A Business Deal [MxM]

Chapter 20: Dhruv

A year later, I return to India upon receiving a wedding invite. It is from the person I befriended over the past year. Yashika. It feels weird to be present at her wedding after all that happened a year ago. I don't necessarily find myself in the condition to be able to face them all. With what face do I show up? If it's her wedding, India's biggest conglomerates would be attending. Discussions surrounding me would be inevitable. My so-called disappearance from India would demand answers.

Having informed Yashika that I would not make it for any functions other than the wedding itself, I prepare myself. I need great courage to see everything that would be happening in front of me. 

As Mayank drives me to the location, he looks at me through the rear view mirror. "Are you sure you want to go? Call in sick if you want to. You spent a year organizing your thoughts and now..."

"I can't avoid the reality forever. Let me face it. I can't avoid him..." I sigh.

I meet Yashika in her dressing room. She makes a beautiful bride. She beams upon seeing me. "You came.", she says as if she doubted my promise.

"I had to. I made a promise to you. I am returning after a year."

"You didn't have to run away like that."

"It worked out the best. Everyone's is a good place. Exactly where they're supposed to be. You. I. Van..." I stop midway. Embarrassed, I look away.

"Matters of the heart cannot be resolved by running away, Dhruv. You have to face them."

I look at her and smile. I leave her to be when I hear voices approaching.

For the entire duration, I remove myself to a corner where there's a lesser probability of me being spotted. I scan the crowd for him. I spot him near the stage. I look away. I stop the waiter serving champagne and take a glass, only to gulp it down. He stares at me wide-eyed. I take another glass and stand there. Consciousness won't help me today, I'll need alcohol to get through this event. Perhaps another hour or two and I would leave. I now see the prying eyes, but nobody approaches me with their questions. Whether I should be grateful, or disconcerted, I don't know. They might not know anything about me. Or they might know everything about me. Anyways, I choose to ignore them.

Someone comes and stands next to me as I process the people around me. My heart races. I don't need to look at the face of the person. The presence is enough to tell me who it is.

"How have you been?", Vansh asks me, most nonchalantly. This tone of his is not what I am used to. It brings back memories of Jagat and Tara's sangeet when I came forward to talk to him. His voice was equally cold back then, but later, as he warmed up, he sounded very different to my ears.

"Good. Better than I expected."

"Found someone?"

"Myself."

He smiles as he looks at me. I finally muster up enough courage to look at him and smile back. "I missed you."

"When Yashika told me she was getting married, I thought it was you."

"We ended things. I found closure with her, but not with you."

I chuckle and look away.

"Did you find closure? Or someone else?", he asks me.

A very valid question, I think. Do I say yes? Do I say no? Having spent a year trying to get him out of my head was in vain. Numerous times, I found my conviction wavering. My reasons could no longer substantiate my stance and my choices. I was wavering more than I could handle. As I travelled across Europe for business, I met different men. I went as far as kissing them, but could never go beyond that. Vansh popped up in my head like an uninvited guest. Every single time. Inevitably. I could not push him out no matter what I tried doing. I got drunk on two occasions, got naked, and just when I was about to do it, I felt his skin against mine. I left, just  like that.