[DARSHAN]
I sat down on the bed eyeing a worried Nitin, pacing back and forth in the room.
"Bro, yaar. When she comes, don't spoil anything. Please yaar. I owe her a lot. Please", he all of a sudden clasped his hands in front of me, pleadingly. It was something he did when he was nervous. Weird, I know. But however, he is my brother.
"Okay, my nervous-freak", I laughed.
"I am not a nervous-freak. I am just a bit of... nervous", he said in confusion and I laughed out.
"Bhai, she is your best friend not your girlfriend", I tried assuring him of the best but he didn't understand. He sighed deeply. He glanced at the clock every now and then, anticipating the time to be seven o'clock as soon as possible.
I squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "Everything will be fine", I whispered.
"It is her last birthday before my marriage, which means walking jail", he chuckled and I giggled.
"Why are you so freaked out for her?", I asked.
"Bhai, you know? I met Tiara just because of her. She was the one who forced me to speak to her when she was sitting alone. We had a kick start because of her. We have been best friends since two years but still, I don't know about her life much. We share a great bond but, I have never asked the reason behind her empty eyes. She says she had a harsh break up and I think, that harsh break up was way much more than just a break up. It was the detachment of two souls. She left her heart with the person she loved. Ironically, she trusted the person so much that even if her lover broke her heart, she didn't ask it back. She let him keep her treasure, even if he had misused it. The way she hid all her pain just to make others happy was something that attracted me the most. She was ignorant about herself when it came for others. She was... just like you. Somewhere, in her, I found a bit of you lying inside her, waiting to be discovered and unveiled to the world, but struggled to stay inside her", he breathed out and I felt like, I was dragged to a love story. Me, being the hero. She, being the heroine. It was strange how two strangers had a bit of each other in each other.
"So, what does she do?", keeping all my thoughts aside, I asked him.
"She works in Infosys", he replied. I wanted to ask more about her but I didn't want to bother him more. So, I kept quiet. I didn't want it to be the person about whom I thought.
"Bhai, it's already 6.30 PM. Should we go?", he asked looking at me expectantly. I smiled. He too broke out into a huge smile and we drove out to the place.
The hall was pitch black. I stuck to Nitin as I was scared of getting lost in the big maze-like hall. I could feel the balloons and ribbons spread on the floor.
"Dude, she is coming", Nitin whispered and I was surprised how he could see in the pitch black which seemed as daunting as horror movies. It wouldn't be surprising if a flying corpse scared everyone present.
"5. 4. 3. 2. 1. SURPRISE!!!!!", Nitin and others screamed their lungs out and the lights were switched on. A girl was standing in the middle with a sky color tank top and blue jeans. Her hair was done into a tight bun. I could just see her from the back as she gasped in surprise.
"Guys. You didn't have to do this", I heard the familiar voice and spun my head back in surprise. It was indeed her.
'Aditi', I whispered to myself.
"Oh c'mon! It is just a small thing we could do for you", I heard Nitin mumble.
No way! It can't be her. It shouldn't be her. I turned around to go away. there were nights I wished that we would be back to each other's life but as soon as I saw her, I felt... nervous.
"Aye! You were so excited to meet my best friend. Let me introduce you to her", Nitin grasped my shoulder and I didn't know what to do. Surely, running away from the problem was not a solution but an increment to the problem.
"Bhai, she is Aditi. And Adi, he is Darshan, my mentor, guide and everything a confidant should be.", Nitin grinned.
Without knowing the story, he had joined two souls again. Aditi's face went on from happiness to blank. Her eyes widened. Her body was stiff. And I could see her gulp hard. She seemed more nervous and freaked out than me.
Tiara called Nitin for something and we both were left alone in the moment.
"So, you are his cousin?", she asked looking down, breaking the ice between us.
"How did you know that?", I squinted my eyes in confusion.
"Obviously because he has no brothers yet you are his brother. The type of relationship only cousins can have", she smiled. Her intelligence and logic was in their place. Yet she is a fool.
"So, how did you end up here?", I asked her, shoving my hands into my pants.
"I just came here for a charity event and I got transferred here to work in the main branch", she sighed off.
Obviously, the way she used to do her work with seriousness and focus must have impressed them.
"So, what's going on in your life?", she asked I couldn't believe we were talking like strangers after we shared a brutal and lovely past. Not at least when we were on the path of becoming strangers.
Some relationships need time to be as strong as rocks from fragile threads. Ours was in reverse. Our relationship was as strong as a rock, but it eventually was broken due to the continuous friction caused by the strings of doubt.
"My life... is going on pretty well", I lied because I didn't know how to express what was going on in my life.
"Yeah... Of course, I saw on TV. Your latest single has scored century. I hope you get more success", she smiled at me.
"Ohh", I sounded. There was a part in me which constantly said that she still had hopes for me. That she wanted me to explain. But I had other plans. I wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine. The way she had turned my life upside down... I swear, I will do it worse to her, only to make sure, she learns her lesson to love.
"Umm... Actually I am getting married", I said. Her eyes snapped at me with disappointment and disbelief hidden in them.
"Oh.. It's nice. Congratulations", I could feel the shakiness behind her voice. She quivered. She shuddered. But she knew well how to hide the pain.
"So, who is the lucky girl?", she asked, forcing on a smile.
"Tara...", I said. Even if I didn't know much about her yet her name was the first one to pop in my mind.
"Oh", she sounded; disappointment laced in her voice. A lump groping her throat and her eyes bullying her tears to stay inside them.
"I have work. I need to go", she said and went out of my eyesight. In the sea of crowd, I never failed to feel her.
With the wedding preparation going around, she was surely not getting away from me this early. I smiled evilly to myself for my plan.
//Hola! I know it is a late update. But please bear with me. Idk when I will update next. It all depends upon how long writer's block kicks my ass. Hope you all enjoy it..//