27 I'm not too strong!

"Dhruv…..", Tanya was flabbergasted of Dhruv's sudden question.

"Hm…. Tell me, do you love me?", he asked again making it so much real.

"Dhruv…. I…..", she stammered failing to find words.

Dhruv chuckled a little, "See, you don't love me, and we are not destined to be together. But Niranjan and you are! I only distanced myself so, you would get enough time to spend with him. As you rightly said, I'm always your friend and will be by your side when you need me. So, you should stop worrying about all these useless stuffs and be with your fiancé. Now that the wedding is nearby, you should be celebrating rather than being upset like this", he said with a comforting smile.

"You don't have to distance yourself for that, Dhruv. But I understand what you mean.", she let out a sigh.

"From now on, my only concentration will be on the wedding!", she assured him.

He couldn't help but smile. He was looking forward to their wedding as well, as he would get to be alone with Riya. The thought excited him, but of course, he wouldn't let his dear wife know that.

"And please let Riya know that I'm sorry….I'll text her as well!", Tanya said and stood up to leave.

"Are we cool?", Dhruv asked.

"Yeah!", she hugged Dhruv and left quietly.

~~*~~

Riya was waiting in the living room of a luxurious apartment letting out deep breaths preparing herself to meet her psychiatrist. None of her previous experiences in this house were good. But never before she had the urge to get treated, like now.

"You're nervous", Sam remarked as soon as entering the house.

Riya looked up at Sam's sad face, "Sam, Are you fine?", she questioned her immediately.

Sam sighed sadly. "Yeah. Seeing him today brought back memories which I didn't want.", she replied indifferently but her voice betrayed by displaying disappointment.

"Have you mentioned about him before, to me?"

"Yeah… You never listen to me, do you?", Sam rolled her eyes at Riya.

"Mostly I don't. But Sam, doesn't he know about me?", Riya asked.

"He knows. I've told him you were my friend, and he even asked things about you before, saying he was interested in the cosmetic business.", Sam answered confused. "Why are you asking? By the way, what was he doing in your office? I hate the jerk!"

"He is the newly joined investor director in my board and a newbie to the field. He has shifted from fashion here....", Riya trailed her sentence lost in thinking, "But… what's weird is, when I asked, he said he didn't know me at all. And you guys had never spoken about me."

"And another thing, he was my blind date once, which I missed.", Riya was almost telling herself unsure of why he lied.

"Hi Riya… Did you wait for long?", a calm voice asked disturbing her thoughts.

Mrs. Pramila had been Riya's psychiatrist since childhood. She understood her temper and stubbornness very well. When she received a voluntary call from Riya for scheduling a consultation instead of her dad, Pramila felt happy and surprised.

She was a lean woman in her 50s who was very professional and thorough. Riya never thought she would be willing to meet her someday.

She gracefully straightened her dress and sat on the couch chair nearby.

"I see you've brought a friend?", her prying eyes noted carefully.

"This is Sam. Sam, this is Mrs. Pramila, my doctor", Riya introduced them casually.

"I don't have time. Let's just start with it!", Riya said and got up. The consultations always happened in Pramila's office and Riya was mindful of the whole deal.

"That's fast! But expected from you as always. Please come this way", Pramila waved for Sam to follow her as she was a new guest.

They entered a turquoise blue room designed with white furniture displaying the calmness of the ocean. Riya swiftly took the patient couch which she hated, while Sam sat on the small chair nearby.

"First of all, let me say that I'm very happy you're here!", Pramila opened her palms in a welcoming gesture, "Please feel at ease and let me know what your worries are", she almost spoke like a sage making Riya narrow her eyes.

Riya took a deep breath and spoke, "You already know what is wrong with me, so I'll skip that. Recently, I've had a bad experience, due to which I remembered my past. Let me warn you, not a great past! Looks like my mom had been abusing me in childhood and one day I couldn't take it up anymore, so I pushed her almost to death! So, this is the deal", she noted dryly like narrating a normal old story to someone.

"Riya…. I can't believe! I'm really sorry… Are you fine, dear?", the doctor gave versatile expressions but only received a stare from Riya.

"Look, I just want this to end. My mom! or should I call that crazy lady, doesn't matter to me. And you told me if I knew my past, it would help. But it's not helping. I still have the phobia and in fact, I'm feeling more anxious than before. So, tell me what to do and it should be a quick solution!", Riya said.

Sam couldn't believe her steadfastness. She was talking like discussing just another business case and nothing more. If it was Sam, she would have cried her eyes out.

"Oh…. I see…. It's not very easy, dear. But now that you know what happened, there are two things you can do from your side as part of treatment.", Pramila said.

"And they are?"

"First, you should try to empathize with the culprit. In this case, your own mother. This is the most difficult one. Sometimes, you might fail to do this, but its fine. Still, you must try. You should come to the realization that not everyone in the world is like your mom, which will help reduce the fear when any stranger approaches you!"

"Secondly, you should expose yourself to your trusted someone's touch in a safe environment every day. You must ask them to do it when you are least expecting. It's like medicine. You take one tablet each day to cure a disease. This is the same.", she concluded expecting Riya's questions.

"Okay… If that's what it takes, that's what I'll do.", Riya quickly said and got up.

"Wait, Riya. Don't you want to talk about it? This must be very hard on you...", the doctor said concerned.

"It is! ..... But talking about it, is not going to help, and is there any other easy way? No! You've been telling the same thing over years now. I came today only for a reassurance.", she flashed a sly smile and was out in a wink.

"Riya….. You're really something.. When I came here, I thought you'll cry or feel panicked while talking about your past….. I even thought that's why you called me. But, you….. wow! I wish I was this strong", Sam commented feeling down.

"Sam….."

She looked at Riya's eyes clouded with mystery.

"I'm not as strong as you think. If that were the case, why would I get a phobia in the first place? I called you today for the reason you just mentioned.", Riya sighed exasperated.

"Sorry... So...….Now, what's your next plan?"

"I don't know", Riya replied and got inside her car.

~~*~~

Riya didn't utter a word while travelling back home. Her mind churned on the facts, causes and results and how she could deal with it. She knew it but felt uneasy to accept as that would mean giving away her pride.

She entered inside famished and surprised to see that the lock was already disengaged.

There he was. Sitting on the floor, furiously glaring at his laptop as if someone in there was irritating him.

'He should get rid of the couch if he's never going to use it', Riya thought.

"Hi, darling! You're late for dinner!", Dhruv said sarcastically with a ridiculous smirk.

Riya smoldered and came closer to sit near him. She quietly observed the document he was reading on his laptop.

"Darling! Recently, you've been staring a lot!", he chuckled and turned towards her.

With a serious gaze fixed on him, she whispered, "I want you to touch me."