Dil Jaanta Hai | ✔

seventy-one

"But..." he did not meet my eyes. "Badi baath tho hai na. Kisi se chhupi nahi hai ki Vansh tujhe pasand karta tha, tu Vansh ko pasand karti thi. Tum dono kaafi... frank thhe is baremey?"

I wished I could scoff, but it was a matter of honesty.

"Say something, Arvika."

I licked my lips, played with the sleeves of my shirt. "I don't know whether I am hurt or not, you know. Gussa mujhe is baat ka aa raha hai ki... ki mujhe affect ho raha hai. Not at what happened between me and Vansh, not that. Uske repercussions se mujhe problem ho rahi hai, Ritwik."

"I'm sorry. Mujhey tujhe pehele bata dena chahiye tha."

"Ye, this is what I am talking about!" I folded my left leg, putting a wisp of hair behind my ear. "Ye khauf, ye darr. Tum logo ne mujhse chhupayi unki contract ki baat, I'll admit mujhe bura laga, but rationally speaking, that's fine. Vansh aur maine bhi tum logo ko nahi bataya thha na about what happened, or rather, did not happen between us? Shimla jaane se pehele tum sabko pata tha ki kuchh tho hua hai hamarey beech, and kuchh bada hua hai. Itna bada ki Arnav bhi Vansh ke muhh nahi lag raha thha. So even if mujhey bura lage, I have to deal with it. It should be okay, and tujhe aisa nahi feel hona chahiye ki tujhe mujhey pehele bata dena chahiye thha."

Finally raising his head up to look me in the eye, he asked. "Tho tujhey konsi baat itni khatak rahi hai?"

"Aaj dopahar ko Vansh and Ishita were arguing about this issue, neeche Rathod ke office ke paas. I walked in on them and I heard them and... I was trying to control, you know, like breathing in and out wala control, until Ishita almost admitted that the reason why she couldn't bring herself to tell me about this is because she was afraid I might ruin her!"

The ice cream in the tub was more liquid than it was solid. I was bad, but I was hoping I was not so cruel.

"Do you hate her?"

"The bigger problem here is that I understand her reasons."

And that wasn't a lie. There were times I had heard her arguing with her parents. Seen her trying too hard at business get-togethers. Struggle to keep up with the stock-market.

I wiped my eyes before I could embarrass myself further. "I'm sorry for ruining your night. You should go up, have fun. I'll be alright."

"I'm not used to you apologising, okay?" He said after a while, a little less than stunned. "And it'll be fun only when merey saarey friends normal ho- wait no. That sounded wrong, kyooki tum me se koi normal nahi hai. But, okay, whatever, you get the drift na?"

Smiling slightly, I nodded.

"Ek cheez bolu?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck. "School me uss din you told Vansh that it will be awkward only if you make it so."

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement. "And we don't need to do so."

"I respect you. If that is what you really stick by, I honestly respect you. Out of context hai ye, pata hai, but I just felt like you needed to know that."

Out of words, I bit the inside of my cheek. I wasn't used to people saying that to me.

"Ab yeh ice-cream Bournvita wala doodh ban chuka hai," his attention shifted to the tub between us. "Tho... ek aur mangwaye?"

I changed my mind. We did not have to make it awkward. Avoiding never helped anyone. "Nope. Let's get that goddamn party started." Re-energised, I stood up and picked up the outfit that Ishita had selected for me in the morning.

"Party do ghante pehele hi shuru ho gayi thi," he reminded me.

"Don't kill my buzz."