Loving You

Chapter 15 - Abhimanyu - Friends? Friends.

"You talk a lot, don't you?" I teased, trying to change the topic.

"You don't listen a lot, do you?" She chirped back, fully aware of what I was trying to do but yet choosing to let it slide.

"Not really." I admitted.

"Well we're going to have to change that."

"Look at you, not even been a week since we met and already talking about changing me." I egged on.

"Well that's what friends do. You know, help you become a better person."

"Friends?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The word, friends. It just caught me off guard.

"Yeah, I guess. We're friends aren't we?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. Are we...friends?"

"I mean you did share your deepest darkest secrets with me —your feelings," she said in dramatic exaggeration. "So technically I can blackmail you into being my friend. Be my friend or else I'll reveal your secrets to everyone!"

I gave her a hard, pointed look.

"You are no fun, are you? See, all the more reason why you need me in your life! And don't worry, I won't even try to steal your girl either." She said, putting on a bright cheery smile.

After I didn't respond to her attempts of humour, I saw the visible shift of her facial features from a smile to a frown. "No? Nothing?"

"I think I made a mistake by opening up to you." I felt like I did. Especially how she was trying to make jokes on my expense.

"Do you believe in fate, Abhimanyu? In destiny?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "No, I don't." I admitted truthfully.

"Well I do. I believe everything in life happens for a reason. You coming to the restaurant that I work at, having your breakup, drinking yourself into oblivion, then me dropping you home —I believe it was all fate."

"No, what. That's just all coincidental bullshit."

"No! But then I ended up interviewing at your hospital and that too with you."

"Again, a coincidence."

"Well then that is one hell of a coincidence then. But what I'm saying is that you and I were meant to be here, having this conversation at this exact moment."

"Is that right? Is that Ms Akshara the great believes?" The sarcasm dripped like honey from my tongue.

She nodded her head eagerly. "Yes. And I believe that whatever is meant to be will find a way to come to be. So, no Abhimanyu, no you didn't make a mistake by sharing your pain, your feelings with me. Infact, you did the right thing. I'm just trying to show you that life doesn't always have to be serious. I understand you, understand you pain, and I get it. But I'm not going to let you wallow in your pain for the rest of your life. Life may not always be all sunshine and rainbows but it can be colourful and bright. You just need to have the right outlook."

I groaned at Akshara's words. "Ugh. Can you just let me be miserable? I think I enjoyed that much more."

She shook her head back and forth. "Nope. Too late. No take backs! You're stuck with me for life now."

Akshara looked taken aback by her own words. She paused as she realized what she had just said. Or the impact those words may have.

"For life?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She hesitated for a second. I could see her mind working on over drive. "As a friend! As a friend." She clarified.

"As a friend?" I asked again, unsure of where I was trying to go with my own question.