MishBir: Someone You Love(d)

|13| Decoding A Gypsy

The clouds in the vast sky above them changed colours; purple and orange began dominating others as the noon morphed into dusk, but Mishti and Abir continued to sit by each other, in silence. After Mishti's rant and Abir's answer to it, they hadn't talked much about anything, but sitting side by side, with her hand in his, both of them were majorly trying bask in each other's presence, trying to get over their fear of losing each other. It was only when Mishti's phone rang that they became aware of the time.

"Yes Badi Maa!", Mishti spoke into the phone, and noticed Abir stiffening beside her.

"I am with Abir, Badi Maa, I will be home soon!", Mishti answered the worried questions of Rajashree who immediately relaxed to know Abir was there with her Gudiya rani.

"Bring him home too", she quietly instructed Mishti who nodded, smiling to herself before disconnecting the call. But when she tilted her head to look at Abir, the expression on his face broke his heart.

"I have been out of the house all day too, but - ", he stopped with a bitter smile, after a few prolonged minutes of being aware of her eyes on him and the questions reflecting in them.

Mishti didn't know what to say, so she just tightened the hold of her hand on his. Abir tilted his head to look at her and then sighed.

"Sometimes I think I should be really flawed to crave for love so much but not getting any. You should not have fallen for me Mishti", Mishti's eyes widened when she heard Abir, she stared at him like she was seeing a ghost, but Abir kept his gaze lowered, not meeting her eyes.

It pinched Mishti, the change in their stance. It was always her - the scared one, the one afraid to disappoint people she cared for, the one fearing abandonment, but today she saw how much Abir had hidden under his bright and shiny exterior too. It chilled her to her bone, to think how he had lost his Baba and his mother, yet again, with a time difference of less than twenty four hours, and this time they had both managed to crush him in a way that would hurt him the most, and she knew that kind of pain would never go away. Hers hadn't, even after so many years.

"Abir", Mishti smiled with misty eyes, as she forced him to look at her, "If you are flawed, I think they are the the kind of flaws everyone should have. You know how a butterfly isn't aware of its beautiful wings, but those who see it flying see how pretty the colours are - it's the same with you. You can't see your worth, doesn't mean you aren't worth it", she smiled, kissing their intertwined hands taking Abir by surprise.

Abir hadn't expected her to comfort him like that, but a tiny smile made its way to his face while pink flashed on his cheeks, making Mishti laugh. She stood up, dusting the sand off her dress and extended her hand to Abir who took it after a moment of contemplation and let her pull him up.

"I will drop you", Abir offered, but Mishti shook her head with a calm smile.

"Badi Maa has strictly instructed to bring you home too", she watched Abir's face blanch at her words. 'Home' sting him so bad he unconsciously flinched at its mention before letting a bitter smile take its place.

"I am a Banjara Mishti, I always have been, and gypsies don't have home", he held her hand and stated solemnly, his brown eyes hooded with emotions that made Mishti really uneasy.

" You have been a gypsy before me met Abir. A part of you will always remain so, but a part of you also knows that something have changed too. You have a home now, I am your home", Mishti's words surprised Abir, not because it wasn't something he had thought of often, but because he had - he had called her his home in his poems, and he knew she was, but what he hadn't been expecting was her acceptance to his mistakes, and the subsequent forgiveness, so soon.