Chapter 47
It was role reversal for both Rohan and Naina the next few days...he tried to get in touch with her every now and then, and she kept avoiding him. Their phone conversations, when she would allow herself to answer, were reduced to
"Hello"
"Hi Naina"
"Hi Rohan. How are you?"
"I'm okay. Hey lis..."
"Great. Rohan I have to get going. Let me call you back.."
...which never happened...she never called him back. Although she had kept to herself for a long time, being conscious of her staying away was drowning him in remorse. And the more she ignored him, the harder he tried to get in touch with her. He had given her enough time to pull herself together...but now she was making it intolerable for him. The need to get in touch with her and apologize for his doings had become so great that he decided to stand outside her apartment building one day...which helped because as she got out, he caught hold of her and dragged her to the nearest Cafe. Being winter break for the university, the Cafe was pretty much empty except for two or three other people...
"Naina please...please talk to me " he didn't know how and when she had changed things around them...he had always wanted to get rid of her and now that she was complying with what he wanted, he didn't seem to want it anymore...leaving her confused.
"I am...see!" she said matter-of-factly. He got up from his chair and went to sit on the one next to hers...when he placed his hand on hers and said sorry, tears welled up in her eyes and she looked away.
A few moments passed without any of them talking and then she broke the silence between them..."It's Keerti, isn't it?" he looked at her a bit surprised wondering if he had made it that obvious. But then he had done a lot of things lately that surprised him...and he no longer trusted himself now...not after what happened with her.
When he didn't answer she spoke again "I guess I knew it. I had prepared myself for this...but when you kissed me the other day, a ray of hope rose in me...as if someone had carried me to the peak of the Everest..." she paused a moment as she remembered what exactly had happened and continued looking as if watching the scene in front of her "And then...when you pulled yourself away from me as if you had touched something forbidden, I felt a push that plummeted me to meet with the ground. It reminded me that I am but dirt...that rises when the wind blows...but at the end of it does settle down to the ground..."
His eyes became moist at the realization of the extent of hurt he had caused her. He tightened his grip on her hand to make her look at him and said softly "I'm sorry Naina. I really don't know what to say or do that would ease your aching heart...I wish I had the power to heal...I cannot do anything...except to say I'm truly sorry"
Seeing how distressed he was, she couldn't help but put her other hand on his to say "It's okay Rohan...really! Things happen...and I don't hold you responsible for what happened. It was just bad timing I guess"
"Does she love you too?" She wanted to shift his attention to something else...it's not that she didn't like the attention he gave her, but something made her want to change the topic. She felt a bit uncomfortable watching him bring remorse upon himself like this. He shrugged genuinely showing his uncertainty about the answer to that question.
"Do you plan to do something to know the answer to that question?" she asked him now being her complete self. She became more curious about his silence...it was just very unlike him..to be quiet for this long, and she didn't want to be the reason for this kinda change in him. It was a wonder how soon she forgot her own heartbreak to bring him back to his normal self. He simply nodded in response...
"Really? When?" she said excitedly, perfectly masking the hurt that her heart was going through...he looked up in longing as he said "tomorrow...she is coming back tomorrow from Caribbean..."
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