Aarya - The Way We Once Were

Chapter 10

The next morning Aarti got dressed in a simple brown pant suit. She tied her hair in a high ponytail and barely wore any makeup. She cleaned her wound on her forehead and applied a new set of bandages.

Aarti sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror; she failed to recognize the person standing there. Two years ago her life was picture perfect, now it's nothing but misery. She quickly finished getting ready and hailed a cab; it was going to be a long day at work.

Aarti sat at her desk when she heard Pari's voice.

"I'm so happy you're back"

Pari hugged her so tight, Aarti could feel her heart beating rapidly.

"Are you okay?"

She asked as she touched her wound and Aarti flinched a little.

"I'm okay, no need to worry"

Aarti looked at her worried friend and somehow she felt content knowing that Pari care so much about her.

"How could I not worry? You have no idea how scared I was. I thought something bad happened to you"

Pari said quietly and Aarti looked at her.

"I wish something bad had happened, Pari. I wished god had taken me away"

Ever since she found out how much her mom hates her; Aarti lost the will to live.

"Aarti"

Pari touched her and she stepped out of her daydream.

"I'm standing in front of you, alive and well"

Aarti gave her a small smile and Pari finally relaxed. For the rest of the day, all of her colleagues kept on checking on her, making sure she's okay.

Yash stepped into the office and he noticed Aarti was back. He gazed at her for a moment and time stood still. He saw the bandage on her forehead and felt uneasy; was she really going through a rough time? If so, what is really happening?

He finally snapped out of it and walked away, as Aarti caught a quick glimpse of him. She became sad as she watched him leave, he doesn't even care that she's hurt.

She recalled a time when he used to drop everything the moment she was hurt, he won't leave her side until she was all better.

"why should he care? He was the perfect boyfriend and I just pushed him away. I don't blame him for being so cold towards me"

She closed her eyes and recalled something.

"Babe, don't do this to us. Don't throw away three years of our love, without even telling me why. I love you and deep down I know you love me too"

Yash words echoed in her ears.

"I don't love you, Yash so just let it go"

"No, you're lying. You can't tell me these few years mean nothing to you, that I mean nothing to you"

Yash said once more.

"I guess not. I was only with you because of your money, nothing else"

Aarti said before walking away, leaving a devastated Yash.

"Don't ever show me your face again. I hate you"

Yash yelled from the top of his lungs.

She opened her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I was never after your money; I only lied so you would hate me"

Aarti said quietly as she wiped her tear away.

For the rest of the day, Yash was restless. He knew that he shouldn't think about Aarti but he couldn't help but wonder why there was a wound on her forehead. Did Aman do this to her, he wondered as he recalled the doctors saying that Aman is her boyfriend.

"God, I need to stop thinking about Aarti or I'll lose my freaking mind. I just need to focus on something else"

He called someone on the phone and told them to come right away.

A while later, someone stepped into the office and Aarti became surprised to see the same beautiful woman from a while ago. Aarti wondered why she's back and wonder if the rumors were true, is she really Yash fiancé?

This time Yash came out of the office and hugged the woman tightly, while making eye contact with Aarti.

"Babe, I didn't know you missed me this much"

The woman said while throwing her arms around Yash while he had his hand around her waist.

"Well, if I don't miss my fiancé, who will?"

He said loud enough for Aarti to hear. She didn't react to his words but she felt a piercing pain through her heart. Pari and the rest of the girls gasped in shock, they were right after all.

"Oh my god, I was right. Yash sir is dating Arpita Joshi"

Pari whispered as they both stepped away.

"Who is she, Pari? She's beautiful"

Another girl asked and Pari looked at them.

"She's a Victoria secret model. I can see why sir is captivated by her"

Pari paused for a moment and then continued.

"I wish he would look at me like that"

She sighed and the rest of the girls chuckled. Aarti was quiet the entire time, she just focused on her work but Pari words kept repeating in her head.

At the end of the work day, Yash called everyone into the conference room. Aarti was surprised to see Arpita sitting in Yash chair, as he leaned closer to her, discussing something. They all sat down and Aarti couldn't help but notice how Arpita kept stroking Yash arm as he sat next to her.

"Well I won't take up much of your time but I just wanted to introduced you to Arpita, my fiancé"

Yash said while Arpita held his arm tightly. Aarti was quiet through it all, she avoided eye contact with Yash.

"Next weekend is our engagement party and you're all invited"

He said while looking at Aarti but she had her head down the entire time.

"Congrats sir"

Pari finally said and then the rest of the staffs congratulated him as well.

Before they left the room, Pari approached Aarti.

"Aarti, a bunch of us are going clubbing. Would you like to join us?"

She asked. Yash heard their conversation since he was just a few feet away from them.

"Sure, where should we meet up?"

Aarti asked Pari and Yash became surprised, Aarti hates clubbing.

"Lowkey club"

Aarti nodded her head. She said bye to the girls and walked towards the exit.

"Ms. Doobay"

She heard his voice and became nervous as she turned around.

"You shouldn't do things that doesn't make you happy, just to please others"

His voice was firm but he was also concerned for her. Aarti wondered if he heard their conversation, if that's why he's saying all this.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

She still avoided eye contact with him.

"Since when do you like to go clubbing? It's not you"

He said and she finally looked him in the eyes.

"There's a first time for everything. Besides, now we have a reason to celebrate your engagement"

She said before walking away. Yash just stood there dumbfounded; does she not care that he's engaged? Once Aarti was out of Yash sight, she broke down crying. His engagement announcement really left her devastated, but she couldn't show him any sign of weakness.