Many other things too.
But on the list of things she believed in, there was one thing that was definitely not on the list. Not scribbled in or half-erased, not written tiny or in code. This was absent. A big zero. NOT on the list.
Fairy tales.
Those stories where love conquers all and everyone who's good gets a happy ending. Ridiculous propaganda for children and dreamers, Divya thinks. Emotional pornography, really: all fantasy, no reality.
It would not be at all like her to throw away what mattered - the list of things she actually did believe in - for a fantasy about something she did't.
She told herself this as she called the caterer back and chose flower arrangements for the reception centerpieces. She told herself this as she avoided Evan's questions, the ones out loud and the ones unspoken.
She told herself this every day until she remembered that there was something else she believed in, something that wasn't just a fairy tale.
Herself. Her truth. Her heart.
And she realized that she might not get a happy ending. But at the very least she would get a new, honest start.
AN: Written for the "Awesome Ladies Ficathon" on livejournal. The prompt was: Royal Pains, Divya, she doesn't believe in happy endings