Author's POV
Ethan left at dawn.
Business called.
Rajasthan.
A meeting with suppliers who didn't understand phones.
Who needed faces.
Who needed promises sealed in person.
He didn't want to go.
Every fiber of his being screamed to stay.
Near her.
Watching her.
Breathing her air.
But duty was duty.
And the monster had obligations.
He stood outside her building one last time.
Watching her window.
Curtains still closed.
She was sleeping.
Dreaming.
Maybe of him.
Maybe not.
He left a note.
Small.
Hidden where only she would find it.
*Gone for a day. Will return. Wait for me. - E*
Then he disappeared into the Chennai dawn.
---
Meera woke late.
Sun high.
Amma already calling.
She stretched.
Felt the empty space beside her.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
He had been so present in her nights.
In her dreams.
In the shadows.
Now something felt different.
Gone.
She found the note on her windowsill.
Read it three times.
Gone for a day.
Will return.
Wait for me.
A whole day without him?
Without knowing he was near?
Without feeling his eyes on her?
She didn't know how to feel about that.
Relieved?
Lonely?
Confused?
All of it.
---
The day passed strangely.
She helped Amma.
Watched TV with Karthik.
Talked to Appa about nothing.
Normal things.
But her mind kept drifting.
To him.
To Rajasthan.
To when he would come back.
To why she cared at all.
By evening, she was restless.
Pacing.
Checking the window.
Pretending not to.
By night, she was convinced.
She was hallucinating.
Imagining him.
Creating him from loneliness and longing.
There was no Ethan in Chennai.
There was no stranger in the shadows.
There was no one watching her sleep.
It was all in her head.
All a fantasy.
All a dream.
---
She decided to prove it to herself.
If he was real, he would come tonight.
If he was real, she would feel him.
If he was real, something would happen.
She waited until her family slept.
Then she changed.
Deliberately.
Differently.
She removed her dhavani.
The long piece of her half saree that covered her.
Left it on the chair.
Now she wore only the skirt and blouse.
The skirt sat low on her hips.
The blouse was short.
Cut above her navel.
Her stomach bare.
Her cleavage visible.
Her calves exposed.
She lay on her bed.
Pretending to sleep.
Heart racing.
Waiting.
---
Hours passed.
Nothing.
No shadow.
No touch.
No note.
She was right.
He wasn't real.
She was losing her mind.
Creating monsters where none existed.
She closed her eyes.
Tears forming.
Disappointment burning.
And then.
A creak.
The window.
Moving.
---
Ethan returned late.
Later than planned.
The meeting ran long.
The drive from airport longer.
He reached her building near midnight.
Climbed the stairs.
Quiet as always.
Reached her window.
And stopped.
She was there.
On her bed.
But different.
No dhavani.
No covering.
Just the skirt.
Just the blouse.
Her stomach bare and golden in the dim light.
Her cleavage soft and shadowed.
Her calves smooth and inviting.
His breath caught.
His body responded.
His heart pounded.
She had never looked like this.
Never been so exposed.
Never been so... his.
---
He watched for a moment.
Just breathing.
Just memorizing.
Then he moved.
Through the window.
Silent.
Deadly.
Loving.
He stood beside her bed.
Looking down at her.
Pretending to sleep.
But he knew.
He always knew when she was awake.
Her breathing changed.
Her heart beat faster.
She knew he was here.
She wanted him here.
---
He sat on the edge of the bed.
Slow.
Careful.
Giving her time to stop him.
She didn't.
He reached out.
Touched her hair.
Soft.
Reverent.
She didn't move.
He traced her face.
Forehead.
Eyebrows.
Cheekbones.
Lips.
She stayed still.
But he felt her.
Felt her wanting.
Felt her waiting.
---
He leaned down.
Pressed his lips to her forehead.
She sighed.
Quiet.
Soft.
He kissed her eyelids.
Each one.
Gentle.
Loving.
He kissed her cheeks.
Her nose.
The corner of her mouth.
Still not her lips.
Still waiting.
Still giving her the choice.
Her hand moved.
Came up.
Resting on his chest.
Over his heart.
Feeling it race.
For her.
Always for her.
---
He moved lower.
To her neck.
The place he had dreamed about.
His lips pressed there.
Soft.
Warm.
She gasped.
Quiet.
Sharp.
Her body arched slightly.
Just a fraction.
Just enough.
He kissed her neck again.
Slower.
Deeper.
Letting himself feel her pulse beneath his lips.
It was racing.
Fluttering.
Dancing.
For him.
All for him.
---
His hand found her waist.
Bare skin.
Warm.
Soft.
He traced the curve of it.
Slow.
Loving.
She shivered beneath his touch.
Her fingers curled into his shirt.
Pulling him closer.
He went.
Gladly.
Willingly.
Desperately.
His lips moved lower.
To her collarbone.
To the edge of her blouse.
To the curve of her cleavage.
He stopped there.
Breathing hard.
Waiting.
---
Her hand moved from his chest.
To his face.
Cupping his jaw.
Bringing him up.
Bringing him to her eyes.
She looked at him.
Dark eyes.
Wide.
Wanting.
Confused.
"Ethan."
Just his name.
But it was everything.
"Meera."
"Are you real?"
"I'm real."
"Or am I dreaming again?"
"You're not dreaming. I'm here. I'm real. I'm yours."
---
She pulled him closer.
Their faces inches apart.
Her breath on his lips.
His breath on hers.
"Tell me something. Something only you would know."
He thought.
Then softly.
"The first time I saw you. Across the street from the Indian grocery mart. You were carrying basmati rice. Too heavy. You almost dropped it. And then you laughed. That laugh. That's when I knew."
Her eyes widened.
"That was real?"
"That was the most real moment of my life."
---
She was quiet for a moment.
Processing.
Believing.
Then.
"Kiss me."
"Meera—"
"Kiss me, Ethan. Not my forehead. Not my cheek. Not my neck. My lips. Kiss me."
He should have waited.
Should have been patient.
Should have given her more time.
But she asked.
She chose.
She wanted.
And he was only so strong.
---
He kissed her.
Soft at first.
Tentative.
Questioning.
She kissed him back.
Inexperienced.
Clumsy.
Perfect.
He deepened it.
Slow.
Gentle.
Teaching.
She learned.
Quickly.
Eagerly.
Her hands in his hair.
Pulling him closer.
Needing him nearer.
His hand on her waist.
Pulling her into him.
Her body against his.
Soft.
Warm.
Perfect.
---
They broke apart.
Breathing hard.
Foreheads pressed together.
"That was—" She couldn't finish.
"I know."
"I've never—"
"I know."
"It felt like—"
"I know."
She laughed.
Soft.
Breathless.
"Stop knowing everything."
"I can't. Not with you."
She kissed him again.
Quick.
Fierce.
Then pulled back.
Looked at him.
Really looked.
---
"Ethan."
"Yes."
"I need to ask you something."
"Anything."
She hesitated.
Then.
"Are you doing this because you love me? Or because you want my body?"
The question hit him.
Hard.
Honest.
Exactly what he deserved.
"You think I'm guided by lust?"
"I don't know what you're guided by. You're a man. You have needs. You've had many women. And I'm here. Barely dressed. In your arms. It would be easy for you to—"
"Stop."
She stopped.
He cupped her face.
Made her look at him.
"Meera. Look at me. Really look."
She did.
---
"I have wanted you since the first moment I saw you. Yes, physically. Yes, with lust. Yes, with every dark thing in me. But that's not why I'm here."
"Then why?"
"I'm here because I can't breathe without you. I'm here because your laugh is the only music I hear. I'm here because when you left, I died. Not my body. Something deeper. Something I didn't know I had."
Her eyes glistened.
"I'm here because I love you. Not your body. Not your innocence. Not your blood. You. All of you. The arguments and the stubbornness and the way you eat idiyappam like it's heaven. That's what I love. That's what I crossed oceans for. That's what I'll wait forever for."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
He caught it with his thumb.
Brought it to his lips.
Tasted it.
---
"If all I wanted was your body, I could have taken it a hundred times. In America. In my house. In that bed where you slept beside me. I didn't. Because your body without your heart is nothing. And your heart is what I want."
"Even after everything? After what I said? After I left?"
"Especially after everything. Especially after you left. Because that's when I knew. That's when I understood that loving you means letting you go. Means waiting. Means earning. Means becoming someone worthy of you."
She cried harder.
Not sad tears.
Something else.
Something healing.
Something beginning.
---
"I don't know if I love you yet."
"I know."
"I don't know if I can ever love you the way you want."
"I know."
"But I know I don't want anyone else. I know that when you touch me, my body wakes up. I know that when you're gone, I feel your absence. I know that when I see you, something in me settles. Like coming home."
"That's enough."
"Is it?"
"It's everything."
---
She kissed him again.
Different this time.
Slower.
Deeper.
More.
Her body pressed against his.
Her hands exploring.
His hands responding.
He touched her waist.
Her stomach.
The bare skin above her skirt.
She didn't stop him.
Didn't want to.
But he stopped himself.
Pulled back.
Breathing hard.
"Not tonight."
"Why?"
"Because when it happens, I want you sure. Completely sure. Not confused. Not questioning. Not wondering if you're being used."
"I'm sure."
"You're not. Not yet. But soon. When you are, I'll be here. Waiting. Always waiting."
She looked at him.
At the monster who became a man.
At the stranger who became everything.
At the love she was starting to feel.
"Stay."
"What?"
"Stay tonight. Just hold me. Like before. Like in your house. Just... be near me."
He smiled.
Soft.
Genuine.
Beautiful.
"Always, little star."
---
He lay beside her.
Pulled her close.
Her head on his chest.
His arms around her.
Her skirt hiked up.
Her blouse loose.
His hands respectful.
Just holding.
Just being.
Just loving.
"Ethan."
"Yes."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For waiting. For being patient. For loving me enough to let me go. And for coming back."
He kissed her hair.
"I'll always come back. Wherever you go. Whatever it takes. I'll always come back to you."
She smiled against his chest.
Closed her eyes.
And for the first time in weeks.
Slept peacefully.
Really peacefully.
Because he was there.
Because he was real.
Because he was hers.
And somewhere in the Chennai night, the monster held his little star.
And for one perfect moment.
Everything was exactly as it should be.