It had been one week since Anuj disappeared. Worse was the fact that kaka had gone MIA too.Her calls were connecting to none of them, and when she had called in Mumbai office, all she had gotten to know was that Anuj had been there on the day of Diwali and had not turned up once he had left the office around 12.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Kaka I've had enough rest. I am fine now!" Anuj cribbed throwing the quilt off.

"Fine?"GK asked incredulous as he turned Anuj by his elbow, and shouted, "Take a look in the mirror. Kya halat ho gayi hai teri! Main kitna ghabra gaya tha jab mujhe call aaya tha ki tujhe panic attack hua hai. Aur agar teri emergency contact main mera no. nhi hota toh mujhe toh kuch pata chalta hi nhi. If it was not for your promise, I would have called Anupama"

Anuj shrugged GK's hand then, his mood souring, "This is all for her only. Anupama is more than capable of handling her job now, she has Devika too. I have no reason to stay back. It's decided, main uski life se hamesha ke liye jaa raha hu. Main kal US ja raha hu, and that's final", Anuj declared as he walked over to his closet and started to throw his suits out.

GK shook his head at his stubbornness, "Ye kesi zidd hai teri. Anupama tujhse naaraj nahi hai. Vo tujhse baat karna chahti hai. Kitne call, kitne messages kie hain usne...dekh toh le ek baar".

Anuj walked over to his study table next, flipping through the files absent mindedly and shoving them in the bag. "Vo bahot achi hai GK. Jab vo vanraj jeso ko maaf kar sakti hai toh main toh hu hi kaun. Par uske baddapan ka undue advantage nhi loonga. Apni selfishness main uski selflessness ka aur fayda nhi uthaunga"

GK just shook his head. His Anuj truly had misplaced his brain cells that night of choti diwali. He was misconstruing his love as selfishness when it was the most pure devotion he had ever been privy too. Anuj was far too gone in his guilt that even his words were falling on deaf ears.

"Aur tujo uske ghar toofan khada karke aaya tha? Uska kya?" GK questioned, hoping that his sense of responsibility will hold him back.

Anuj stopped short of stuffing another booklet, briefly closing his eyes to bask in the guilt of his outburst. But shook his head almost instantly. "Galti toh hogayi hai par Anu ke paas devika hai, samar, bapuji, kinjal, uski maa, bhai...sabhain. I am sure wo log sambhal lenge".

"Kya ab tu jee payega uske bina? Tujhe panic attac—

"Heart attack bhi aata hai toh aa jane dijiye!" Anuj struck the table hard, his adam's apple bobbing. His pain and rage were one and the same now.

"Jee loonga aur agar nahi jee paya toh wo meri kismat".

GK walked over to the kanhaji's idol and folded his hands in plea while Anuj,burning in the pangs of separation dashed out of the house.

"Hey kanha, ab aapka hi sahara hai. Mere bacche ka dil mat tootne dijiye ga"

Next day

She was miserable would be an understatement.

'Kisi ka naa hona itna khalega socha nahi tha', Anupama mused her eyes fixated on the empty chair where Anuj used to sit, smile and tease her.

Why was she always so slow? Vanraj cheated her for years and she had no clue. Anuj loved her enough to disappear and she never realized. Why was it that she had the tolerance for the worst kind of humiliation, taunts and disrespect but not even an iota of trust to spare to the man who had become her pillar in such a short time. Why?

"Perhaps it is better that Anuj goes away from me. He deserves so much better. Jabse meri zindagi main aae hain sirf ruswa hue hai—

She paused suddenly and chuckled sadly. Ruswa?

"Unse shayari ki aadat pakad li lagta hai! Kaash unko bhi samay rehte rok leti",Anupama flinched suddenly, her lips twisting as she clutched her chest. The ache was gone as soon as it had come.

"Kya hai mere paas unko dene ke lie. Unki dosti aur pyaar ke saamne, sab feeke hain", Anupama spun the paperweight mindlessly, her thoughts occupied by him.

Anupama sighed then, she had to make peace with it, with the fact that Anuj had walked out of her life, and that was for the best indeed. He deserved better.

"Bas wo jahan bhi rahe, khush rahein. Dhyaan raakhjo kanha ji", Anupama prayed at the end and occupied herself with the reports.

It was around lunch time that Anu finally let out a breath, and stretched, her eyes wandering once again to the empty chair.

Shaking her head then, she stepped out of the cabin, only to find the office in mayhem.Since the past half an hour, she had been hearing shuffling and shouting but she had paid them no mind.

Walking over to the record room to place her file back, she was surprised on finding itin disarray. "What happened?" She enquired with an employee who was stacking the files back in order.

He shook his head then, "Nothing mam. An important file had been misplaced and we were all searching frantically for it. Thankfully, we found it and now Umesh has set off for the airport to deliver it to Anuj sir".

Anupama who had been listening not so eagerly, lost in the memories of maharani roleplay snapped out of her stupor on hearing his name.

"Anuj?Why is he at the airp—

The ringing of her cell interrupted her query and her eyes widened in surprise on reading the caller id.

"Kaka?"

"Anupama beta, ab tu hi sahara hai. Anuj aaj 3 pm ki flight se US jaa raha hai. Usne mujhe kasam di thi ki tujhe kuch nahi bataunga...par main nahi rok paya apne aapko. Ab tu hi kuch kar sakti hai. Please, stop him".

Anupama was already rushing out of the room by then, her gaze flitting to her watch. It was 2 already. Oh god!

Picking up her bag, she quickly informed the reception and was out of the premises as quickly as possible, standing on the road already hailing for transport.

As luck would have it, it was only after 5 minutes had passed, did she manage to get a cab to airport.

"Kitna time lagega bhaiya?" Anupama asked, her fingers already dialing him.

"Aadha ghanta madam".

Anupama nodded gesturing him to get going while she dialed Anuj again but to no avail.His avoidance of her was bordering on irritating now.

"Pick up the call, Damnit!!" Anupama cursed lowly, clutching her phone tight her eyes now fixed on the overhead direction board, showing the distance to airport.

"Thoda jaldi bhaiya", She asked and once again got back to dialing Anuj.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tapping his feet against the floor, Anuj clenched his jaw, his eyes focused on the clock and his ears on the announcement.

"Kaha reh gaya ye Umesh!" Anuj bit, his frustration at peak. He had to delay his flight because he couldn't find the damn file, and he had to take a detour to Ahmedabad first.

"Brilliant!Wah re meri kismat, jitna door jaane ki koshish kar raha hu, utne hi problems create kar rahi hai".

"Damn,agar ye flight miss hui toh kal hi jaa paunga and agar Anu ko pata chal gaya toh—

Anuj shut his mouth then, shaking his head. No, she will not find out. He had strictly ordered Umesh about the same.

"But where the hell is he?! Anytime now boarding will commence!"

"Sirrrr!!"

Anuj glared at his screeching employee as he came over to him running and bent over to normalize his breathing.

"Itni der kyu kar di?" Anuj asked pissed.

"Sir,vo fil-e mis..place ho gayi thi", Umesh replied, in between his panting but before Anuj could tell him off once more, he added, "But mil gayi...file mil gayi".

As Umesh handed him the file, Anuj flipped through the file swiftly and nodded.Once the commencement of boarding was announced, Anuj turned to leave before he stopped in his tracks, his heart oddly uneasy.

He turned around at once, his gaze drifting behind Umesh and doing a quick once over of the surroundings.

"Sir?"

Anuj pressed his eyes close, cursing inwardly. Now that he was prepared to leave,why was he getting cold feet. He had to leave, for her. And what exactly was he waiting for? Anupama wasn't going to come running like some cliché movie and stop him.

He glanced once more, nonetheless. He truly was hopeless.

"Umesh,Anu..I mean Anupama aai thi aaj?"

"Ji sir, mam cabin main hi thi"

Anuj nodded then and decided to get going.

'This is goodbye then, Anu. Jaa raha hu, tumse door, par apna dil yahi chodkar.Kismat ne chaha, toh shayad fir milenge. Aur tab shayad main tumse nazrein mila paunga'

His heart was beating unnaturally fast. Even the thought of going away from her was driving him anxious.

He was at the departure gate now and his heart was growing heavy.

"Meri Anu ka dhyaan rakhna, kanha ji. And please, keep her happy", Anuj prayed before setting off finally.

~*~*~*~*~

Throwing the door open, Anupama paid the cabbie in a rush and was about to dash into the airport, when security stopped her.

"Mam,pass?"

Anupama shook her head in negative, and security denied her entry.

"Oh,mam!" Umesh who had almost turned the corner of road, had spotted Anupama in rear view mirror and had reversed his car.

"Umesh...Anuj?"Anupama rushed to the man, her eyes going to her watch.

It was 3.05. "Ma'am, sir's flight has taken off", Umesh remarked, and as Anupama nodded and declined his offer for lift, taking the cue he drove off.

Anupama dragged herself to a nearby pillar and settled by its side, her chest clenching and her eyes pricking.

"M-mujhe rona kyu aa raha hai", She murmured softly, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to stop the floodgates.

"Nhi, I should not! I was willing to let him go", Anupama paused and countered herself,"Then why did I come here rushing?"

"Why do I feel like I have lost something precious? Kya Anuj itne khaas thhe mere liye?It feels so so horrible! Unn jaisa kabhi koi aur—

She shook her head then, "Koi hai hi nahi. Na hoga"

Her eyes burned and she blinked them, feeling the wetness on her lashes. Every single moment spent with him was flashing before her eyes and was pricking her heart like thorns.

"He is gone now" Anupama confirmed to herself and the truth tasted bitter.

"Chale gaye wo, chale gaye...." She trailed, hiding her face in her hands.

'Pyaar karte thhe...aur fir bhi chale gaye'

"Firse main utni hi akeli hu, jitni pehli thi....if only he would have listened to me once..."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Her eyes fluttered open as she felt someone shaking her. Surprisingly, she had dozed off after that little emotional outburst.

As she stirred awake, she felt the loss of touch and lifted her head up, feeling someone's presence. And her sleep trodden, pain filled red rimmed eyes found that one pair, that she had never tried to read but in that moment of haze, for the first time ever, could see it real clear. She could see herself reflected in those eyes...his eyes.

Note - I have never been to airport so know none about the nuances of it. Google wasn't that helpful and I was too lazy to dig deep. So do read it in a stride, but please do tell where I have written the airport stuff wrong and how should I correct it. That will be greatly appreciated.