8 Reality
She could not believe for that man she had gone out of her comfort zone. She has connected all the dots and what lead to his outburst. He has blamed her for something she never did. He has misunderstood her.
What hurt her most was his one-sided conclusion and what he did to hurt her.
She stood up with determination and went back to her bedroom. She took out paper and ink and started to pen down her side of the story. She has grasped the problem and was now writing it down.
After she was done writing her emotions in ink she set it aside and made her way to the bathroom. Discarding the sheet she stepped in and then went for a shower. Turning on the knob she felt the water droplets hit her body. She was trying to hold back the tears that wanted to roll down her cheeks.
In the end, she lost this battle and ended up crying buckets. This time it was not those loud sobs but silent tears that indicated her acknowledgment. Her mind has already accepted his betrayal but her heart was still in denial. But she could not and would not live in delusion. In the end, her pitiful heart, too, has admitted defeat. So these tears that kept flowing were her testimony. It proves that she knows the difference between reality and dream.
This was real.
His infidelity is real. His spiteful words are real. His vicious nature is real.
Her pain is real. Her tears are real.
She has not accepted his behavior and she never would. But she was done with him.
She did nothing, just stood under the falling water and let it slide over her body wishing to let it take the pain away. She was numb, for she does not know how much time went by when she finally turned the knob off. Her fingers were pruned and she actually felt herself shiver. She might catch a cold but then she did not care.
She put on something comfortable, not giving a care about how she looks or did the color match. Right now her priority was to get out and board that plane. She wanted to leave everything behind. She took the letter and then the video, it was her proof. Opening up her laptop she did some final editing. It will be a one-time watch and then it will get destroyed. She was a software developer, doing this tiny thing was not a big deal for her. Putting the letter in an envelope along with the pen drive she made her way to the dining room.
The sun was up and she has some hours on her hand. She stood there in the hall looking at the things around her. She felt the memories come back from the time they had spent here. She felt the sting of tears and blinked rapidly to make them go away. She will not cry. To make it stop she only had one thing in mind. She looked in the corner, their stuff, were packed and labeled. They would have moved to their house but now there won't be any moving.
There is no 'us' anymore.
Going through the boxes, that she meticulously packed, was a breeze. In no time, she has selected her things and separated them. Doing one last check of her suitcases she left her house. She knew, that sometime today, he will come here. She wanted to make sure that he got a last glance at what he had destroyed. She had not taken down anything and the decorations still adorned the wall.
This would be her last gift to him.
She rang the doorbell and waited for her neighbor to come. The door was opened and she did not hesitate to throw herself in her arms. Right now, she needed her best friend.
