Page 28 of The Story Of Us

“Okay, meri jaan. Make sure you don’t skip dinner again.”

“I won’t. Bye, mum, love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Violet hangs up and throws her head back, letting out a groan as she places her phone on the desk. I stifle a laugh at how dramatic she’s being just because of a five-minute phone call with her mum.

I think the relationship she has with her mum is sweet, and they seem close in a way that goes past just being mother and daughter. Admittedly, sometimes I get a bit jealous when she talks about her mum because I can’t imagine having that close of a relationship with either of my parents. But when she told me that her dad left when she was a baby, I think I understood it more. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like for her mum to raise Violet alone. My parents have both always been so heavily involved in my life, but at least they had the flexibility of one being able to take over if the other wasn’t available.

“I want to meet your mum.” I blurt out before I’ve even realised it.

“What?” Violet’s head snaps up as she turns to face me.

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about how hard it must have been for her. I want to meet her so I can see who made you so amazing.”

Violet reaches for my hand that’s closest to hers and I meet her halfway, linking our fingers together in the way that always makes me feel like electricity is running through my veins.

“I would say the same for you, but I don’t think your parents had anything to do with how wonderful you are.”

She leans forward to kiss my cheek, and that feels electrified, too.

I lift our joined hands to kiss the top of her knuckles, and she's smiling when I look up at her through my eyelashes. She’s just so pretty, and I can’t believe she’s mine, that I get to cherish her like this, be with her in our own world where it feels like all my worries disappear.

A question pops into my head, something I’ve been wondering for a while but always forget to ask.

“What does your mum call you?”

“Hmm?”

“She always says that thing when you guys talk, mary something?”

Violet bursts out laughing, her free hand coming up to cover her mouth as she tips her head back. I love the sound of her laugh and even if I’ve just said something absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing, I don’t care as long as I get to keep hearing that sound.

“What?” I ask as she struggles to catch her breath.

“You’re so cute,” she says, which isn’t really an answer, but I’ll take it anyway.

She moves her free hand to cradle my cheek, and I lean into her touch. The comfort I get from her is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, it’s like the whole world quietens, and we’re the only two things in existence.

“Tell me what she says, what it means,” I say, my voice low as I stare into her beautiful eyes as if they hold the answers to every single question in the universe.

“She calls me ‘meri jaan.’ It’s a term of endearment for someone you love, it means my life, my soul, that kind of thing.”

I know she’s not calling me that, but just hearing it from her lips after finding out what it means has my heart racing.

“Meri jaan,” I repeat slowly, trying my best to match her pronunciation and hoping that she’ll realise that it’s a word that perfectly encapsulates how I feel for her.

The smile she gives me lights up my entire life.

“But there’s another way to say it for when you’re in a relationship.” She adds, and I turn my head slightly to kiss her palm, urging her to go on. Her thumb strokes across my cheek as she continues. “Usually, people say ‘jaanu’ to their partners.”

“Jaanu.”

My life, my soul.

I don’t ever want to call her anything else.

“Jaanu.”

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