When I reached the flat, I found them unlocking the door. I did not think at all. I ran and hugged them both, shouting, 'I achieved it. I achieved it.'
That night we did not sleep. We talked until three in the morning, then slept a few hours and woke again for our date.
As soon as we were up, Sophia and I returned to the old house to fetch our outfits. Arthur was still asleep in the flat when we left, and he was still asleep when we came back. We did not want to wake him, so we tip-toed to our rooms to change.
When I walked out wearing the clothes she had chosen for me, Arthur woke. The look on his face, that stunned smile he tried to hide by asking me about our plans, I will never forget it.
Then her bedroom door opened.
Sophia stepped out in the white dress. It looked a thousand times more beautiful than on the dummy, every line softened and shaped by her hands, every stitch placed with care. A delicate necklace glimmered at her throat, though I have no idea where she found it. She was… she was more beautiful than an Angel, or even 'The Lady' herself, or anything humans have ever tried to describe.
She went to Arthur first and kissed his forehead. Then she spun once, letting the dress flare so we could see it from every angle. She smiled at him, but she avoided looking at me.
After her spin, she turned. She walked toward me with a teasing little smile. 'Poor Indra,' she said.
And the moment I saw that smile, my heart started hammering. I remembered exactly what she said the first time I wore these clothes. I told myself she would not do it, that she was only teasing.
But she reached me, cupped my face with both hands, and kissed me. On the lips. And she did it while Arthur stood right there.
She pulled away far too soon, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out the door while calling goodbye over her shoulder to the frozen Arthur.
And for our date, we went to the park, just like we planned… that is what I want to say. But the moment we stepped outside, Sophia tugged my sleeve and pulled me in the opposite direction, toward our old house.
"Arthur will never come here," she said, as if that explained everything.
Before I could figure out what she meant, she pushed me gently onto the bed. Then she turned around and told me, in a trembling voice, to unhook her dress. She kept her back to me so I could reach the clasps more easily.
It stunned me. I sat frozen, unable to move.
A moment later, she turned her head. Her eyes were full of tears. "I read that men like to strip women," she whispered.
The sight of her crying hit me hard. I did not understand what had gone wrong, but I knew it must have been my fault somehow. I apologized quickly, clumsily.
To my shock, she laughed through her tears and threw herself onto me. We toppled backward onto the bed, and with her arms around me she confessed that her friends had told her that only having sex will make them real couples, so she had gathered all her courage to prepare herself for it.
I had always felt she resembled Arthur in many ways, and she was brave like him as well. But I had never heard her say she needed courage for anything. Hearing her admit she needed courage just to take our relationship further made me realize how much pressure she had put on herself, how hard she was trying for us.
I did not want to push her, so I gently suggested we wait for another day. She refused. She insisted that she wanted to make love to me right then, in that quiet room filled with our childhood memories. She stripped off everything except the necklace around her neck. The sight of her bare skin made my breath tremble, and whatever restraint I had left fell away.
When I reached for the necklace, thinking maybe it was just another thing men were supposed to remove, she stopped me. "Arthur bought it for me yesterday," she said. "I will never take it off, not until I die."
Hearing Arthur's name even in that moment hit me with a sharp, small ache. She must have seen it, because she kissed me then, deep and slow, pulling me back to her as she slipped my clothes away piece by piece. After that, we lay down together and—
Isha shifted in her sleep, stretching her tiny arms. Indra paused, watching her. Obero gently lifted her head and let her settle on his lap.
"She never sleeps on anyone except me," Obero murmured. "Maybe that's why she keeps waking."
Once she sank back into deep sleep, he nodded. "You can continue now."
Indra smiled softly at the child, then resumed, though the smile faded as he spoke. "Making love… it was the greatest feeling we had ever known. Once we felt it, we didn't want to be apart, not even for a second.
After we left the house, we went to the amusement park we three used to visit as kids. But this time it was different. Wonderful. Exciting. For the first time, it was just the two of us. Every ride, every moment, it felt like the world belonged only to us.
We followed our plan exactly, only three hours late. In the evening we headed to the theater—our tickets were already booked—but by the time we arrived the movie had already reached its climax. We did not bother watching. Instead, we spent the time talking about our future.
And of course, she never forgot Arthur. In every dream she imagined, every plan she whispered to me, he was part of it.
After leaving the theater, we walked toward the flat. Neither of us wanted the date to end, so we decided to walk the entire way. While we walked…"
He stopped. His gaze dropped to the necklace he had taken from his pocket. He held it in his palm, staring at the tiny glint of metal.