The Agreement

Eleven

"Who's Tara?" Her question caught him off guard, he was sure she knew about his past experiences from Shahana, those two hid nothing, and Shahana couldn't keep secrets, there was no way she hadn't told Prachi, her dearest friend something so important before she got married to him

"You don't know?" He asked only to find her shaking her head, despite his dry throat, he nodded, about to dive into an explanation

"Well you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I mean I completely understand" Prachi added looking at how anxious his eyes looked, Ranbir was a calm person who managed his emotions really well, but somehow today she could see through him easily, how his jaw was slightly at the edge and how his teeth clack together behind his tightly pursed lips, he was clearly very nervous

"No, I have to, Tara... she was the love of my life" Something shifted inside of her and she was sure he hadn't noticed, his gaze softened slightly and he seemed to be lost in thought of something. Or rather someone.

"She was the most amazing, breathtakingly beautiful, kindest person I had ever met, I really liked her, a lot, I had even confessed, I loved her" he slowly started speaking as her eyes lingered on him observing his expressions morphing from adoration to a tinch of sadness. As if he had been broken a little too much to repair easily, but not beyond repair, no one was beyond repair if they were alive.

And her heart clenched, her chest tightened and a heavy load filled inside of her. She didn't know that feeling, it was unfamiliar but beautiful, and perhaps that was when she realised, she didn't want to admit it, She questioned herself for a moment but couldn't help but accept it. She liked Ranbir, just maybe, she had started Liking Ranbir.

She liked someone who loved someone else. It was as if she was hyperventilating and controlling her reaction was the hardest thing to do as she watched him whisper loving words in the name of the woman she didn't know. She tried her best to steady her breath at the horrific realisation and after probably find minutes of not even listening to what Ranbir said, she mustered up the courage to speak

"She sounds beautiful" Prachi said smiling sadly with a heavy heart as his eyes lit up and he smiled back at her, she was glad her voice didn't crack, it almost did.

"She was, but she never loved me back" Prachi didn't know whether this was good or bad, whether he got separated from someone he dearly loved and was meant to end up with or whether she was just a phase of his life. A chapter that she could close forever, the last empty pages of that chapter that she could fill with a new change, write in its pages with her blood, but maybe she had lost her chance already

Looking at the positive side was what Prachi did the best. And so she smiled, genuinely.

"Where'd you meet her?" She asked, now taking a deep breath as she walked away from him to grab herself a glass of water to calm herself from the shocking realisation that had struck her

"She's in my office, working under the creative sector" Prachi paused and glanced at Ranbir for a while, and her eyes caught his as a sudden jolt passed through her and she couldn't stop herself from coughing

Ranbir immediately stepped forward, passing her another glass of water as she gulped it down slowly before keeping the barely empty glass on the table

"That's really nice" Prachi muttered, "did you talk to her?" Ranbir seemed to have not noticed the unusually heavy voice of hers, something she was utterly glad for

"Yeah, I mean, actually, we were about to" Ranbir paused now finally looking at her, out of his daze of love as she bitterly smiled

"I guess I get it, I mean, you loved her, and she came back, I mean it's just two more months isn't it?" Ranbir was taken aback by how venomously Prachi said that as if her insides were churning to form those words and forcing them out of her mouth