Chapter Six: The Choice That Was Never Mine
560 Words
Rehaan’s POV
The living room smelled like incense and jasmine tea — the kind of scent that usually meant guests, rituals, or uncomfortable conversations.
Rehaan knew before he stepped inside that something was waiting for him.
His mother looked up from the dining table, a gentle smile tucked carefully into place. His father, seated beside her, didn’t look up — just kept stirring sugar into his cup like it was the most important thing in the world.
Rehaan didn’t speak. He just sat. Waiting.
Then came the line — soft, practiced, and yet heavy enough to pin him to the chair.
“We spoke to Zara’s parents,” his mother said.
“They feel the time is right. And frankly, so do we.”
He blinked once.
Then again.
They made it sound so simple — like it was a deadline. Like it was the next checkbox in a well-ordered life.
His father finally looked at him.
“You’ve known her forever, beta. She's educated, mature, and her family is just like ours. It makes sense.”
It makes sense.
Two words that had killed more love stories than war and distance combined.
Rehaan swallowed the tightness rising in his throat.
He didn’t know what to say.
How could he explain that Zara was not the problem — she never had been. It was everything else. The expectation. The quiet pressure. The way he was being asked to step into a story that had already been written for him, without asking if he believed in the ending.
And then — like a whisper in the back of his mind — came Pakhi’s voice.
Not her words. Just her presence.
The late-night messages.
The way she said his name like it was a question worth answering.
The way he felt lighter after talking to her, and heavier after being away.
And yet… how could he explain her to them?
A girl they had never met.
A girl who didn’t belong to their world.
A girl who could undo everything they thought they knew about him — and not in a way they’d celebrate.
He stood abruptly.
His mother looked up, startled. “Rehaan?”
“I need some air,” he said, grabbing his keys.
He left before either of them could respond.
The roads of Bangalore blurred past as he drove aimlessly through Koramangala, the city lights streaking across his windshield. He didn’t know where he was going — just that he couldn’t stay still.
Because deep down, he knew he was being asked to choose.
Between comfort and chaos.
Between a life that was set, and a feeling that wasn’t supposed to happen.
And the cruelest part?
He was beginning to feel like no matter what he chose, he’d lose something essential.
When he got back home, he stared at his phone.
There was no new message from Pakhi.
He didn’t blame her.
He had been quiet. Distant. Unfair.
But he hadn’t messaged because he didn’t know what version of himself would be texting her — the man who might one day become Zara’s husband… or the man who would walk away from everything just to hear her laugh again.
For now, he typed three words. Not everything. Not enough. But something.
Rehaan:
Still there?
He hit send and turned off the lights, letting the darkness say the rest.
- Writer
