Page 106 of Glass Jawed
“I know.”
Then I shake my head, a dull ache forming. “She won’t forgive me.”
“She might not,” Diana agrees. “But that’s not the point.Youarehoping for forgiveness and reconciliation.She’sprobably hoping for peace and resilience.”
The words sit heavy between us.
She exhales again. “She’s going home, right? So maybe it’s time you asked yourself what you’rehoping forif you were to—say... follow.”
“She wouldn’t want me to.”
“No.” She nods. “But you’d bethere. Witnessing. Learning. Being in an environmentshecontrols—not the other way around.”
I choke on the lump in my throat. “I... I don’t think I can. I think she’d hate me even more for trying.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Or maybe she’s already hated you as much as she possibly could—and the rest is... silence.”
A silence I may have to live with for the rest of my life.
“So, again, Lucian,” she asks gently now. There’s a soft smile on her face. “Why are you here?”
My jaw clenches. I nod.
The call ends after she gives me a few book recommendations, some advocacy pieces, and a direct number in case I have questions. I thank her with every fiber in my being. I didn’t expect grace, but I got a thread of it.
Now, I sit here.
Still.
Silent.
Then I open a new tab.
It’s not a plan.
But it’s... hope.
Government of India: e-Visa Application.
??????
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Liam hands me my coffee. We still come to Aarohi’s café every day—like idiots—even though she quit weeks ago. She’s probably in India by now.
And somehow, Ifeelit. Her absence. Like a phantom ache I can’t shake. The silence where her voice used to be. The quiet reminder that I won’t get the chance to tell her everything I’ve unpacked in therapy. Everything I wish I could say to ease even anounceof her pain.
“Yeah. I just... I don’t know. I want to see her. Explain. Something.” I sigh and take a sip, the bitterness sharp on my tongue.
Liam’s gaze flicks to something behind me. Before he can say anything, I turn.
Offuckingcourse.
I don’t get a break. Not today.
“Let’s just head back,” Liam mutters, clapping a hand on my back.
I nod, jaw tight, fury simmering under fatigue. Tim.FuckingTim. He’s like mold. Persistent and impossible to get rid of. Every time I see him lingering, it’s a punch in the gut. A reminder of what I lost. What I destroyed.Aarohi.
