Internal struggle
Author's pov-
The door clicked shut behind kaashi, leaving Divya alone with the quiet hum of the city. She remained seated on the balcony, the coffee in her hands growing colder by the second. The evening breeze carried a sense of calm, but inside her, a storm raged.
She leaned back, staring at the fading sunset, her mind drifting where she had long forbidden it to go.
Five years.
Five years since she had left Delhi, since she had packed her bags with shaking hands, determined to start over, to build something for herself that didn't revolve around him. She had convinced herself that distance was the only cure, that if she ran far enough, the pain would stay behind.
But it hadn't.
The nights in mumbai had been long, filled with an emptiness she couldn't shake off. She had thrown herself into her studies, into creating a new life, but no matter how much she achieved, there was always a hollow space inside her that nothing seemed to fill.
"It will get better," she had told herself, night after night. "The ache will fade. The memories will stop hurting."
But the truth was-it still did.
It hurt every single time she saw him. Every time she heard his name. Every time she was reminded that once, she had loved him so fiercely, so completely, and he had never even considered her his.
Divya inhaled sharply, running a hand through her hair. And now?
Now, he stood infront of her as if she had never mattered. As if she was just another face from his past.
She scoffed bitterly, shaking her head. Why does it still bother me?
Why did it feel like every encounter with him unraveled everything she had worked so hard to build?
A tear slipped down her cheek before she even realised it. She wiped it away quickly, almost angrily.
No. Not anymore.
She had promised herself that she wouldn't break again. Not for him. Not for anyone.
Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists, forcing the lump in her throat to disappear. He doesn't care. He never did.
So why would she?
She straightened her back, setting down her coffee. The past could haunt her all it wanted, but she refused to let it define her.
It still hurts, she admitted to herself, barely a whisper. But I don't have to show it. I don't have to get weak again.
Because no matter how much she had once loved him, she had learned the hard way-some battles are fought alone.
And this time, she wasn't going to lose.