THE ARRANGED LOVE STORY

EPISODE 28

Aryan reached the office in a hurry. He went inside Ranbir's cabin to find him building a castle of cards. A stranger would have taken it as a sign of Ranbir's calmness but the ones who knew him well were well aware that it was the calm before the storm.

Aryan went to the drawer and took out a packet of medicines. He popped out one pill and handed it to Ranbir along with a glass of water without uttering a single word. He waited for a few minutes more to let Ranbir's blood pressure become normal.

"Is there anything wrong, sir?" he asked finally.

"Everything is wrong, Aryan. Prachi was to meet my dad today and she chose to spend time with her ex-husband instead." Ranbir said clenching his fists as he got reminded of those pictures.

Aryan was taken aback by the fact. As far as he knew, Prachi was madly in love with Ranbir and hated Ronit to her core. 

"I think there is some misunderstanding, sir." he said meekly.

"I have received some proofs proving it to be proved." Ranbir showed the pictures to Aryan. "I have had them checked. They are not morphed." he added.

Aryan didn't know what to say. If his boss was convinced that Prachi was cheating on him, why did he summon him in the office?

"Despite these evidences, my heart says there is something wrong. So, I want you to find out the necessary details to reveal the truth." Ranbir instructed.

"Yes sir, I will find it by tomorrow." he replied.

"I can't wait till tomorrow. You have time till midnight today." Ranbir yelled, taking out his frustration on him.

Aryan walked out of the cabin silently.  He cast a glance at his watch to calculate how many hours did he have more.

He knew that the person who could tell the truth was Prachi, but he couldn't just go to her and ask it, especially when she must be heart broken.

*****

The door burst open and in came Prachi with hot tears freely flowing from her eyes. Pragya was shocked to find her daughter in such a state. Before she could ask anything, Prachi rushed to her room upstairs and locked herself in.

Once in the closed confines of her room, Prachi fell with a thud on the carpeted floor. She felt all the negative emotions bundling on her. She had never felt so betrayed in her life. The pain of Ranbir not trusting her was more than when she divorced Ronit.

"Prachi....What happened?" Pragya's worried tone and banging on the door brought her out of her semi-trance.

"Everything....Everything is over maa.....He doesn't believes me" she sobbed.

"Open the door and talk to me." Pragya coaxed.

"No maa.....Please leave me alone." 

Pragya was worried for her daughter but she knew that Prachi was strong and some privacy and time would do her good, so she went away.

Inside the room, Prachi held herself partly responsible for what had happened. Why did she had to act good all the time and help Ronit. She should have guessed had Ronit was upto some cheap tricks of his and she was sure that Ravi had a hand in it too.

But, Ranbir shouldn't have believed those. No, she was not going to explain things to him. If he loved her truly, he would come to her. Deep in her heart, she knew that Ranbir would come back to her.

*****

Shahana had received the message from Aryan that he won't be able to spend the evening with her due to some emergency. She was a bit dejected but work always came first. She decided to review the designs made by her for the final time before she showed them to Prachi the next day.

At that precise moment, there was a knock on her door. It was something new, generally people didn't come to visit her. She wondered who it could be.

Shahana opened the door and was surprised to see Varun. 

"Sorry to disturb you but the matter is really important. Can I come in?" he started speaking before Shahana could ask anything. 

She moved aside and allowed him to enter.

"You are the only one who knows the true answer to these questions, so please answer them honestly." he instructed.

"I'll try to, sir." Shahana nodded inspite of being confused by Varun's behavior.

"Has Prachi completely moved over Ronit or she loves him still?" he asked.

Shahana was astounded by the question. "Why do you want to know? That's her personal matter. Moreover, ma'am likes Ranbir sir now."

Varun was not satisfied by the answer. He wanted a straightforward answer. He held Shahana by her shoulders and looked serious.

"This is very important for Ranbir and Prachi's future. A huge misunderstanding has developed between them which must be cleared immediately. So, answer clearly in yes or no." he said.

Before Shahana could answer, the door opened and someone entered in a hurry. The three of them froze for a few minutes, staring at each other.

"The door was not locked. Sorry to disturb you." Aryan exclaimed angrily.

"Hey buddy, calm down, I was here to....." Varun moved away from Shahana immediately sensing Aryan's jealousy.

"I don't need any explanations, sir. Don't worry, I won't disturb you further." Aryan turned to leave.

"Listen to me once....." Shahana pleaded.

Aryan went to her and whispered in her ears. "You are free to do anything. At the end of the day, I am not your real boyfriend." 

Aryan stormed out of her apartment.