Two Weeks

Kabir sat at the edge of the bridge, staring into the quiet river below. It wasn’t the roaring kind that would drown your thoughts; it was the gentle, murmuring kind that made you feel like you were floating, suspended between two worlds. His feet dangled over the edge, as if one step away from vanishing, and he felt like he was ready to take that step. The breakup had shattered him, but it was the rejection—the constant dismissal by family and friends—that had taken the last bit of his will. He had no fight left in him.

His phone buzzed beside him, but he didn’t bother to check it. What could another half-hearted message of “You’ll be okay” or “Things will get better” do for him now? They didn’t understand that the small threads keeping him connected to the world had snapped.

That was when he saw her.

She was sitting a few feet away, as though she had always been there, unnoticed until now. Her face was illuminated by the soft glow of the streetlights, her dark hair moving lightly with the evening breeze. There was something serene about her, something that made it hard for Kabir to look away. She wasn’t staring at the river like he had been; instead, her eyes were fixed on him, almost as if she had been waiting for him to notice.

“You shouldn’t be sitting so close to the edge,” she said, her voice calm but firm. It wasn’t a scolding, just a statement, as if she already knew why he was there.

Kabir’s throat tightened. “I’m not sure it matters,” he muttered, staring back at the water. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to slip away quietly, unnoticed.

She didn’t move closer, but her presence somehow felt heavier, more real than anything he had felt in weeks. “It does matter,” she replied softly, her gaze never wavering. “You’re about to make a decision you can’t undo. But before you do, why not give it two more weeks?”

Kabir blinked. “Two weeks? Why? What’s the point?” His voice cracked, the exhaustion in his heart spilling into his words.

“Two weeks is all I’m asking,” she said, a small smile playing on her lips. “Just hand over your life to me for those fourteen days. Don’t make any decisions. Don’t think about what’s next. Let me take the reins. If nothing changes by then, you can come back to this bridge. No questions, no guilt. But if things get better…” She trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

Kabir was silent, confused by her calm confidence. “Why do you care?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. “You don’t even know me.”

She shrugged lightly. “Maybe I’m someone who believes that life has a funny way of turning around when you least expect it. Or maybe I’ve been in your shoes before.”

He hesitated, then asked, “And if I say no?”

“Then you won’t know what you’re missing,” she said, standing up. “But if you give me these two weeks, I promise you’ll see something different.”

Against his better judgment, something inside him stirred—a flicker of curiosity. He felt like he had nothing left to lose. “Alright,” he whispered. “Two weeks.”

The days that followed felt oddly liberating. The mysterious girl—whom he learned was named Maya—took control in unexpected ways. She didn’t push him into therapy or force him to talk about his feelings. Instead, she invited him to simple things. A walk in the park. Coffee at a small, hidden café. Late-night conversations that had no destination, yet they felt like an escape.

With every passing day, Kabir began to feel lighter. His mornings weren’t weighed down by the dread that used to greet him the moment he woke up. The small joys—the smell of fresh coffee, the sound of Maya’s laughter—began to seep into the cracks of his heart. He didn’t know how she did it, but her presence made it easier to breathe.

Soon, Kabir found himself looking forward to the next day, the next moment. He couldn’t remember when it happened exactly, but somewhere along the way, he started to feel something for her—something warm, something hopeful. The idea of falling for someone after his heartbreak seemed impossible at first, but Maya made it feel natural, like it wasn’t about replacing his past but about creating something new.

On the twelfth day, they stood on the bridge where they had first met. The night was cool, and the river still flowed quietly below. Maya was leaning against the railing, her hands resting lightly on the edge.

“It’s almost two weeks,” she said, her voice teasing but gentle.

Kabir chuckled. “Yeah, it is.”

“You’ve changed,” she added, looking at him with those knowing eyes again. “You’re not the same guy I saw sitting on the edge of this bridge.”

Kabir smiled, the warmth inside him growing. “That’s because of you.”

She looked away for a moment, as if hiding something. “No, Kabir. You did that yourself. You just needed someone to remind you of what you’re capable of.”

He wanted to tell her. He wanted to admit that he had fallen for her in these two short weeks, that she had given him something he thought he’d never feel again. But before he could say anything, she turned to face him, her expression soft and serious.

“I need to tell you something,” Maya began, her voice quieter now. “There’s a reason I asked you for two weeks.”

Kabir felt his heart tighten, his mind racing with the possibility of what she might say next. “What is it?”

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “I’m not really… here, Kabir. I’m not alive.”

The world seemed to stop. Kabir’s breath caught in his throat, his pulse pounding in his ears. “What do you mean?”

“I was like you once,” she said, her eyes misting over with something distant, a memory he couldn’t reach. “I stood on this bridge years ago, ready to end it all. But no one came for me. I didn’t get those extra two weeks. And ever since… I’ve been here, waiting. Waiting to help someone like you. You’re the first person who’s seen me.”

Kabir’s head spun. “But you’re real. You’re here.”

She smiled sadly. “I’m real to you. But I was never meant to stay.”

“No…” Kabir’s voice broke, the realization crashing over him. He reached out, but his hand met only air. She was fading before his eyes, like mist in the morning light. “Maya, please…”

“I told you I’d be here for two weeks,” she whispered, her voice softening like a breeze. “Now, it’s your turn to live.”

And with that, she was gone.

Kabir stood alone on the bridge, his heart aching in ways he didn’t think possible. But the weight that had crushed him before no longer suffocated him. Instead, there was a warmth in his chest, a promise that even in the darkest moments, there was light.

Maya had given him something precious—time. Time to heal, time to remember who he was, and time to live. And as he looked out over the quiet river, he knew one thing for certain: those two weeks had saved him in more ways than one.

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