Finding Love in the City

31. Proposals hurt

His lips parted in shock and confusion. "Wh... what?"

She smiled, enunciating every word. "I said I am in love with Shubham."

His fingers balled into a fist as his nose flared. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

She chortled. "You proposed to your girlfriend, and I can't even realize that I have finally found love in the city?" Quirking her brows, she said, "Why so hypocritical, Aditya? Why such double standards?"

He scoffed, taking a step back. "You are lying."

"Hmm." She pursed her lips. "And why do you think so?"

"Because," he gritted his teeth and held her shoulders, clenching his fists painfully, "you told me the other day that you—"

"That I like you." She swatted his hands away. "I did, yes. I agree. And I also own up to the fact that I got sidetracked for a bit. As you said the other day, I confused a giddy crush with the powerful emotion of love. The only difference is that Shubham is not the giddy crush. You are... oops!" She bit her tongue, smirking. "You were."

His palms curled around her wrists, and she couldn't wriggle out this time. "You are telling me," he whispered as his eyes held a pool of fury, "that whatever you told me was just a farce. It was just—"

"Wait." She rolled her eyes as tears stung them. "You are pretending as if I have committed a sin by realizing that I am in love with my boyfriend. Again, you are making the same mistake, Mr. Roy. I am with Shubham, and I am well within my rights to feel the way I want for him. Additionally, did you just forget that you proposed to Piyali—your girlfriend—only moments ago?"

He took a sharp breath, thinning his lips. "Do you even know why I did so? Because she loves me. Immensely. And I can't break her heart just because I... I like someone else. She has waited years for this day, and she is indeed important to me. I can't be that selfish to break it off now for no fault of hers."

"Okay... So?"

The nonchalant shrug from her side bothered him too much. "Nandini—"

"I am getting late. I gotta go and meet Shubham. My boyfriend."

He pushed her away from him. "Why the fuck are you acting out when we knew what our future holds? Why are you holding it against me? What crime did I commit?"

She let out a sharp laugh. "I should be asking you the same question. You just proposed to a girl. She would expect you to spend the Sunday with her, which she very much deserves. Please go to her, Aditya, and stop cheating on her. She doesn't deserve that shit. In fact," she clicked her tongue in distaste, "I think she deserves much better than you." Swerving on her heels, she strode away.

***

The emptiness in his heart refused to go away, and he couldn't comprehend the reason behind it. It was all on him. He had been impulsive enough to arrive at his apartment, call Piyali there, and discuss the serious matters of marriage and a lifetime of togetherness. Only because the guilt was eating him up alive. The culpability had intensified because his feelings wavered, and the clueless woman continued to have her hopes heightened. He had made a decision—a firm one this time—but watching Nandini walk away from him, declaring her undying love for her boyfriend, was perhaps the most agonizing moment of his life.

Hence, when he trod back home with his head hung low, he was in no mood to listen to the adorable babbles of his girlfriend. She was continuously chattering away with Abhi, telling him all about the exquisite wedding plans she had concocted as a child, which she was going to leverage in the actual one. And Abhi was kind enough to engage the girl in the ongoing discourse, casting a furtive glance at the forlorn Aditya as he slid inside, nodding weakly at him, and resuming the discussion with the ebullient Piyali.