#project: facets

[talesfromopenpages]

It's finally out! Facets, A Short Story Compilation is now available on various e-retailing platforms and on Ko-fi!

[talesfromopenpages]

And the man sitting beside her now, stoic and silent and steady – he had been her rock. Purab did not have any reason to extend his friendship and his understanding, but she had underestimated him as well. He had let her rage and cry and break, away from her worried and stressed family. He had sat by her in silence as the despondency got too much. She had deserved none of his kindness. Jiya knew she had behaved abominably with him and still he sat with her at the mandap, offering her both his name and his support. It was humbling.

Was it fair to him? Once she would not have thought much of it, believing it was her right to act as she wished, love as she wished, speak as she wished. Now, with her dreams and heart and trust broken by a man she had considered the love of her life, she finally faced the realities of the world. He had laughed in her face when she had told him she was pregnant, and it had been Purab who had supported her since. One had all the advantages afforded him of wealth and connections, and the other was simply a genuinely good person.

He deserved better than her.

an excerpt from Lost & Found, the second short story in Facets; A Short Story Compilation

[talesfromopenpages]

Her answering hum is cut off by the door being flung open and Val pulling Isha into an excited hug that she would sink into if Val wasn’t squeezing her so tight. She laughs into Val’s shoulder silently, basking at the comfort of the familiarity of it all. “Hi! I missed you! Come in, Mom’s made your favourites!” Isha barely gets a chance to breathe or respond before she’s being dragged into the house.

Behind her, she can hear Jack chuckle again. Sardonically, he comments, “Hi, Val, it’s me, your actual sibling. I’m doing fine, thank you. How are you?”

Val pulls away from Isha and waves a hand at Jack with an impatient frown. “I met you yesterday, Jack.”

“You met Isha yesterday!” Jack sounds indignant but his eyes are dancing with laughter when they meet Isha’s. She grins at the byplay, unwrapping the scarf from around her neck and hanging it and her jacket by the door like she’s done so many times before. “I know she’s everybody’s favourite, but still, some pretence that that’s not true would be nice.”

an excerpt from A Season Of Change, the last short story in Facets; A Short Story Compilation

[talesfromopenpages]

The unfathomable look in Nick’s eyes would not leave her mind. She spent more time than she would admit trying to place the feeling in them, and the emotions they evoked in her. She would remember the weight of them in inopportune moments, the heat she could not explain that she still felt, and lost track of what she had been doing. It confused her, Nick’s reaction that night, and her instinctive response to him. It left her uncertain, unsure of her footing and her standing with him. It prickled under her skin, as did the anxiety of asking Nick if she had done something wrong.

All of it made no sense to her, and she did not want to care so much. She did not want to put weight on Samar’s words, but they circled in her head all the same. Nick’s opinion mattered to her, as did the ease he usually showed in their interactions. Jhanvi would hate to lose that.

For all her efforts to banish him from her mind and try to focus on Bharti's wedding as she should, she was unsuccessful.

Nicholas Cho had fixed himself firmly in her thoughts, and she could not dislodge him.

Jhanvi was not certain she wanted to either.

an excerpt from Lasting Impressions, the first short story in Facets; A Short Story Compilation

[talesfromopenpages]

Still, he stood where he was. He could not move forward, cross the gaping divide between them. Nor could he leave and widen it, until there were no roads leading back to her. Not when this was the last he would see her before she married someone who was not him. He was struck by the sight of her. Was she equally caught up in this moment with him?

The ache in his heart threatened to overwhelm him at the thought. He had never thought he would be a guest at her wedding. He was always meant to be her groom. Those were the secret hopes they had shared, the wishes on the stars they had made. But life, it seemed, had other plans. And all the dreams they had, all the castles in the air they had built together, had been swept away in one fell move.

Here she was, the love of his life, ready and waiting to become his brother’s wife.

an excerpt from Promises To Keep, the first short story in Facets; A Short Story Compilation

[talesfromopenpages]

Firoz and Kiara worried instead. She could see it in their eyes, the smiles on their faces more pained than anyone else realised. They knew exactly why she was avoiding them, and still they persisted in trying to get her alone. She had seen the surprise and then the sympathy that had crossed their faces on the first day, and she knew that was a conversation she wanted — no, needed — to avoid. It had been weeks now, and she would have felt guilty for ignoring their attempts and for pulling away, but it had been self-preservation.

If she so much as thought about the things that were happening, she would break down. It was easier to lock her emotions away, lock the hurt and confusion and the emptiness behind the drive to help and be useful. If she stopped for a second, her mask would falter, and everything would be plain for the world to see. Then there would be questions, too many for her to keep hiding just how much she was shattering.

Would it be such a bad thing? There was a dark part of her that grew louder each day. Would it be so bad for people to see through her mask, see the cracks on her soul and her heart? Would it be so bad for this secret she kept – not for her, never for her – to come out?

an excerpt from Behind The Mask, the second short story in Facets; A Short Story Compilation