Perspective is the way one sees things when they look at them from a certain distance, and in turn they understand to empathise or in a way relate to their true value. Sitting in the stone-cold darkness inside the governor’s mansion, Batuk felt the sadness that Marietta’s heart reflected. He had felt the depth of darkness to which she had descended, and in a way it made him realise the depth of affection that her heart had for his brother.

"Marietta..." He had called her, a gentle softness of empathy had laced his tone, and Candice looked up at him, an emptiness in her blue eyes, and even in that all enveloping darkness Batuk could she the pearls of sorrow in them.

"He used to call me Candy!" She murmured, almost inaudibly, her voice had a crack, and Batuk felt a sting in his heart.

"Candy... " He called her again.
"Come here."

His arms were stretched, inviting her, and without any inhibitions, Candice moved a little closer and kept her head on his shoulder, her arm lightly wrapped around his neck, their heads leaned against the stone wall of the hall.
This was what she lacked in life, the warmth of another human, the warmth of being understood, and sitting close to the young man who resembled the man she pinned for, made her heart full of emotions.
It's wasn't any inhibition that she felt, nor a sense of guilt, but an overwhelming sensation took over her broken loveless soul.

"I waited for him, you know, just for one telephone call..." Candice was weeping silently, and Batuk clutched her hand and held her fingers entwined in his.
"But, he didn't call, not once... Just one letter, Batuk, just one letter and, it was all over."

"He didn't marry out of choice, Candy, if that's any consolation."
Batuk hushed, his voice was soft.

"But, couldn't he just speak to me once, just once?" Candice gripped his fingers tighter and brought their joined hands to her forehead, her silent tears drenched that convergence.
"Before he left, he had kissed me, right here..." She moved down Batuk's fingers and made him touch her lips, "and he told me that once he's back, we shall be together."

"Did he promise to marry you?"

"No, he didn't... But is it always about verbal promises, Batuk?" She wiped her tears with her free hand and looked at him longingly.
"He didn't say that he loves me either... But, when I had told him the contents of my heart, he had smiled... Isn't that supposed to be considered as acceptance in law?"

May be in law, but probably not in the whirlpool of life, Batuk wanted to say, but instead he chose to be a quiet audience.

Candice went on...
"You know if you ask him, he'll probably tell you that we met in high school," she chuckled amidst tears, "but the truth is I've known him all my life, I don't remember since when, may be in middle school, or before..." She paused, thinking, and Batuk closed his eyes, sighing at the pitiful emotional state of the woman.
"He was the only Indian boy, dark eyes, dark hair, the tallest in the lot, and I fell for him the moment I saw him."
She smiled, remembering old memories.
"But I don't think he ever noticed me, not until high school, not until our fathers had started to do business together."

"Yes, the Thompson-RC-Constructions." Batuk sighed, "I'm aware of it."

Candice smiled, tears rolling down her eyes, and she snuggled closer to his body, letting Batuk wrap his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in the comfort of his chest.
"So, our father's wanted us to marry, and Roy never objected... And, when I had confessed my heart to him, right before his visit to India, he had kissed me in return..." Candice started shaking as the intensity of her silent sobs made her body cold.
"But... But he never came back, Batuk... How can I forget those eyes, those lips... How can I forget that warmth that I had felt in his arms?"

"He is married, Candy." Batuk sighed.
"There is no better way of telling this, he loves her, madly, and the only way is probably to move on."

"Move on??" Candice detached herself from him at once, sitting up, her eyes widened, reflecting a brewing fire inside them.
"How do I move on? What does it take to move on?" She held Batuk's collar and shook him feebly.
"Do you know what I was doing when I received his letter?" She looked down,
"I was selecting cake for our wedding, I wanted it to be perfect!"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am." Batuk sighed, "I'm... so sorry!"

"How could he do this to me Batuk? How could he just break me like this? You know what I'm now? Just a living corpse!"

Batuk had cupped her cheeks at once, nodding his head in disapproval, his eyes bore into hers with all the finer emotions known to him, and the next moment, his hands had pulled her into an embrace, tighter than ever, his arms around her body resting on the small of her back.

"Don't you say that Candice, you deserve happiness, everyone deserves happiness!"

"My happiness is him!" She sobbed,
"And, I know he can't be mine."

"He can't be... And, he needn't be...You can be happy on your own Candice... Trust me!"

His words had made her look up in his eyes again, and Batuk smiled lovingly at her.
"Candice, if it's of any solace, my brother didn't mean to marry Bondita, but he did it to save her life, and I'm the sole witness to how slowly over the years, they become inseparable... He didn't mean to hurt you Candice, he too was hurt in the process... A lot more than you think."

"You think?"
Her lips quivered.

"I know... "
Batuk ran his fingers through her soft golden curls.
"Do you know how difficult it is to fight with the entire world, with everyone you love, just to protect that small child whom you call your wife... And, that too, when the relationship doesn't hold any meaningful connotation to you... And yet, you give up on your own self just to see her smile!" Batuk sighed, and leaned against the wall once again.
"I've seen the pain in him, ask me, I know how it must have broken him everyday!"

Candice was quiet, the sobs had subsided, and with the hem of her sleeves she was now wiping her tears slowly.

"Your heart was broken Candy, I understand, and that's worse, but what he did to himself was worst...he killed his everything, his feelings, his desires, his own dreams, his future... he basically killed his heart when he married a nine years old child that night."
He paused, "and, now, after years of pain and loneliness, he is finally happy, he loves her, and I can't be happier."

"Does he love her a lot?"
Candice murmured inaudibly.

"She loves him more." He replied.

"Is he really that happy with her?"

"More than one can be in life!" Batuk sighed. "And, I know you would want him to be happy too, won't you?"

"Yes!" Candice was thoughtful, somewhere lost within herself at the thought of untainted happiness.
"But what about me Roy?" She suddenly muttered, "what about my happiness?"

Batuk frowned a little, she was addressing him as his brother, despite knowing the truth, and his little knowledge on human psychology warned him about the state of delusion in which she was in.
Medically she wasn't well, and he had felt it during their prior meetings, but the fact that it was heart borne was something he got to know that night.

Batuk sighed.
"Tell me about the Governor."

"What about him?" Candice kept her head on his chest again, her lips planting soft kisses on his shirt, and her fingers playing with the silver cufflink on his sleeve.
"He served with my father. He lost his son in the war, and his wife in sorrow." She paused. "He needed a wife, my father needed an influence, and I needed to be in India."

"And the marriage?"

Candice looked up at him, smiling with her eyes, before she let her head slid down Batuk's body, letting herself rest in his lap now.
"There's no love, if that's what you're asking. He never..." she gulped, "He's a good soldier, but he can never be my husband."

Batuk suddenly couldn't find any word to comfort her anymore. She had suffered, no wonder, and she was still suffering, and the thought of her unwanted presence in his brother's tranquil married life painted his face with a dark shade of worry.

"I'm still pure, Roy" she was murmuring, "and, I'm lonely, loveless, all alone in this damn cruel world." Renewed jets of silent tears started to flow again.
"I don't want any war, your country, my country, I've no part to play in this... I just want you Roy, away from all these, and I just want a little happiness..." She had turned around, her face rubbing on his abdomen now, moistening Batuk's soft linen shirt, and he felt a strange flutter in his stomach, slowly rising up his chest, uneasy... yet enticing.

"You have me, Candy..." He leaned forward and touched his lips on her hair.
"You have me!"

Candice turned her face and lifted her head slowly, her arms thrown around Batuk's neck, and her eyes searching the desired happiness in his face.

"I do?" Her lips quivered, the gaze foggy in tears.
"Would you love me Roy?"
She had closed her eyes, a miniscule gap between their lips, and her hands pressed his chest, feeling his escalated heartbeat.

This was wrong! This was so wrong in so many ways!
She wasn't even in her sane senses!
Batuk's mind warned him, but it was a little too late for any warnings, as at that moment, captivated in the sorrows of this exotic beauty, he for once, decided to go against all the rationality that his life was shaped with.
Do's and don'ts, rights and wrongs... All seemed vague, suddenly meaningless infront of this weeping woman.

"I'll love you, Candy..." He bridged the gap between their lips hungrily, sucking her lower lip, not in empathy but in desire, and she moved her hands up, unfastening the buttons of his shirt with an impious exigency.

"Take me Roy... Make me yours... Please..." She pleaded with tears, giving in to the sensation of his kisses, now trailing all across her face, his need to please her had now escalated into a wild passionate sensation.
He suddenly felt clueless about his next course of action, and closing his eyes, he inhaled sharply, letting his instincts take over.
"Candy..." He hushed into her ears.
"Look at me... And I want you to remember me... And this moment."
His voice was choking as well, perhaps at the thought of how she was mis-identifying his touch as his brother's.

But, Candice nodded slowly, as if realising the reality of the moment, and her hands holding his opened ribs of his shirt trembled a little.

"Batuk!!" Her lips parted a little, eyes a little narrowed in surprise, and Batuk held her shoulders and made her lie down, pressing her body gently on the carpet.

"Yes, it's me... I want you to remember that." His dark orbs were scanning every expression on her face, a havoc had risen in his heart too.
"And, I want you to feel every bit of this moment..."

"You... You look like him." She gasped, widening her eyes at his face hovered over hers.
"The eyes, the nose, the jawline... Just like him in high school!" She smiled, and Batuk touched her shoulders, running his hands along her soft arms, making them stretch on both sides.

"No Candy... I'm not him!" He sucked on the nape of her neck once, making her gasp. "And my love definitely would feel different!"

Candice had closed her eyes, giving in to the sensation of his lips and tongue playing on the forbidden places of her body, and her back arched everytime his teeth would graze on her creamy skin a little harder, making her writhe.

"Roy..." Candice moaned out, as his hands squeezed the softness of her bosoms, and Batuk grabbed her moulds tighter making her gasp.

"It's not him... It's me... Batuk!" His voice was hoarser, and he bit her lips harder, once again, to bring her into the reality.
He wanted her to feel him, filling up the void in her life, the void that he would never let to engulf his brother's happy space.

"It's you... Batuk!" She moaned, pulling him yet closer, as she in an instance, flipped him over, moving her petite frame on top of him, her naked upper body rubbing against Batuk's vest.

The moment had a strange desperacy. She was hungry for love, and he was hurting in his mind, fueled by a strong urge to protect his brother's marriage, and all aided in the way that he played with her desperation, and it sharpened her hunger more and more...
Batuk loved the way Candice was making him crave for her body, until she unleashed the wild beast inside him, ready to devour the whole of her, and she burnt in the heat of his passion.

Candice's mouth was doing wonders to his body, trailing down his lean torso, moving south to the zip of his trousers, and in no time he grabbed her hair wildly and pulled her up, turning themselves, and pressing her body on the carpet once again.

Their breathings were heavy, and Candice was moaning curses unknown to him, and yet, everytime he bit on the softness of her thighs, moving a little closer to her womanhood, she grabbed his hair and scratched the carpet, trembling in the ecstatic sensation of his wild touch.

They hadn't had the time or opportunity to undress, nor to hit the comfort of a bed, and Batuk had quickly unzipped his trousers, freeing his erect length, as he almost tore away Candice's cotton gown, pulling it up and bunching it on her waist.

"Roy..." Her eyes were closed and she moaned again, and with a sudden violent push Batuk pierced her core, making her whimper in pain.

"Fuck Candice, it's Batuk."

The intensity of Batuk's mindless thrusts increased and Candice struggled to accommodate his strength inside her body, stretching her, tearing her, but the pain had a strange happiness in it.
Tears rolled down her reddened face, and she arched her spine to give him more space to enter her body.
She wasn't a young girl, and she knew the implications of her action, the moral dilemma, the physical pain, everything, but yet, at that instance, with the young man propelling inside her wildly, made her feel alive. It was probably the pain that her body felt, and it had overcame the pain that her heart had bored.

"Batukk... " She let out a supressed scream, and he emptied himself inside her, his body falling limp on hers, breathing hard.

"Batuk" She breathed, and he looked up, a calmness in her eyes.
"Was this your first time too?"

"Hm." He hummed, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Why?"

"Because..." She held his face and lifted her head to kiss on his forehead.
"Because in a long long time, I felt alive."

Batuk smiled.
"And?"

"And, I think I need a bath... "

A soft smile was making her lips curl.

"And?" His eyes were naughty.

"And, I need to eat... I just realised I haven't eaten in the last two days."
She helped Batuk get up from her body as she slowly sat up on the floor, gathering her clothes together.
"And, I'm hungry."

Batuk was smiling too, as he stretched himself on the carpet once again, his arms folded under his head, and his unhooked trousers pulled up to his waist, the suspenders still hanging loose.
"Me too..." He closed his eyes and grinned.
"Get whatever food you have Candy, else I might just eat you up."
The smile on his face was contagious and she feel the warmth of it in her face too.

"Right away." She grinned brightly

"And Candy, get dressed too, we're going to the court together, I need your car too."

"Anything." She hurried inside.

..................................................