“Akshara, you got this right?” her brother asked as she looked through the guest list for the baby shower that was being hosted at the club.
It had been a few days since she saw Abhimanyu at his office and knew she would have to face him when he attended his sister’s shower.
“I’ve moved on, Kairav.”
Her brother looked at her for a long moment and said, “Don’t you think you should give him a chance? The guy seems genuine.”
“He is a good liar, Kairav. Not hard for him to fake genuineness.”
Her brother let out a sigh. “I’ll be in the conference room downstairs supporting the corporate event.”
“Okay.” She nodded, unsure of how she would face him. Her father had decided to accept the offer Abhimanyu extended and was going to start working as the Chief of the Advisory Board for Birla Corporation. All arrangements were made for her father to work from home over a video chat.
“I have asked a majority of the staff to cover the baby shower, so if you feel uncomfortable at any point, just go home.” Her brother has always been overly protective.
“I’ll be fine, Kairav.”
“Okay, you know where to find me.”
She nodded and took a deep breath, not sure how she could be in the same room as him for the rest of the evening. Maybe she should let the senior staff of the club take care of the event.
“Akshara, good to see you.” A female voice made her look up from the guest list she was scanning. Looking for his name, she did not find it even though the host and hostess’ names were on the list.
Akshara looked at Aarohi who stood by her office door, smiling.
“Aarohi, so good to see you. You are early.”
Aarohi’s smile, the way her eyes lit up reminded her of Abhimanyu. Akshara never realized how torturous the evening was going to be until she saw Abhimanyu’s sister.
“I came to see you. Thank you for not handing off my baby shower to someone else.” Aarohi smiled.
“Why would I do that?” Akshara tried to smile.
“I know you and Abhimanyu had a fall out, and I would have totally avoided being here. Also, if you had decided to cancel it, that would have been a good payback to him, at least in my mind.” She laughed.
Akshara shook her head. “I would never do such a thing.”
Aarohi nodded. “I can see why my silly brother is so madly in love with you.”
Akshara’s heart dropped to her stomach, and she mumbled not sure what to say.
“He told me you would not want him here, so he decided not to attend.”
“Oh, okay.” Akshara felt disappointed when she heard that he was not going to be there that night. She chastised her treacherous body and her deceitful heart that still longed for him and his warmth.
Aarohi let out a laugh. “This is so silly. I spoke to you at our anniversary party and asked you to host the event for me because he had told me how much fun we could have together. But now, he is not here.”
“I’m… I don’t…” Akshara started to speak and lost her voice not knowing what to say.
Aarohi smiled. “Whatever it is that happened, it was between the two of you, but you need to know that he has never been the way he has been the past few months. He loves you, and I’m pissed on your behalf that he didn’t tell you everything, especially after you two got close, but love deserves a second chance.”
