Over the next two weeks, abhay had armaan several times, each time taking him out for day trips, swimming...and every time he picked up or dropped off he was courteous, but no more. It gave her the chance to do some more work, kabir was a silent purely financial partner, so the running of everything was down to her and she'd been slack over the last few months.
One particular day when armaan was with his abhay, he called, and told her rather than asked her, that armaan was going to spend the night with him as they were going to be busy, and he wanted him to stay over. pia had no real grounds to complain. So she watched the sunset bored and very lonely.
Eventually she headed down to the restaurant intent on annoying Marry'. It was busy, but then that was becoming normal for a Saturday evening, definitely a good thing. Marry was surprised to see her enter the busy dining room.
"The kids are away," she explained, "I'm at a loose end!"
She tried not to get in the way, but knew she was treading on his toes. So she was relieved to see Marry and Sarha, two mothers from armaan' play group sat at a table. They beckoned her over.
"Hi!" pia smiled, "hope your food was good!"
They both nodded, before Mary, a tall Irish woman with flowing auburn hair smiled, she was quite Amazonian in stature, and people seemed to stop to look at her wherever she went. "It's always good!"
"Are you celebrating anything? Or just got a baby sitter?"
Sarha chuckled, "we are celebrating! My divorce came through today!"
"Wow!" For once pia was speechless, do you congratulate or commiserate?
Sarha chuckled, "Yep, it's a good thing pia! And now we're off to paint the town red. Care to join us?"
It was like a gift, an opportunity at just the right time.
"I am at a loose end actually! And I think I'm annoying Marry being here! I'd love to!"
So they headed into the nearby town. It was more of a large village, but having two fantastic beaches, and great surf, it was a haven for tourists and surf freaks alike. So despite being small it had a lot of busy pubs and clubs. As they drank and danced, she explained about leaving abhay, and that she was quite lost. Sarha was so understanding having been in that position only a few months ago. Marry was also a rock, and both encouraged her to enjoy her evening, forget all her worries for a few hours!
They ended the evening in an all night cafe being served coffee by a good looking young man, and all three women giggled like teenagers as he harmlessly flirted with them! It was ridiculous o'clock when she finally made it home to bed but she felt better than she had in ages. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun!
Waking the next morning she groaned; now she remembered why she didn't go out drinking that often, she felt as though she'd barely slept, and everything ached, probably from the wild dancing. After a shower and a hearty breakfast she felt far more alive, so she drove the eight miles to the farmhouse to collect armaan.
There was very little sign of life as she pulled up on the gravel driveway. She'd left her key when she had left, so she had to ring the doorbell like any guest. After longer than was necessary the door finally swung open, but instead of abhay meeting her gaze, she was met by a scantily clad woman, not just any woman, but alina khurana, a six foot tall 'Supermodel' more famous for her antics than her work. pia staggered, reaching for the door frame to steady herself, devastation causing her mind to fog. Then the realization hit her that no amount of talking could dig him out of this hole.
"Where's my son? Where's abhay?"
The other woman looked down her nose at pia, "abhay's still in bed. He's in his bedroom, I presume."
piya gasped; hitting the other woman out of the way she barged her way into the house, through the lounge and on to the annex where armaan' lovingly decorated bedroom was located. He was playing with his Toy Story figures on the bedroom floor. Still in his pajamas.
"You ok mate?" she squatted down next to him and kissed his head.
"I'm hungry! Breakfast?"
She scooped him up, "haven't you eaten?" When he shook his head she grimaced, "ok monkey, gather up your toys and we'll go get some food. Let me just go and see Daddy."
She stormed into the room that had been their bedroom. abhay was lay on bed, face down;. On the bedside table was an empty bottle of champagne and two glasses, and a packet that looked it might contain some form of pill, and she didn't mean painkiller.
"Get up!" she hissed, not wanting to distress armaan. When abhay failed to move she shout him, "you will never, ever look after this child again abhay raichand, you are sick and a joke."
He rolled over and looked at her through hooded eyes, "piss off pia, you're a pain in my life."
She wanted to screm at him, . She had never felt so much hatred and anger at one person in her life.
Still at the volume of a hiss, she turned to him, "my son is amusing himself, playing with toys, but hasn't even had breakfast at eleven o'clock. You are here drunk and stoned out of your mind...this is child abuse abhay. I hate you. If I called the police you'd be arrested for this neglect. I think many things about you, but I always thought you'd put your child over drinking, drugs and a wh**e like her. Seems I was wrong. But this is not just bad abhay, this is horrendous, and you've just earned yourself a VERY expensive trip to divorce court. I'm separating us from you as soon as I can!"
She turned before he saw the tears in her eyes, how could she have judged someone so wrongly?
In the car, armaan played happily with his figures, "Buzz Light year...to the rescue!" He zoomed the plastic figure around his head, his chatter hiding the sounds of his mother's sobs as they made their way home.
The next day she called her solicitor.
pia could barely remember days when things were right anymore. Each day was as painful as the previous. She'd thought that once she'd moved away from him it'd get easier, but if anything things were worse. His behavior stunned her, he had always put her first, worshipped her, all sorts of scenarios went through her head, in all honesty it was easier to accept that he was having some sort of breakdown, a midlife crisis (she ignored the fact that twenty five was a bit young for that!) than to think that he had just fallen out of love with her. And she couldn't even begin to realize where it had all started to go wrong.
When she and abhay had buried the hatchet and got over their feud, they became friends. He looked out for her; though neither ever mentioned that day she was attacked again. When the tour finished, she headed back to her father's planning to spend the summer chilling out before taking on another project for Josh. But she missed abhay, suddenly, unexpectedly and unequivocally, he had become everything to her. She couldn't recall when her feelings for him had changed, but now her heart ached. She had a thick gray hoodie that he'd loaned her when they'd been on the flight home. It was too hot in the summer to wear it, but she used to lie in bed at night and inhale the smell of him. It was all she had.
She'd been home less than a week, her father was recovering from another operation, and madhu mom was caring for him so competently, she constantly felt in the way, so she used to climb the paths around the cliff tops near the village finding places to spend hours listening to music and feeling sorry for herself. Each day seemed to meld into the next and she felt she was on the verge of some dark depression. As soon as she realized that, she knew she had to find him, see if he felt anything resembling the same.
pia spread her arms and lay back on the blanket of gorse and heather and closed her eyes, allowing the sun to kiss her face and shoulder. Suddenly accepting how she felt about abhay was calming, she was so relieved, so pleased to think about how she was going to find him.
She must have fallen asleep, because the sensation of the sun going in, a sudden chill caused her to almost jump up, it was then she realized someone was blocking the sun, standing over her. As her eyes became accustomed to the brightness, through her squint she recognized abhay.
Leaping to her feet, she gasped, unable to accept that he was really there, in front of her.
"Hi!" she offered. "I was just thinking of you"
"Really?"
She nodded but her earlier bravado at confronting him, telling how she felt had disappeared. abhay's face brightened by a spontaneous grin, his blonde unkempt hair was dragged back over his head by a thousand run through of his fingers, his blue eyes looked tired. "Are you ok abhay?"
He shook his head, "I think I'm ill..." When he saw concern wash over her face, he smiled, "not 'ill' ill, just sick! I can't seem to sleep, to breathe...because since leaving you at the airport two weeks ago, I haven't felt whole since!"
pia gasped, "Really?"
He nodded, "I know you hate me, cos I shouted at you once months ago, and because everything I want I get..." he raised an eyebrow indicating he was teasing her."
She gulped, trying to find her suddenly absent voice, "is that as romantic as you get?"
He shrugged, then delved in his pocket, as he smiled at her, he offered, "I was putting all my money on you agreeing with me, which is why I brought this!"
Confused for a moment, she frowned, then followed his eyes to his hand where he held a small velvet box that was flipped open to reveal a large single diamond solitaire.
pia stepped back, her hand flying to her mouth, before look up to his eyes, eyes filled with doubt, insecurity and fear, "really?"
He nodded, dropping to his knee, "I've never felt like this before in my life pia,I can't go on without you in my life! Will you marry me?"
If anyone had suggested at any point prior to then that she'd get engaged to and then marry abhay raichand, she would have suggested that that person was mad. But as she looked at him, she knew he was right, she felt the same, and the only answer was yes!
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