Saving Her

I

♪♫ Tum na huye mere toh kya,

Main tumhara, main tumhara, main tumhara raha,

Mere chanda main tumhara sitara raha

Rishta raha bas ret ka,

Aye samandar main tumhara kinara raha,

Main tumhara, main tumhara, tumhara raha,

Tum na huye mere to kya... ♪♫

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Happy Anniversary, Baby." Aarav whispered in Noor's ear.

"You remember!" Noor threw her arms around his neck, hugging him. "Happy Anniversary! You know, I thought you forgot."

He broke the hug to look at her face. "Well, I do remember our first anniversary and I bought your favorite ice-cream too."

"You're the best!" she grinned.

He untangled their arms to take out the ice-cream and fed her a huge bite.

After they were finished with the ice-cream he said, "I have something for you."

"You didn't have to."

"I know, but I wanted to."

He took out a small navy blue velvet box and opened it. In the box, rested a small diamond studded silver infinity pendant.

Her eyes grew wide looking at it. "It's so beautiful, Aarav"

She looked at him only to find him smiling at her, "Help me wear it?"

He nodded and gestured her to turn around. He removed her hair and put them on her left shoulder, only to get a surprise himself. There it was, his name tattooed, just an inch below her neck.

"Noor." He murmured like he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I couldn't think of a better gift." She said turning back to face him.

"It must've hurt a lot."

"No it didn't." He raised an eyebrow to which Noor grinned at him, "Fine, maybe a little."

He shook his head and embraced her. "You are crazy, you know that, right?"

"Yep. I do." She giggled making him crack a little too.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

After a while of embracing each other, he helped her with the pendant.

Noor was brought back to reality when her taxi stopped in front of her office building.

It's been two years since she is working as an employee in ARC Life—an architectural company—and a month since she got promoted as the head of interior department.

She walked through the doors of the skyscraper after giving a bright smile and wishing morning to the watchman.

Inside the building, the first thing she saw was chaos; after all, the CEO's son is coming today to take over the position.

Noor was sad because Mr. Amar Malhotra—previous CEO—was a fabulous mentor to her and an amazing person. In these years of working, she had found a father figure in him and now that his son is taking over, she'd be seeing him rarely.

She walked into her cabin, instantly going on work mode as the new CEO wants to check all the departments' work personally.

She asked her team to meet her in the meeting room of their floor with the final reports.

There were different floors for all the departments in the office building. Their floor was consists of a common room with cubicles for employees, cabins for managers and HOD, three meeting rooms and a stationary and coffee area.

After working for an hour, it was time to go and give the reports to the CEO.

She walked out of the elevator on the CEO's floor where only he and his secretary would work because apparently he wants no disturbance while he is working. She greeted his secretary Sharan who told her that boss is waiting for her in his office.

She knocked at the wooden door and after a faint 'come in' she entered the cabin only to get the shock of her life. Because sitting behind the large wooden desk was Aarav.

Her Aarav.

After getting over the initial shock, she walked towards his desk with wobbly legs and placed the file in front of him as he hasn't looked up from the file he is currently reading and turned around to leave the cabin immediately.

"Where do you think you are going miss?"

She froze in her track at his voice. "Work." She squeaked out.

"My father has been praising you and your work since two years now. I think I would like to talk to you for a moment."

She squeezed her eyes shut and cursed her luck. Taking a deep breath she turned around to him. He had rounded the desk and now he was leaning on it just a few feet away from her. He was wearing a light blue-gray suit with a white shirt underneath looking even more handsome than she remembered the last time, if that's possible. But he didn't look shocked, in fact, it seemed like he was expecting her.

"Long time no see, Noor." He grinned but she couldn't decipher if it was genuine or sarcastic. "I am so proud of the woman you've become in these years."

She looked down at her hands not being able to look him in the eyes as the memories came rushing back and her eyes glistened with tears.

He came and stopped right in front of her. "Why did you leave me?"

His voice didn't held anger. Sad? Yes. Confused? Yes. Even a little bit of curiosity but not anger.

"I didn't love you anymore." She lied and tried to blink away the tears which threatened to come out.

He stared at her for a few seconds and suddenly let out a chuckle, "I'm able to see right through your lie, baby. I've always been. So, try again."

When a tear slipped through her eye and she didn't utter a word he sighed and took her in his embrace. They closed their eyes, feeling truly happy for the first time in these past few years.

"I don't know why you left, but this time I won't let you go."

She broke the hug and stepped away from him, "We can't. I can't. I need to leave."

She turned towards the door but Aarav had quick reflexes. He held her wrist in a firm but gentle grip and pulled her towards him. He wounded his left hand around her waist and placing his right hand on her left cheek, he made her look at him.

He wiped her tears and kissed her forehead. "You can run as long and as far as you want, but you'll always find me right by your side. I'm not leaving you. Not now, not ever."