You Stole A Heart [COMPLETED]

Chapter : Nineteen Payback Time

Chapter : 19 

"Do the promises matter anymore?
The way you turned away.
Do your words matter like they did before?
Now that you've walked away."

I kept making up such awfully depressing lyrics in my head as I sat by the sandy banks of the little pond situated in the park near the hotel. With a little stick in my hand, I kept swishing the water about, making ripples of the bright moon's reflection in the clear, calm waters as I looked ahead. My mind was a whirl of different emotions and I couldn't decide which expression to display. At the end, my face resembled a blank canvas with no particular emotions for the world to see.

Sighing, I raised my head up to look at the night sky which was adored by little stars scattered all over the dark sky and the moonlight kept the place visible enough for me. There wasn't a soul in here as I sat on the soft sand, feeling the cool breeze from over the water caress my face. I closed my eyes, partly frustrated when I heard my phone ring again. As expected, it was Ayushmann again. I reached out to reject the call but then, something told me to listen to him for just once. No matter what he did to me, I still felt like giving him a chance.

"You're really stupid, Tanya," I told myself silently as I answered the call and pressed the phone against my ear.

"Where are you Tanya?" AK asked instantly.

I didn't respond.

"I've been worried sick! Why weren't you picking up?!" Ayushmann asked again.

I didn't respond.

"Listen, it's all a really big misunderstanding. I agree that my name had been mentioned when it came to the lyricist but-" AK was saying.

"Sorry, wrong number." I interrupted his explanation.

"What? Tanya, just listen to-" AK was saying when I interrupted him yet again.

"Stop calling me...otherwise I'm gonna block your number..." I spoke, a sinking feeling welcoming my gut as tears made my vision blurry and I felt a lump forming in my throat.

There wasn't a word on the other end.

Pulling the phone away, I disconnected the call as I began sobbing. This had been the toughest call of my life. I turned alert when I heard a guy call my name from somewhere behind me. I quickly rubbed away the tears and tried to calm myself. Once I felt composed enough, I turned to find Aarav looking at me with a worry stricken face. Smiling a small smile, I got off the banks and dusted my jeans as I reached him. He had a frown on his face which used to emerge whenever he was sad or angry. I hoped that the latter wasn't the reason. When Aarav turns furious, it's a matter of breaking bones and knuckles.

 I looked into his grey eyes and gave a wry smile, trying to ease the tension. Taking a step ahead, I hugged him.

"I'll break that idiot once we return," Aarav was saying when I tightened my arms around him to tell him to stop.

"Let's just forget that he ever happened to me," I spoke. Though my mind nodded in approval, my heart refused to believe the words.

When my twin didn't respond, I moved back to look at him with a pleading look.

"Fine," he agreed as he hugged me back.

***

Ayushmann's POV:-

There was pure silence as I looked down at the screen of my phone minutes after Tanya's call had been over. Her words seemed firm and rigid but her voice held honesty. It told me how low she was feeling and how betrayed she felt. A sinking feeling met me when I realized what she was going through. She had trusted me; I kinda broke that belief.

"I'm glad you spoke up," Shreya, a fellow singer who had come to attend the release party, said to me.

I gave a small nod in acknowledgement as she climbed into her BMW and the driver drove off. Shreya was one of the last people leaving the place. Apar came and stood beside me.

"I've managed to disperse the media people with the help of the guards. You wanna get going now?" Apar asked me, gesturing towards the exit which had been deserted.

"You go. I'll drive home in a while," I told him. "Take the security with you, I don't think I'll be leaving any time soon," I added when I saw the tired faces of the boys who were leaning against the black Scorpio, waiting to escort me and Apar to our home. 

Apar looked at me for a moment. He didn't wanna leave my side, I knew. But he decided better to give me my time and headed out. Getting into his Porsche, he drove off reluctantly.

Once Apar was gone, I turned to look back at the hall where the party had been organised. Now that everybody had left without listening to the song properly, it looked dull and dead a place. Walking into the building, I was welcomed by the sight of all my crew members who sat with unhappy faces in here.

"You guys should've added Tanya's name," Jai said, his hands crossed on his chest as he stood against a pillar.

"We didn't. OKAY?!" David asked, his hands turning into balls of fists as he noticed me enter the hall.

"Oh look, Ayushmann is here." David seethed, his mocking voice laced with anger.

I kept a straight face and stopped myself from talking back as everyone turned to look at me. Ajay, the co-producer, turned to look at me with a frown and furrowed brows. He approached me with quick strides and held me by my shirt as he looked at me with a furious look.

 "All our money that we had put into this project has been wasted, AK. Do you realize that? We literally spent a hell lot of money to organize this release and you ruined it!" Ajay spoke, his voice rising with every word.

I didn't respond. Ajay's point of view wasn't wrong either. He was the producer and such a loss was definitely gonna hit all of us hard. The first release being such a failure, planning a second release would mean reorganizing everything from scratch.

"Let go, Ajay. We all will plan a second release," Vishal, who had been silent till now, spoke up.

Ajay kept looking at me for a while before releasing my shirt and pushing me back roughly. Taking a few steps back, he ran his fingers through his hair as he walked out, dialling a call on his phone. I looked at the rest of the guys with an impassive look before turning on my heel and marching out of the hall. As I walked past Ajay who was on a call, I heard him say the words '...while he's on his way.' Which didn't make any particular sense to me.

Nevertheless, I walked out on the deserted streets and reached my Mercedes which was one of the last parked cars in the building's lot. Getting into the car, I ignited the engine and drove out. While driving through the dark and silent Mumbai roads, my mind kept racing back to Tanya. I began to plan on how to meet her as soon as possible and clear out the mess. She had told me before that she'd be on some college trip...

My chain of thoughts got interrupted when a black SUV halted sideways on the deserted road out of nowhere right in front of my advancing car. I pressed hard on the brakes as I cursed out and somehow stopped the Benz from crashing into the SUV. I took a deep breath as my car stopped before hitting the black car. Angered, I climbed out of my car without giving it a second thought.

"Are you blind or what?!" I called to the person sitting in the driver's seat of the black SUV.

He climbed out of the SUV, followed by five more guys who were also riding that car. I frowned the moment I noticed that two of them were holding onto iron pipes which could possibly be used as makeshift weapons to attack a person.

"Ajay bhai ka paisa dubaaya tuney? (You made Ajay lose the money?)" one of the guys asked.

I took a step back, placing my hand into the jacket pocket to get a hold of my phone. Once I felt the cold body of the phone, I triple tapped the screen which would send an urgent text to Apar along with my current location.

"Time for payback," Another one of them said and passed me a malicious smile as he gestured towards the pipe in his hand.

Author's Note:-

How was the update?

Stay happy and healthy!
Love,
Arhana