About 3 1/2 years later
"Happy birthday to you!" Happy birthday to you!" Happy Birthday dear Riya" Happy birthday to you!" Riya giggled happily as she reached her chubby little hand out for the cake. "Not so fast!" her mom said laughing as she grabbed her baby's hand and pulled it back. "First blow out the candles and make a wish sweetie pie" "Wish!" "Yeah!" she screamed, making everyone laugh. "I wish for cake!" she demanded in her cute little 3 year old voice. Her mom laughed and the two of them blew out the candle's together with everyone cheering them on. "I love you my baby!" her mom said hugging her close. "I wuv you too mama" "Now can I have cake?" "Yes, my love now time for cake." Riya's eyes grew big as her mom passed her, her piece. "Tanks mama!" she said happily as she dug in. Arohi looked at her little princess and smiled. "You're welcome my sweetie pie" She watched as Riya ran off to join her little friends. "Hard to believe she's 3 years old!" Arohi turned around and smiled. "I know, I don't know where the time has gone." "It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms for the first time." "Looking at her precious face...and now she's 3!" "Well she's perfect, just like her mom." Arohi smiled at Amar. "Perfect and me?" "Right!" she said with a laugh. "You're perfect in my eyes Arohi." he said softly. Arohi looked away. "Amar we talked about this." she said softly. "I know, I know" "You don't think you're ready to be in a relationship." "Even though you've been divorced for 3 years!" Arohi frowned at Amar. "Sorry, I just had to point that out." "I swear if I was to ever meet that loser husband of yours i would kick his ass for whatever he did to hurt you so badly!" "Amar, please can we talk about something else" "Sure, we can talk about the fact that I'm a very patient man and I will convince you to marry me one day." "Then you, Riya and I will live happily ever after." Arohi couldn't help but laugh. "You are persistent aren't you!" she said. "You better believe it!" he replied as Riya came running up to him. Picking her up, he threw her up in the air and then hugged her until she squealed. "So my princess did you like your gift!?" "I wuv it!" Riya said about the huge doll house Amar had bought it. "It for pincess!" "Mama say I princess!" Riya said smiling. "Yes, you are!" "Lets go play!" Riya said pulling Amar with her. "Sorry Arohi I gotta go with your royal highness and check out her new palace." "I understand." Arohi said trying not to laugh as her little 3 year old bossy daughter pulled Amar along with her.
Amar Singh Raichand. He had been her knight in shining armor of sorts. She didn't know what she would have done or where she'd be right now if he hadn't helped her when he did. She would never be able to thank him enough for what he has done for her and Riya. But she knew she'd never be able to love him. She'd never be able to love anyone. Arjun Singhania hd taken that from her. Love was a tainted word for her now. She was tainted now. Jaded. Cynical. She could never love anyone but her daughter. Her sweet, innocent, precious Riya. Her happiness. The only reason she was able to pull out of the despair and misery Arjun had catapulted her into. But her and Riya had a made a life together. A life that they were happy with. Arohi pulled herself out of her thoughts. She hated when she let her mind drift to the past. There was a reason it was called your past! She needed to concentrate on her present and future.
"Arohi this cake is delicious" DJ said walking up to her. Arohi frowned as she took the plate out of Amar's grandmother and Arohi's boss and closet confidante's hands. "You're not supposed to be eating cake or for that matter any sweets!" DJ frowned. "I'm your boss you better give me back that cake before I fire you!" Arohi grinned. "Go ahead and fire me!" "Your'e not getting this cake!" DJ glared at Arohi and then slowly sighed. "Between you and Amar my sweet police I never get to enjoy anything good." "What's the point of living forever if you can't even enjoy the good things in life!" "I'd rather just live another 5 years, eat cake, watch you and Amar get married and settled and then go be with Amar's grandfather!" "You are such a drama queen!" Arohi said shaking her head at a smirking DJ. "Now I know where Riya has been learning it from!" DJ shrugged. "The kids a natural at wrapping anyone around her little finger." "I'm a proud great grandmother." Arohi burst out laughing. "I bet you are!" DJ smiled and suddenly hugged Arohi too her. "You and Riya are the two stars that have made our lives bright with happiness." "I thank you fot that!" "DJ," Arohi said tearing up. "You shouldn't be thanking me!" "If it wasn't for you and Amar, I don't know what we would have done." "You taking us in only on the basis that I'm Arvind jiju's sister in law." "We have no family ties just that Jiju and Amar grew up knowing each other and are good friends." "Still you took me in and made me family." DJ smiled. "We needed you just as much as you needed us." "My boutique was failing until you came along and took over." "Making it one of the top clothing boutiques in Delhi now." "You and Riya brought laughter and happiness to our small family." "And the happiness you've brought Amar, I can't thank you enough for it." "He loves you so much and I know you two will make each other very happy." "DJ!" Arohi said sternly. "We've been over this!" DJ sighed. "Riya was asking me about her dad the other day." Arohi's heart stopped. Wide eyed she asked "What did you say?" "Nothing cause she didn't ask but she will one day so wouldn't it be nice if you and Amar were already married?" "That way she'd never need to ask." "She'd know her dad was Amar." Arohi shook her head at the convoluted story DJ had just made up! "You're impossible you know that!" "MAMA!" Riya called and shaking her head at DJ Arohi rushed off to her daughter.
"As Arohi tucked a sleeping Riya in that night she couldn't help but stare at her beautiful angelic face. And in her face she also couldn't help seeing a resemblance to her father. The same big light brown beautiful eyes. That easily made you melt. The cheeky smile and deep dimples. She was a spitting image of her dad. With only Arohi's nose and hair. An ever present reminder of Arjun. But she wouldn't change a thing about her little girl. Giving her a soft kiss she walked out of her room closing the door gently behind her. Pouring herself a cup of tea she curled up on her sofa and looked around at her little place. It wasn't very big, but she loved it. Everything about it. She lived in the guest house behind Amar and DJ's home. Even though they wanted her to live with them she just didn't feel comfortable wit that. So she rented the guest house. Amar fought with her every month she handed him the rent money but she forced him to take it. She was responsible for her and her daughter, no one else, and she didn't want to feel indebted to Amar any more then she already was. The little 2 bedroom guest house with it's small kitchen and bathroom and cute little living room was the perfect size for her and Riya. And Arohi had slowly decorated it to be comfortable yet pretty.
Nights in Delhi were starting to get cooler now, she thought as she got up to shut her window. Pausing as her phone rang. "Di" she thought with a smile. Neha di usually called around this time. "Hi di" Arohi said not bothering to check who it was. "Hi Arohi" "Is the little princess asleep?" "Rohan wanted to wish her Happy Birthday again." "Yes, she's out cold!" "She had a big day today." "I'll bet," "I'm sure her and Rohan will discuss it tomorrow morning over the phone!' Arohi laughed. It was so cute to watch Rohan and Riya converse over the phone together. Even though they rarely saw each other they talked almost every day. In their little toddler language that sometimes only they understood. "You're doing okay?" Neha asked. "How's the boutique?" "Great," "We're having a fashion show in 2 weeks so I'm excited about that." They made small talk until Arohi finally asked. 'What's wrong di?" "What makes you think something is wrong?" "I can hear it in your voice." "Did something happen?" "No, well, yes." "I need to tell you something." "Go ahead." "Arohi, I've heard that Arjun is thinking about getting married again." Arohi felt herself go cold. "Arohi, are you there?" her di asked after a couple of minutes of silence. "Yeah, good for him." Arohi finally replied. "Really, you don't care?" "Di, why would I care?" "He's been out of my life for 3 1/2 years." "I could care less what he does now." "Besides, we're divorced." Neha sighed. "Maybe if he knew about Riya..." "DI!" "You promised me you would never say anything." "You swore on my life!" Neha sighed again. "I know, and I know he doesn't deserve you after what he did to you." "But I still remember the old Arjun who was so in love with you." "You know why he did what he did." "It was because he was so hurt." "DI, are you saying that I should forget that he slept with another woman while we were still married?" Arohi asked bewildered. "No, I still can't believe he did that!" "Every time I think about that it makes my blood boil." "But just hearing he might be getting marred again brought back old memories of you two married." Arohi frowned. "Di, I'm over him" "He's a part of my past that I've worked very hard to forget." "I don't want to think about him so please don't mention him again." "Fine, I won't mention him but what are you going to say to Riya when she's old enough to understand that most kids have dads." "What are you going to say when she asks about hers?" "I'll say he's dead!" "Because that's what he is..he's dead for us!' "Alright" Neha agreed. "And he's dead for us too!" "You know Arvind and I after the divorce papers were signed never spoke to him again." "I know, and thanks!| "For what!" "You're my sister!" "Someone hurts you, that means they hurt me!" Aria smiled at her warrior sister's words. She'd always been on her side through thick and thin. After speaking for a few more minutes Arohi hung up the phone. Sitting back down on her sofa she thought about what her sister had just told her. Arjun was getting married. Wow, after all this time it shouldn't hurt. But it did. It burned.
Through the years she'd tried to think about him as little as possible. Her life was so full with her daughter and the boutique that she didn't have time to think about anything else. But sometimes late at night when she was alone in her bed, he'd find his way back into her head. Thoughts of him reeking havoc. No matter how much she'd push them out they wouldn't go. Those were the times she thought back to when they'd been so happy. So gloriously in love. So complete. And then the last time she saw him and what he'd done and said would come into her head...and the tears would start. With no sign of stopping. Thankfully over the years those nights had become few, and far between. And now Arjun was thinking about getting married again. Meaning he probably had a girlfriend. But it didn't matter to her. What Arjun Singhania did, or didn't do, didn't matter to her. She felt nothing for him. She'd decided that a long time ago. She'd wasted way too many tears on him. That was over now. She wasn't that Arohi anymore. She wasn't Arjun Singhania's wife. She was Riya Ahluwalia's mom. The journey between the two had been a long one, but one that had only made her stronger and wiser. She'd grown up real fast. Arjun had made sure of that. Closing her eyes she remembered back to that night. Something she tried never to do but tonight it seemed fitting. She remembered mostly the rage and anger vibrating off of Arjun. He was uncontrollable that night. She'd never seen him like that and didn't really know how to react to it. She had tried to tell him nothing had happened and that their baby was fine. But he wasn't in the mood to listen. In hindsight if she had seen him the next day maybe things would have been calmer and he would have listened to her. But then he would have already slept with Natasha. Arohi closed her eyes against that memory. His words, his actions, nothing had mattered after she had heard those words. Her ears had rung with them over and over again. He'd slept with Natasha. At that point Arohi had even forgotten why she was there. Her thinking ability had left her. She'd been numb with a pain so fierce she thought it might kill her.
She'd remembered Natasha coming back and Arjun pushing her out the door to jiju. She remembered her brother in law banging on the hotel room door but not getting an answer. Yelling at Arjun through the door to open up and that he wanted to talk to him. Arohi had just stared straight ahead not saying anything. Finally stopping, her jiju had brought her to his home. "It's going to be okay." he tried to reassure her. Seeing her sister standing at the door had been when Arohi had finally broken. Throwing herself into her arms. "Shh" "It's going to be okay." she had said soothingly. Arohi had cried and cried not being able to stop the tears. Telling her everything that had happened. Everything she'd done and what Arjun had done to punish her. Her sister had listened and not judged. At the end of it Arohi had fallen into an exhausted sleep. It wasn't until the next morning until her sister finally told her what she thought she should do. "I think you should tell him about the baby." she had said. Arohi stared at her. "How can you say that?" "If I tell him about the baby he's going to want my baby." "He might even want me to return to him ." "I can never ever go back to him." "I'm not that weak that I'd go back to a man that cheated on me." "I would never trust him again." "I realize that but I think he deserves to know his baby is alive." "If you don't want him to be a part of your life that would be fine but atleast the baby would have a mother and a father." "Dii, are you serious!" "I don't want him anywhere near my child." "I don't want him to be a part of either one of our lives." "How is that going to happen living here?" Neha asked. "Just think about it?" "You live in the same city, you think someone isn't going to tell him about the baby." "Then I'll move." she said stubbornly. "To where?" "And how would you survive without your family to help?" "It'll be hard but I can do it!" she said forcefully. That was when Arvind jiju had brought up Amar, his old friend and DJ. "They are great people and will be able to help you get a job there and get you settled." Arohi had been hesitant. She didn't know these people but as the days passed and Arohi seemed to be headed deeper and deeper into her depression a worried Neha thought it would be best if Arohi did go to Delhi. "Everything about Mumbai reminds her of Arjun. She'll make herself and her baby seriously sick if she keeps doing what she's doing" Neha had said to Arvind worriedly one night. "She'd asked him to contact Amar to see if he'd be willing to help. And then she spent her time convincing Arohi. "You need to force your self out of your grief for your baby." 'If you don't, something could happen to him or her." "And then I know you wouldn't be able to live with yourself." Those words had Arohi making her first sacrifice. She'd stopped grieving. She'd stopped crying. She had other prioritizes right now. She needed to be okay so her baby was okay. And she agreed to go to Delhi. It was the only way.
Her dad's reaction had surprised her. When she had told him everything that had happened he was very angry. Not only at her but at Arjun too. "You two have made a mockery of marriage from the day you got married the first time!" "Have you ever enjoyed or celebrated any milestone in your life?" 'Your marriage, your pregnancy?" "Anything?!" "Arohi, there is still time." "Go talk to him and tell him what you told me." "You two may still be able to work this out." "Dad, you'd want me to go back to a cheater?!" "Arohi, I've know Arjun all his life." "And I've seen how much he loves you." "I didn't think he would cheat on you." Arohi had stared at her father, dumbfounded. And then in a broken voice she had said "Just one time dad I wish you would take your daughter's side." "Just one time." "Arohi, beta it's not about sides." "It's about your happiness." "And how will you be able to raise a child on your own?" "This is my child, only my child." "I will raise him or her on my own!" Letting out a frustrated sigh he'd asked her to move back home. 'You can't live with Neha forever" "Just come back home to us and maybe we can work all this out." "Atleast let us help you." "I'm not coming back home dad." "What?" "Why are you being stubborn?" "I'm leaving Mumbai." "It's too toxic here for my bay and I." "And honestly right now I can't chance running into Arjun." "I wouldn't be able to take it." she had said with a sob. Pulling her into his arms, Arohi's dad and held his daughter while she cried. His sweet innocent daughter that was suffering so much. Because of a marriage he had forced. But in his heart he still felt that something wasn't quite right and that Arohi should try talking to Arjun one more time. But he knew that wouldn't happen. "Where are you going?" "Delhi." "To Jiju's friend's place." "He's a real estate developer and lives with his grandmother." "I'll pay for a home there for you and ofcourse provide for you financially." "And we'll visit monthly to help out with the baby." Arohi had shook her head at that point. "No, dad I don't want you to buy me a home." "I want to try to do this myself." "I've always relied either on you or Arjun for financial support." "I think it's time I try doing something for myself." "Arohi, how can you survive on your own wiith no money!" "I have money for my daughter!" 'What is all this for if not for my daughters and grandchildren." "I know dad, and I appreciate it and if I need help you know you're the first person I'd go to." "But let me try." 'Let me try growing up." Jiju's friend has promised me a job in his office." "So I'll be fine." "And I'll be living in their guest house until I can get on my own two feet." Arohi's dad had been taken a back by what Arohi had said. She'd suddenly seemed so different and grown up. "I will give you a small loan to get you through the beginning!" He had finally said. There was no way he could have his daughter go off somewhere with nothing to her name. Suddenly tired himself he had sat down heavily in his chair. "I just wanted you to be happy." "And I will be." "I'll be happy once my child is here." "And sitting down next to him she had extracted a promise. "You can never tell Arjun or his family about the baby." "Never dad." "I need your promise." And against his better judgment he had promised. Arohi was his daughter after all, he couldn't bare to see her hurt or in pain. And he knew that if Arjun found out about the baby he would try taking the child from Arohi. She already only seemed to be holding on by a thread, a push like that and he had no doubt she would shatter. He wouldn't be able to bare that.
With that Arohi had moved to Delhi. She'd never gone back into the Singhania home, but her things were sent to her parents place within days of her leaving. He didn't want any reminder of her she had thought bitterly. Well atleast they were of the same mindset. She'd started hating Mumbai. All of it's reminders of the life she had lived with Arjun. The happy life. Delhi would be her fresh start. So when she was 20 weeks pregnant she had left for her new home. Not knowing what would happen there or how she would adjust. She just knew she had to embrace this new life for the sake of her baby. And the rest was history. She'd met and instantly fell in love with DJ who had showered her with grandmotherly love. Her own boutique that had once been so important to her was just another reminder of Arjun. She barely gave it any importance. His money went into it. He could sell it, burn it, she hadn't cared when she left Mumbai. But the irony of the whole matter was that DJ owned a small clothing store. It was outdated and needed some work and DJ had been thinking of selling it because it hadn't done well. Arohi had asked for a chance to try to make it work. And now 3 years later it was one of the top boutiques in Delhi. If you liked one of kind unique pieces you came to " Armaan." Arohi had worked hard and her silly worries from before that she couldn't do both..raise a child and have a career had been unfounded. She did both and she did them well. It was hard, hard work. But she had succeeded.
And then there was Amar. They had slowly became friends. The hesitation being on her side to let anyone else in. But he was hard not to like. Always making jokes, lively, funny, sweet. Just a nice guy who kept people smiling. Slowly she had found herself opening up to him. Not about her past though. A fragile friendship bloomed from that. And now he was her best friend. But he wanted more. More then she could give him. When he'd asked her a year ago to marry him she'd been shocked. Marriage. Ofcourse her answer was no. But she also had accepted him to walk away from her at that time. But he hadn't. He'd been a true friend and continued to be a wonderful uncle to Riya. "I won't give up." he said teasingly. "I love you and I see a bright future for us." "One day you'll get tired of saying no and then we'll get married. " Arohi had had to laugh at his optimism. Maybe that would be the case one day but the problem was she would never be able to love him. And he deserved a woman who would love him truly and madly.
And when Riya came. Her life took a whole new meaning. Her heart was so full of love for her child that sometimes she would find her cheek wet with tears and not even realize she'd been crying. Her beautiful baby that looked exactly like her dad. A constant reminder of the man she had once loved. But she was okay with that. She loved her child so so much that even that she pushed that out of her mind. Her parents and Neha di had come to Delhi for the birth. The most important people in Riya's life were all there to see her after she came into the world. Her delivery had been a difficult one, 23 hours of labor. But she'd literally pushed through because her mind was always on the gift she would get after all the pain. And Riya had been a gift alright. She was her light. A happy happy baby that stole everyone's heart. And so full of energy. Arohi always joked that she went straight from walking to running in a matter of days. She was stubborn and willfull. Always wanting to do things on her own. "I do it!" her favorite phrase from the age of almost 2. Arohi had had a hard time stepping back. She wasn't ready to give up even small things, like feeding her. But Riya had other ideas. "I do it!" And now she was 3. Getting ready to go off to preschool. Her parents came to visit almost monthly. Depending on how busy her dad was sometimes he'd come along, other times it would just be her mom. They would come stay and help and spend time with Riya. Riya loved those visits. She loved her grandparents. Her grandfather(Arohi's dad) being her favorite person in the whole world. It was endearing to see her dad crawling on the floor with his granddaughter acting like a child himself. Making Riya giggle. "Horsey!" "Nanaji be a horsey!" And he'd be a horsey in seconds. Arohi had made a life here. A life she was happy with. She didn't need anything else.
Back in Mumbai
"Lily, is everything booked for my trip to Delhi?" "Yes, sir." "Like you asked the Delhi apartment you bought has been furnished by the interior decorator you wanted. Your driver will pick you up from the airport and take you straight to the Delhi office." "And I've put your travel documents along with your itinerary on your desk." "Arjun smiled. "Thanks Lily." "You're welcome sir." "We're all going to miss you around here." Arjun nodded and walked away. "It's going to be odd working out of the Delhi office for the next few months." he thought to himself. But it was necessary." "He needed to make some changes in that office. Large contracts were coming in and he felt like they weren't being looked after properly. He wanted to handle one particular project himself. It was from a large developer and would be bringing in a lot of money to their company. And then Delhi had Seema too. He'd have a chance to spend some time with her, maybe get to know her better before he decided if he was going to ask her to marry him again. He'd met Seema a year ago. At a Fundraiser in Delhi she had organized. Surprisingly, she'd approached him. He'd been at the bar speaking to an old associate when she had come over to him and introduced herself, asking him for a dance. Arjun had hesitated for a second but seeing a mischievous glint in her eyes his interest had been piqued. "Sure," And that had started off their relationship. If you could call it that. He was rarely in Delhi. And truth be told was too busy to make an effort. But Seema had been the assertive one. She would make a trip to Mumbai monthly. She would drag him off to art openings and dinners and movies. Stuff he hadn't done in a long time. Stuff he hadn't enjoyed since Arohi had left his life. It was at one of these escapades of hers that she'd dragged him to a BBQ one of her friend's was having in a park. He's been hesitant. Picnics in parks seemed like something families did. His family was destroyed. Destroyed by a woman he had loved more then life. It was there that Arjun felt that old longing for a child again. He wanted to be a father. And seeing Seema and the way she interacted with the children had him thinking that maybe him and Seema could have a future together. He could never fall in love with her. He knew that. Love was a useless, weak emotion in his mind. But Seema and him had friendship and they understood eachother. They enjoyed spending time together. He had a feeling she'd make a good mom. Unlike the last woman he'd married. The more he thought about it the more he felt they could do this. So one night he'd suggested it to Seema. She'd laughed in his face. "Arjun, you want to marry me!" "You barely know me!" 'I know you," he'd replied. Repeating basic facts about her. "No, I mean really know me." "Arjun, I'm in love with you." "And I feel like I know you." "I would love to marry you but to me it's not something to go into lightly." "So far I've made all the effort." "I would like for you to make some effort too" "Think about it." she had said when she left the next day for Delhi. And Arjun had thought about it. He needed to move on with his life. He was coming to Delhi anyways maybe it was time he took some steps to change his life.
That night as he packed for his trip he felt a restlessness settle over him. He didn't know why but he felt off. Something was bothering him tonight and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. As he went through his cupboards pulling things out he found a sealed envelope. Pulling it out he stared at the sealed envelope for a while. His divorce papers. Signed, sealed and delivered. It had been three years and he still hadn't opened the envelope to read of it. He knew what they were only because Arivnd had emailed him and told him he'd be couriering them over to him. Proof of his failed marriage. Arvind a good friend, another casualty of his failed marriage. After everything had happened that night his usually calm friend had ripped him apart the next morning. Telling him clearly that he wanted nothing to do with him for hurting Arohi the way he had. Arjun had almost laughed. Hurt Arohi! Right! She was the only one hurt through all this. Arjun wasn't effected at all. He hadn't felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest and torn it into pieces, when he had seen the email for Arohi's abortion. He didn't play over and over in his mind that while he sat in some stupid board room she was murdering his child! No, he shouldn't have been hurt. He was just the father. He didn't have any rights. He didn't deserve to know that his wife was about to abort their child. It didn't matter what he wanted. It only mattered what Arohi wanted! His son or daughter would be about 3 years old now. He or she would be running around, laughing, playing. His quiet home would be filled with his or her laughter and babbling. He would never get to hold his child for the first time, see the first smile, see the first steps, take their child to school for the first time, to teach him or her to ride their first bicycle, to drive their first car... Arohi didn't just abort their child she aborted a whole lifetime of dreams. What would their child have looked like, what would their personality be like...so many things he'll never know. Because Arohi made a decision on her own and didn't think it was necessary for him to be involved in that decision! He still felt anger sometimes at what she had done but now mostly he just felt pain. Pain at not only losing his child, but losing his wife. He hated her, that emotion was still a strong one when he thought of Arohi. But when he thought back to the good times and how much he had loved Arohi. How stupid he had been to fall so deeply in love with such a selfish woman. He felt pain in those moments. He had no idea where she was, neither did he care to find out. But still once in awhile he'd find himself wondering where she was. What she was doing? When those thoughts turned into longing he'd pull himself back. Reminding himself of what she'd done to their family.
As he abandoned his packing and stood staring out at the garden from his bedroom window he thought back to the night his world fell apart. He'd come home and ran straight up to their bedroom. Hoping Arohi was home. He'd wanted to pull her into his arms and apologize for being distant the last few days. He'd just been upset that Arohi had even contemplated aborting their child. Roses in hand he saw that she wasn't home yet. He had decided to take a quick shower and be ready for when she did return so he could take her out for dinner where they could talk about everything. He was starting to think that maybe she was going through some sort of depression and that they should talk to their doctor about it. It was as he walked to the bathroom that he noticed a piece of paper on the floor. The piece of paper that changed his life. He had staggered back from the shock of what he'd just read. She'd aborted their child. It was done. That was it. No talking to him about it, BAM! OVER! His baby was here this morning when he left for work and now he or she was gone! He couldn't believe it. The shock and pain was instant. He couldn't seem to push it down as it threatened to choke him. He'd left his house then. He needed to get out, get away from the new truth of his life. He had driven mindlessly almost crashing into an on-coming semi-truck. Through the mindless driving he found himself at the Marriot Hotel bar. As he pulled up all he knew was that he needed to drink, because alcohol might be the only thing that could calm this mind numbing pain. He remembered sitting at the bar and drinking, and drinking. Romit was there having drinks with friends. He remembered drinking with him and Romit asking him what was wrong. He hadn't answered. The drinking wasn't helping. The anger wasn't subsiding. The pain was just intensifying. Aborting the baby was painful enough but that she had done it behind his back. That she didn't even bother discussing it with him. That he didn't really know her. And that even after he had said that if she did something like this it would be the end of them. She hadn't care. Her own selfishness took precedence. That's how important he was to her, that's how important their baby was for her! If she had told him what she was planning he would have raised their child alone. Losing her would have been hard but he would have respected that she wasn't ready to take on this responsibility. He wouldn't have faulted her for being honest. But she wasn't honest...instead she was a deceit. That had hurt the most. That the woman he loved and had planned to spend the rest of his life with was not the woman he thought she was.
Arvind had shown up. Romit had called him, he'd later find out. And in Arjun's drunken state he'd told him what his lovely sister in law had done. Arvind had been shocked and had tried to get Arjun to come home with him. But Arjun had no plans to go home. As far as he was concerned the pain hadn't numbed yet so he hadn't drank enough. He had ordered another drink. Arivind had disappeared. That was when Natasha had come over. He'd seen her earlier but looked through her turning back to his drink. She'd flirted and he'd stared at her blankly ordering yet another drink. "Arjun why don't you come up to my room." "I'm in room 533." "We could have some fun." Arjun had had no intention of going up to her room. He was here to drown his sorrows and plan revenge. That was the only thing that could get him past this. He had to make Arohi hurt like he hurt. As far as he was concerned the woman he loved was gone. Replaced with the callous girl who killed his child. He sat at the bar for a long time, ignoring Natasha who was still hanging all over him. "Come on Arjun come up to my room." she'd whispered. "We'll have fun." It was then Arvind had come back." "I'm going to try calling Arohi." "I think you two need to talk" Arvind had said. Arjun was beyond talking. "Tell her to come to room 533 of the Marriot hotel" he had slurred. Arvind had stared at him but did as he asked. Not knowing what Arjun had suddenly decided to do. He'd gone up with Natasha to her hotel room and he'd let her kiss him. Arvind had knocked on the door and been shocked to find Natasha in there. He tried to talk Arjun into leaving with him but Arjun wasn't listening to anyone that night. Arohi had come just like he knew she would and he'd made sure Arohi saw the kiss. He'd been in such a rage that he did what he knew would hurt her the most. He led her to believe that him and Natasha had slept together. And would continue sleeping together. He made sure she knew that she had no place in his life after what she'd done. In hindsight he shouldn't have seen her at all that day. Maybe things wouldn't have gotten so bad. He would never have stayed with her but maybe his anger and bitterness might not have controlled his emotions. But that's not what happened. He said a lot of things to her that night. He didn't remember all of it but he did remember seeing pain. He remembered her anguish and after she'd left. He'd left too... and he'd hated himself for feeling bad for causing her that pain and anguish. Even after everything she had done he hadn't wanted to hurt her as much as he ended up hurting her. That's when he realized how toxic their relationship had become. He'd left the hotel and wandered the streets. Lost, and for the first time completely alone. It was Arvind that had found him. Arvind who was always a good friend. He'd taken him home and the next day told him he was done with their friendship. Arjun hadn't expected anything less. His own family was completely devastated when he told them about the baby, abortion and impending divorce. Not understanding how any of it was possible. He didn't understand it either. It took him months and months of despair and anguish to finally move on. Arohi had already damaged enough he wasn't going to let her do any more damage. He'd thrown himself into his work. Becoming even more ruthless when it came to getting his company ahead. It had paid off. His office in Delhi was thriving. Mumbai office had more work then then ever before. He had been named Business Man of the year 2 years running. He was at the top of his game. His trip to Delhi could turn out to be beneficial on both a professional and personal front. He was going to stop thinking about the ghosts of his past and move on. This was the time to do it.
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Sleeping With The Enemy
FanfictionI'm REPOSTING it here... I don't own this story... this is written by IF user @salmankh1(Raman di) Two individuals, whose fathers are Best friends or may be even brothers! And families so close yet they hate each other! so much so that they could ri...
