Tangled Up

Chapter 9: The Unexpected

"Let me tell you about the dream I saw last night,
You and me counting the stars,
The sky was dark like my soul,
The stars shone like your eyes,
Oh, what a beautiful contrast!"

London

"Oh! So you're alive?", the voice made him open his eyes as he shifted on his bed to get a better view of his friend.

"Aditya... what are you doing here?", Kabeer questioned as he groaned, his head feeling a bit heavy.

Aditya shook his head as he poured some water in a glass and passed it to Kabeer who gratefully accepted it.

"You've been missing for the past two days. The last we saw you was at the club where you and Naira lit the dance floor on fire. But after that you didn't pick our calls, was missing from social media and didn't even attend the lunch get together.", Aditya more like complained as if a nagging girlfriend and Kabeer chuckled.

"I was here in my own apartment. Not like I just ran away...", Kabeer said nonchalantly which made Aditya narrow his eyes.

Kabeer was angry that night, he wanted Aria but he very well knew it was not possible, he knew he had made mistakes which were too permanent to erase and this made him commit those mistakes again.

But is it a mistake if you do it intentionally?
Is it a mistake if you know that your actions will hurt someone really badly?

"Kabeer.... Maya was upset that night. She was hurt when she saw you with Naira.", Aditya revealed and Kabeer let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm not her man or anything. Why is she getting upset? I thought what happened between us was just... casual. Why is she acting like a wife?", Kabeer asked as he took a sip of water to calm himself down.

Aditya stared at Kabeer as he mentally prepared himself to say the next words which might either go really well with Kabeer or just take an ugly turn.

After two minutes of mental prep talk, Aditya finally spoke up.

"Well... we couldn't blame Maya to think like that. You guys were pretty close and you left Aria for her so..."

At the mention of that one name, Kabeer froze.

He felt the same weird feeling in his gut as he felt a lump in his throat.

Kabeer knew he had been bottling up his emotions for too long now and he needs to speak.

But he also knew the more he'll speak of her, the more he will feel the pain of losing her.

So, he resorted to the way that he has always been using which he always regretted but which also made his pain go numb.

Bitter words.

"Listen Aditya, Aria was like a distraction. Distraction from the loss of a loved one. And when I say I only loved one person, I really meant it. The person I really loved and really cared about is gone now but she took with her a part of me... the capability of me loving someone else. Aria was a good distraction, I'll give her that. I used her when I needed emotional attention but she wasn't 'fun' you know. Maya was a distraction too. A good friend as well. Maya obviously gave me what a guy needs and that's why she always mattered to me more than Aria. It wasn't my mistake that Aria got too attached. When I realized that this girl is getting too much into this, I discarded her like an old cigarette.", Kabeer ranted as he grabbed one cigarette from his bedside table and lighted it, Aditya just staring at him in shock.

"So you just consider Aria as a cigarette?", he questioned and Kabeer laughed bitterly as he felt a sharp pain in his heart, his eyes now burning as some salty water blurred his vision. His soul suffering the wounds his words were causing but he didn't let the hurt overpower him.