Chapter 16

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Sindhu: I will pick you up after work. I want to take you someplace.

Gautham let out a chuckle seeing the authoritative tone that Sindhu used even when she was texting. At sharp 6 pm, Sindhu was at his office and half dragged him out, to lot of his colleague's amusement.

Half an hour later, they were outside a normal looking house. Its name board read 'Aryan Singhania'. Gautham figured it was the house of Sindhu's best friend. Gautham felt a slight pang of jealousy creep in him. But he was not dense enough to let it cloud his judgment. He knew Aryan meant a lot to Sindhu. Aryan must have done something right to have earned that place. So Gautham wanted to build a good relationship with Aryan too.

Sindhu rang the bell and a guy opened the door with a bright smile. He was tall, with a fit body and brown eyes. He had both his hands wide open to give Sindhu a bear hug but Sindhu lightly shoved the guy away and went inside and hugged a female standing in their living room. The female looked petite, dark-skinned and curly shoulder-length hair. Sindhu hugged her so tightly that it looked as if she was squeezing her dry.

Gautham looked at the guy- who he assumed as Aryan with a confused face. And Aryan had an annoyed expression dancing around his face. Before Gautham or Aryan could speak they heard Sindhu's excited voice.

"Babe, I missed you soo much. Why do you have to live with this jerk? You can just come and live with me so we can see each other daily. I will even let him come visit you 'occasionally'. What do you say??" Sindhu asked still hugging the female and gave special emphasis to the word 'occasionally'.

"Hey, brat. Do not covet my wife. Thank god you were in Bangalore when I got married. Or else I fear I won't be even having a wife in the first place." Aryan said glaring at Sindhu. Sindhu simply pouted letting out her tongue. After that both the ladies completely ignored the rest of the world and started talking to themselves animatedly.

Gautham was speechless with Sindhu's behavior.

"You know after painstakingly keeping all sorts of flies away from my wife, I never thought I would lose her to this brat of all people. I'm Aryan, supposed best friend of that brat." Aryan whined and then introduced himself simultaneously.

"I'm Gautham," Gautham said simply.

"I know. Adithi- my wife won't shut up about it." Aryan said pointing at his wife and gestured Gautham to come in.

Gautham followed Aryan to the living room where Adithi and Sindhu were still completely engrossed in their conversation. Aryan lead Gautham to the kitchen and handed him a can of coke and opened one for himself. After giving it some thought, he took one more and went into the living room and tossed it towards Sindhu. Sindhu took it but still did not bother acknowledging Aryan.

Gautham chuckled from behind and said to Aryan, "When Sindhu first said, she wanted me to meet someone, I thought it was you. But now I feel like she was talking about your wife."

"No comment," Aryan said sipping on his coke.

"Why do I suddenly feel like thin air??" Gautham asked under his breath.

Aryan patted on his shoulders and said, "Welcome to my world." Just then, they heard loud laughter from the girls. Both Gautham's and Aryan's face softened seeing the girls so happy.

Gautham couldn't take his eyes off Sindhu. Sindhu's laughter looked so carefree and unrestrained that it almost took his breath away. The more he saw Sindhu, the more infatuated he got.

Aryan looked at his wife with the same infatuated look. But when he saw the same look in Gautham, he let out a chuckle and said, "Ohh! I know that look buddy. You are so whipped. Does she know that??"

Aryan's voice brought Gautham out of his trance.

Gautham sadly shook his head and said," For some reason, she seems quite dense at this particular area."

Aryan looked at Gautham sympathetically and said, "She is going to be a handful buddy. But she's going to be worth every ounce of your efforts."

Aryan started reminiscing his school and college days with a fond smile.

"I know she takes time. But I can tell you one thing, once she commits she won't leave you behind. Whenever you need her she will just pop up out of nowhere."

"You know, her parents were convinced that we two were an item. She used to have these huge fights with her mum. But she never distanced herself from me no matter how many people talked shit. If she thinks she is right, she will do it no matter who stands against her."

Gautham was slightly envious of all the memories Aryan had with Sindhu. The way they both interacted with each other without restraint but still had this whole lot of love and respect for each other, they looked more like siblings than friends.

Aryan continued, "But she also had one bad quality. She is very good at suppressing her emotion. I mean you can know her all your life, but she always only shows you her tough side. She never really trusts anyone to let herself be vulnerable. But she is tough."

Gautham gave a warm smile and said, "She is as tough as it gets."

Gautham was slightly very happy after hearing Aryan. Sindhu might not still trust him enough to share everything but the fact that she trusted him enough to show a vulnerable side to him in spite of her not being so with her best friend.

Completetrust in a relationship takes time to build and Gautham was happy to let Sindhutake her sweet time. But the fact that she might have already taken a few stepstowards him made him ecstatic.

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