Too old.
Too tall.
Too rich.
Too out of my league.
That's Aryan Arora, the billionaire CEO for me. But apparently, he is the perfect marriage material guy according to the world's pushiest parents of mine.
Getting married was neve...
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Ria: Need to talk. Meet at the coffeehouse in the evening, seven?
Tara: Sure...What is it?
Ria: Got to go now. Talk later.
I was still wrapping my head around whatever Aryan told me yesterday.
He was a little apprehensive about talking to Tara so I offered to set up some middle ground for both of them. Hence, the meeting proposition.
In the evening, when I reached the cafe, Tara was already sitting there sipping on her warm classic caffé mocha. Her face was a blank slate, unlike the other times when there was always a smile covering her beautiful face. I gave her a small wave, walking towards the table.
The cafe was mostly empty, except for the cozy young couple, sitting in the corner, whispering sweet-nothings to each other, with blushing cheeks, and a lone girl sitting far away with her books and AirPods in her ears. She was probably scrambling through the mounts of homework as she occasionally took a sip of her latte. An exact replica of me, when I was in college.
Before I could even take a seat, Tara stated, "You saw us at the charity event yesterday."
When I took a good look at her, I gasped, seeing the puffiness on her face. Her eyes were droopy as if she had been crying for hours, her face was void of her usual makeup, and she looked like she had been run over by a truck. A proper mess.
I got seated, and replied, "Yes. I saw both of you."
With her eyes casted downwards, she bit her lip, saying, "That explains this sudden meeting."
I inhaled deeply, taking the hold of her hand on the table. "Tara, I am so sorry for what happened with the baby."
She sniffled, wiping the tears that were following down her cheeks. "Not your fault that my body is too weak to be a mom."
"Aryan told me about everything..."
She gave me a condescending look. "Everything? Are you sure? Did he also tell you about the time he left me alone to pick up the broken pieces of the situation that was a result of both our doings?"
"Tara, after the last few weeks, we have spent together, I consider you to be one of the only few friends I have," I spoke gently. Her expression relaxed a bit, probably realizing that she had snapped at me earlier.
I continued, "And yes, Aryan told me about everything. Including his mistakes. But I need to hear everything from your perspective as well."
She sighed, glancing away.
"I am..." She hesitated, "I just can't."
"You can at least try. If not for anybody else, but for yourself." I squeezed her hand, giving a small encouraging smile to her. "Please."
