01/09/2022
As Within, So Without by Lina King
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I saw my sister again looking over the balcony. She fixed her eyes on the gates, wishing for the very next person entering our house to be him. She was dressed in her red saree. Her beautiful wedding dress. She was all decked in heavy jewelry, endlessly waiting for the wedding that was not to be.
"Kareena, how long are you going to wait for him? It's been three days and he's not coming back," I said to my sister.
She didn't turn to look at me, she kept on staring at the gates. I couldn't bear to see my sister like this. For three days I tried to stay strong for my mother and my sister. I tried to bring things back to the way they were before the wedding. I stopped myself from crying so I could comfort them. I also tried to be hard on them so they could snap out of this hurtful moments of our lives.
"Kareena," I called again.
"Soni," my sister answered.
"We can go inside now, it's okay now," I said.
"No, Soni. I don't want to go inside. Neil will come. I want to wait for him," kareena said with tears in her eyes.
"But you've been waiting for three days already, let's go in. If he's going to come, he'll come," I said.
Hearing my sister say Neil's name made my blood boil. He hurt my sister and my mom. He left my sister at the altar. Why did he chose to shame my sister if he didn't want to marry her? My mom did all of the wedding preparation,invited all our guests, Neil didn't show up.
"Soni, I don't want to go in, Neil will come for me," Kareena cried.
I didn't know what to do. My sister fell head over heels for him. How else should I trick my sister to follow me in? She hasn't eaten anything.
"You are right, Neil will come," I said.
Kareena rushed to hold my hands.
"Soni, did he said he's coming today?" She asked.
"Yes, I saw Neil on my way to the market. He said he will come for you. But he wants you to eat a full plate of chicken roti, take a shower and take enough rest first," I lied.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I will do everything my Neil wants," she said.
My heart was torn to a thousand pieces when I saw kareena like this. Neil knew how fragile her heart was but he broke it.
