By your side

Reconnecting

A jolt of surprise coursed through her as his voice reached her ears after so many years. Dressed in a charcoal suit, he exuded an air of maturity that only enhanced his already handsome features. The boyish charm he once possessed still lingered, she observed, feeling a pang of nostalgia.

She averted her gaze, her eyes darting away as she hurriedly made her way to an unoccupied seat.

Ishaan's eyes followed her discreetly, seamlessly transitioning into his speech as though nothing had occurred.

Her manager leaned in, whispering a foreboding message, "Aadya, you're in real trouble."

Her thoughts raced, silently responding, "You do not know the mess I've stumbled into."

Her manager persisted, "You know he's very strict."

"Well," she retorted, "then I hope he fires me." Her manager regarded her with confusion but refrained from further comment. She sat through the meeting, her mind in disarray.

"SRS groups. Why didn't that occur to me?" She pondered.

Ishaan abruptly concluded his speech, delegating the rest of the meeting to his HR team. They droned on about new policies, but he paid little attention. Leaning back in his chair, he interlaced his forefingers, resting his chin upon them.

His heart raced as he couldn't help but steal glances at her. Dressed in blue business attire, her hair now shorter and sleeker, she had traded her carefree allure for a serious demeanour. Yet, the sparkle in her eyes and the innocence on her face remained unchanged. She was as beautiful as ever.

He couldn't help but wonder why she was in Bangalore, knowing that she had gotten married. Memories of his frantic return to Pune to find Aadya flooded his mind.

"You're too late, Ishaan. Aadya is getting married," Swati had informed him.

"No... I need to talk to her. Please, just let me see her," he implored.

"Ishaan, if you want to see her happy, then let her go. She has moved on. Let her live her life in peace," Swati had advised, leaving Ishaan with a heavy heart.

"She asked me to give you this." Swati handed him two jewellery boxes.

"I'm sorry, Aadya," he whispered, holding the jewellery boxes with trembling hands.

The applause from the meeting attendees snapped him out of his reverie.

"I shouldn't be dwelling on this. She's married," he chided himself.

Throughout the meeting, Aadya had avoided meeting his gaze, yet she couldn't ignore the sensation of his eyes on her. Her heart raced as she rushed from the conference room after the meeting ended. Despite the air-conditioned office, she perched anxiously on the edge of her seat.

To calm her nerves, she reached for her anxiety-controlling pills.

"Why is he back?" she wondered, anxiety coursing through her.

After the meeting, Ishaan wasted no time delving into the employee database. With a sense of urgency, he typed in her name and meticulously scanned the information that popped up.

"Aadya Mathur," he muttered to himself, noticing her designation as a Technical Lead with three years of service. Her address and phone numbers were readily available, but what caught his attention the most was her marital status-"Divorced." He nearly leaped from his seat, rubbing his eyes to confirm what he had just read.

"What happened, Aadya?" he whispered, grappling with the revelation. For years, he had consoled himself with the belief that she was leading a happy life somewhere. His occasional searches on social media had yielded no results, but this newfound information had the power to alter everything. He leaned back in his chair, fixating on her tiny profile picture on the screen.