Chapter 60

"Switched off?" Sitting in the car, Roli huffed as she dialled Sid's number but found it was switched off. 

When the car had come to a halt, she hopped down and entered the Bharadwaj Office. Sid's PA rushed to receive her. 

"Where is your boss?" Roli asked him, sternly. 

"Mr Mehta has invited sir to lunch. So, sir has gone there to meet the clients" answered Sid's PA, Virat. 

"When will he return?" Roli queried while glancing at her wristwatch. 

"I don't think sir will return soon. After lunch, he is going to attend some other meeting. So, it may take time" replied Virat, politely. 

"I have to send an email to the clients now and that email is drafted in your boss's laptop. I don't have much time" Roli was worried. 

"Sir's laptop is there in his cabin, ma'am. You can send the mail" Virat quickly found a solution. 

With a nod, Roli followed Virat to Sid's cabin. Virat left to resume his work while Roli settled down in Sid's chair and opened the laptop. 

But, finding the laptop password-protected, Roli hit her head. She muttered, "what is this password now?". 

She took out her phone to dial Sid's number, only to realise it was switched off. She was perplexed as to what to do. She had not had much time to wait until Sid return. 

When she grew worried about the deadline, suddenly something occurred in her mind. She got reminded of Sid's password that used to be her birth date. But, it was in the past. She was not sure if he still kept the same password. 

However, as though she was driven by some instincts, she typed her birth date in the dialogue box. 

And much to her surprise, the laptop got opened. Her eyes got hooked to the screen as she was yet to process the fact that Sid still hadn't changed the password. 

Composing her emotions, Roli opened Sid's Gmail that was already logged in and sent the drafted mail to the client. 

When she was about to shut down the laptop, a folder got opened by mistake. She was caught by surprise as the screen displayed images of her. 

Roli's lips curled up a little as she found the folder full of her pictures. They were all mostly candid shots, taken without her knowledge. There were also pictures of Sid and his gang. Some of those pictures were clicked on their Goa trip. 

With moist eyes, Roli continued to scroll and found a picture of her on the beach where she was admiring the letters "RS" written on sand. Back then Sid disturbed it by throwing a stone, making her piqued. But, she never expected him to actually photograph that moment and treasure it even now. 

Just then she happened to notice a video in the gallery. When she clicked to open it, she was stunned by what she saw in the video. 

"So, you are finally here!" Sid appeared in the video, making her smile a little. But, what he said next had made her feel all those emotions she had never wanted to feel again. 

"I know you might be angry with me for what I said last night. Even I was angry with myself when I thought about it later. I shouldn't have said those words. I shouldn't have let you go. But, what to do? After whatever happened lately, I got scared. I hate to say this word but that's the truth. I'm scared" Sid paused, looking down. While Roli wondered what was he talking about. 

Then Sid took a deep sigh and continued "I'm scared of losing you, Roli". 

Roli's heart started fluttering in its socket as she heard him saying those words. Meanwhile, Sid continued to speak. 

"That's the reason I wanted you to leave me. I don't want you to get hurt because of me. I don't know exactly what I feel for you and how to express those feelings. But, I just can't live without you. If this is what people call love. Then yeah, I love you. I love you, Roli". 

Roli gasped at the sudden and unexpected confession from him. Though it was just video, the sincerity in his voice and the spark in his eyes seemed too real to ignore. 

"When I think about it after returning home last night, I realised what a blunder I have done. How can I just let you go and make the person win who is trying to separate us? It was just so stupid of me." Sid sighed before continuing to speak. 

"So, will you give me a chance to rectify my mistake? I promise I will never repeat it. I will never let anyone make us apart. I will never let you go. Even if I get bored with your chikchik pikpik, I would rather just tape your mouth than leaving you." Roli smiled, hearing the last words.  

"Well, I know I should have done this way long ago, but I failed. I failed to realize what you mean to me a little earlier than I did. But, as the saying goes, better late than never. So, here I'm with all my heart to tell you what you mean to me. Do you want to know? Of course, you want. Then listen...." 

Roli's heart skipped a beat as she remembered hearing those words before. It was in the resort three years ago. Back then she thought he said it for Ritika. When her mind was clouded with confusion, Sid continued to speak in the video. 

"You are my world, my life, my love, my everything and... I love you. I love you more than you can ever imagine" And the same words she heard again which she heard three years ago. 

So, Sid said those things for Roli? 

"I'm sure you would be crying like a daily soap heroine now after hearing me say all these cheesy lines. So, I went to bring tissues to wipe your tears. By the way, I hate you for making me say all these stupid cheesy lines. Now turn around, I will be right before you" 

With that, the video had ended, leaving Roli shocked, confused and with mixed emotions in her heart. She believed he had done that to make her leave three years ago. Or even worse, he might actually realize his feelings for Ritika. 

Roli forced herself to believe the first reason as the second one was too heartbreaking for her to even imagine. 

But, now after watching the whole video, she realised it was for her! 

She then remembered what Sid spoke in his drunken state the other day. When she put all the pieces of the puzzle together, the realisation finally dawned on her mind. 

This was the chance he was talking about. 

This was the surprise he meant when he said all of his surprises have always been only for her. 

Roli looked at the date of the video. It was the same date on which Sid called her to resort. So, he planned everything for her. Only for her! 

A tear rolled down her cheek as the realisation hit her. All the tears she had been trying hard to hide for the three years, rushed out as the walls stopping those from coming out were collapsed. 

Roli didn't move even after a couple of hours. She watched the video again and again. When she was engrossed in watching the video, the cabin's door got opened, making way for Sid. 

"I'm sorry I forgot about sending the mail__" Sid paused in his track as he found Roli crying. 

"What happened now?" He hurriedly reached her while she got on her feet and looked at him with teary eyes. 

It was then Sid noticed the video playing on the laptop. 

"Why did you call me to come to the Sunshine Resort three years ago?" Roli asked, determined to clear all of her confusions. 

"What matters? You didn't even come, anyway" Sid's voice sounded low, clearly depicting his upset. 

"I came" Roli's response made Sid stunned. 

"You came?" Sid frowned. "Then why didn't you come to the room I have arranged?". 

"I have come to the room too. But_" Roli stopped as she wouldn't want recall what she saw there. 

"But what, Roli?" Sid urged.

"You were not there in the room" Roli replied. 

 "I was there in the room until late night, waiting for you" Sid said, calmly. He still remember waiting for her throughout the day and night. But, when she didn't show up, he thought she might be angry with him for asking her to leave. 

He left the resort only in the next morning after waiting for her for the whole night. The next day he directly went to Dwivedi house but only to find out that Roli left to abroad with her father. He tried every possible way to contact her but all went in vein. He didn't even know which country they were left to. So, he was left with no other option than waiting for her return. 

"Ritika was in the room when I came" Roli looked into his eyes whilst a tear escaped her eyes. 

"What?! Ritika? Why would she be there?" Sid was clearly not aware of Ritika being there.

"Whole room was decorated with Ritika and.. your photos" Roli's voice broke as she struggled to speak. 

"What the hell are you talking about, Roli? Sid slowly started loosing his temper. "There were only our pictures". 

Now it got more confusing for Roli as she remembered it correctly that the room was decorated with Sid and Ritika's pictures. She didn't know what to say with everything getting complicated. 

"Wait a minute_" Sid suddenly seemed to remember something. "At what time did you come to the room exactly?". 

Roli frowned at his question and tried to remember the time "I've reached around 11 AM". 

"Didn't I tell you to reach after 12 PM?" Sid crossed his arms across his chest. 

"Why does it matter now? I came there early because I was happy to meet you. I wanted to tell you that I'm not going to leave you no matter what. But, when I saw Ritika there... I thought..." Roli stopped but her eyes continued to shed tears. 

"What do you thought?" Sid stared at her. While she remained quiet upon seeing his serious look. 

"How can you even think of that, Roli?" Sid yelled out of frustration, making her jerk. He could guess what she would have thought just by the look in her eyes.

She couldn't utter a word after witnessing his hot temper. 

Sid turned his back at her to suppress his anger. For he knew he should deal the situation with calm. A couple of moments later, when he could calm down a bit, he turned to face her. 

"Roli" Sid held her shoulders and asked in a gentle tone "what exactly happened when you reached the resort?". 

Roli tried to recall everything and told him all the details she could remember. 

"So, you came to the room when I went out to attend the call. And in between this, someone replaced the pictures in the room before you enter it" Sid analysed the situation quickly. 

"Who?" Roli queried. While Sid seemed to lost in his thoughts. 

"What are you thinking?" Roli shook Sid, finding him lost in himself. 

Snapping out of his trance, Sid looked at Roli and with a smile, he said "you. I'm thinking about you". 

Sid moved near her with a devilishly mischievous look. Roli couldn't believe he would actually start flirting with her in such a serious situation. 

"What are you..." Roli's words left unsaid with Sid's interruption "shh..". 

Sid placed his forefinger on her lips, making her silent. Roli blinked at the sudden change of the environment in the cabin which turned from serious to romantic. 

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in to hug. Then he whispered into her ears "I will find out who's behind that. You just stop thinking about it". 

Perhaps, because of the words he said or the warmth of his embrace that Roli suddenly started feeling relieved of all the worries. 

"I should have waited a bit more on that day" that's what Roli felt guilty about after realising that Sid planned the surprise for her. If she had waited until Sid came to the room then they wouldn't have to be separated. 

"No more talking about the past. It had happened. Just leave it" Sid hugged her tightly and assured her that he would never leave her. 

Though he said her to leave the past, he would never let it go simply. He would find out the person behind the conspiracy and make them pay for their deeds. And he even found out a way to deal with the issue. 

But, he wouldn't want Roli to be worried about it. So, he comforted her to leave the past. 

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A/N : I know I'm very irregular with updates. But can't help it. Have to deal with lot of other things. So, please bear with my irregular updates. And sorry for the typos, if any :p