Stars | completed

47. One For All & All For One

His eyes opened the moment I shakingly placed the bag of fresh clothes over the corner of his bed, but he didn't seem to care about that when he looked at me. I halted in my place, a few feet away from him.

"Hey, Buddy," I utter in a mere whisper because of being at loss of words.

"Hey Buddy? Seriously?" Aryamman growled. "I almost died and that's what you have to say, asshole?"

"You're okay, stop being dramatic," I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. "And, well... you didn't die. I had my team on standby, so that counts for something, doesn't it?"

"You had your team at standby?" He ridiculed and I watched with wide eyes as he plucked the wires connected to his fingers carelessly, standing up in front of me with his hands crossed against his chest. "I got locked in a room full of fire caused by a bomb that was sent to kill me, and all I get in return is 'hey buddy, you're okay, I had my team on standby?'"

I scowled back, "Then what do you want me to say?"

"Oh, I don't know," he sarcastically replied, "How about 'my plan was flawed Aryamman, I am so sorry about endangering your ass immediately as I found you after five fucking years?'"

I blink at him, and he stares back with his eyebrows raised.

A chuckle breaks down on my lips as I shake my head in disbelief walking ahead and throw my hands around him. He pretends to struggle for a moment before smiling and hugging me.

"And just for the record, my plan wasn't flawed," I said once we broke away.

He gave me a sharp glance. "Well, then you hadn't informed that being almost-murdered was a part of your plan."

"It wasn't," I rolled my eyes. "I had hoped for a bouquet of flowers with a note that gives you a papercut, not with a bomb that sends you flying across the room."

"And what went wrong?" He taunted.

"It seems like Mukti Vardhan screwed us."

He blew out an exasperated puff of air from his mouth, sitting back on his bed. "So we're sure? It's confirmed that Mukti's behind all of it?"

I settle on the edge of the adjacent couch. "Between her actually showing up to murder Zubin and sending you a bomb with a note that's signed under her name, I think yes, it's her."

I could see the veins of Aryamman's arms popping as he leaned ahead firmly. "I just don't believe it... our Mukti can do this? Trying to asphyxiate your brother? Blowing me up with a mini-bomb? It's just... I can't, man."

"Neither could I believe at first," I sigh. "I had my doubts the day Nandini received a bouquet with a note signed by Abhimanyu who is, well, dead. My suspicions were confirmed when Jeff called me the day before and told me she met Mukti pretending to be Mia. It was barely noon when I got another call by Jeff telling me what had happened to Zubin. And then Nandini established that Zubin had mentioned being in love with a girl called Mia who had apparently 'died'. I didn't know why Mukti would do this to Zubin, but I didn't want to compromise on your safety, so I called you last night–"

He cut me off. "Well, imagine my shock. I come to London, disappointed that my shoot was shifted from Milan last-minute by a very unprofessional company on whom, quoting Jeff's words, a 'tragedy had befell', and the moment I enter the hotel suite, my best friend whom I haven't spoken to in five years calls me only to tell me that he is the boss of this shitty company, and he thinks I could be threatened shortly. But, he wants me to act normal and go along with it and I decide to trust him with no explanations at all, expecting a roadside mafia to show up on the door but instead, I get thrown across the room by a bomb that would've taken my life had I not been a few steps away from it already!"