Chapter 17: Missing Him in Silence

When Poornima reached home, her parents welcomed her with warmth, their eyes searching her face carefully.

“Everything okay, beta?” her mother asked gently.

Poornima nodded, sitting beside them. “Yes… everything is good.”

Her father looked at her closely. “They treated you well?”

A small smile appeared on her lips. “Very well.”

She spoke about the house, about her in-laws, about the way they made her feel comfortable, about the small things that mattered more than anything else.

Her parents listened quietly, relief slowly replacing the worry they had been carrying.

“That’s enough for us,” her father said softly, satisfied.

Poornima nodded, but she didn’t speak about everything.

She didn’t say his name.

She didn’t have to.

After a while, she went to her room, closing the door behind her.

The silence felt different here.

Familiar… but incomplete.

She changed into a simple kurta, folding her saree neatly, her movements slow, her mind somewhere else entirely.

She sat on the bed, leaning back slightly, her fingers unconsciously moving to her bracelet again.

Her thoughts didn’t leave him.

Not even for a second.

His voice.

His presence.

The way he called her—

“Noor.”

She let out a soft breath, almost a quiet laugh.

“A 22-year-old boy…” she murmured to herself, shaking her head slightly. “…made me go crazy like this.”

But the thought didn’t carry disbelief.

It carried wonder.

Because it wasn’t just that.

He wasn’t immature.

He wasn’t careless.

He was focused.

Clear.

Certain.

“I want to become a Chartered Accountant.”

He knew what he wanted.

He worked for it.

He didn’t rush blindly.

Even in everything he did with her…

There was intention.

Not distraction.

That’s what she liked.

That’s what stayed.

She lay down slowly, staring at the ceiling, her mind replaying everything, the small moments, the way he held her, the way he spoke, the way he made things feel simple.

And the strangest part…

She missed him.

Already.

Not loudly.

Not painfully.

But constantly.

Like something that had quietly become a part of her…

Without asking permission.