Gehraiyaan.

Epilogue / Chapter 48

It was almost 2.45 a.m. and Darshan Raval still had a lot left to say about his notorious childhood. But I won't complain one bit for I'd spent uncountable sleepless nights, wondering if our paths would ever cross, again.

It did, but not did we merely cross paths - but I witnessed fate merge the paths we walked on in solitude for years.

"I almost failed my 8th grade semester exams, and Dad was so mad at me - he slammed my keyboard on the floor. I can still remember how it shattered on the floor", he runs his fingers through his hair for the thousandth time on the video call, whilst working on some last-minute submissions on his laptop.

He said he had an important meeting with an international client in the morning, and Mr. Last-Minute was perfecting the presentation the night before.

"And what did you do?", I furrow my eyebrows, taking a sip of my black coffee. Literally, in the middle of the night. I'm not someone who can stay up so late, but it's the only time I can talk to him. And well, turns out he's more important than my beauty-sleep.

"What do you think I did, Madam?", he smiles a little, and takes a glance at me. "I'm pretty damn sure you did something back. I mean, you must've been a rebel since childhood", I turn over to my side, with my laptop.

"I purposefully failed the next semester's exams, and I told Dad that if he imports the same brand, same model keyboard from Germany, I might consider studying again", he reveals and I smile, shaking my head to the sides.

"If I was your dad, I would've locked you in the room and cut off your food supply for a week", I joke and we fall silent, as I watch him work on his laptop, letting out a wide, tiring yawn.

"Nivi", he calls, out of nowhere, and I don't know why but it makes my heart race in my chest. "Say something", he insists. "Say what?", I question. "Say that you love me, at least, woman", he utters, shaking his head to to sides in utter disappointment.

"Who said I love you?", I furrow my eyebrows, playfully. "You don't love me?", he gasps, dramatically, and I purse my lips in an attempt to conceal my smile to stay in character. "I'm just here for your money, and of course, your company. I'm going to marry you, brainwash you and force you to sign the papers", I smirk, evilly. "You don't have to plan so much, Madam. Just tell me and I'll close my eyes, and sign off my share onto your name", he shrugs, taking a break from his romance with his Macbook. "It's a different story that my dad would disown me, but at least I'll be disowned because I chose to respect my love for you", he dramatises and I giggle. He's so dramatic. I can never win against him when it comes to drama.

"Acha, I'm going to sleep. You should, too", I tell him and watch his expressions change within seconds, from a smile to a frown. "What? Darsh. It's too late, and you have an early morning", I scold.

"Five minutes", he negotiates. "I've been on this call for five hours, five minutes won't make a difference, Darsh", I sigh. "To me, it does", his voice softens, and what could I even say beyond this?

"Just so you'd know - there's a tomorrow, and I'll still be your girlfriend tomorrow", I smile. "And what about fulfilling my quotations of missing you today?", he questions. "Five hours of video calling isn't enough?", I cue. "Even ten hours won't be", he states back.

"I miss you so much! I can't believe we're in the same city, and we still cannot meet. I'll somehow come meet you tomorrow", he scratches his head.

"Where?", I ask him. "Your home", he shrugs. "Are you mad? Ma's going to get mad suspicious. I don't even work for you anymore. She'll probably wonder what on Earth my ex-Boss is doing at my place!", I scold him. "Well, if you tell her that your ex-Boss is your current boyfriend, things might start making sense to her. It's just what I think", he holds his hands up in the air, wearing his usual playful smile.