Day 1

Irene jerked awake from her sleep, or rather her nightmare, once again. She peered around embarrassedly, not realising that she had been gripping tightly onto the armrests. She took comfort in knowing that no one had noticed her.

This marked the very first time she travelled alone in seven years and she could not help but feel a sense of loneliness. The image of a certain individual had invaded her mind once again and she tried her best to shake it off. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, the memory stayed.

Irene’s lover had taken Irene’s hand in hers and tickled the back of it teasingly. Irene tried tugging her hand away as she played the part of a hard-to-please girlfriend, but in actual truth, she was enjoying her lover’s actions, as always. And as always, her lover persisted and it was not until other passengers aboard the plane threw them looks of contempt that they had toned down on their actions.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Irene took a deep breath, holding it in until her chest had hurt and she gave in to her body’s urges to expel the air out. Irene knew it was an unhealthy way of coping with the pain that came along with her memory however she could not help it. She had embraced pain since a long time ago and almost came to delight in them. No, Irene would not allow that. She had promised the people whom had cared about her that she would become better.

Yet, those toxic habits still stayed and Irene was beginning to regret her decision to travel, travelling entitled her with too much pockets of time which gave those disquieting memories a chance to invade her mind. It has been over a year since everything had happened, a year of heart ache. It was time Irene left all these things behind and find inner peace within her heart and mind.

She was glad that the announcement that they were arriving at their designated airport soon came and they landed safely shortly after. It was already late evening by then. This was the second time Irene was visiting Agra, a city of India, famed for its white-marbled architecture, and also monument of love, Taj Mahal. It had been nearly five years ago since she was here and this time round, Irene was alone and she was slightly disoriented.

Fortunately, her pre-trip preparations had paid off with the help of her friend, Yeri, who had been self-taught in English. The driver that she had engaged had shown up on time, picked her up, and drove her to her hotel. Her hotel room was large, excessively large in her opinion, but that had been one of the few options left since it was the peak season for tourists to visit and she had not planned this trip earlier. Well, a large room was better than no room and besides, it had sliding glass doors that gave her a rather good view of the city of Agra. Well… if the room had been located slightly more East of the building, Irene would have been able to see the Taj Mahal too. However, the room rate would likely have costed a bomb so Irene could make do with her room.  

As she stared out into the panoramic view of the city, an almost-forgotten promise had entered her vacant mind.

“I will make sure we get to live in the best suite with the most magnificent view of the Taj Mahal the next time we come back,” her lover had vowed.

Irene felt the familiar squeeze of her heart and she gasped as she blinked away the sudden tears that had formed in her eyes. Pulling the curtains over the sliding glass door, Irene threw herself onto the bed. Not even caring that she had not changed out of her clothes, she closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

Day 2

Irene had woken up at 3 a.m. from hunger. She sighed. The solo traveller had not even thought about getting any food since the meal she had on the plane which was in the late evening. Familiar reprimands from her best friends, Joy and Yeri, for her poor eating habits began playing in her mind.  Irene sighed again, she missed them. They too, had insisted on coming along with her but she refused them stubbornly. They made her promise to give them updates at least once every six hours. Irene’s eyes shot open in shock. She had completely forgotten about the promise and went to check her phone. True to her expectations, she had an endless list of notifications on her phone screen, almost all of which directed threats to fly over to see her.

After her breakfast, Irene had gotten dressed to finally visit the Taj Mahal. This would be it, she would be visiting the place where her former-lover and her had been to and professed their love to one another.

Standing before the gates leading up to the magnificent architecture, Irene could not help but be awash with feelings of both nostalgia and amazement. No matter how many photographs one has seen of the Taj Mahal, it could not hold a candle to the real thing.

Yet, as ironic as it was, the very same place where Irene had found love would also be the very same place the girl sought to seek a closure from to a chapter in her life.  

Little did Irene know that the closure of one chapter would result in the opening of another so quickly.

Irene had been trailing her fingers along the carvings on the white marble columns listlessly when she had accidentally bumped into a fellow tourist. The book that Irene had been holding in her other hand dropped. The fellow tourist, despite being in the midst of taking photographs, had reacted so quickly and steadied Irene by her arm which prevented her from falling over.

Irene gasped aloud, surprised by both the tourist’s reflexes and her beauty. Irene blinked, dazedly. For the first time in a long while, Irene felt as though a jolt of electricity had been passed through her body during that moment of contact. The tourist released her gentle hold on Irene’s arm and gave her a polite smile. It felt as if Irene’s spirit had detached itself from her body as she beheld the beautiful stranger before her, a familiar feeling of nostalgia swept over her in giant waves.

Irene was all smiles as she ran her fingers along the smooth marbled wall. She knew her lover was behind her, following and filming her childish antics. It would be fun if she had suddenly stopped because she knew her lover would run into her and so she did. Her lover knocked into her and let out a cute ‘oomph’ as Irene had expected. Then she heard the thud of the book accompanying it. The book which her lover had been holding as well. 

Turning around with those cheeky, crescent-shaped eyes, Irene giggled. There was an adorable pout on her lover’s face which disapproved her of her silliness.

Irene reeled back to reality quickly this time round. With a nervous smile, Irene apologised and thanked the tourist at the same time as she backed away, almost tempted to leave her book behind. The stranger bent over, picked the book up and shuffled half a step forward, holding the book out for Irene. A wide smile was formed upon the stranger’s face as she read the title briefly and her eyes followed as Irene took it.

“T-Thank you…” Irene said softly, averting the stranger’s gaze.

“I-Is that a book about Taj Mahal written by Koch? In Korean? You are a fellow Korean?” The tourist asked excitedly, her eyes glued onto the said book that was now held tightly in Irene’s hand.

Taken aback upon hearing how beautiful the stranger’s voice was, Irene felt her heart surge. Words had failed her then and Irene could only give quick nods in response. A nod that answered all the stranger’s curious questions.  

“Nice! I read it before too!” The stranger said.

Irene’s jaw tightened in surprise and she dared herself to look back into the Stranger’s eyes. An instant connection seemed to be formed between them at the few commonness they shared. Irene found herself daring to ask, “H-Have you read other books about Taj Mahal? Perhaps, Beneath A Marble Sky?”

The smile on the stranger’s face stretched wider and from the fine lines from the corners of her eyes, Irene could tell that it was a genuine smile. “Yes, I did! Only recently.” Then, the stranger laughed, it was the best sounding laughter Irene had heard in a very long time and the melody of it almost brought tears to Irene’s eyes. Her lover had a very beautiful laughter as well.

“To think that I would meet another individual who had read the same books as I on an impromptu trip like this. I am Wendy by the way!”

Irene felt her cheeks heating up and veered her eyes away again. Then, in a small voice, she replied, “Hello Wendy, I am Irene.”

Wendy stuck out her hand then. “I actually came to the Taj Mahal by myself… do you mind if I join you? If you are travelling with other people then I will not impose on you.”

Irene bit the inside of her cheeks as she contemplated the offer however her body had acted on itself and she took Wendy’s hand. Wendy’s hand was so warm, just like her personality, so warm that Irene felt as though it had the ability to light up the cold chambers within her own heart.

Irene’s lips tightened as she began to wonder if she had committed to a stranger’s request too easily. Later, Irene found that having Wendy as a travel companion was actually not such a bad idea after all because the girl was not only very knowledgeable about the Taj Mahal but was also well-versed in English and that saved Irene a lot of trouble in trying to figure things out.

Wendy was also more thoughtful than a travelling companion should as she cautioned Irene about inconspicuous steps, shielded her from the growing crowd, and even discussed several details about the architecture with her. Irene soon found herself becoming more intrigued with her newfound travel companion. There were even times where Irene found herself smiling unknowingly when Wendy had made several intelligent comments.

Irene felt as though she was transported back in time where her lover had once been so patient and explained everything in detail to her. Irene gasped suddenly as she felt the familiar stabbing pain to her heart.

“Do you know why the Taj Mahal is named as the Monument of Love?” Her lover had asked her with the usual gentle smile on her face.

Irene knew but shook her head because she loved to listen to her lover explain things to her.

“The Taj Mahal was inspired by and built out of King’s grief from the loss of his most beloved third wife,” her lover’s tone was serious but the smile was still on her face as she continued, “she had died while trying to give birth to their 14th child. Sad isn’t it? So, the King built this white-marbled mausoleum to serve as a burial place for his favourite wife, a place where he himself would be buried together with her, where they will be reunited in the afterlife.”

Her lover then turned to Irene to check her reactions and upon noticing the cheeky smile on Irene’s face, the smile on her lover’s face was pulled into a thin line instead. She hooked Irene with an arm, “You already know, don’t you?!”

Giggling, Irene tried to break free from her lover’s tough hold. “Y-Yes I did b-but I wanted to hear you say it. It sounded a hundred times more romantic from you.”

The stabbing pain in Irene’s heart was almost crippling and she had to shaken her head to will away those memories. Irene was surprised to find an outstretched hand with its palm up before her when she refocused her attention back to the present. It was Wendy’s.

“You seem distracted, it could be dangerous. Do you want to hold on to my bag as we walk? Or shall we take a rest?” Wendy asked politely.

Feeling the blood rushing to her face, Irene looked away temporarily before she turned her head back and took the hand she was offered. Wendy guided Irene’s hand and placed them on her bag strap. “Thank you…” Irene said in a small voice.

“You’re welcome!” Wendy replied brightly. 

As they strolled along the manicured gardens of the Taj Mahal, Irene and Wendy had been enjoying each other’s presence and were conversing happily until they walked past a happy couple. Everything about the couple looked blissful, and that bliss was accentuated by the wife’s swollen belly and the toddler in the husband’s arm. Irene felt her breath caught in and she paused in her steps as a phantom pain travelled down from Irene’s heart to her lower abdomen. It was painful to the point of crippling. Wendy seemed to have caught onto Irene’s discomforts and saw the fear glaze over her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Wendy asked immediately.

Irene tried to nod but it came out weakly and her knees buckled, she would have fallen if Wendy had not steadied her by her arm.

“Irene, shall we call it a day? I can send you back to your hotel room.”

Irene was glad that Wendy had offered that timely enough because she began to feel her vision tunnelling and nausea rise up . Irene could not remember what happened much after, except that she might have thrown up a few times, leaned against Wendy subsequently during the ride back, and that she had fallen unconscious.

Panic gripped her heart as she awoke with incredible pain in her abdomen. It was o