Thank you everyone for such
overwhelming response. Before I start I would just say this is not just
an ordinary story. Neither Maan nor Geet are perfect people here. they
are both imperfect and here's a story of few people who are no where
near perfects. This is the story of their flaws...their
imperfections...their incompleteness. Do comment and press like. They
inspire me to write better. In case anyone wants pm please add me as
buddy.Awaiting your honest opinions.
Part 20
Safe haven
Annie struggled trying to answer
when she felt a pair of arms wrap round her waist. She relaxed realising it was
Vicky. Her safe haven; Vicky kissed her on her cheeks.
"I am sorry baby, the traffic jam
was a killer. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Annie turned and hugged Vicky
abruptly. Vicky being ever perceptive pried her off him and asked her softly,"
What happened Annie? Was anybody disturnbing you?"
Annie shook her head. She cannot
tell the truth to Vicky that her almost lover of past was here reminding her of
the reasons she fell in love in the first place.
"I just missed you."
"That's a lie and we both know it.
Why don't we go and dance for a bit and then later you can tell me whatever it
is you are not telling me."
Arjun watched Vicky and Annie go to
the dancefloor with jealous eyes. He had to grudgingly agree that the Vicky guy
did love Annie. It was clear in his eyes. But the question remained as to why
Annie was with Vicky. She clearly didn't love him.
As Arjun watched Vicky protectively
dancing around Annie keeping any unwanted advances away from her Arjun realized
the reason Annie was in that relation. Vicky was the safe option. Vicky won't
hurt Annie because Vicky doesn't have that power, he doesn't have her heart. Her heart belonged to Arjun and Arjun hurt her
in the past. She doesn't want to be heartbroken once again. She is scared.
Annie was feeling grateful for Vicky
being there. Vicky truly was caring and being with him healed the hurt Arjun
had left in her heart.
A slow song was coming up as the DJ
announced. Unwillingly her eyes turned towards Arjun. He was drinking and
watching her intensely. She turned her head and looked at Vicky smiling down on
her. He brought her near and they swayed around. Annie kept her shoulder on his
shoulder.
Vicky whispered into her ears," Do
you want to go Annie?"
"Hmm."
"Okay."
They got out of the pub and the
sudden decrease of the noise level made Annie relax.
"Annie, did you bring your car?"
" Nope"
"Okay, lets get a taxi. "
"What's wrong with your bike?"
He gave her a sheepish smile. Vicky
looked adorable and Annie couldn't help but smile.
"It is in the garage for servicing.
That's why I was late."
"You should have told me. I would
have been less angry that way."
Vicky gave her an impish grin which
was too adorable for her not to cave in.
"I like you angry Annie. You look
hot when you are angry."
"Hmm... You are still not off the
hook mister. So what's the plan now?"
"I am at your service ma'am! You clearly
did not enjoy the disc. So... how about a romantic walk by the sea madame?"
"Sounds like fun kind sir."
"Come on Annie."
They both got into a cab and went
for Marine drive. They paid the fare and got down. As usual marine drive was
quite crowded as it was weekend. Vicky held her by her waist as they both
walked by the sea shore.
"Annie..."
"hmm?"
"Are you going to tell me what is
bothering you or am I going to have to pry it out of you??"
"Ummm..."
"Annie, I know something is
bothering you. I really want you to share with me what went wrong. You are not
the Annie I talked with this afternoon."
"Can't we drop it Vicky?"
"Not really!! At least tell me
something. I am worried about you Annie."
Annie was silent. It wasn't that
Vicky did not know about Arjun. He knew all about Arjun and the heartache he
caused. But somehow it was difficult to talk about it with Vicky.
"Arjun..."
"What did he do this time?"
"I was waiting for you when he came
and sat beside me. He tried chatting up... I was ignoring him but somehow I
hate how easily he can get under my skin. How come he still has so much power
over me?"
"Because you do love him I guess.
But that isn't the important question. The question is if you are going back to
him? Do you want to go back to him?"
"Vicky..."
"No Annie, I may be your boyfriend
but you are also my best friend, the one friend who had always been there for
me. If you think you would be happier with him go for it Annie."
"Do you have any idea what you are
asking me to do? You are asking me to leave you?"
"I am asking you to do whatever
makes you happy. If Arjun is the one to
make you happy you should be with him."
"But what about you, you're
feelings..."
" Annie, I may be a prankstar
but I can be serious . And I had always
been serious about you. And I do know that you cannot make someone fall in love
with yourself. And I am not going to
try. Love should be spontaneous and without any conditions..."
"I do love you Vicky. I do. Why
don't you believe me?"
"I believe you Annie. I really do. But I also know that you love
him more. I know he hurt you badly Annie. And a part of me wants to beat the
crap out of him. How can he hurt you and still have the guts to face you? But
another part, the one who loves you so much that it wants you to be happy even
if without me is making me tell you all this. If you think you are going to
regret not hearing him out for the rest of your life go for it Annie. Don't
worry about me. I am a big guy. I will be okay."
"How can you stand there and
convince me to give chance to another man Vicky?"
"I am not convincing you about
anything. I am just asking you to think before making any decisions. You are
angry Annie and rightfully so. But we
mostly make wrong choice when we are angry. So think and choose what won't make
you think of what if's all your life. "
"Why do I have a feeling Vicky that
you have no idea how much I love you?"
"I do. Believe me I do. But I want
to be sure Annie and I want you to be sure as well. Ten years down the line I
don't want you or myself to wonder whether I was the second best in your
life. "
"Why do you think so? "
"The fact that I am thinking like
this must mean that something is wrong. So do it for me Annie if not for
yourself. Go home. Take your time and
think. If you think you want to talk to Arjun after cooling down then go for
it. Talk to him, listen to his reasons and then choose between us. If you still
choose me then I will be honoured to be with you Annie."
"Are you breaking up with me Vicky?"
"Hell no if you don't want to. I am
just asking you to take your time and decide when you are not so emotionally
overwhelmed."
"Why do I feel like I am losing you
then?"
Vicky went near her and cupped her
face softly before pressing a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I love you Annie. I really do. And
you are never going to lose me. Now I
know today had been emotionally draining Annie. Why don't I drop you at your
home? You need a good night's sleep after tonight. "
Annie nodded her head in acceptance
as they hailed a cab to her home. If she indeed was not losing Vicky why did
she feel like she is? The thought that she can never again be in the security
of Vicky's arms was too fearful to even contemplate.
******
Maan had just come back in Geet's
room and was thinking about going to sleep when his phone rang. Picking up his
cellphone he found Annie calling. Annie had been way distant with him from the
time he had announced his impending divorce so he was not expecting a late
night call. A shiver ran through him thinking about the number of situations in
which Annie would be desperate enough to call him and none of them were good.
"Hello Annie."
He could hear Annie crying on the
other side. His tensions sky rocketed and he was having half mind to just fly
back in the next available flight.
"Annie, what's wrong sweetie? Please
talk to me? Do you want me to come back? I can take the next available flight."
"No Bahiya."
The sad tone of his sister tore
through his heart.
"What happened, Annie? Talk to me sweetie. I can't make it right if
I don't know what the problem is."
"You can't make it better for me
this time round bhaiya. I have to do it on my own. "
"But I can listen. Sometimes the
best thing we can do to a person is listening."
Annie was silent. Maan could feel
her trying to control her tears and get a hold of her emotions. What was it about
this night and him trying to soothe distraught women of his life?
"Bhaiya, there's a lot of things I
haven't told you about. I am not sure if you would be angry or hurt. But please
hold onto your emotions for tonight. I need you tonight Bhaiya."
That was not a good premonition. But
he hoped he can be strong for Annie's sake.
"I can't promise I won't react but I
will try Annie. Now tell me everything."
"Three years ago you remember I had
required help with my college Maths project and you had been too busy?"
"Yeah..."
"Well I couldn't really ask help
from Brij bhai because he was busy and same was right for Bhabhi. So I asked
help from Arjun."
"I know this Annie. I was the one to
ask Arjun about it."
"Hmm. But what you don't know is
that Arjun wasn't just my brother's friend any longer. I don't know but he and
I never had problems sharing stuffs with each other. It was like he got me. I
think I got him too. We had this strange level of understanding that was rare.
We became really good friends in a short time. And soon it turned into
something more."
"So what went wrong?"
"How do you know Bhaiya that
something went wrong?"
"Iif everything was alright you
wouldn't have been crying over phone to me. You would have been sharing your
issues with him."
"Well things weren't so easy. Arjun
had to go abroad for some reasons. He was not even clear about his reasons. But
when he came back it seems everything had changed. I waited one year for him
and when he came back it was as if he wasn't my Arjun anymore. He took me out
one evening. I am sorry bhaiya I lied about that to you. I wasn't spending that
night with bhabhi but I was with Arjun. Don't blame bhabhi. She wasn't even in
town. Anyway, Arjun just told me that he cannot be with me. No explanation, no
soothing words. It was as if he was using me as a time-pass or something. It
was humiliating bhaiya. I wanted so much to tell all this but I didn't want
your friendship to be jeopardized."
"I am not going to tell you that I
am not hurt. I thought you could tell me anything Ann? But we will talk about
that later. And just for the record I would give up my friendship with Arjun in
a second if it meant I am doing the right thing. You are far more important."
"Arjun said the same thing..."
"Huh?"
"Arjun told me that he would stand
against you even to be with me."
"I understand. You might not know it
but you are special Annie. You have always been. Now tell me the rest of the
story. I am sure you are not crying your eyes out for something that occurred
months ago."
"It gets pretty complicated from
here."
"I am all ears Annie."
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