Chapter Fifty-One
"Ananya, why the fuck are you cheating on Sahil-"
× ANANYA ×
"By the way, did you find any apartment nearby? What's the progress?" Sahil asked me while I was checking the Cookies mix packet wondering if I should buy it or not. I kept it inside my trolley once I concluded.
"Not really. I liked one but it's too far away from your house. And one nearby has a lot of rent. This is a posh area so," I replied to him and pressed my lips together. That thing is bothering me so much.
Although the rent is split between me and Kirti the maintenance, light bill and that stuff also needs to be included. Plus renting a flat in Mumbai means half of your salary slips from your hand like sand.
And this is just my first year of work, before this, I was doing an internship where we didn't get paid enough. And now I'm considered just a beginner so my salary isn't at the cream level increasing most of my problems.
Sometimes I think surviving is so hard, I did not choose this life. What if I wanted to be a housefly? Or a duckling? I was forced to be a human, I did not want to.
"You can stay with Amar na. Why do you want to move out?" He asked me.
"Amar Bhai will go to meet our parents first, and then he's directly going to Delhi because that is where his job is. He can put up this house for rent and he'll get a side income."
"So you pay him the rent, if you want to." He suggested and I shook my head.
"He wouldn't take it. And on top of that, I kinda don't want to stay here after knowing that my father has invested in this. I don't want anything from him. Except for the phone I took, leaving a note." I chuckled remembering that. I was a too little silly back then.
"You had the guts to do that. It takes so much courage to leave everything behind and start your new life, especially at that age. I admire you." He said and I just smiled glancing at him. We went towards the billing counter, being done with our grocery shopping and once the billing was done, we walked towards his car.
A family was walking ahead and the mother had a baby girl in her arms who kept staring at me with a finger in her mouth. I waved at her lightly and smiled, in response, she just stared at me with her big doe eyes. I raised my brows towards her and she switched her gaze from me to Sahil.
I turned around to look at him and catch his reaction but found him rather staring at me. He immediately turned around and waved to the baby and she grinned at him.
"That was mean," I muttered jokingly but the smile didn't leave my face. The man kept a hand on his wife's shoulder and pulled his daughter's cheeks. I smiled at a thought that flashed in my mind.
One day this will be me and Sahil.
"One day this would be us." He said the same thing in my mind and I amusingly looked at him who was still watching the family with an adorable smile.
I linked my arm with his and dragged him towards the car. I opened the door of the car of him, my hands indicating the door and said.
"My Royal Highness"
"It's your Royal Highness." He corrected me and sat inside the car.
"Lekin tum toh mere ho na," I smirked lightly and he laughed while nodding. His ears got slightly red and I closed the door smiling before walking towards the other door and settling inside.
[But you are mine]
After half an hour, we reached the nearby McDonald's because the traffic wasn't in our favour and it was going to take us another hour to reach home according to maps. The hangout turned out to be a stress.
Walking into the McD, I bumped into someone as I was busy looking at Sahil and ranting about things to him.
"Sorry, sorry." I apologised after glancing towards the person. She was a girl, a very beautiful one.
"It's alright." Her voice slowly trailed off as she noticed the man beside me. Even he kept staring at her with no expression on his face. The man beside the girl was as confused as me and we exchanged a look too.
"Natasha?" Sahil almost whispered out. And then it clicked with me, it was his ex-girlfriend, he has mentioned her a time or two. Though he never spoke about her or their break-up much I wanted to know. Then too, I decided to wait patiently till he felt like sharing.
"Hey," Natasha said awkwardly. The tension in the air was increasing like anything. She further added before sparing me a little glance which Sahil noticed, "How are you doing?"
"Good. And meet Ananya, my girlfriend. Ananya, this is Natasha." He said looking at me and I passed her a smile while blinking my eyes once.
"Hi. This is Niraj, my fiance. And Niraj, this is Sahil, a good friend. " Sahil quickly tried to cover up the shock in his expression but I noticed it. The way he pressed his hand on mine made me sure that something was very wrong.
"I'm getting married next month. You guys should attend the wedding. I'll send you the invitation over WhatsApp. " Sahil just passed a small nod. The awkwardness filled the silence.
"Uh, we'll get going now." I decided to speak when I noticed Sahil getting uncomfortable and lost in his thoughts.
"Yeah, by the way, you'll look cute together." I could just sense that this girl is very good and sweet.
"So do you guys." After exchanging another set of smiles, we went and sat at the nearest table while Natasha and Niraj sat a little away from us.
"That was..." Sahil was about to speak but I cut him off.
"Your ex. I remember." Sahil just passed a nod and added, "Forget that, What will you eat?"
We discussed the menu and I checked the McD app for offers and stuff. After concluding, I insisted he let me get the order.
"Two American cheese supreme, Two medium fries, a coke and a Mac flurry. " I said to the girl at the counter and paid the amount through e-banking. I chose to wait there and get the order with me back because our number was already displayed on the board.
I randomly scrolling through the homepage of my phone to check all the useless apps I have, when I felt someone's presence beside me. I looked up to catch Natasha standing right beside me.
"Hey, I wanted to tell you something." She started and I nodded indicating for her to speak further, switching off my phone.
"You probably know how things ended between me and Sahil, and how much hurt he was because of me, because of everything. I just want to tell you that..." She took a deep sigh.
"He is a gem of a person, one of a rare kind to find. I got to know his value after I lost him, and it was too late. I have seen the way he looks at you and the way he is with you, Please don't hurt him again the way I did. He won't be able to handle it again."
I was left speechless after hearing this from her. Usually, they portray the ex as a villain or as a bad person who was at fault but this woman in front of me was the exact opposite of that.
"You are a very nice person, Natasha. It takes a lot of courage to tell this. Honestly, I do not know the exact details of what happened between you guys but I just knew that it was a mutual breakup. But rest assured, I don't plan on hurting or leaving him ever." I replied and the way my heartbeat was increasing while replying because of the tension in the atmosphere.
"Nothing is ever mutual, Ananya. In one sentence, He loved me so much that I wasn't able to handle it." These words went right through my heart.
He loved someone before me.
The firsts I'm having with him right now, he already had it all with her.
"Honestly, I just don't know what to say," I confessed while letting out an awkward laugh.
"It's okay. It's okay. I just wanted to tell you this. I'm overwhelmed after seeing him move on, to find someone new, in a good way of course. But I just couldn't stop myself from doing this." I understand why Sahil fell in love with someone like her, she is exactly the type of girl who is loveable, naturally.
"I understand."
"I wish you guys a very happy life." She said and I smiled.
I wonder what went wrong between both of them. They would be a perfect couple.
I took the tray of food and went back towards Sahil after the conversation ended. The whole time I was wondering what was the reason behind their breakup.
"What happened?" He asked me as soon as I sat on the chair.
"Nothing."
"What were you guys talking about?" He asked curiously. So he noticed us talking to each other.
"That was a woman-to-woman talk. I'm not telling you." I said jokingly to enlighten the atmosphere but he just looked tensed.
"She was very sweet and seemed very nice," I told him taking a bite of the fries.
"She was very nice. I was the one who ruined it all." My eyes furrowed at the statement. There she was telling me that she was the one at fault and here he tells me that he ruined it.
"Uh, Can I ask what happened between you guys?" I finally asked him because the curious cat inside me was already barking.
"Yes. I wanted to tell you for so long. So basically, everything was good until I introduced her to my family. I was very sure that I was going to marry her only so I let everyone in the family know about her." He started and I interrupted.
"Typical Sahil behaviour."
"Agreed. So there, Bua disliked her for some reason, maybe because she was too outspoken. At first, I thought it was just a small dislike so I let it go and didn't tell her much."
"Typical Sahil behaviour into 2" He passed me a look and broke into a chuckle. Shouldn't have done that.
Why? It was just facts.
It is very mean to make jokes while someone is sharing their pain.
The way his lips are touching the straw makes me want to become a straw-
Shut the fuck up. Not the right time.
But I admit the fact that I missed these guys.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Continue."
"Yeah, so after that Nirmal Bua started her favourite work of coming and telling me how I shouldn't continue this with her, going to her and telling her things like she would not be happy with me and some bullshits. It wasn't a big deal but at some point, Nirmal Bua was very good at manipulation. But that is just a small part of the breakup." He said and I decided to keep my mouth closed and let him speak this time.
"I proposed to her for marriage a year later. It was not planned, but it just happened, we were together talking about life and the moment we got silent, the only thing that ran across my mind was that this was something I could do my whole life. This is something I always wanted..."
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
Big Boss mujhe hurt ho raha hai.
[That hurt me bad.]
He loved her so much that he was all ready to marry her. Consider me stupid or insecure but the only question that ran in my mind was, will be ever be able to love me like that?
I just felt a little jealous right now. And a lot insecure.
"What did she say?" I asked hesitantly, deep down wanting it to be a no.
"Yes. She said yes." He answered and I froze on my spot with goosebumps all over my skin.
Ouch into infinity.
"Then?" I asked him.
"We used to fight a lot then, I was so blind in love that I just wanted to marry her. She wanted to stabilize her career first. We used to fight over small things, the things which could be sorted out easily. I started rethinking Nirmal Bua's words, telling me how I would just regret it and stuff. She did the same, Bua might have told her, why do you think that the guy who wouldn't speak for himself, would speak for you? She said it on my face, a few hours before our engagement. I was very hurt but I thought we could sort it out easily." I gulped nervously.
I don't know how to decide who was more at fault but probably the words she said to him were not the thing she had to do.
"On the day of our engagement when the hall was booked, the carters were decided, the guest had arrived and we were both dressed up, she came and told me that we were rushing things and she was in the moment so that is why she said yes to the marriage. She told me that she needed some time and she couldn't do this right now. I tried my best to understand her but I tried to convince her too and when she didn't agree, I just asked her to get engaged right now, we'll see about the marriage later when she is ready. She didn't agree but it was about my family, their reputation, they were so happy but I felt like she didn't care about anything at all." He took a long pause and after leaving a sigh he continued further.
"So, I told her that either she is getting engaged to me that day or this won't work out between us, ever." My eyes widened in shock and I was at a loss for words.
I do not know how to react to situations like this. I've rarely been very serious in my life. I'll crack jokes in a serious situation if it's about me so I have to learn how to react to someone's tense situation.
"Everything ended that day itself." He finished off and picked up his burger, unwrapping it, he started eating.
"Oh my my," I just kept staring at him in disbelief.
"That was so bad. That Bua, she is such a bad person, I mean, why would you plant seeds in the mind of a couple who are happy? Why did you forgive her?" I was genuinely raged at the Nirmal Bua. I mean okay you wanted to compete in the race of worst relatives ever but why would you do that?
"It's okay. Her relationship is so fucked up that she goes around advising others. I was very angry at her but then I stopped giving her the attention she demanded. And that is why, that day I told you to be calm because she is just the same. But I guess I repeated the same mistake twice. I should have spoken to her rather than ignoring."
"Agreed. But I'm not sparing her the next time, just wait and watch. How dare she?" I scoffed.
"If I didn't lose Natasha because of her, then how would have I found you? I lost something but instead, I got something better in return, a little cracked but okay. I'm happy." He said and I rolled my eyes at the dramatic statement.
"You were literally in shock when you met her a half an hour back. You seemed hurt, so please."
"I was shocked because she told me that she didn't want to marry and now she's getting settled next month. I mean I would've waited for two and a half years. She could've just told me that she didn't want to marry me." He replied.
"Do you still like her?" I questioned him and he made a face.
"What nonsense? No. I moved on months ago. I just felt a little hurt nothing more. And now I don't like anyone but you, so give this tiny mind a little rest. It is already pea-sized, it'll blast." He said and hit my forehead with his finger.
"Okay, but it would be so hard to move on na. I mean, It takes me months to move on from a crush this would be so hard." In my mind, I've imagined breaking up with my imaginary boyfriend a lot of times just to feel a little like the main character and to absorb the hurt but in reality, it would be a disaster.
"It was. I was depressed for a year, I had to take therapy to get back to normal. I was more guilty, like majorly it happened because of me, I gave her the conditions and she didn't have the option so, I was very guilty that I could have saved the relationship but I chose not to. That year was the worst year of my life, I felt like a loser, I didn't want to do anything, I just wanted to be alone staring at the ceiling, I rarely spoke with someone, rarely had fun but yes I survived."
Call me a sadist but I wished to experience a heartbreak like this, I mean now obviously I don't get to experience it, but I wanted to know how it feels to get hurt so badly that your body stops functioning properly. To be so much in love with someone. To be so much hurt in love.
"Now, I can't imagine breaking up with you." He said after a while.
"I'm not breaking up with you in this lifetime. But somewhere in another universe, Sahil and Ananya broke up already. I feel bad for them." I pouted lightly feeling bad for that Sahil Ananya. But at least Ananya got to experience heartbreak.
"But they would get back eventually." He replied.
"How are you so sure?" I asked while raising my eyebrows.
"Sahil and Ananya are meant to be in every universe out there." He replied and I melted like ice.
"Okay, Mr Shakespeare from Meesho," I said and burst out laughing while he just glared at me.
"Why are you so obsessed with Meesho?" He asked me.
"But somewhere in the other universe, Sahil Ananya would be married with two kids already." He said his expression as if he was imagining the whole scenario.
"That is the future in this universe," I muttered proudly and he just nodded while his ears were getting red.
My cutie.
"Let's see." He said and I narrowed my eyes.
"Kidnap karke hi sahi lekin shaadi toh tumse hi karungi," I said, bringing out the Mafia Queen inside me.
[I'll marry you only, let it be after kidnapping or willingly.]
"Okay, ma'am. Dar gaya main." He muttered sarcastically.
[I'm afraid.]
"Darna bhi chahiye. Underworld ka business hai mera." I said taking a sip of his Coke arrogantly.
[You should be. I run an Underworld business.]
"Chori ka na?" He said, eyeing his coke in my hand. How dare he throw these fake allegations on Mafia Queen.
[Of robbery?]
"Ha ha ha."
🦋
"Hey, Duck shit." I waved towards my colleague who was my and Deven's mutual friend. Deven smacked my head from behind and I winced in pain.
Why does he always hit me whenever he appears?
"My name is Dakshit." Duck shit replied and I rolled my eyes.
"Sounds the same. Got to go, Boss called me again, let's hope that it's for promotion." I prayed and forcefully made them pray with me.
"Bye Duck shit." I flashed my smile towards him and he passed a frustrated expression as if he just tolerated me.
Everyone tolerates me, I'm built that way. To test the hell out of people's tolerance level.
"I wonder what you will call a person whose name is Dikshit." Deven successfully earned a smack on his arm from the folder of files I was holding in my hand.
"Why is your mind so dirty all the time?" I asked him and he just grinned evilly.
"Only Preet can purify it with her Reet." I ignored the nonsense he spoke and walked towards my boss aka Abhinav's office.
Cheerfully waving at five people on my way, I reached his office and knocked on the door, not getting any reply for a while. I ignored my urge to barge in, and knocked again to hear a soft 'Come in'. Entering inside I saw that He was sitting in a chair which wasn't facing me, I could only see a tall figure which I guessed was him.
"You asked for me, sir?" I asked in the uttermost sincerity. I hope he promotes me for my sincerity.
"Yes, chamatkar." I frowned at the nickname and then the chair turned with a person who had a large grin on his face.
"What are you doing here, Sahil?" I asked him and his face fell.
"You are not happy that I came here?" He asked me and I shook my head.
"No."
"Mean. Very mean. I'll tell Abhinav to deduct your salary." I frowned at the statement.
"What can I bring you, sir? Do you want tea or coffee? Or Ice-cream? Or fresh fruits? I'll bring anything." I said jokingly and he stood up from his seat taking steps towards me till he stood right in front of me.
"I'll have one chamatkar." He said and pulled me by my waist suddenly.
"That is not on the menu," I said and removed his hands while pushing him and maintaining a distance.
"That is in the special menu only made for Sahil." He said, holding the hand I forwarded to push him and instead brought me close.
"I forgot that menu at home. Now leave, someone will see our shadow from outside and think that I'm having an affair with my boss, who is married." I tried to push this man away once again but he is just a man, so he is stronger than me in physical strength.
"The whole floor is his office, no one will come here." He whispered coming closer to my ear and inhaling my smell.
"Where is Abhinav Sir?" I asked him and he made a face.
"He went home for a while." He answered me and placed a small kiss on my ear.
"Why?"
"Zoody injured himself so Avyaan and Aditi Bhabhi both called him, crying." He ran his hand slowly across my back while I felt shivers run through my body.
"Who is Zoody?" I asked him. He did not reply for a while as he was busy laying soft kisses all over my face.
I swear, if by any chance someone sees us, I'm not letting him come near me for a whole week.
"Their dog," I remembered the traumatic experience I had a while ago after hearing the word Dog.
"Thank you for telling me. I'm never going to their house again." He did not reply but brushed his nose against mine. "Why are you in such a romantic mood today? And how are you here?"
"I came here to meet Abhinav a while ago and the answer to your first question is because I saw you." I tried to push him away again in fear of someone seeing us.
"Someone will see us, Sahil. Ouch." I winced in pain when he bit my neck. I smacked his back in return.
"Sorry." He said and laid two kisses there back to back.
"This is my workplace, Sahil," I said in a strict tone this time. He stopped his doings for a second and looked at me with puppy eyes. I slapped his left cheek lightly.
"Zyada natak mat karo." He grinned and engulfed me in a hug.
[Don't throw tantrums.]
"Kyu?" He asked.
[Why?]
"Bus nahi karo," I replied.
[Just don't.]
"Kyu?"
[Why?]
"This is my office, Sahil." I tried to get out of his hold but he was strong enough to not let me do that.
"Kyu?" This was getting irritating now.
[Why?]
"Zayada kyu kyu mat karo."
[Don't do this Why Why.]
"Kyu?"
[Why?]
"Leave me. You are irritating me." After a while of tightening his arms for a second or so, he left me and I finally took a breath.
"I want to kiss you." He said and I asked him.
"Kyu?"
[Why?"]
"Smartie." He said and bumped his head with mine.
"I swear to god Sahil, if someone sees me then forget that you have a girlfriend." He widened his eyes and then passed me with the same puppy eyes.
"I want to kiss you." He repeated and I just ignored him.
"I always wanted to have an office kiss. You must fulfil my wish."
Like this, he'll come and tell me that he always wanted to have an office se- Never mind.
"Badi fantasiyan hai tumhari," I said and removed his hands which rested on my waist.
[You have many fantasies]
"Many. You'll get shy if I start listing them here." He said with a smirk.
"List them." My confidence suddenly decided to wake up from sleep and save the day.
"Office kiss, Kiss in public, coming to sex-" I cut him off immediately. His confidence decided to wake up and do something today.
"No, it's okay. I understand. Humans have fantasies, it's good and natural to have them." He laughed off at my awkwardness.
"My honey bee." I gave him a look at this nickname.
"Honey bee? Seriously?"
"Yes you bug me and buzz in my ears most of the time, but you are also sweet like honey so," His explanation was about to offend me but I let it slide.
"Wow. With a big O"
"Yes. Now let's fulfil my fantasy number one." I opened my mouth to protest but he sealed it back by placing his lips over mine. It took him just half a minute to pin me to the table. He made me sit on the table after sliding away the small things present there, I got to know that after I heard a noise of a pen falling, and made me sit there by holding the back of my thighs. He was standing between my legs after separating them.
Bro is so experienced, I would have messed up if I tried doing something like that so quickly.
But please, God, no embarrassment this time.
We broke the kiss when both of us were out of breath but stood in the same position we were in. Both of us had a small smile on our faces and kept staring at each other.
Oh how much he means to me.
"Ananya why the fuck are you cheating on Sahil-" The door flew open and I heard Deven's loud voice.
"What nonsense?" Sahil and I mumbled in sync and shared a look.
"Oh, it's Sahil." He calmed down a little but then shouted again. "What the fuck are you'll do here in the office? And how are you here, Sahil?"
I realised our position and pushed him away. Not expecting the sudden push, he stumbled on his feet while I got down.
"Making out, Wow." Deven replied to his question and I just kept looking at him in awkwardness filled with curiosity.
"What happened, Dinesh?" Sahil asked Deven to which he just held his hand in a fist tightly physically showing how irritated and angry he was.
"Many things happen, Sohail." He intentionally took his name wrong.
"My name is Sahil." My boyfriend said.
I love referring to him as my boyfriend.
"And mine is Dinesh." I opened my mouth to speak something in confusion but then he corrected himself. "Deven. It's not Dinesh."
"What happened? Will you tell us that? Why are you being Kabir Singh?" I asked him again.
"What happened? That gossip guy in our office remember? He saw you entering and then thanks to the glass window Stupid Abhinav decided to keep in his office, he saw your shadows and assumed that it was Abhinav and you." My eyes widened in shock and I thought I might faint anytime.
"What nonsense?" Sahil shouted and I glared at him.
"You. You are the nonsense. You are the problem. I told you so many times but no, you wanted to fulfil your fantasies-" I started venting out my anger on him until Deven interrupted.
"I have it in control though. I'm thankful that he chose me as the first person to tell me about this. I threatened him and right now Dakshit is scaring the fuck out of him."
"What are you? Gundas or something?"
It's time to refer to him as an ex-boyfriend, I think.
"You shut up. They are doing right. You don't know how much of a gossip girl he is. He even revealed how the head of the marketing team was sleeping with the receptionist and God knows how it was true. They are married now." I showed him my index finger and started yelling at him while he placed a finger on his lips.
"And you, if he doesn't agree then bring him here, I am ready to show him the live demo of who I was kissing and how," I told Deven and he nodded.
"Good idea. Because if by chance he mentions it in front of Abhinav then he would ban me from coming here." Sahil said and I showed him angry eyes.
"He should." I added, "Har musibat ke piche, Ananya ka naam likha hota hai."
[Behind every problem, my name is written.]
"Abh toh Sahil bhi," Sahil added and I took some deep breaths.
[Now Sahil too.]
"Deven, you are my only true friend in this world. I love you so much for" I was cut off by a fake cough from the person who created all this blunder.
"You have my respect, Deven. In life, if you ever need me to do something for you then I will willingly help you." I said dramatically and went there to hug him.
"Help me get his sister."
🦋
A long ass chapter 🕺🏻