OS:Opposite attracts Part 3/4 Pg 7/8 16/12 END - Page 4

Arjun sat down and started eating his crackers. He hated being alone, and since Riya had already been so generous to share her food, he would pay her by being her with her, keep her company. Little did he know that Riya was praying for him to go away. She liked peace, loneliness. She liked doing things alone. Well at least she was used to it. And besides she had a small problem also to stay alone with a man in a closed space. She wanted to tell him to go away, but didnt have the courage at all.

It had been a very long time, since someone, anyone had even wanted to stay next to her for so long. People used to run away from her because of her indifference and coldness towards them. But she always wondered why Arjun didnt understand and run away from her. He on the contrary tried to talk with her the most, and pestered her about smiling and living life openly. And she hated him because of this, her past never permitted her to be happy, and "what does he know about pain!" she used to think. (Since Riya in my story is an introvert girl, and hardly cares about people's lives, she doesn't know about Roshni yet.)

They had almost finished eating, but still no one had even talked. Arjun hated this silence, and tried to break it by saying a joke. But Riya didnt laugh and only looked at him with big eyes.

"Tum kabhi hasti nahin ho?" Arjun asked.

"Aap agar inta ghatiya jokes maregein, to kaun hassein ga?" Riya asked.

"My jokes are not ghatiya, ok?" Arjun said with hurt eyes.

"Ok!Ok! you win, now will you please leave me and go to your cabin?" Riya asked politely.

"No way! I mean what will i do all alone till morning when they come?" Arjun replied.

"I'll stay here itself!"he said.

"Why are you acting like a kid?" Riya asked a bit irritated now.

"Come on, dont be such a spoilsport! Let's play a bit, what say?" Arjun asked hopefully.

"Play? Definitely you must think that you are still a kid?" Riya said.

"I'm talking about chess Ri!" Arjun said with a glare.

"Suno, muhje nahin khelna hein! And please now that your hunger is gone, will you please just go? I wanna stay alone!" Riya said angrily.

"Just what's wrong with you! Why can't you smile, why can't you be happy? Why can't you enjoy your life?" Arjun responded angrily.

"What do you know about life? What do you know about pain? Looking at you, i'd say you maybe never even had a problem, always smiling for no reason! Not everyone have a happy life as yours!" Riya shouted.

Arjun was really angry at her now, "And pray tell me what do you know about pain? Always sulking, always unhappy, always alone? From where i stand, you have invited all your unhappiness yourself!"

Riya was on the verge of crying at Arjun's words, but she hide her tears and words started to flow out of her mouth, without her even knowing what she's saying, "What do you know i feels to be an unwanted child? What do you know how it feels to be never loved by her own father? What do you know how it feels to be all alone? What do you know what is means to be so shy, that people take advantage of you? What do you know how it feels, when the only thing you ever want is to be loved by someone!"

Arjun was shocked at the amount of suppressed pain inside of her, but he felt that all her sorrows must come out, for her to be able to laugh again, so he waited in silent for more, and when none was coming, he remembered about her scariness when he had come quite close to her, so asked softly, "And what about hating men?"

Riya laughing mockingly at this phrase, "Men! Since when have men ever been faithful? I was only 16 years old, and was craving for my father to even notice me, to put his hand on my head and said he was proud of me, for him to say at least one day that he loved me! I was so alone, felt so inferior,that's when Ajay came into my life. At first he befriended me, then he proposed to me! Do you even know how happy i was at that time? But then i came to know it was all a bet to fool the most shy girl of the school, that is me! And when i reproached him about it and slapped him for using and breaking my trust, he beat me that day, in front of his friends. No one ever came to help me! All were having fun seeing him beat me. I had some ribs broken due to him! That was the last day i ever trusted someone and will ever believe in love! Love is rubbish for me!"

Riya was sobbing relentlessly now, even Arjun never imagined that she could have suffered so much in her life, he wished to see that boy Ajay and beat him for what he had done to a naive 16 year old girl. He waited for Riya to calm down, but she was continuing to cry. It was as if she hadn't cried for so many years, and now that she had started she couldn't stop. Arjun went closer to her, held her slowly and gave her a gentle hug. He made her cry on his shoulders. For a long time she cried before she stopped.

Arjun then cupped her face and said, "Riya, everyone has got traumatic pasts, but at least look at the positive side! You are here today, an efficient ETF member, an intelligent person, a beautiful lady, and on top you are alive! Life is so short, better laugh than cry Riya." and to reinforce her beliefs in living life as happy as possible, he told her about Roshni and Sikander and how he had been living like a corpse for so long.

Riya was stunned that Arjun must have suffered even more than her, yet he was constantly smiling and trying to make everyone around him happy. She was spellbound by his way of living.

"How can you do this?" she asked.

"Simple, life is short! What will you gain by always crying and hating people. I'm not saying to trust blindly, but there are good people out there! I'm not saying to always laugh like a fool, but life sure isn't meant to be only sad," he said.

"Now stop crying, and let's have a game of chess?" Arjun said with a smile.

"i dont know how to play chess," Riya responded," but we can play monopoly, i have the game board with me," she said with hopeful eyes.

Arjun hated Monopoly, he always thought that it was a girl's game, but for Riya's sake and since she was the one who proposed it, he'd try playing it.

To be continued...

So how was it?