Love, after all, is something the Devil can never create — Only distort and misuse!
Karan was in a deep. Not the good kind of a deep where one is engrossed in a captivating book or a meaningful conversation, but the quicksand kind of a deep, where every movement he made, made him sink deeper into the mud.
He was sinking into a miry clay, a sink sand of emotional affair and the more he struggled, the more entangled he became.
It all started innocently enough. Pratiksha, his new project partner, had recently joined his office. Their connection was immediate — the easy banter, the shared jokes, and the way they seemed to understand each other without words were undeniable.
Karan hadn’t felt this spark in years, and it was intoxicating.
The problem? He was engaged to Ankita.
Karan’s affair with Pratiksha
Karan’s relationship with Ankita had been in a rut for months. The once vibrant connection they had had faded into a dull routine of chores, schedules, and obligatory “How’s your day?” kind of conversations.
The feelings they once had for each other felt like a distant memory, a faded photograph tucked away in a dusty album.
Ankita on the other hand, was vibrant and alive. She was kind and made him seen, felt, heard and appreciated.
“Hey everything alright?” Ankita asked one evening, her voice soft with concern as they worked late in the nearly empty office.
“Yea…Life stuff,” he mumbled, offering a weak smile. “It’s been complicated lately.“
Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, Karan felt understood. Pratiksha’s hand rested on his shoulders, a gesture of comfort that didn’t last too long, as she packed her bag to leave for home.
The fall ..
Soon enough, this late evening camaraderie turned into frequent messaging, filled with playful banter and subtle flirtation. The companionship once reserved for Ankita now belonged to Pratiksha.
The path to despair is paved with small, seemingly insignificant choices that gradually numb the conscience.
Even though Karan didn’t feel right about it, he justified it as harmless as long as he didn’t do anything wrong.
After all, didn’t he deserve to feel alive again?
Yet, in the quiet moments alone in his apartment, guilt gnawed at him. But he pushed it aside and tried to convince himself, over and over again,
“How’s harmless flirting wrong?” “If Pratiksha is flirting with me, how am I wrong?” It’s her mistake, no?”
Karan then began to question his entire relationship with Ankita. Had they ever truly been in love? Or, had they simply mistaken convenience and compatibility for something deeper? Doubts swirled in his mind.
The Devil’s advocate…
As the events unfolded in Karan’s life, the Devil saw his vulnerability as a prime opportunity.
“Jr, my little boy …Quick …come here now!” he said to his son, the junior Devil.
“This ‘trough’ period in Karan’s life is ripe for exploitation. His spirits are low, and his purpose wavering. Now is the time to strike!”
The Devil would encourage his son to exploit Karan’s vulnerability, whispering doubts about his relationship with Ankita and amplifying his dissatisfaction. He would paint Pratiksha as a solution to all his problems, a ray of light in his otherwise dreary existence.
Remember, Jr., the Devil would caution, “Love is something we can never create. But we can distort it, twist it, and misuse it to serve our purposes.”
“Let Karan bask in his temporary high of his affection for Pratiksha. It will feel exhilarating now, but it will ultimately leave him emptier than before.”
Go! … Go get him before he can realize it!”
Ankita confronts Karan ..
Ankita, of course, noticed the change in Karan. His distracted responses, aloofness, the late night at work, the way he seemed more engaged with his phone than with her.
Is there something you’re not telling me? She asked one night, frustrated.
Karan felt a pang of guilt but quickly dismissed her with an assuring smile. “It’s just work, Anku…. A lot of stress lately, he added after a pause of a few seconds.
But even as he said the words, he knew they were a lie. He knew he had crossed the lines he never thought he would.
Ankita didn’t utter a word. She just hung up the phone!
“I love you” is sacred, to be respected and never used lightly. The more you spread it around, the less worth it possesses!
As the weeks passed by, Karan’s infatuation with Pratiksha began to fade. The depth he thought he had found proved to be an illusion, a shallow imitation of real intimacy. The emptiness that he’d been trying to escape, now loomed larger than ever.
Meanwhile, the Devil kept advising his son, to prevent Karan from recognizing the falsity of his happiness. “Make him cling to Pratiksha,” he would urge, “Let him chase the ghost of happiness, even as it slips further from his grasp.”
But Karan felt a profound sense of regret, realizing he had compromised the sanctity of his relationship with Ankita. He couldn’t hold it any longer within him. He felt foolish, ashamed, and desperate to make amends.
Picking up his phone, Krana dialed up Ankita. He knew he had to tell her the truth, no matter what the consequences. But as he waited for her to pick up her phone, he made a silent promise to himself to never allow himself to drift so far into the darkness.
Reference
- Quote on love
- Story inspired by Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
