Could This Be Love

chapter 6 ❤

Aarav woke up to a room without Hritika. It wasn't too late in the morning, but with Aarav being an early riser, it was kind of late for him.

So he rushed to the washroom and showered with the constant pain in the toe mainly because it hurt in the foot where the whole body weight falls.

But he couldn't miss the workday, he hasn't in years.

So he rushed downstairs with a call to his PA to schedule his day likewise.

Downstairs in hall, sat Hritika on the couch by the large glass wall. She was dressed in her formals too, her eyes scrunched at the screen and side by side she was packing some papers. Sunlight was falling slantly on her face and Aarav could help but slow down.

"Did you have breakfast?" Aarav asked grabbing an apple.

Hritika was too lost in paperworks so she took a second to respond "yeah" she looked at him with a soft smile "Did you?"

"No, already late."

"Did your foot heal well?"

"Erm, it's painful but can't miss on the day."

"It's so hard to run companies."

"Thank god someone said it."

"Would you like to take a quick breakfast? I could wrap the breakfast in go-mode."

"The go-mode?" He laughed softly.

"College was way too busy for me. Had to have the go-food all day" She said wrapping a roti and a little bit of the sautéed vegetables into a aluminum foil and a tissue over it. "Here you go" She forwarded the rolled roti.

"Thanks. When will you leave for work?" He asked.

"Just in a minute, my driver's late." She huffed.

"I can drop you....if you want."

"Would that be convenient to your route? Otherwise it's okay I'll wait."

"No it's fine. Come on"

The day was a blur for Aarav. Workload had been tough but he felt a new energy within. Hritika was so like him. So wrongly perceived by the world. In fact, people wrote articles how two of them are way too similar.

Aarav was drawn to her thoughts, of how her little things showed that she cared, that she wasn't void of emotions- maybe she expressed less but that didn't account to her feeling any less than others.

Aarav's mother then texted him on the cupboard again that she had asked Hritika to have her space in his room and the helpers to help her shift things.

Aarav was extremely annoyed with the sudden change, but at the same time he maybe was accepting the feeling of being married. It came naturally, the responsibilities, the way I becomes we.

He returned home early that day. Hritika hadn't been home until it was really late.

She opened the door trying to make no noise. The lights in the hallway were dim as she walked in and watched as the guards locked the gates up.

She then looked at her watch, it was 40 minutes past 11. She knew it was late for Aarav who usually went to bed by 10.

She walked towards the stairs as someone switched the lights on. She looked back, someone was in the kitchen. Her tiredness, on the top of the everyday life crisis at the hospital sickened her, her eyes were unusually calm.

She walked back upstairs. Her things had been shifted. She switched to her pajamas and let her hair loose as she walked downstairs for dinner.

"Hey" Aarav was standing by the microwave.

"Hi" Hritika poured herself a glass of water.

"Long day at work?"

Hritika nodded.

"I saw you got in so I thought of microwaving the dinner. It was cold already."

Realization hit her "You didn't have dinner?"

"No I had some work" He lied. He waited for her but was too embarrassed to admit.

"Oh." They served themselves some food.

Hritika's gloominess didn't go unnoticed by Aarav.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Normal day in the life of a Healthcare worker."

"What happened?"

"You don't wanna know"

"No, tell me."

"A kid. A 5 year old kid. She..had cancer. But really wanted to go somewhere else and have some fun...feel normal. And I asked my subordinates to arrange medical help throughout her journey. And she was so happy about it. Even in the morning." Her eyes looked void of emotion yet so deep, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"And.."

"We lost her in the evening. She didn't even have anyone to perform her last rites. It just made me feel like..she was someone like-" She looked up at Aarav with teary eyes and then the tears disappeared as she waved it off "Let it be. Too much of trauma baggage" she tried to laugh it off. She hated being vulnerable to someone.

Aarav put his palm over hers "you can tell me."

Hritika didn't say anything for a moment before she looked at his eyes and said "she was someone like me. So damn lonely. So damn abandoned. "

Aarav scooted towards her and held her by the side as they sat in silence.

"..I hope you feel less lonely in this world." He said.

"I hope so too" She mumbled before laying her head on his shoulder.

Finding love in a hopeless marriage is hard. Especially when their priorities exclude love. But tiny steps lead to like and some more to love. But would this be the case or will they be shattered and distant with time?