The Dead Officer's Truth OR Facet. ONGOING

Part 54 - Conversations

Part 54 

FEW DAYS LATER 

THIRD PERSON POV 

As the golden rays of the late afternoon sun filters through the curtains, Sasha & Ariya's home buzzes with an air of excitement. The atmosphere is charged with a delightful urgency as the couples embark on a spontaneous adventure: a last-minute, whirlwind birthday bash for Ayesha, as her husband wanted to celebrate his wife's first birthday after their wedding in a much more exciting way. Which is why Riya, is now orchestrating the transformation of the living room into a mesmerizing wonderland of twinkling lights, colorful streamers, and an array of tantalizing treats. 

Arjun, despite his usual suave yet cold demeanor, has taken the responsibility to converse with Chandini to make sure that the food is amazing with Chotu's help along with ensuring that the food gets definitely approved by his hygiene obsessed wife.  

While Sameer has taken Ayesha out for some shopping before the party, Shree and Liza have taken charge of coordinating the playlist, ensuring that every beat compels the guests to tap their feet. Amidst the laughter and the occasional squabble over the perfect party playlist, they managed to turn their modest living space into a captivating realm of celebration. 

While making arrangements for the party, Arjun and Riya locked eyes for a brief second only for the couple to smile awkwardly at each other. As time went by, with their family and friends present there, helped around while asking them very common questions make them reflect on the situation they are in. 

Realization hits both Arjun and Riya that not only they are pretending but they now actually have found themselves playing their part as a couple and host of the house not only in front of their families but for mundane activities like grocery shopping, Along with their initial tunning while working together, their unspoken understanding have gotten better now that they have been spending much more time together and have gotten closer, which is also why their charade have gone beyond their control, and they have to navigate this strange predicament together. 

As time passed, the boundaries between their real and fabricated lives began to blur oblivious to themselves. They have discovered unexpected moments of genuine connection, shared laughter, and even support during challenging times.  

Even though deep down their hearts, they know for a fact that eventually, the day will come when they will no longer bear the burden of their prolonged charade. They will have to summon the courage to reveal the truth to their families and break the dreams and hopes of Ariya being a couple till the end. 

With only minutes to go before the party is set to begin, Arjun found himself retrieving a stack of official documents from his office suitcase which he had initially thrown on the sofa. Grabbing the suitcase as well as the papers fallen out, Arjun walks to his room to keep the same away to look at latter. 

To not misplace the papers as well as being in a hurry, Arjun decides to put the bag and papers in one of the drawers in the room frequently used by Riya to keep her incomplete paperwork.   

As he goes through the meticulously organized files, his brow furrows as Arjun's fingers brushes against an envelope.  Unexpectedly, his eyes locks onto that envelope that seems out of place among the sea of paperwork. Curiosity piques, he reaches for it, the crinkle of the paper breaking the rhythm of his heartbeats. Confusion and curiosity mingles within him, prompting him to open the envelope, unaware that he's about to discover something that would shake the foundation of his trust.