Chapter 12: The Weight of Two Weeks

The wind outside rustled through the half-open window, curtains fluttering softly. Inside, the dim yellow light of the lodge room barely touched the corners of their silence.

Veeresh unlocked the door and stepped in first, tired and quiet.

Poornima followed… and froze the moment she saw the room.

The heart-shaped mirror.

The red bedsheets.

The dim pink lights.

A lovers’ motel.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Veeresh! This isn’t a regular hotel. It’s a motel for couples! Can’t you even ask or book properly?!” she snapped, her voice trembling between shock and disappointment.

He didn’t look at her.

His voice was cold, almost distant. “Shut up and sleep, Poornima. I don’t have the energy tonight.”

She turned away, fuming, tears of humiliation burning behind her lashes.

But before she could take a step, Veeresh suddenly dropped to his knees.

Not in anger.

But in shattered silence.

“I’m sorry…” he said softly, his voice cracking for the first time in weeks.

Poornima turned slowly, confused. “What—what are you doing? Don’t do this. Get up, Veeresh.”

But he didn’t.

He stayed there, knees on the cold tiled floor, looking up at her with eyes full of regret and pain.

“I should’ve asked you, Poo. I should’ve trusted you… But when I saw you smiling at Rishi, something snapped. I’ve never hated anyone more than I hated myself in that moment.”

She was silent, staring at him, her throat tightening.

“I assumed things. I never let you speak. I said things that can never be taken back. Divorce… hatred… betrayal…” he swallowed hard, breaking.

“And still… here you are. Quiet. Enduring everything. Making tea. Sleeping beside me. Eating leftover maggie I left without thinking. Poo… I’m the worst friend you ever had.”

She fell to her knees beside him now, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. “Why didn’t you just ask me, Veeresh? Just once… ask me.”

He pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her shoulder. His arms were desperate, like he was holding on to something slipping away.

“Because I was scared. Scared that I’d already lost you.”

Her hands gripped his shirt as tears spilled freely down her cheeks.

He looked up, his forehead pressed against hers.

“You’re still my best friend, Poo. No one can replace you. Not Rishi. Not anyone. Please… forgive me.”

And without waiting for another second, he kissed her.

This time, it wasn’t out of impulse or anger.

It was the kiss of two broken hearts, stitched together by truth and pain.

She didn’t resist.

She kissed him back.

Every tear. Every silent scream. Every insult. Every moment of misunderstanding in the past two weeks—they poured into that kiss.

He kissed her until breath left their lungs, until time blurred, until only their pain and longing remained.

And in that motel room, far from the world’s judgment, Veeresh and Poornima were no longer enemies. No longer strangers in a marriage.

They were two best friends… slowly turning into something more.