Destined To Be

Chapter 42

Ankita's P.O.V. 

"Where is Ayaan? Is the performance over?" I asked. He nodded and said, "Ayaan is backstage but..." I looked at him worried and asked, "But?" "But his performance didn't happen as expected," he said. This made me fearful. "Why? What happened?" I asked. "It's all my fault. I forgot my lines at one point," he said. I frowned and yelled, "You what? Namit, how could you!" "I'm sorry," he said bending his head. I frowned angrily and left him there. Running to Ayaan with tears of fear in my eyes, I looked at him sitting dejected backstage. My feet slowly down as I approached him. "Ayaan," I said with my eyes blurry, "Are you ok?" He looked at me angrily and left from there. Looking at Jasmeet, Ritu and Sam, they all looked at me pitifully. But I had to follow Ayaan and I did. He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water for himself. Gulping it down, he slammed the glass on the counter, making me flinch. "Ayaan..." I said going closer but he turned to me and raised his hand. "Don't, don't come near me. Just stay away from me! Go from here!" He yelled. "Listen, we can fix this," I said. "How? Will you get me selected for the finals? Will you send me back in time to have another performance? Tell me, how can you fix this?" He screamed. My heart broke. I was extremely hurt at the way he was talking you me. My tears soon dropped from my eyes and ran down my cheek. "I'm sorry," I said. "Don't say sorry. Come and give me a hug!" He scolded. It took me a few seconds to comprehend what he said and soon, his angry face smiled. "Surprise!" Everyone shouted behind me and I turned around and looked at them smiling. Preeti came to me and hugging me, she said, "Happy Birthday Ani!" She wiped away my tears as I asked confused, "So, does this mean that..." But Namit came and said, "Your Ayaan is selected for the finals!" My heart felt relieved but I was angry at their drama. Punching Namit, I said, "Why did you lie to me? You scared the life out of me!" He smiled and looked at Ayaan. Turning around, he began coming closer to me but I walked out of the kitchen. I was really vex with him. He had no right to frighten me like he did. Now no matter what he does to pacify me, I won't talk to him. 

I went away to the rehearsal stage and stood there with my face swollen in anger and folding my arms. Coming behind me, Ayaan asked, "Did I push it too far?" I didn't respond. "Are you too angry right now?" He asked but still, I didn't reply. "Can sorry fix this?" He asked and then I said, "No! Never!" "Then, are you never going to talk to me again?" He asked. I shook my head. After a moment, his hands slowly snaked around my waist and pulled my body closer to him. But I wasn't going to let him butter me up so I retaliated and tried to come out of his cage. Hitting his stomach with my elbow, he said giggling, "Ouch!" "Ayaan, I am warning you. Let go of me otherwise I will..." I said gritting my teeth but he interrupted asking, "Otherwise you will?" "I will scream and get everyone's attention. Then, I will say that you are forcing yourself on me. You will really get thrown out of this competition after that," I said. "My wild cat, calm down. That was only a prank," he said in my ear. "It was a nasty joke! Just to let you know, I don't like these sorts of jokes. You don't know what I would have done to myself if this was true," I said. He turned me to face him and frowned at me. "Ankita, you don't have to hurt yourself because of me," he said cupping my face, "I won't allow you to ever." I pushed his hand away and stepped back. "Before pulling a joke like this next time, think about the consequences first. You have not only spoiled my birthday but you have hurt me very much. I really didn't expect this from you. Do you have any idea what I was going through? I thought that...." I said and my voice broke, "I thought that, you got disqualified because of me." And then I broke into tears. He came up to me and held my shoulders but I pushed his hands away saying, "Just stay away way from me. I don't want any justification. I just want to be alone." "No, I am not leaving you alone. I mean, come on, it's your birthday," he said. "Do you really think that I would want to celebrate my birthday with you after this? Ayaan, I have cried so many times before on my birthday. But honestly, no one has ever hurt me the way you did," I said. I left him there and walked out of the camp. There was only one place now that I could go to get some peace. Maa's house. Reaching there, I sat on the bench outside and cried. "Maa, did you see? The terrible joke they pulled on me? That too, on my birthday? I am never going to talk to any one of them ever again. And absolutely not Ayaan. He deserves punishment for what he did," I said.