Chapter Eleven: Not Yet
495 Words
Rehaan’s POV
The sun was setting over Bangalore’s skyline, bleeding soft gold into the glass of Rehaan’s apartment windows. But the storm inside him had been brewing since the moment he returned from Kerala.
Zara’s messages had become frequent.
Long.
Warm.
Insistent.
And his replies — short, delayed, and empty — weren’t enough to slow the momentum building on all sides.
His parents had started using phrases like "you’re both grown now" and "what are you waiting for?"
Zara’s father had called again that morning.
And the final push came when Zara texted:
Zara:
My mom wants to start looking at dates. Should we sit together this weekend and figure it out?
💛
Rehaan stared at the message.
Not with dread.
Not with anger.
But with the kind of hollow calm that comes before a difficult truth.
It wasn’t about Zara being wrong.
It was about her not being right.
He didn’t love her.
Not when they were kids.
Not now.
And no amount of family bonding or shared memories could manufacture what simply wasn’t there.
He stood, heart pounding, and walked to the living room where his parents were watching the news.
“I can’t do this,” he said.
His mother turned. “What?”
“The marriage. With Zara. I’m not ready. And I don’t think I ever will be. Not with her.”
The words tasted strange — too raw, too late. But they were his.
His father sat quietly, processing.
His mother blinked, clearly shocked. “But Rehaan… we’ve known them forever. It’s practically decided.”
“Not by me,” he said gently.
There was a long silence. Then a sigh from his father.
“You’ll talk to them, then?”
Rehaan nodded. “I’ll explain everything to Zara myself.”
Later that evening, after pacing the room for twenty minutes, he finally picked up the phone and dialed.
Zara answered immediately.
“Hey… I was just thinking of you.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. Then exhaled.
“Zara… I need to be honest. I’m not ready for this. I thought I could be. I tried. But I can’t go forward pretending it feels right when it doesn’t.”
Silence.
Then her voice, sharp and low.
“You mean… you don’t want to marry me?”
He paused. “I’m saying I need time. And I don’t want to move ahead just because it looks perfect on paper. You deserve more than that.”
Another silence. This one heavier.
“Is this about someone else?”
Rehaan hesitated.
And in that pause, Zara didn’t wait for an answer.
“Fine,” she said. “Take your time. But don’t expect me to wait forever, Rehaan.”
The call ended.
And though the guilt lingered — as it always did with endings — something inside Rehaan felt lighter.
He hadn’t found his way forward yet.
But at least, now… he had finally stopped lying to himself.
- Writer
