Twist Of Fate ( Available On Kindle)

part 11

Rishi's head snapped in the direction of the source of the voice, his unsettled eyes falling on a kid who was running away from her mother. A sudden rush of relief passed through his soul when he realised that the kid's name was also Anu. Not the Anu he was expecting. Part of him was afraid, while another part was desperate to catch a glimpse of his Anu.

Sighing in relief, he turned around only to face Anbu with a questioning look. Mentally facepalming, he cursed himself for being so desperate to see Anu that he forgot everything else around him, even Anbu. A moment of silence passed between them.

"Is her name Anu?" Anbu asked, narrowing her eyebrows, showing her sharp observation.

Rishi nodded, stealing glances at her. He cursed himself for behaving in such a way that might have hurt Anbu. For a moment, he even forgot Anbu when he heard the name Anu. He couldn't imagine how Anbu must have felt.

A moment of silence occurred. Anbu shook her head dramatically and resumed walking forward, while Rishi followed her like a lost puppy.

"Are you upset?" Rishi hesitatingly asked her, knowing what her answer would likely be.

"Aren't I supposed to be?" She replied, looking extremely done with the situation.

"Uhmm... Sorry," Rishi tried to apologise.

"Don't say that when you don't mean it," Anbu tried hard not to yell at him, feeling jealous and insecure.

"Of course, I mean it, Anbu. I'm sorry, and I promise it won't happen again," Rishi genuinely felt bad for her. He didn't want to spoil their date in any way.

Anbu kept walking, almost running, while Rishi followed her. Both didn't know why or where they were heading; they just kept walking for a few minutes.

"Anbu, wait. At least walk slowly; I can't keep up with you," Rishi whined behind her.

She realised she was going too fast, abruptly stopping in the middle to take long breaths and calm her racing heart.

Seizing the opportunity, Rishi went in front of her and took her hands in his. Holding her palms gently, he gazed into her eyes. "I'm really sorry, and I mean it."

She noticed the change of emotions in his eyes, though she failed to figure out his feelings. Anbu decided to let go of the issue; making a big fuss wouldn't help their relationship.

"Have you moved on? Completely, right?" She asked him without a second thought.

Anbu just wanted to ensure that whatever he was doing was of his own accord, not due to parental pressure or anything else. Because ultimately, no one would suffer as much as Anbu and Rishi would.

"Of course, I have," Rishi said with a chuckle, though there was nothing humorous about the question. It was serious, and she expected a straightforward answer from him. Pressing his lips together, he gave her a forced smile, shrugging his shoulders as if trying to cover something up.

Nodding her head, Anbu accepted his answer. Uncomfortable silence lingered between them once again. Both were willing to talk, but hesitation lingered.

"So?" Rishi finally broke the silence.

"So?" She echoed his question, awaiting his response.

"Should we continue what we were about to do?" Rishi looked at the half-melted ice cream in his hand, feeling sorry for it.

"Sure," Anbu agreed, not one to hold onto grudges. For her, once an apology was given, the matter was resolved.

Rishi gestured for her to hold his ice cream while he pulled out a kerchief from his pocket. After wiping the melted ice cream from his fingers, he handed her the kerchief to clean hers as well. Once done, they resumed their walk, hoping not to waste their ice cream this time.

"So, what should we talk about? Like getting to know each other, favourite colour, favourite food, blah blah blah..." Rishi suggested.

"I thought we were gonna talk about something interesting," he couldn't help but interject.

Anbu stopped for a moment to shoot him a glare, and Rishi immediately regretted his words, making a puppy face in apology.

"You weren't wrong though. I mean, we have our lifetime to know about our favourite colour and food, so let's talk about each other's dark secrets," Anbu suggested, giggling.

"Now, that sounds interesting," Rishi agreed.

"I'm not first," they both said in unison.

"Hey, come on, you were the one who brought this idea," Rishi complained.

"And you were the one who said okay," Anbu retorted.

"Fine, I'll be the first to share a secret," Rishi conceded.

Anbu smiled at her victory as Rishi went into deep thought, trying to recall a secret. When he finally remembered, he confessed, "Yeah, once I smoked with my friends at the back of our school. That was the first and last time."

"Oh," was all Anbu said, surprising Rishi.

Expecting a more dramatic reaction, Rishi was puzzled by her response. But before he could dwell on it, Anbu shared her own secret: "I drank wine from my dad's wine bottle and filled it up with water so he wouldn't know that half of the wine was gone. I think I was in 8th standard then."

Rishi was speechless, realising she had done more than he could imagine.

"Cool," he chuckled softly, trying to play it off.

They continued sharing secrets, but Rishi kept a conscious grip on anything related to his past, especially about Anu. Her memories were like drugs, slowly killing him inside. He couldn't bring himself to open up about it, needing more time. His broken soul and heart couldn't bear to relieve that pain again, no matter how much Anbu was willing to support him. He simply couldn't trust his heart with another woman.