The Red String

Chapter 4

Present...

Divya

Arjun and I didn't speak a word the whole day. He sat in front of me, but I burried myself deep into my work and he engaged in such deep conversation with Sarah and Josh that I don't even think he noticed my silence. Or maybe he noticed it but it gave him as much peace as it gave me. For once I found peace in not talking.

The clock struck 5:30 PM and everyone was slowly starting to leave, including Sarah and Josh. They bid their goodbyes to both Arjun and I before they left, and soon it was just us left in our quad.

"I've never seen you so quiet," he spoke, breaking the silence. So he did notice.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? Busy day." My eyes didn't leave my screen.

"Wanna hangout some time? Catch up, maybe?" He suggested.

"What's there to catch up on? I thought we were starting over." My bluntness stung me a little, and I forced myself to continue staring at my screen.

"Yeah, I said that, didn't I?" He chuckled emptily. "I don't think I can, though. I could never start over with you." It came out softly from him, but to me it felt like he screamed it in my ear. As if he read my thoughts and simply repeated them back to me.

"I think you should, though." I shut my laptop and put it in my bag, taking out my keys and putting them on the table before getting up off my chair and holding my hand out for him to shake above the divider. "Hello, Arjun, my name is Divya. Pleasure to meet you." I forced a smile onto my face as he glanced up at me then at my hand.

He took it hesitantly, standing up as well. He towered over me as he shook it, replying, "the pleasure is all mine." His words were laced with a little hurt, but I wouldn't get anywhere in life if I kept detailed notes on who sounded like what to anything I said. What needs to be said needs to be said.

I nodded and took my hand back, taking my keys and leaving after a wave goodbye. He sat back in his seat, watching me leave. I could tell his eyes followed me until I was out of his sight. I wanted to turn back and give him one last look before I left, but I stopped myself. What is this? Some sort of romance novel? And it's not like this is the last time I'm seeing him. I'll see him plenty. That can either be a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm not going to stress on it. I looked at the time once I made it to my car and my phone screen read 5:50 PM. I drove home and took a shower before cleaning the place up.

I live alone in my apartment. It's not the biggest space and for my salary, I could definitely be living in a better home, but this is all I need for now. I have a 3BHK to my name which I'm renting to a family, so the extra flow of money doesn't hurt. Of course, a lot of the rent they pay goes to mortgage, but the leftover is still good. This apartment isn't that bad anyway. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. What more could a girl ask for?

It took me a while to clean up; washing the dishes, vacuuming, dusting a bit, etc., but I'm finally done. The clock struck 6:50 and I started to get ready. Even though we're not going out anywhere, it still feels nice to dress up a little for a hangout. I know they're both going to be all dressed up, especially since Honey and I haven't seen Aayisha in 6 months. She lives in New York, working as a journalist for the New York Times. She visits usually once a year, but she had a meeting set in Arizona and managed to make the time to meet with us as well.