Chapter 26

Pearl_Oyster

@Pearl_Oyster

Part 26

Abhay stopped the car in the parking area of the building and undid his seat belt. All throughout the drive so far, Khushi had tried twice to pick a conversation with him but he remained silent making her give up all the attempts.

Now Khushi quickly undid her seat belt as she saw him stepping out of the car.

"Abhay, please listen to me" She literally ran after him trying to match his pace but by the time she reached, he had already pressed the button of the lift and she stood there sadly.

"Devi Maiya, now what shall I do to make him understand' she murmured to herself and headed towards the stairs.

~~***~~

"Everything has been finalised, ASR. The show is scheduled for day after tomorrow" Aman informed Arnav about the Fashion show. The preparations for the Fashion show were on full swing but Arnav had kept himself aloof from it. Though he was making sure that everything was being done properly, he couldn't find that enthusiasm within himself. The reason being Khushi's absence. Ever since Khushi had stopped coming to work, the office seemed to mock him. So he was managing the maximum things from RM.

"Okay, Aman. And do make sure that all the arrangements fall in proper place. I don't want any complications. Everything should be up to AR standards" Arnav instructed Aman and ended the call.

After Khushi and Abhay had left, it was already late and the party had slowly started to descend from heights. In an hour, most of the guests except Anjali's friends had left and Arnav, after taking a pointless drive in the middle of the night had returned back to his room, strictly instructing the waiters to continue serving the guests, while Anjali was still with her friends.

It was then he had received the call from Aman regarding the progress in arrangements.

Keeping the phone on his bed, he changed into a sweatshirt and trousers.

Standing beside the full size glass window which was a partition between his room and the pool, he got lost in his school of thoughts.

Everything which had transpired a few hours back between him and her was still high on his senses.

The dance had given him a taste of what his life could have been if only he hadn't had ruined it himself. Khushi would have been right here, standing next to him. But he knew that it was a far-fetched dream now. The feel of his own touch against her waist, her silky long tresses, her eyes locked with his, and the slow and faint music of their mixed heartbeats, the magic in the air, and everything. Would he ever get to experience it again?

"Khushi..! I miss you" He said softly as he continued staring at the rippling water in the pool.

~~***~~

"Aren't you going to give me ONE chance to explain myself?" Khushi finally blocked his way and asked in a high pitched voice.

"Khushi, I am tired and need to change. Good night" Abhay replied dejectedly and hurried into his room, locking the door from inside.

Khushi felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been poured on her and tears started to build in her eyes. She felt sad, hurt and all alone at the moment. She hated the fact that Abhay was mad at her.

Minutes passed and after mustering all her strength she loudly said, "I am sorry Abhay..!"

No response came from behind the door. It remained locked. Unable to take his cold treatment, Khushi fled to her own room, the tears finally streaming down her cheeks.

~~***~~

Abhay got inside his room and locked the door. He strongly wanted to be alone for some time. He needed time to analyse everything which had suddenly crept into his life. Hours back, everything was far better than normal and in a matter of few hours, everything was falling apart.

The girl he liked or maybe loved turned out to be the sister of the man he absolutely despised.

His best friend hadn't thought him worthy enough to be informed about her decision of forgiving that man.

But that weren't the reasons which hurt the most. The main reason was not that Khushi didn't inform him that she had forgiven Arnav. The reason was that Khushi did not even think about talking to him about this matter. She didn't come to him and didn't tell him what was going on in her life regarding Arnav. As a best friend, he felt cheated. Things were hidden from him while he was pouring out all his feelings about Anjali to his best friend.

Maybe Khushi didn't need him anymore as her friend. And then he heard her pain stricken voice "I am sorry, Abhay..!"

She was crying, he could tell by her voice. And that voice made his heart twitch.

"What are you doing, Abhay? She is crying. Because of you. So what if she hid things from you? Can you let her cry? Stop being a jerk..!" The rational side of his brain finally kicked in action and unlocking the door, he stepped into the hall.

He walked to her room and raise a hand to knock but found the door ajar.

He could see Khushi sitting at the edge of her bed and it looked like she was still crying. He felt like kicking himself. Her life is hard as it is without him being a dick too. She has gone through many hardships and he was her friend. He didn't want to be another hardship in her life. Not when he was so lucky to have her as his friend.

"Are you planning on sitting like that all night? Wrapped up in this green wrapper? Don't you have to change?" He said with faked irritation as he stepped inside the room.

"Abhay..!" Khushi instantly got up hearing his voice.

"Where the hell is my phone's charger? I can't find it for the goddamned life of mine" He further yelled at the walls.

"Charger?" Khushi looked at him with confusion. Is he no longer angry at her?

"Yes, Khushi! The charger. It's white in colour with a long white cord? Used to charge things called cellphones? Ring any bell?" Abhay said, finally looking at his friend and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Abhay" Khushi said, her throat choking up and she ran up and hugged him.

"I am so sorry, Abhay. I should have told you before I took you to that party but I had no idea we'll run into Arnav there. Had I known, I would have told you. I swear. You're my best friend. I hate it when you get angry with me. You weren't even ready to hear me" She cried, still hugging him.

"Well, I am ready to hear now. So, if you're done ruining my shirt, let us sit and you can tell me everything" Abhay said and Khushi nodded, stepping away from him.

She settled back on the bed and gestured Abhay to join. He shook his head.

"Go on!" He said. Khushi could see he was still tensed despite all his charger-drama.

"Well...It all started on the last day of my work in his office. I left early from there and went to the mall to shop for a few things. There, I ran into him again and..." Khushi narrated everything in detail after that about how Arnav asked her to sit for a coffee and how he asked for her forgiveness. Abhay listened with rapt attention.

"And I didn't tell you because I didn't want to ruin your happy time. You were so taken up with Anjali that I couldn't bring myself to tell you about it. I had no idea all of us will end up in that party together" Khushi finished.

"Fine! It does sound like that you didn't really plan to hide all of this from me. That does make me feel better. And I am sorry too. I was being too much dramatic about it. I was just mad because of all people, I had to hear about it from him. But, it's okay. We're okay" Abhay said and Khushi smiled at her friend's forgiving heart.

"Now, change and go to sleep" Abhay said, smiling back. Khushi didn't notice that Abhay's smile was not as big and genuine as always. There was still something on his mind.

~~***~~

It was early morning and Khushi was still asleep. Today was her last day of leave and from the next day she had to resume her job at Roy Textiles.

Abhay was up and was having his breakfast when the doorbell buzzed.

Abhay lazily got up and opened the door to find Anjali smiling broadly at him.

"Good Morning..!" She said and without letting Abhay reply, stepped inside.

"Sorry, I should have informed before dropping in here but then I thought a little surprise should do you good" She said making herself comfortable on the sofa.

Abhay still stood rooted at the door, surprised and hesitant by the sudden arrival of Anjali in the apartment.

"Hey Abhay..? You know what? You are allowed to come and sit here. After all it's your house" Anjali said, noticing that Abhay was still at the door.

"Yeah. I know. It's my house" He replied and walked towards where Anjali sat with a beautiful smile.

"So, you have some work? I mean you came so early in the morning" Abhay said, trying to know what was going on. Did Arnav have something to do with this?

"Naah.. No special reason. I just wanted to meet you... and Khushi. And thank you both in person for coming to my birthday yesterday night. It made me very happy" Anjali replied, her soft smile still in its place.

"Also, I wanted to fight with the two of you for disappearing from the party! You left without telling me. Even Bhai had no idea when the two of you left. I asked him and he started getting all angry at me. The party could have ended on a better note" Anjali said, a slight complain in her voice. Abhay didn't respond and continued to look at her with a fixed expression.

"Well.. It's fine. I didn't mind it too much. Where's Khushi, by the way?" Anjali tried to change the topic when she noticed Abhay was acting strange.

"I am here" Khushi appeared in the room and smiled brightly at Anjali. Anjali's smile broadened further as Khushi took a step and hugged Anjali.

"Excuse me, I'll be in my room" Abhay finally said and left the two in the room, making Khushi wonder what was wrong with him. He didn't look as excited she would have expected him to be.

"So Anjali, what brought you here? I mean so early in the morning?" Khushi asked as both of them settled on the couch.

"Bhai.." Anjali replied, now revealing the true reason, making Khushi's eyes get narrow.

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Pearl_Oyster2018-08-21 06:25:52