Night Changes

CHAPTER 13

   I looked at Rohit who was now sitting across me on the couch. He looked pale, exhausted. This made him look a lot older than his usual self. I stared at Jasprit with confusion. What was up? What were they doing here at this late hour of night? I looked for answers but found none.

  Sensing my confusion, Jasprit broke the silence:
"Firstly Ayat, we're sorry to disturb you at this hour.."

"It's okay, Jasprit. But why are you here? I mean...is everything alright?"

"Uh.." he looked at Rohit who composed himself and began:

"I don't know how to tell you this, or if I'm doing the right thing. But I guess enough of thinking,"

he sighed, "Do you know Trent?"

I said I did. He was Rohit's teammate in IPL.

"I guess..I think...maybe.. Ritika likes him,"

I blinked and let it sink in. Then I let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Seriously, Rohit? Seriously? C'mon! You guys are parents now..stop getting jealous over some foreign guy who maybe Ritz considers handsome,"

"It's serious!" Rohit banged his fists on the table which was enough for me to know that it was.

I was stunned. I never saw Rohit this angry. He was always the sweet and laughing kind of guy.

He sighed and gathered himself.

"Sorry," he closed his eyes and took in a deep breathe.

"It's...okay,"

"Actually, Alayna, I..it's...it's not about jealousy or anything, okay? It's serious. Ritika has been behaving very differently off late. She remains irritated with me almost all the time. She feels so distant, so strange. I thought it was just the pressure of being a new mom but I then realised it was something more. One night I woke up at midnight and found out Ritika wasn't in the room. I woke up to check on her and I found her talking over the phone. I heard her address Trent. I didn't mean to spy on her or anything, but I wanted to find out what was wrong. So I started checking on her and I found out she talked to Trent, every. Single. Day. "
He clenched his jaws but I remained silent.

"It's unusual. She only met him a few times in my presence. They couldn't have...reached a stage...where they talk every night. And even if they are friends, why keep it a secret? She talks to him more than she talks to you,"

I felt like my heart just twitched. Ritz got this close to some guy and didn't even tell me?  I know Rohit. He's a cool headed, rational guy. He couldn't do empty talks. There was something wrong, for sure.

"I know I could be wrong, and I really hope I am. But I had to be sure. Because I got to know Trent went to India last week,"

I lifted my eye brows. Trent was a Aussie guy, he had no business in India. This was definitely concerning.

"You are Ritika's best friend, she shares everything with you. So..I just wanted to know if you know anything about Trent, anything that Ritika told you?"

I thought for a while. Ritz never mentioned Trent,  or anything related to him lately. But she did praise him a lot when IPL had ended,  I even remember teasing her for that. I know Ritz. Trent was just the kind of guy she liked. Handsome, blonde, blue eyed. 
I sighed.

"Rohit, I don't remember Ritz saying anything about this Trent guy. To be honest, we haven't been in touch for sometime now. She remains busy most of the day, it's tough catching up with her,"

He looked even paler now. I felt heartbroken. Poor Rohit. He's such a nice guy who literally loves Ritz with all his heart. He's so broken because he thinks Ritz is cheating on him, which was so hard to believe. Considering the fact that they had a happy marriage and a lovely child. Yet, there were facts we couldn't ignore.

"Oh..I..I'm so confused. So unsure. What should I do now? It's impossible to live this way. Ritz isn't her usual self. She feels like a complete stranger sometimes. As if I don't know her anymore.."

A pause.

"I'll just go crazy if I don't clear my doubts. But I also don't want to risk losing Ritz, I love her. I don't know what to do..." he sighed heavily.

"You should verify, " Jasprit spoke after a long time. I had almost forgotten he was here.

Rohit looked up. "What do you mean?"

"We should first make sure if Ritika is really into something or not. We can't accuse her just because of some phone calls or Trent's visit to India. We can't just sit back even after getting hints, either. So we must verify first,"

"Jasprit's right. We should verify first,  Rohit. I'll try to talk to Ritz and see if she opens up. If that doesn't work let's go back to India and then...keep an eye on Ritz,"

I felt guilty as I said that. But again,  this was important.

"Fine," Rohit sighed.

"But yeah, you'll have to just sit back and catch up with Ritz. Firstly, we can't afford Ritz catching you spying over her. And also, there is no alternative to spending some quality time to mend your relationship,"

Rohit nodded and Jasprit spoke:

"I'll join you, if you don't mind. You might need help,"

"Okay," I nodded and sighed.

I will be spying on my own best friend. Wow.

Do you think Ritz is really doing this?

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