As Long As I Live Thread 1 - Page 39

"Where are we going?" she asked Yash once he started the car.

He stared straight ahead at the road and ignored her.

 

Why was he ignoring her? Annoyed, she turned her body around to face him.

 

"Tell me!" she demanded, "I think I deserve to know, otherwise I can call this kidnap."

 

She was surprised to hear him chuckle, still staring directly ahead. "Go ahead, call this kidnap. You got in the car willingly. I didn't force you to come with me."

 

He had a point. She turned her body back around and scowled, folding her arms across her chest. They drove in silence for a few minutes until she couldn't take it anymore.

 

"Yashji, you know you're such a nice guy," she said, trying to sweet talk him, "Please tell me where you're taking me."

 

He stopped his car on the side of the road and turned around to face her. His face held a somber expression.

 

"Where you should be right now."

 

"What do you mean? Please stop talking in codes Yash!" she replied, frustrated. "You're so damn mysterious. I don't even know what's wrong with you. One moment, you're an asshole, and the next you're very concerned about me? Yet you didn't even know my name... I think you're from another planet. There's no way you can possibly be human!"

 

She took a deep breath and glared at him, silently demanding answers.

 

"Aarti, trust me. You'll see for yourself... I should have told you before, but I wasn't sure. I didn't know about your feelings, or I promise I would've told you!"

 

"What are you talking about Yash?" she asked him, confused. "Please be clear."

 

Yash sighed and looked away from her. It was almost as if he was scared to face her. "You won't believe me if I tell you. Please understand Aarti... you'll have to see it for yourself. First tell me what your relationship with Prashant is."

 

"Oh God, Yash are you trying to propose your love to me or something? Why the hell are you so concerned about mine and Prashant's relationship... it has nothing to do with you!"

 

"Aarti," he said sternly, "Just tell me."

 

She glared at him. She wasn't going to tell him... why should she? She and Prashant had agreed to keep their relationship a secret. It was Prashant's idea, not hers. She wanted to tell the world that they were together, but he said it was better that they kept their relationship hidden. His reasoning was that people would spread rumours. He told Aarti that they'd tell their friends later on. Only Mansi and Sunita knew about her relationship with Prashant, nobody else. And she definitely wasn't going to break Prashant's trust for a stranger she'd met the previous day!

 

"We're just friends," she lied, looking away from him.

 

"Is that so?" Yash asked her. "So it's one sided love?"

 

Aarti glared at him again. Why was he so stuck up?

 

"Who do you think you are to call this one sided love?" she snapped, not caring anymore that she gave it away. She knew that he was provoking her to confess, but she couldn't help it! "He loves me just as much as I love him!"

 

"Really? Then why hasn't he asked you out?" he asked her sounding patient.

 

Who the hell was he to talk when he hadn't asked Arpita out himself? That was if what Mansi had said was anything to go by. She decided to trust the information she had received from her friend and use it to her advantage.

 

"Ask Arpita out before you talk," she yelled, her face burning, "At least my fiance had the guts to ask me out."

 

Yash looked alarmed that she brought Arpita into the conversation. He looked like he was going to say something, but held it back.

 

"Interesting, so you two are together. Anyways, I could care less," he told her darkly.

 

What was wrong with this man? Why would he ask her anything about her relationship with Prashant if he didn't care?

 

"Then what is your problem?" she asked, pressing her lips together, annoyed beyond belief.

 

"Because I feel bad. I don't want anyone to go through this," he told her honestly.

 

She was confused now. Utterly confused.

 

"Once again, please speak clearly," she said adamantly.

 

"Aarti, see for yourself. Just promise me one thing."

 

She raised her eyebrows. Who was he to ask her to promise him something? But nevertheless, she was curious. "What?" she asked him rudely.

 

"Don't cry."

 

Aarti glared at him. "Why would I cry at something you want to show me? Don't think you're that important to be cried over."

 

Yash looked frustrated.

 

"Just come out," he said through gritted teeth.

 

She opened her door and exited the car, feeling a gust of wind blow right into her face, causing her hair to fly back behind her. She shivered, it was quite chilly now. She looked at her phone and saw that it was nearing one in the early morning.

 

She licked her lips to moisturize them and turned around to see Yash staring at her with a concerned expression on his face. How was she able to decipher his expressions, but not make sense of them? He baffled her.

 

"Yeah, where are we going?" she asked him, ignoring his expression. After all, yesterday when she asked him if he was okay, he had replied very rudely.

 

"Follow me," he answered coolly.

 

He started to walk ahead of her and she followed him immediately.

 

Where was he taking her? And why did he ask her not to cry... why was he so concerned about Prashant? Why the hell was Yash Scindhia so much like a puzzle?

 

He stopped in his tracks, and when he stopped she stopped too. They were outside Nida Gill's house. She was a rich girl who had a reputation for being the bitchiest female on campus. Aarti never talked to her, but knew all about her from many people.

"Yash? Why did you bring me here?" she asked him, wondering if he had gone crazy.

 

"Just wait," Yash told her. "Be patient."

 

He grabbed her hand and crouched down behind some bushes with her. Now she really thought he was nuts.

 

"What do you mean be patient?" she said loudly. She was so loud that Yash had to cover her mouth with his hands.

 

"Be quiet," he said in a hushed tone. "Just wait and watch."

 

Just then, she noticed Nida drive her car into the driveway. This felt wrong, spying on someone like this... and Yash had been the one to call her a spy yesterday. What a hypocrite.

 

She kept on watching the scene unfold. When Prashant exited her car too, her eyes widened.

 

So many questions ran through her mind. Prashant was here? He knew Nida? Why was he here at night? Did Nida have a brother or something that Prashant needed to study with at one AM?

 

Aarti looked at Yash and whispered, "What's going on? I'm confused. I'm not watching anymore... this isn't right. I trust Prashant, he wouldn't ever do anything stupid, and if he knew I was here, I wouldn't be able to explain myself. I have to go. Let's go Yash!"

 

Yash squeezed her wrist.

 

"Watch," he demanded quietly.

 

She opened her mouth to protest then turned around to watch instead. She was here already, she might as well just watch.

 

They headed towards the house. Nida seemed to be looking around for her keys. She didn't appear to find them anywhere, so she turned to give him an apologetic look.

 

"Sorry Prashant," she told him, flirtatiously.

 

Her tone made Aarti's insides boil. How dare she talk to her Prashant like that?

 

"Who the hell..." she started, only to have Yash clasp his hand over her mouth once more.

 

"Quiet," he snarled.

 

She looked in front of her again.

 

"It's okay Nids," she heard Prashant say.

 

Nids? He was on a nickname basis with her, and he didn't bother telling her about Nida? What was going on here?

 

"In the car?" Nida asked in a soft voice, almost seductively, walking closer to Prashant and playing with the collar of his shirt.

 

Aarti was fuming by this point. Prashant say no, she pleaded in her mind.

 

Prashant took Nida's hand and started to make his way towards the car with her.

 

"Do you have it?" Nida asked him.

 

Prashant took out his wallet and handed it to her. "See for yourself," he said with a wink.

 

Nida opened his wallet and took out a condom. Aarti covered her mouth with her own hands this time to prevent herself from gasping. Mansi was right! But the bigger question was why Nida needed to know if he had a condom?

 

She slipped the condom in the pocket of her jeans and handed the wallet back to Prashant who tucked it away immediately.

 

"Let's go in the car," he told her. "It's cold."

 

"Not quite yet," Nida said in a dominating tone.

 

Then she walked close to him, pushing him against her car, pressing her body against his.

 

Aarti was about to shoot up and separate them when Yash wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.

 

"Keep watching," he told her.

 

"Yash, I can't watch this! I have to stop it before Prashant does something stupid under her influence!" she pleaded with Yash, "Please let me go."

 

"Aarti he's done something stupid long ago. Just watch otherwise you'll find excuses for his behaviour."

 

Aarti could feel her lips tremble as she watched the rest of the scene.

 

Nida slid her hands up his neck, and into Prashant's hair. She leaned forward and kissed Prashant passionately.

 

Aarti felt her heart sink in her chest.

 

Then Prashant kissed Nida back with even more passion, grabbing her bottom in the process.

 

Aarti couldn't take it anymore. She forcefully pulled herself away from Yash, got up and stormed up to the two of them.

 

"I trusted you!" she yelled through tears, "I trusted you Prashant. I trusted you."

 

They broke apart immediately. Nida licked her lips and stared at Aarti curiously.

 

"Prashant, who's this?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

 

Prashant looked alarmed.

 

"Aarti, let's go somewhere else and talk about it," he told her calmly.

 

"No Prashant!" she yelled. "No! We'll talk about it here. Don't I matter to you? Why Prashant, why? You promised me your life. You promised me the future. You promised that we'd get married!"

 

Prashant looked scared.

 

"Aarti... who said I'm taking back that promise?" he asked her.

 

Then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Yash's hand. He followed her here? She thought he'd continue to hide behind the bushes... but he had the guts to expose himself in front of Prashant? If she wasn't so preoccupied with what had just happened, she might have even admired him.

 

"Nida," Yash said, "Take your house keys and go in. I got them from Arpita. Let these two sort out their problems."

 

Nida nodded, took the keys and vanished inside the house, looking perplexed the whole time.

 

Then Yash turned to leave, but Aarti grabbed his wrist to stop him.

 

"No Yash, please don't leave me," she begged, her eyes glistening.

 

"Yash?" Prashant asked, "Was this your setup?"

 

He sounded like he'd been betrayed.

 

"Prashant you don't play with a girl's feelings," Yash said angrily. "I told you the other day too. You just don't break a girl's heart! I told you not to hurt Aarti, but you didn't listen to me."

 

Aarti fell to her knees as they spoke. Their words barely reached her ears, all she knew was that she had broken down crying.

 

"Why Prashant?" she whispered from the ground. "Why?"

 

"Because I was confused Aarti. I love you Aarti, I want to marry you. But I have feelings for Nida too, and she was willing to give me more than you were right now. I couldn't leave you because I loved you. I still love you."

 

"Then leave Nida," Aarti whispered hopefully. "We'll try again, please leave Nida. I promise that I'll never bring this up again."

 

"Aarti, I can't... I can't leave her. I... I really like her Aarti. I can't."

 

Aarti suddenly got furious. She got up, wiped her tears and glared at him. "So you can two time us, but you can't leave one of us?"

 

"I'm sorry Aarti," Prashant told her sincerely. "I'm sorry, but... I just can't be committed right now. Let's be friends, let's get married later on, but let's not be serious right now. Let's enjoy ourselves. Please."

 

"NO!" she screamed, "NO Prashant! You can't do that. I would never cheat on you, but you cheated on me. I'm willing to accept you back, but you know it yourself that you wouldn't ever take me back if I did what you did! Prashant, what more do you want? I'm taking you back right? Please Prashant, don't do this."

 

Aarti closed her eyes and grabbed his shirt. "Prashant, don't leave me," she begged, placing her head on his chest.

 

Prashant held Aarti's shoulders, pulled her from him and looked into her eyes. "I'm not leaving you," he told her. "I'm not going anywhere. Aarti, I'm still here. I just don't want commitment at the moment. We'll get committed once we're done enjoying ourselves."

 

Frustrated, she let out another painful sob. "Prashant," she whispered, "Please. You know you love me. Don't say that. We'll be with each other, and only each other. P... Prashant, please agree. Please."

 

She leaned closer to him, pulled his head down and leaned in to kiss him, but Prashant backed away.

 

"Aarti, please stop it!" he said angrily.

 

Aarti felt her heart break into a million pieces. He was willing to kiss Nida, but he couldn't kiss her? He kissed her the other day, what was his problem now?

 

"P... Prashant? Don't... Don't... I att... attract you anymore?" she asked him painfully in between sobs.

 

"Aarti, you do! It's just... now's not the time."

 

"Time? There's a time to kiss your fiancee?"

 

"No, Aarti it isn't like that. We aren't together."

 

"Prashant!" she shouted through tears. "The other day you were the one telling me you wanted to be with me, you were the one convincing me that we were together... but now you're saying that we aren't? Now you're telling me that that was all a lie?"

 

"Yes!" Prashant finally yelled fiercely, losing his cool. He grabbed her shoulders forcefully and looked straight into her eyes. "Yes it was all a lie! Are you happy now? I lied to you okay? Because I didn't want to hurt you. I love you Aarti, dammit I really do! But I want to enjoy myself right now. I promise we'll get married. I promise you I won't marry anyone else but you. But right now, right now... I just can't be committed. I don't want to be."

 

"S... So this is it? You're breaking up with me? For another girl? For Nida. You're going to leave me?" she whispered, her eyes glossing over with a new layer of tears.

 

Please be a nightmare, she thought to herself. Please let me wake up now. I can't bear this anymore.

Prashant turned around as Aarti fell down to her knees once more, holding her hands together against her mouth and shaking.

 

"Yes," he said, unable to look at her.

 

Aarti felt teardrop after teardrop fall from her eyes, one after the other. She couldn't breathe. She needed to get out of here.

 

She took off her heels and sprinted towards Yash's car barefoot. Her blue dress flew behind her. She didn't even care about the cold anymore. She wanted the wind to take her away. She wanted to go under her covers and fall asleep forever. The pain was overwhelming right now.

 

As soon as she reached the passenger side of the car, she tried to open the door, but to no avail. It was locked. Aarti fell down into a heap on the road. She leaned against the car and cried.

 

"Why Prashant? Why?" she whispered to herself. "Why did you leave me?"

 

Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled through the tears.

 

"Prashant?" she said hopefully. "You came back for me?"

 

Then she turned around to face Yash and her smile dropped. He bent down, held her shoulders and gently made her stand up.

 

"Come on," he said softly, opening the passenger side of the door for her. "Come in."

 

She got in without a word.

 

She hated crying like this in front of anyone, but right now, she had no option but to cry. Her heart wasn't letting her feel anything but pain. 

 

He drove to a beach. It was about two in the morning at this point.

 

"There's nobody here," he told her quietly, "I always come here when I'm sad. There isn't ever anybody here."

 

He helped her out of the car and put his arms around her shoulders as he steered her towards the water. He sat her down on a rock directly in front of the shore and he sat down beside her, on the same rock.

 

"Why did he leave me Yash?" she asked him numbly.

 

The tears weren't falling anymore. Now she just felt dead.

 

"Am I not pretty enough?" she added, seeking an answer.

 

Yash looked at her and in a genuine tone, told her, "You're beautiful Aarti. He's a jerk. You deserve better."

 

Aarti shook her head.

 

"I deserve him. I need him Yash... I won't be able to live without him. I need him. I need him to come back to me."

 

She felt a sob escape her mouth again. She leaned in to Yash and gently rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel his arm protectively wrap around her body.