"Hey." Rohan's voice brought her back from the thoughts she had been lost in, she looked up and saw him standing behind her.
"Let's go for a walk." He said as he held out his hand to her, she held it and stood up with his help and then dusted off her clothes and started walking with him.
"I have two things to say" Rohan said.
"I'm all ears." Khushi smiled.
"First of all, thank you so much. Tara told me about the little talk you two had and she considered it. So she said we can start over, we can hang out go on dates and stuff and if things go well, we'll be together once again. I don't think I would have ever been able to convince her for anything without you, so thank you so much." She looked at her with a huge smile on his face.
He was so happy, he had to be... he had been looking for her for ages, and then he finally found her, it was a big deal.
"You don't have to thank me Rohan, you've also done a lot for me, and if I was in your place, I'm sure you would have done the same too." She said.
"And that brings me to the second thing that I wanted to say." Rohan said, Khushi stopped walking and looked at him seriously.
"What is that?" She asked. He nudged her slightly so she could continue walking.
"This whole tension between you and Arnav is quite visible, I thought things were going great between you two, what changed suddenly?" Rohan looked at her seriously.
"He said he is in love with me." Khushi laughed.
"And why is that funny?"
"Because what's the point Rohan? It's like fate is playing games with me, when I was so much in love with him and wanted to be just with him and be happy, he wanted to punish me for things I never did, now look at the irony of fate, when I want none of it, is when I get all of it. When I want to stay away from him and forget about him, is when he falls in love with me. Why?" she asked as she stopped walking again.
She saw Arnav and Tara standing together a few feet away, it looked like Tara was really trying to cheer him up by saying funny things.
"So you don't love him anymore?" Rohan asked.
"You can love someone and not want to be with them Rohan." She sighed.
"I don't get it... you love him but you don't want to be with him, he loves you but he's ready to leave. Why is this love story such a tragedy?" Rohan asked.
Khushi dint reply for a while, she just kept on staring at Arnav and Tara, Arnav had gone back to sitting down again so he would avoid Tara's antics to cheer him up but for some reason, Tara dint want to give up. She stood beside him wondering what to do that then suddenly she grabbed his hair and pulled them so hard, Arnav frowned as he stood up immediately and started chasing Tara, they were like two kids pulling each other's hair.
"It is a tragedy isn't it? When two people love each other but can't make it work?" Khushi looked at Rohan, she smiled a little and continued walking.
"The problem isn't that you two can't make it work Khushi, the problem is, you don't want to make it work."
"How exactly do you want us to make it work Rohan?"
"By forgiving him. I know he has done terrible things which aren't forgivable but you have to see his point of view Khushi. Look at how messed up his family was, and how messed up his childhood was, a person could go insane living like that. Imagine how he must have felt knowing that the girl that was once his friend was sleeping with his father.
I get it, it was a misunderstanding, but it looked real to him, he grew up believing it and hating you for it, so when you came back in his life, all he wanted to do was punish you for the things you had done."
"Which I hadn't actually done."
"He dint know that then."
"He slept with another woman, on our bed!" Khushi looked at Rohan angrily.
"He already said he faked it to get rid of you."
"Well congrats to him, he actually did!"
"Why are you so stubborn Khushi? You love him so much but yet you are trying too hard to hate him, why do you want to hate him?"
"Because loving him is hurting me Rohan. I get it, it was a misunderstanding, he had grown up in a really messed up family. I understand him, I understand everything and that is why I am even here with him. But the thing about making us work, him and me being together again is impossible. I wish it wouldn't be impossible, trust me, there's no one who would want us to be together as much as I want it... but I just can't put myself through all of it again."
"You know he was never that kind of a person, right? Whatever he did to you was because of the hatred he had towards you. You've seen him better now, you know he would treat you way better, he would keep you happy now... then why can't you give it a second chance? For the sake of both of you Khushi?"
"Because it took so much strength for me to leave him and walk away from him Rohan. I am done with that part of my life, I just want normal life now, and I've created that for myself."
"You know what the sad part is Khushi? You two love each other, you want to be with each other but you think you won't make each other happy anymore and so you don't want to do anything about it. Just know, if you'd actually do something about it, you'd be happy together actually.
Anyway, as a friend, I just wanted to give you my thoughts, the final decision is always upon you, but just know, if I also gave up on Tara like you are giving up on Arnav, we wouldn't be here today. I know our stories are different, but life is always about giving second chances." Rohan said.
"Not always Rohan." Khushi replied.
*****
Later in the evening, they all headed back to their rooms to freshen up and get a little rest before they could go out for dinner.
Khushi took a quick shower and then lied down on her bed, today just felt really hectic for her, the travelling, the thoughts, both her body and mind were tired.
She stood up when she heard a knock at the door and headed to open it, when she opened it, she found Arnav standing there. After their conversation earlier today, she didn't think he would come to her.
"I have something to say, I promise I won't take much time, just two minutes and I'll be gone." He said.
"Okay." Khushi nodded as she moved aside so he could walk in, once he was inside, she closed the door and turned to look at him.
"We came here for a reason, to have fun, to create memories, that's all I want Khushi. I am sorry for letting my feelings out like that, I was never going to tell you about it, but because I did doesn't mean it will change anything.
I very much know what I did, I very much remember the deal we made, tomorrow is our last day and after that I promise you wont ever hear from me again if that's what you want.
But with this tension between us, we are ruining the trip for Tara and Rohan too, it's not fair to them. So all I am asking for is, can we please just forget everything for one evening and one more day?
I am not asking for much, just to act normal and once we are back home, I will leave from you life for good, I promise." He said. Khushi stared at him silently, he kept on talking continuously that by the time he was done speaking, he was kind of out of breaths.
"Okay, you are right, we shouldn't ruin it for them." She nodded.
"Thank you. Okay I'll leave and let you get ready for the dinner." He said as he walked towards the door, opened it and walked out.
"Once again, I am really sorry for everything Khushi. If it was in my control, I could change things, but I can't so I can only apologize for them." He said as he closed the door.
He leaned on the wall next to it and stared at the ceiling trying to blink his eyes so the tears that had formed up wouldn't come out of his eyes. The only reason why he ever asked for these seven days with her was just to make things better for her, show her that he wasn't as horrible as he had been with her as a husband and that somewhere deep down, he was always her childhood friend before anything else.
"I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me Khushi." He whispered to himself as he stood up straight and walked back to his room. He found his phone ringing on the bed so he rushed to pick it up.
"Is everything set?" he asked immediately after receiving the call.
"Yes sir, we leave tomorrow." A voice came.
"Perfect, I'll text you the details of when and where." Arnav said as he disconnected the call and sat down on his bed as a lot of thoughts rushed through his mind.