‘Meera,’ Abhimanyu said, pausing to breathe in before he spoke the words that had just popped into his mind a few seconds ago. ‘Will you marry me?’

Meera, who was looking concerned, felt her eyes widen and a breath catch in her throat. Memories of the time she visited his mother, the late queen of Ranakpour, and all the events that followed, played like a reel inside her mind. She had longed and pined for Abhimanyu for so long, and had given up hope of ever seeing him again, and yet here they were, together again. But marriage was not on her mind at all.

‘Abhimanyu, where is this coming from? If you think you need to protect me from the Sahil Maliks of the world, you can’t. I don’t want you to …’

‘No, Meera, it’s not that,’ said Abhimanyu, interrupting her gently. ‘I ask you now because all this time, I didn’t have a chance to be my own person, to write my own destiny. I lost you because I had to keep a promise, but all that is behind us now. We don’t have to live in India anymore. We could settle down here, in New Jersey – there are a handful of Indians here and we can build a life together! I can’t turn back time, but I don’t want to lose you again. But if there’s someone else in your life …’

‘There isn’t,’ Meera said softly. ‘There never has been anyone but you. Never will be. But I don’t think I can marry you.’

Abhimanyu felt like somebody had shot him. He gasped for a second and steadied himself. He’d pictured a different reaction to his proposal, unexpected as it was.

Meera had never imagined she would see Abhimanyu again. When she found him at her bedside, her happiness knew know bounds. She wanted to recreate lost time, times a thousand. Recreate those moments; the feeling that she could feel only with him. All those years of pining for him, and there he was, in the flesh. But alas, time had moved on. She came to the rude realization that their moment was gone. They were both different people, stripped of their innocence. She knew it was not fair on her or on him to try and be something they are not just to be together in a marriage. She was a singer – the whole purpose of her being was a dedication to her art. He, although a man who had lost his way, was someone who had the potential to bring about great change in the game he loved. There was no mistaking that in Meera’s eyes. They were both destined to do greater things, and a marriage at that point would be settling for less and being bogged down by societal norms. She had earned her independence, and wanted to set Abhimanyu free too.