believe that you had deserved what I did to you. I hope I have not scarred you," Aarthy's plea was full of remorse.

Overwhelmed by the torrent of emotions, Alan's composure shattered, his tears falling like rain.

Fiza's arms enveloped him. "It's okay," she whispered, "it's over. She can't hurt you anymore."

Alan looked at Aarthy, his voice trembling, "But I am... a monster, I hit you. I almost raped you that day."

**********************************************

Do you think Alan will now be free of all his insecurities?
Do you think trauma ends when you get closure? More importantly, can you recover if you don't have closure?
Let me know your thoughts.
- Faiza