Abhi knew going close to Aaradhya again was going to hurt him. He knew it and yet he did it. He again let his guard down. And as expected he got heartbroken again.
When Pritam told him she was going to meet another man for a marriage proposal, he did not believe it initially. He went to meet her the next day and accused her. She did not deny his accusations. She was ashamed to meet his eyes. That means it was true.
She had the right to move on. She has to move on. But why was he unable to do the same? Why can't he bring himself to like any other girl who is not Aaradhya? Why did he even meet her again here? He was lost in his thoughts when his phone beeped with notifications.
He unlocked his phone and opened WhatsApp. The group that Pooja created for the hospital members was flooded with messages. He opened the chat and found everyone congratulating Aaradhya for getting her marriage fixed.
His heart felt heavy again. Is her marriage fixed already? Is she going to marry someone else? How easy was it for her to move on? He threw his phone on the bed and lay there silently not believing it. He would ask her tomorrow in person. But he was afraid of knowing the truth. He tried to sleep but just kept thinking about her the whole night.
The next day he again found himself in front of her office. She was busy with her patients so he did not get time to talk to her. He decided to meet her during the lunch break.
He found her sitting with Pooja and Trisha drinking tea in the canteen during lunch.
"Hii!" he said approaching them.
"Hii Dr Abhimanyu! Come and meet our to-be bride," Dr Pooja said excitedly.
"Congratulations," he forced himself to say when he sat across her.
"Thanks," she murmured.
Aaradhya was irritated to the core now. She just told Pooja everything went well, and this woman got crazy. She congratulated her on the hospital group. Everyone else also thinks she is going to get married in a few months. Aaradhya didn't try to clear the misunderstanding too. Because she doesn't care what they think. She just needs to leave this place after two months. And she is never going to return here.
But the thought of Abhi thinking that her marriage is fixed with some other man was discomforting. But maybe this was for the best. He will maintain his distance from her after knowing this and will move on himself. Let him think that too. She has been very selfish in the past but not anymore. Let him hate her if this makes him move on from her. Aaradhya has applied for the night shift from tomorrow too. In this way, her interaction with him will be negligible or almost null. And then she will leave for the best.
Soon they all got busy with their work again. In the evening as she opened the door of her office to leave she found Abhi was about to enter. At the sudden encounter, she lost her balance but Abhi stopped her from falling.
"We need to talk," he said not taking his hand away from her waist.
"About what?" she asked trying to create distance between them.
"About the man you are about to get married to," he said tightening his hold on her not letting her move away.
"Leave me, Abhi! I don't want to talk about anything with you. Thanks, for everything you did for me and sorry for everything I did to you," she said pushing him. He let her go this time.
"Who is that man? What is his name? Did you know him from before?" he asked.
"I am not bound to tell you that. Accept the fact that I am going to be someone's wife in a few months and stay away from me. I hope you get someone you deserve in your life," she said moving past him exiting the room.
He just stood there. Though he knew it was true somewhere he had a little hope that she would tell him that it was all a misunderstanding. She was not going to marry anyone else. Not now. Not ever. But when has she gone against her family for him? She would never do that. She will never do that. And that's the only thing that's stopping him from going against the world for her. He can fight all of them alone only if she is at least ready to stand with him if not fight. But she has always stood against him. He has to accept this now. There is no use in living in a false hope.
Aaradhya went to her flat only to find Siya cooking something.
"I smell something good," Aaradhya said as she entered the kitchen trying to be as cheerful as she could be.
"Yup! I have tried this new recipe for chilli potato. Try this," Siya said excitedly.
"I thought we were going to eat outside today," Aaradhya said taking out a spoon from the lower cabinet to taste the dish.
"I was getting bored, so I cooked this. We'll eat outside some other day," Siya told her.
They decided to watch a nice movie and eat their dinner in peace. Just as Aaradhya and Siya finished their dinner and Aaradhya took the plates to the kitchen, her doorbell rang. She looked at Siya.
"Have you ordered something?" she asked.
"No," Siya said.
Aaradhya wondered who might be here at this time. It was eleven at night already. She went to open the door and gasped when she found Abhi in a disoriented state standing there. Was he drunk?
"Abhi!" she said.
"Wh..... Why... would you do so....something.... like this to me?" he said stuttering holding the door for support as he found everything becoming blurry.
"Oh god! How much did you drink?" she said holding his hands to balance him and guiding him slowly inside her flat.
"Who is this?" Siya asked coming near them.
"You'll marry another man? You'll allow him to touch you? You'll kiss him like you kissed me?" he asked further stuttering at each word.
"You are not in the right state of mind Abhi. Sit here," Aaradhya said making him sit on the couch and rushing towards the kitchen where she left her phone. She dialled Pritam's number which she had saved when he visited her hospital with his grandmother. She never thought she would have to use it for reasons that are not professional.
"Hello doctor," Pritam greeted her.
"Abhi is at my flat, completely drunk. I'll send you my address, please come and get him," she told him.
"What? Wait. I am on my way," he said hurriedly.
She sent him her address and made lemonade for Abhi.
"Here, drink this," she said when she came back. She saw Siya carefully observing him.
"I don't want this," he said throwing the glass away and breaking it into pieces.
"Why are you doing this?" he said almost closing his eyes. He was feeling a terrible headache. He wanted to sleep.
Aaradhya's eyes teared up seeing him like this. What has he become? First smoking, now drinking! He never had such habits back then. How did he change this much? She was responsible for all this. She felt more terrible with each passing second. She caressed his head gently massaging it. He won't remember any of this in the morning. Soon Pritam arrived and took Abhi with him.
"He... I...Actually...." Aaradhya tried to explain something to Siya but failed.
"It's fine Aaru. You don't need to. Go and rest," Siya reassured her.
Aaradhya sighed relieved. The last thing she wanted today was for her best friend to ask questions about this whole scenario. She just wants to go to her bed now. She is so done with this day!
Siya went to the guest room to give Aaradhya the space she needed. Yesterday she slept in Aaradhya's room only. But today she doesn't think that's a good idea. She could not help but feel bad for Abhi. But that man also needed some confrontations and Siya has decided to take that task into her own hands.
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Abhi woke up with a terrible headache. He slowly opened his eyes and found him to be in Pritam's room.
"Finally you are awake!" Pritam's voice reached his ears. He looked to his left to see Pritam standing there.
"What am I doing here?" he asked holding his head.
"I'll bring a lemonade for you first," Pritam said and left immediately.
Abhi tried to recall last night's events. He went to a club after Aaradhya left. He drank a lot yesterday. He has tasted wine before too but he has never been drunk. He just wanted to stop thinking about her so he kept on drinking until he couldn't remember anything. After that everything is blurry. He took a cab and went to....... Aaradhya's place? His eyes widened. Did he go there? What did he do there? What did he say?
"Drink this," Pritam said forwarding a glass towards him.
"What happened yesterday?" Abhi asked.
"Nothing. You were drunk so I brought you here," Pritam said casually.
"Pritam! I am not in the mood to deal with any bullshit now," he warned him.
"Aaradhya called me and asked me to pick you up from her place. You were heavily drunk. How much did you drink?" Pritam asked.
"Fuck! Why did I go there? What did I say? How much more pathetic can I be!" he said.
"You are not pathetic. If anything that girl is...." Pritam stopped when he found Abhi glaring at him.
"That girl is kind. I was saying that," he completed his sentence.
"What time is it?" Abhi asked.
"Nine thirty," Pritam told him.
"I have surgery scheduled at two. I'll have to leave," Abhi said drinking the lemonade in one go.
"Is it important? Can't you take a day off? I mean you need some rest," Pritam said.
"I have surgery to perform Pritam. It was very irresponsible of me to drink that much yesterday. I cannot spoil my professional life because my personal life is fucked up. Moreover, I just want to keep myself busy," he said leaving.
Abhi finally reached the hospital at noon He attended some patients before going to the surgery room. The surgery was a success. He came out at four in the evening feeling extremely tired. When he went back he found a girl sitting in his office.
"Excuse me?" he asked closing the door after him.
"Hii!" she greeted him. She looked familiar.
"Didn't they tell you, you are not allowed to enter until I am present here?" he asked.
"I told them I am your childhood friend. I am just here to meet you. With lots of drama, they finally allowed me to wait here. I have been waiting for the last forty-five minutes," she told him.
"Childhood friend? Who are you?" he asked confused. Her face looked like he had seen her somewhere but he couldn't tell exactly where. But he was sure she was not his childhood friend.
"I am Siya Mathur. Aaradhya's best friend. She must have mentioned me sometime during your dating period," she told him but received a blank expression from him.
"Don't tell me you are hearing my name for the first time in your life. I am going to kill her if she has not..." she continued further.
"God! Stop! I have heard your name before. Why are you here? To give your best friend's wedding card to me?" he said bitterly.
"Oh thank god! Now let's come to the main point. Have a seat," she said sitting on her previous chair. He rolled his eyes. It's his office. She is behaving as if he is the guest here. Nonetheless, he sat on his usual chair.
"I hope you are not here just to stare at me," he said when he saw her observing him carefully.
She laughed.
"Aaradhya really got a hot man for herself," she said.
"Why are you here?" he asked irritatedly.
"I have to tell you a few things. But first let's start with some questions," she said.
"I am not going to answer any of your stupid questions. Just say what you want to or leave. I don't have the whole day for this bullshit," he said a bit harshly.
"Easy with your tone, mister. Aaradhya would have been tolerating it because she feels guilty for the things she did to you. I wouldn't tolerate it because I don't have any guilt to carry," Siya said in the same tone.
Abhi took a deep breath to calm himself down. He is so done with his freaking life. He doesn't want anything now. Just some loneliness.
"What will you take to leave my office, Your Highness," he said in a fake sweet tone.
"Fifteen minutes of your precious time," she said smiling.
"Ask whatever you want to. I'll answer if I feel comfortable," he told her. He just wants to get this done.
"I agree Aaradhya was wrong when she finished her relationship with you but what did you do to save it?" she asked.
Abhi was caught off guard by this question. He was not expecting this.
"I asked her to think again...." he said looking at her.
"And then you changed your country, you changed your number. A great way of mending things!" she said sarcastically.
"What is the meaning of these questions now? What do you want to do?" he said.
"We'll come there soon. You know that girl called you a thousand times when you went to the US. Did you even try to reach her in those years?" she asked further.
"I was mad at her. I still am mad at her..." he justified.
"Yes, you were. And you have the complete right to be mad at her. But I just want to tell you that if she was wrong then, you weren't very right either. You both have committed numerous mistakes," she said.
"Ok, I agree I was at fault too. But I am not the one getting married. So go and impart some of your wisdom to your friend," he said.
"She is not getting married. Who told you that?" Siya told him.
"I didn't believe others till she told me that herself," he said wanting Siya's words to be true.
"She declined the alliance. She stood against her family for you. She told her family about you. But she thinks she doesn't deserve you. She considers herself to be the reason for your misery. That's why she is pushing you away. She doesn't want to hurt you again," Siya explained to him slowly.
"She did what? She told her family about me?" he asked not believing what he just heard.
"Yeah. She didn't even tell me about all this. Her sister Avni told me. She said she would prefer death than being with someone who is not you," she told him.
Abhi's eyes teared up. He found some tears falling from his eyes. He wiped them hurriedly. This was so embarrassing. He doesn't want to cry in front of Aaradhya's best friend whom he was meeting for the first time. But he could not control himself.
"Why are you crying? She fought for you, not against you," Siya said panicking. What do you do when a man cries?
"It... It's nothing," Abhi said clearing his throat.
"Sorry about that," he said feeling a little embarrassed.
"Initially I came here to persuade Aaradhya to move on from you. To give any other man a chance at least. I thought you both were not made for each other. But yesterday when I saw you I realised you need to know these things at least. Now it's up to you, you can do whatever you want," she told him.
"Did I... Did I do something stupid yesterday?" he asked her.
"Obviously. Drinking like a madman is stupid only. But other than that you did nothing serious. You just broke one glass though," she told him.
"Oh! Sorry about that. I was drunk too much to remember anything," he said.
"What are you? Modern-day Kabir Singh?" she scoffed.
"Stop wasting your time on these useless things and go get your girl. She has taken night shifts to avoid you. I'll leave now," Siya said getting up.
"Siya! Thank you so much. You don't know what you have done today," he said feeling grateful for her.
"Oh! I know. It's hard to look after grown-idiotic children like you two are. But I'll manage anyways," she said playfully.
"If I get married to Aaradhya and have a daughter in future, I'll give her your name," he said smiling.
"Oh god! That's some big plans. I hope it turns out to be true. And don't tell her I told you any of this. Remember we never met," she said wearing her goggles, opening the door and going out.
Abhimanyu sighed. He is not letting her go this time. She can try her best to avoid him, he'll try his best to get her. And he's not gonna lose his time.
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