Chapter 30 — Part 1
The Years Between
The room was quiet.
Outside, the sounds of celebration continued.
Laughter.
Music.
Voices of relatives moving from one room to another.
But inside the beautifully decorated room, everything felt strangely still.
A young woman sat on the edge of the bed.
Her hands rested gently in her lap.
Her bridal bangles made a soft sound whenever she moved.
Gold jewellery framed her face.
Her hair was beautifully arranged, decorated with flowers.
Her bridal saree fell perfectly around her.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
For a moment, she didn’t recognise the woman staring back at her.
Then she smiled.
A nervous smile.
She slowly lifted her left hand.
The ring on her finger caught the light.
Her fingers traced it.
That ring.
The same ring.
The ring that had once been placed on her finger beneath a mountain sky by a nervous young man who had asked her one simple question.
Will you choose me too?
She had said yes.
And now…
She was sitting in her wedding room.
Waiting for him.
Nila took a slow breath.
“Nila.”
She whispered her own name.
A small laugh escaped her.
“How did we even get here?”
And then the memories began.
She remembered college.
The crowded corridors.
The noisy classrooms.
Her books held tightly against her chest.
The way she used to walk with her friends, trying not to draw attention to herself.
She remembered the girl she used to be.
The girl who constantly wondered whether she was pretty enough.
Thin enough.
Confident enough.
Good enough.
She remembered standing in front of mirrors and finding things she didn’t like about herself.
Her body.
Her face.
Her clothes.
Everything.
And then…
There was him.
Adhavan.
The boy who seemed to have his life planned.
The topper.
The confident one.
The boy everyone expected to succeed.
She remembered how annoyed she had been with him sometimes.
How they argued.
How they teased each other.
How somehow, without either of them noticing, they had started looking for each other every day.
Then came the fake relationship.
The stupid arrangement that was supposed to mean nothing.
Except it didn’t stay meaningless.
She remembered the first time she realised she was jealous.
The first time his absence bothered her.
The first time his smile made her heart beat differently.
And then came the letters.
The misunderstandings.
The distance.
The pain.
She remembered believing that maybe they were better apart.
She remembered trying to move forward.
And she remembered him doing the same.
Yet somehow…
They found their way back.
Again.
And again.
Nila smiled through the memories.
The first real confession.
The first time their hands stayed together without either of them pretending.
The first kiss.
The awkwardness afterward.
The laughter.
The way Adhavan would sometimes stare at her until she asked,
“What?”
And he would simply say,
“Nothing.”
She remembered the insecurity that never completely disappeared.
The moments when she compared herself to other girls.
The moments when she wondered why someone like him would choose someone like her.
And she remembered his answer.
He never asked her to become someone else.
He simply asked her to believe him.
She closed her eyes.
She could almost hear his voice.
“I don’t look at you and think about other girls.”
“I look at you and think about you.”
A tear slowly rolled down her cheek.
She smiled and wiped it away.
Then came the trip.
The bikes.
The hills.
The campfire.
The laughter of six friends.
The matching bracelets.
The little star and moon keychains.
The sunrise.
And finally…
The proposal.
She could still remember the way her hands had trembled.
The way Adhavan had looked nervous for perhaps the first time in his life.
“I want to keep choosing you.”
“Nila, will you choose me too?”
She had cried.
She had laughed.
She had said yes.
She looked at the ring again.
“So much happened after that.”
Graduation came sooner than they expected.
The last day of college had been filled with photographs.
Hugs.
Promises.
And tears nobody wanted to admit to.
The six friends had promised that nothing would change.
Of course, life changed.
It always did.
Their group chats became quieter.
Their schedules became busier.
But somehow, they never completely lost each other.
And Adhavan and Nila?
They grew together.
Not perfectly.
Not without arguments.
But together.
Adhavan’s ambition never disappeared.
The boy who had always been serious about his studies became a young professional with an even bigger vision.
He started working.
Learned everything he could.
Made mistakes.
Took risks.
Failed sometimes.
Tried again.
Eventually, his hard work began to show.
The topper who once spent nights studying for exams was now spending nights building something of his own.
His first major success wasn’t huge.
But Nila celebrated it as though he had conquered the world.
She still remembered calling him that night.
“You did it!”
His laugh had come through the phone.
“We did.”
“How did I do anything?”
“You believed in me.”
She had smiled.
“Then you’re welcome.”
And Nila had her own journey.
Dance was never just a hobby for her.
It became her escape.
Her confidence.
Her identity.
She started taking it seriously.
Training.
Performing.
Learning.
Teaching.
Slowly, she began becoming the person she had always wanted to be.
Eventually, she started choreographing.
Then performing on bigger stages.
Then teaching younger dancers.
She built something of her own.
Something she could look at and say,
“I made this.”
And somewhere along that journey, something else changed.
She stopped looking at herself through other people’s eyes.
She stopped asking whether she was beautiful enough.
She finally began seeing herself the way Adhavan had seen her all those years ago.
As Nila.
Just Nila.
And that was enough.
Their relationship changed too.
College love had been exciting.
Messy.
Dramatic.
Full of stolen moments and nervous kisses.
Adult love was different.
It was quieter.
Deeper.
They learned how to support each other’s careers.
How to give each other space.
How to apologise.
How to communicate.
How to celebrate each other’s victories without feeling threatened by them.
There were difficult days.
Days when they barely had time to talk.
Days when work exhausted them.
Days when Nila’s performances and Adhavan’s business responsibilities left them both drained.
But they always found their way back to each other.
A call.
A message.
A hug.
Sometimes just sitting together without speaking.
They learned that love wasn’t always butterflies.
Sometimes love was simply showing up.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Then came the families.
The conversations.
The plans.
The wedding discussions.
The endless lists.
The shopping.
The arguments over decorations.
The guest lists that seemed to grow every day.
Arjun became unbearable.
Keerthi became emotional.
Rohan pretended to be calm.
Kavya cried during almost every wedding-related conversation.
And Nila?
She simply watched everything happening around her.
Sometimes she still couldn’t believe it.
The same six people who had once sat in college canteens complaining about exams were now adults discussing marriages, careers and futures.
Life had moved so quickly.
Nila opened her eyes.
She was back in the room.
The memory had ended.
She looked at herself in the mirror again.
A married woman.
Almost.
Her fingers touched the ring once more.
She smiled.
Then she heard footsteps outside.
Her heart immediately began beating faster.
She knew that sound.
The door slowly opened.
And there he was.
Adhavan.
He stood at the doorway wearing traditional wedding clothes, looking completely different from the college boy she remembered.
More mature.
More confident.
The years had changed him.
But his eyes hadn’t.
The moment he saw her, he stopped.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Nila became nervous.
“What?”
He smiled.
“Nothing.”
She immediately laughed.
“You’re doing that again.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me and saying nothing.”
He stepped inside.
“I was just thinking.”
“What?”
He closed the door gently behind him.
“How did the girl who used to hide whenever someone complimented her become my wife?”
Nila’s cheeks turned pink.
“I’m not your wife yet.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Technically, after today…”
She looked away.
“You’re still teasing me.”
“Of course.”
He walked closer.
Then stopped in front of her.
His eyes softened.
“You look beautiful.”
She smiled shyly.
“Thank you.”
He noticed the ring on her finger.
“You kept it.”
She looked at it.
“Of course.”
He gently touched her hand.
“I can’t believe it’s still the same.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked up at him.
“You gave it to me.”
He smiled.
“And you said yes.”
“I did.”
He laughed softly.
“That was probably the best answer I’ve ever received.”
She smiled.
“You were so nervous that day.”
“I was terrified.”
“You didn’t look terrified.”
“I was.”
She laughed.
“Good.”
He gently held her hand.
For a moment, neither spoke.
All the years between them seemed to disappear.
They were suddenly the same two people again.
The boy who had asked her to choose him.
And the girl who had finally believed she was worthy of being chosen.
Adhavan looked into her eyes.
“Ready?”
Nila took a deep breath.
Then smiled.
“With you?”
She squeezed his hand.
“Always.”
And for the first time that night, the nervousness disappeared.
They sat together quietly.
Talking about everything they had survived.
Everything they had built.
And everything that was still waiting for them.
Because their wedding wasn’t the end of their story.
It was simply the beginning of another chapter.
And this time…
They were beginning it together.
Stay tuned…
Write a comment ...