Conditional Marriage

Part 3

"I apologize, Ananya. I'm so sorry. I didn't intend to make you feel bad. It completely slipped my mind."

"Akash, I don't want to talk to you. If I had known you were here before coming to this party, I wouldn't have attended."

"Look, Ananya, I believe this is what God wants. He wants you and me to meet."

"This is just your desire. God has already shown me the path."

"Please, Ananya, I can't imagine my life without you. I'm willing to accept any punishment you want me to give, but not this one where I have to lose you. I will die without you."

Ananya suddenly covered Akash's mouth with her finger and said, "Don't say this rubbish again." Ananya suddenly realised what she was doing. Then she left for Bhavya. 

But Akash continued to follow her, repeatedly saying, "I love you to infinity, Ananya. I may be a heart surgeon, but you are my heart surgeon, and it hurts so much without your presence."

Ananya finally looked at him and said with mixed emotions, a blend of anger and sadness, "Stop it, Akash! Enough with these cheap lines. Do you have any idea that I waited for you until 2 AM with the food I cooked myself? I was so excited, but..."

"I know, Ananya. I promise it will never happen again.", Akash said with folding his hand.

"No, Akash, you always do the same thing. How many times I forgive you? It hurts so much. It's not your fault; it's mine. I am the one expecting from you. Akash, I loved you. You are the first person I loved from my heart, and I wanted you to be the last one in my life. But those wishes, I think, made me have a lot of expectations from you. I'm sorry."

"No, Ananya, I'm happy you have expectations from me, and I'm sorry I couldn't meet them earlier. I promise next time will be different. I will be honest with you all the time. If I can't make it or anything happens, you will be the first to know. You are my forever partner for every moment of my life."

Tears suddenly welled up in Ananya's eyes without any warning, and finally, she surrendered in this argument, saying, "I love you."

"I love you too, Ananya," Akash said, joining his forehead with Ananya's.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After breaking the awkward silence, Shiv finally said, "So, Bhavya, how are you feeling in India? I've heard you've spent most of your time in America?"

"India is home, Shiv. It always feels welcoming. But there's something I never want to face. But, leave it. By the way, congratulations. I've heard you've achieved some big deal. And sorry about the earlier incident. I was not aware you were not Akash," Bhavya replied.

"Thanks. And about that, yeah, please ignore it. I don't mind," Shiv said, and they both laughed.

"So, have you finally decided to speak with me?"

Shiv fell silent and didn't say anything, as if something was bothering him inside about his past.

"Okay, don't answer. I know most people here are fake, and you're talking because Ananth's uncle told you to. But never mind, you don't have to talk with me forcefully," Bhavya said.

"No, Bhavya, nothing like that. I want to talk with you... I mean, it's good to talk with new people. You know what I mean. And sorry if I made you feel bad at that time," Shiv replied, fumbling a little bit, even though he wasn't aware of why he behaved that way. His confidence seemed to fade in front of Bhavya.

Bhavya smiled a bit, but her attention suddenly shifted to Ananya and Akash, who were talking as if nothing happened between them.

"Nothing can happen to Ananya. I can't believe why I brought her into this party!" Suddenly, Bhavya's expression changed from happiness to irritation.