SanDhir FF: Espresso Love (Ch.39 P.111 Dec.02) - Page 65

PART TWENTY SEVEN - COLD BREW

"Hey Avantika, sorry to keep bothering you today, but could you please speak with Ms. Agarwal and ask her to see me in my office tomorrow at 7:30 AM?"

"Erm Sir, it's 11:30 PM. I don't mind calling but I don't know if it'd be right to call at this hour considering our policies. Unless it's urgent of course!" she quickly added.

"Hmm you're right. You know what, I'll deal with this myself, thanks anyway!"

"You sure? Maybe I could give her a ring and see if she picks up."

"No it's fine, don't worry about it. Bye!"

"Goodnight Sir."

Vidushi was long gone after having dinner so it was just me. I paced around the living room, unsure of what to do. I made my 4th cup of coffee for the evening and gulped it down in a rush. Grabbing my keys, I locked the door and headed to my car.

--

"Sanyukta, is everything alright? What happened?" Saurabh spoke out, alarmed at my sudden call, that too at such a time. "Saurabh, there's a chance I'll be terminated..." I trailed off, a hint of defeat lingering around in my voice.

Saurabh's voice immediately changed tone, "What? Sanyu you realize that will be a huge problem right?"

I pursed my lips, "I'll have to fix this somehow..."

"Yes please, before Thursday hopefully. You remember right?"

"Hmm, anyway. I'll speak to you later. I just thought I should let you know about this..."

"Okay take care. And keep me updated, please. Bye!"

I put the phone down and leaned my head on the wall behind me. "Who's Saurabh?" Parth asked me. He looked confused, but I just shook my head. They knew about my past now, but not my present... "But you are right Parth. I need to speak to Randhir about this. It's no longer about me or him anymore. It's about Riaan," though I said the last bit more to myself than him.

"Parth..." I looked at him in the eye, "Do you think Randhir will ever forgive me?"

My heart felt heavy just saying that, but when Parth looked away as soon as I said that, it felt like my heart shattered into a million pieces. Broken, that's what I was... Broken and irreparable.

He came and sat beside me, taking my hand in his; "Listen, I don't think he can stay mad at you for long. But this time, I'm not certain. I don't want to lie to you because I don't want to give you false hope, but just give him time! The more you force him to understand, the harder it'll be for him to accept it."

"I do need to talk to him though, that too now..." I looked at the time, but despite it being so late, I knew I had to get this done tonight. I couldn't risk losing this internship.

"Parth, can you drop me to Randhir's place actually?"

"Right now? Are you sure?" he looked concerned. But I assured him that I wouldn't make things worse. "Please!"

Soon enough, he agreed to take me and we left right away. I carried a sleeping Riaan in my arms, not wanting to disturb my neighbours again. Driving right up to the entrance, Parth offered to stay back, "I'll watch him till you come back, and then I'll drop you home."

I felt hesitant to accept his offer; "Parth..." a whisper came out.

"Don't you dare say anything Sanyu, just go!"

I smiled; "I love you Parth. Thank you for being there for me, every single time!" tears threatening to spill.

He flashed his smile back, genuineness reflecting in his eyes. "Always have, always will! Now go!!! He's on the 8th floor, apartment 806."

With an out-of-service elevator, I had no other option but to use the stairs. Rushing up, I stood outside his door to catch my breath. And then I rang the bell.

And knocked. And knocked some more. But he wasn't here I assumed. Where could he be?

I sat on the window ledge and pulled out my phone, only to receive a text from Parth.

- Sanyu, I just saw Randhir park his car. He must be coming up now -

And so I waited for him to arrive. Though it must have just been a couple of minutes that I had to wait, it truly felt like an eternity with every second feeling torturous. Distressing thoughts roamed around my mind in the meanwhile, evoking a whole bunch of emotions all at once. I hadn't realized when silent tears made their way down my face, but I cleared them off when I heard someone coming up the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" he said in a low voice, walking past me and unlocking his door.

"I apologize for everything I've done, but please don't punish me for my past. My future is dependent on this job Randhir, please don't terminate me!" More tears fell down even though I tried to hold them back. But I didn't stop there, I kept speaking, "I'm not here to force you into anything, but I'm just requesting you to think about..." but he cut me off.

"Think about what Sanyukta? You made your decision alone back then and expected me to live with it, not bothering to give me a choice. So why can't I do the same?"

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. "Because I knew you could survive even without me. But I can't. I can't live without Riaan."

"I don't even understand what this all has to do with Riaan. Just find another job and stop bothering me!"

He was about to close the door on me, but even I could be stubborn. Putting my foot in between the crack, I slammed it open. "At that point in time, you did not have someone trying to take over the custody of your child, did you?" I said, losing my patience with every passing moment. "But you know what, I don't expect you to understand the difference in our circumstances. It's sad though, I really thought you had more character than this, but I'm not holding you to it just because I know in one way or another, you are right to not want anything to do with me anymore. Despite that, I'm still requesting you to reconsider your decision. I'm pleading you to look past my mistakes despite what had conspired between us in the past, but it's your call and I will respect it. Just know one thing Randhir, neither now nor then was my intention to hurt you. I respect your decision to not want to see me and be reminded of my betrayal every day, but we both have more responsibilities now. We have to be mature and accept that no matter what we do, our past isn't something we can change. It is what it is, but the future. That is in our hands. So please Randhir. Please reconsider."

I walked out of his apartment, my hands shivering by now. I really wouldn't blame Randhir regardless of the decision he took, but I couldn't stop thinking about losing Riaan. I hugged him as soon as I got in the car, scared out of my wits at the prospect of having to live my life without him by my side. I had never felt this vulnerable in my life ever before. What am I going to do if Randhir refuses?

And that was just the beginning of a long, and what-was-to-be-a-mentally-torturing, night.