10-07-2025, 04:11 PM
Simple. Yet there was something quietly arresting about her. Even now.
Maybe even more now.
Ravi took a breath. “Priya Didi…”
She didn’t turn.
“I want to talk,” he said gently.
Her hands didn’t stop moving. But her silence pressed tighter.
“I shouldn’t have done what I did in the auto,” he said,
Stepping a little closer.
“I didn’t plan it… it was just one second. But that second, changed everything.”
“I’ve felt sick ever since. Not just guilty, Didi.”
“Ashamed. Because I broke something between us.”
She stopped stirring.
Slowly, she turned to him. Her expression unreadable. Her eyes tired.
“Why didn’t you say this earlier?” she asked, voice quiet.
“I didn’t know how,” he said honestly.
“I kept practicing in my head… and then I’d see you and everything would just… freeze.”
She folded her arms lightly. “So you waited until I stopped speaking to you.”
Ravi nodded. He didn’t try to explain.
Priya exhaled, slow and long. “You know what scared me?”
She said finally.
“Not the touch.
Not the moment.
What scared me was that it didn’t scare me.
I didn’t recoil.
I didn’t slap you.
I didn’t even look angry.”
- o -
Maybe even more now.
Ravi took a breath. “Priya Didi…”
She didn’t turn.
“I want to talk,” he said gently.
Her hands didn’t stop moving. But her silence pressed tighter.
“I shouldn’t have done what I did in the auto,” he said,
Stepping a little closer.
“I didn’t plan it… it was just one second. But that second, changed everything.”
“I’ve felt sick ever since. Not just guilty, Didi.”
“Ashamed. Because I broke something between us.”
She stopped stirring.
Slowly, she turned to him. Her expression unreadable. Her eyes tired.
“Why didn’t you say this earlier?” she asked, voice quiet.
“I didn’t know how,” he said honestly.
“I kept practicing in my head… and then I’d see you and everything would just… freeze.”
She folded her arms lightly. “So you waited until I stopped speaking to you.”
Ravi nodded. He didn’t try to explain.
Priya exhaled, slow and long. “You know what scared me?”
She said finally.
“Not the touch.
Not the moment.
What scared me was that it didn’t scare me.
I didn’t recoil.
I didn’t slap you.
I didn’t even look angry.”
- o -
.