Chapter 7
It was Jeh, a very confused Jeh. He made his way towards them. Abhay and Piya did not know what to do. They thought of running but that would be a sign of guilt so they just stood planted on the spot.
"Abhay, Piya, what are you doing here?" asked Jeh.
"Just getting a couple of lattes, you?" replied Abhay. Piya was too nervous to answer.
"Just waiting for my date to come out from the ladies'," said Jeh.
"You're dating again? Good for you, man," said Abhay.
"I'm really happy for you, Jeh," said Piya who finally got the nerve to speak up. She was truly happy for Jeh. Finally he was able to find his own true love.
"Thanks, um.. Piya, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Jeh. Right then both Piya and Abhay knew he saw everything.
"Jeh...," started Abhay.
"It's okay, Abhay," said Piya, putting a hand on Abhay's chest to stop him from saying something that might just make things worse. She followed Jeh to a corner.
"Okay, I'm just gonna get to the point. What the hell are you doing with Abhay?" asked Jeh.
"Jeh, this is complicated...,"
"Is he still married to Alina?"
"yes."
"Well, nothing complicated here. It's simple. You're dating a married man, your best friend's husband," said Jeh.
"I know that, Jeh!"
"So why are you doing this?"
"I don't know, okay," said Piya. Being confronted by Jeh made her realised how stupid she had been.
Abhay who was standing nearby and listening in decided it was time for him to step in. He was not going to let Jeh bully Piya into telling him anything. It was their own damn business.
"Jeh, please. I appreciate your concern but this is our business," said Abhay. He did not want to sound too hostile because Jeh was still his best friend but he was not about to let Piya be trapped into a guilt trip.
"Yeah, you're right. But as you guys' friend, I hope you do the right thing. This could only end bad," said Jeh.
Abhay and Piya just watched as Jeh walked away with another girl. Both had thousand of thoughts running through their minds. And all of them were things that could somehow end their relationship.
-----
"You want me to take you to the apartment?" asked Abhay as he drove. But he did not get anyresponse from her. He turned and saw Piya was looking out the window with a distant look in her eyes.
"Piya?" called Abhay.
"Huh, what?"
"Do you want me to take you home?" asked Abhay.
"I don't wanna be alone tonight," said Piya.
"Okay, you'll stay at my place tonight," said Abhay. This was not their routine thing to do but he had to be at home in case Alina called the house or she might call to pick her up.
"Are you sure that's okay?" asked Piya.
"Yeah," said Abhay.
"Okay," said Piya, looking out the window again.
"Hey, everything's gonna be fine," said Abhay, grasping her hand in his. But in his heart he did not believe his own words.
Piya entered Abhay and Alina's house. She had been there a million times but at that moment she felt strange and out of place. All this while she had been there as a friend to them but today she was there as the mistress. The homewrecker. She did not know how everything spiralled out of control but she knew she was the one that had led to this.
"I'm just gonna put these stuff away," said Abhay, taking out the stuff from the car.
"Okay," said Piya as she sat on the couch. She laid against the couch and closed her eyes. This had been a nice day and it ended with a disaster. All the days' excitement just went away just because of one encounter with her ex husband. She knew Jeh was right but even she knew that but she was too stubborn to do the right thing.
"Piya, let's go upstairs," said Abhay, placing a hand on her shoulder. Piya silently took his offered hand and they went upstairs. Abhay changed into a more comfortable clothes while Piya changed into one of Abhay's shirts and both of them slipped under the blankets. They snuggled in darkness and the only that could be heard was their breathing and the fan spinning.
"Abhay, what should we do?" asked Piya, breaking the silence.
"Do you think Jeh would tell anyone?"
"I don't think he would. He's just concerned about us," said Piya.
"Then we're fine for the moment, we just have to be careful," said Abhay.
Abhay's words really comforted Piya. She felt if she had Abhay by her side everything would turn out fine. She took comfort in his words and forced herself into sleep in her lover's arms
-----
The next day, the pair woke up quite late in the afternoon. Today was the day Alina would come back and shatter their perfect getaway.
"You want me to send you home?" asked Abhay after they had a little late breakfast.
"No, it's alright. Alina's coming back today, right? You should be here when she comes back. I already called a cab," said Piya.
"Okay," said Abhay, with sadness in his eyes. He felt he was living a double life. Keeping a secret from his wife and at the same time not being able to fully be with the one he loved.
The cab arrived and Abhay bid Piya goodbye with a kiss and she was off. Few seconds later another cab pulled up. Then came Alina into his sight. The fact that Alina arrived just seconds after Piya left was unsettling to Abhay as he was afraid Alina might see anything.
"Hey," said Abhay, greeting Alina. He kissed her cheek and went over to grab her bag.
"Who was that?" asked Alina, indicating the cab that was zooming away.
"Oh, uh, that was Piya, she just came to say hi. She didn't know you were away," said Abhay. He knew he should have said someone else but he was too nervous to come up of someone else.
"Oh, okay. So how was your weekend?" asked Alina.
"It was great," said Abhay, giving her a smile full of hidden meanings.
Alina was rearranging her closet while she was putting away her clothes from the trip. Clothes were scattered everywhere on the bedroom floor. Abhay had to practically shoved them away to make way to the bathroom.
"What are you doing?" asked Abhay, amused.
"I just thought I should rearranged my closet," said Alina.
"I knew you had a lot of clothes but this is just ridiculous," said Abhay, teasingly.
Alina just stuck out her tongue to him and continue her work. Finally, after about an hour, she finally managed to put all her clothes and jewellery away. A earning caught her eye. It was poking out from under the blanket. Alina grabbed it and was just about to dump it into her jewellery box when she realised it was not her earring.
"A woman's earring in my bedroom?" thought Alina.
Any woman in her position would think the same thing she was thinking. Another woman was in her bedroom. And the only other person that could be with her was her husband, Abhay.
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