CHAPTER XLI
"Where Did She Go?"
It had been a month.
Thirty silent days.
Thirty restless nights.
And still… no sign of Mon.
No messages.
No calls.
Not even a whisper of where she could be.
Every morning I woke up with the same question on my lips:
Where are you, Mon?
And every night, I went to sleep with the same silence pressing down on my chest.
I had asked everyone I could think of —
Mahi, Aarvi, even Mon's closest friends.
But every answer was the same:
> "We don't know."
"She's not home."
"She hasn't contacted anyone."
That silence was louder than any rejection.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
I turned to Mahi and said with quiet urgency,
"I need to go to Mon's house. Right now. Will you come with me?"
Mahi paused, startled, then nodded slowly.
"Okay… I'll come. But I want to bring Aarvi too."
That made me stop.
I looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"Mahi… we're going to look for Mon. Not heading out on some couple's tour. Why do you need to bring Aarvi?"
She sighed and gave me a patient smile — the kind only best friends manage when they know you're being difficult.
"I know, Sam. But Aarvi doesn't have anything to do right now. And she's not just my girlfriend… she's your friend too. Don't forget that."
I folded my arms, trying to fight the irritation bubbling up in me for no real reason.
"Fine," I muttered, my tone sharper than it needed to be.
"Bring whoever you want."
There was a beat of silence.
Mahi studied me carefully.
And then she asked something that struck deeper than I expected.
"Sam… have you changed?"
"Since you came back from the hospital… you're different. A little colder. A little more on edge. What's going on?"
Her voice was soft — not accusing, not dramatic… just concerned.
I looked away, jaw tight, fighting the urge to tell her everything…
To scream out every ache and every word I had buried since Mon disappeared.
But instead, I did what I've gotten too good at lately.
I lied.
"It's nothing, Mahi."
"Just… sometimes I get irritable. That's all."
She didn't believe me.
Not fully.
I could see it in her eyes — that quiet doubt, the way her smile faded just a little.
But she didn't press me.
Instead, she just nodded and said,
"Okay… I won't push. But if something is going on, you know I'm here, right? I'm your friend, Sam. I always have been."
Her words softened something in me for a moment.
But it didn't take long before that familiar ache crept back in — the one shaped like Mon's absence.
The one that asked, over and over again:
"Why did she leave… and why didn't she take me with her?"
And somewhere deep in my heart…
I hoped going to her house would finally give me an answer.
Or at the very least… a beginning.
"The Journey to Find Her"
Mahi picked up her phone, her fingers moving quickly as she dialed Aarvi's number.
There was no hesitation in her voice — only purpose, urgency, and that quiet strength she always carried when it came to the people she loved.
> "Aaru… get ready," she said firmly.
"We have to leave."
Aarvi's voice crackled faintly through the phone speaker, confused but alert.
> "Leave? Where are we going?"
Mahi glanced at me, then said the words that had been sitting heavy in my chest for days.
> "To find Mon."
There was a pause. A deep silence.
And then, as if no other answer could exist, Aarvi replied softly,
> "I'm coming. Just give me a few minutes."
Something about the way she said it — so immediate, so sure — settled a storm inside me I didn't even realize was raging.
In less than fifteen minutes, Aarvi was at the gate, backpack slung over one shoulder, determination in her eyes. She didn't ask questions, didn't second-guess our plan.
She just stood beside us. Ready.
And in that moment, I realized something:
Even though my world felt like it was crumbling… I wasn't completely alone.
Mahi.
Aarvi.
They were here.
Not just for Mon. But for me.
We didn't waste another second.
The three of us made our way to the bus stand, hearts full of questions and hope tangled in every step. The sun had started to dip lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the pavement, but we didn't notice.
All that mattered was the road ahead —
The journey we were finally beginning.
The bus stand was unusually quiet, the kind of quiet that makes you feel like something important is about to begin. I sat between them, Mahi humming softly to herself, Aarvi scrolling through her phone, maybe to distract herself from the tension none of us wanted to speak out loud.
And I?
I kept looking down the road.
Waiting for the bus.
Waiting for the answers.
Waiting… for her.
We boarded the next one to her town, taking seats near the back, where the windows rattled a little and the light from outside felt warmer, more honest.
As the bus pulled away from the stand, I pressed my head lightly against the glass and watched the city fade behind us.
With every mile we passed, a new emotion took its place inside me: Nervousness.
Hope.
Fear.
Love.
Because somewhere at the end of this road…
Was Mon.
And maybe — just maybe — the truth I had been searching for all along.
"Every Mile Between Us"
The journey to Mon's home was just an hour long…
But to me, it felt like a lifetime.
With every turn of the wheels, with every passing tree blurring outside the window, my heart pounded louder — not out of fear, but something much deeper… something fragile.
Hope.
Or maybe it was just… the aching residue of love that had been left unresolved for too long.
The bus rattled quietly as we moved forward, but inside me… there was a storm.
I sat silently between Mahi and Aarvi, but my thoughts were far away — wandering through memories I had buried, feelings I thought I'd locked away.
My fingers nervously twisted the hem of my sleeve as my heart whispered a poem to itself — the kind of poem you don't say out loud, but feel in every corner of your soul:
> "I wonder what kind of people they were… The ones whose love was returned, The ones who asked for roses… and actually got them.
Because when I dared to ask for just one bloom… All I was given… was a garland of thorns."
I swallowed hard, blinking back the sting in my eyes.
> "But maybe… Maybe this is what living really is. To keep breathing… even when every breath feels like a bruise. To smile… when your soul is weeping. To carry your wounds in silence — no complaints, no cries. Just take the pain… and learn to live with it."
I turned my face toward the window, letting the wind kiss my cheek through the small opening.
It wasn't comforting.
But it reminded me I was still alive.
Mahi glanced over, noticing the look on my face — that kind of quiet heartbreak you can't hide even when you try. She didn't say anything. She just gently reached for my hand and held it.
No words.
Just presence.
And that meant everything.
I thought of Mon.
Where was she now?
What was she doing?
Did she think of me — even once — during these thirty endless days we'd spent apart?
Did she wonder if I missed her?
Because I did.
I missed her in the way the sky misses the stars during the day — knowing they're there, but aching in the absence of their light.
I missed her in the way silence sometimes screams louder than noise.
And now, with each mile we crossed, I could feel myself falling deeper into the unknown. Closer to a truth I wasn't sure I was ready to face… but needed to.
Whatever awaited at the end of this road —
closure, confrontation, or something in between —
I had to find it.
Not just for her.
But for me.
Because I couldn't keep living in the space between hope and heartbreak.
This journey wasn't just about finding Mon.
It was about finding myself, too.
To be continued...