The Most Awaited Love

CHAPTER 2 UNWANTED ENCOUNTER

"Nice to meet you again too," Aryan said, ignoring her question. His eyes ate her up. He had missed her.

He had regretted rejecting her so cruelly.

He had wanted to apologise for his behavior on their return to college. He had been waiting for Nikita after returning to college but had been informed by his sister that Nikita had already left to study overseas when he had been unable to contact Nikita.

Nikita had blocked him from every avenue he could reach to contact her. She had blocked his cell phone number, his social media account, his mails...everything. 

He had wanted to follow her and apologise to her but his sister had asked him not to.

He had shared the episode from the cruise with his sister.

Aanya had been stunned.

She had looked at him with pity and revulsion, making him feeling guiltier still.

"Aryan I think you should give her time to cool down first before approaching her. I think she went overseas to avoid you and it would be a problem if your jiju finds about all this," Aanya had warned him.

He had left Nikita alone after that.

He only tried to call her sometimes when he was missing her too much but she had blocked his number.

He had been too much of a coward to meet her so it was the first time after she had left that he was meeting her face to face.

"I asked you, what are you doing here?" Nikita asked again. She too looked him over carefully.

Her heart was pounding so hard that she was feeling dizzy.

The confession scene came to the forefront of her mind making her embarrassed and humiliated.

She had been so careful in avoiding him through the years; she had even missed various family gatherings just to avoid the person who was now talking to her as if he had done nothing wrong, as if he hadn't crushed her heart to million little pieces. Too miniscule to ever gather and join the parts again.

"I am waiting for you," he answered in a subdued voice.

"Won't you please sit down?" he asked again gesturing towards the couch in front of her.

"Why are you waiting for me, we have nothing to talk about? Where are bhai and bhabhi?" she again questioned him ignoring his request.

"Can you please talk to me first, Di and jiju have stepped out for some business." He moved towards her.

"Stop right there. I don't have anything to talk to you about and I am very tired so excuse me," she stepped inside the first bedroom and locked the door.

"Nikki...." his voice trailed off. It was clear to Aryan that he had a lot on his plate if he wanted to make her forgive him.

On the other side of the door Nikita pulled her hands in front of her face and looked at them carefully.

Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

She moved to the bed and plopped down on it in a weightless heap.

Her surprise encounter with Aryan had left her dizzy. She hadn't even suspected that he would be the first person from her family, she would get to meet.

She had not been ready for their encounter. She had thought that she would take her time in preparing herself for their first meeting after so many years.

All her plans to show him that he was not able to affect her and she had gotten over him had taken a leap out of the window as soon as she had opened the front door and found him standing there.

Her old feelings had rushed to the surface and she hadn't been able to act nonchalant in front of him.

She had become the Nikita of past and stiffened in front of him.

She was such a sucker for pain. Her careful planning had become nothing as soon as she was in his vicinity.

How long could she be able to endure his presence before becoming a total mess, she was still calling herself every type of fool.

Aryan went to the windows and stood there for a long period of time. His mind on the first time he had met Nikita.

He had been just ten years old when his parents had died in a car crash. His whole world had crumbled down before his eyes. He and his older sister Aanya had become orphans.

For the first few days he had been inconsolable. His sister had been in as much pain as him, maybe even more as he still had her as an elder but his sister had become his sole guardian.

He had been at an age that he could easily understand what was happening in his surrounding and had immediately grasped that his close relatives had started planning to separate him from his only sole living family member.

His sister had been adamant in regards of handing over his custody to others.

She had not given a single chance to their relatives to take him away from her.

She had been a teenager herself; eighteen was not so much of an age to take on the responsibility of a ten year old.

She had never made him feel like a burden on her. She had sacrificed all her time and patience in raising him.

He had then started acting like a grown up and stopped acting up, making it easier for her to raise him.

Their relatives had stopped their nagging about Aanya not being suitable to raise him as the years passed by.

They had even started complementing Aanya on her parenting.

He had become an old man in a teenager's body and stopped enjoying his life.

He did everything to become a responsible young man. He aced in studies, he became the captain of the school's cricket team, he became monitor of his class and prefect for the school-house.

His life had only studies and responsibilities in it up until the moment a new transferred student named Nikita had stepped into his class.

He had been fascinated by her from the first moment he had laid eyes upon her.

She had been the opposite of all he was...carefree, happy, irresponsible, bad in studies, talkative, mischievous, rebellious and most important of all she had a family full of elders.

He had loved speaking to her, he had loved spending time with her, and he had loved everything about her. In short he had fallen in love for the first time in his life.

He had been embarrassed when she dragged him in her mischief. Their class teacher had started taking note of his changing behavior and reported to his sister.

Aanya never once scolded him on returning from school after meeting his class-teacher.

He had been unable to distance himself from the fascinating creature Nikita, who loved to laugh so openly and even made him laugh.

He had been so euphoric when his sister had gotten married to Nikita's brother. He had moved into the Singh mansion and was able to live with a house full of family members.