Her Innocent Love

7 ~ Reality Check

Aathiya's POV

We reached home by one. We had to walk for about twenty-seven minutes since the last bus had left at 12:20. After removing our makeup and changing into comfortable clothes, we settled onto the bed.

"That guy was hitting on you so badly, Aathi," Aaru said, breaking the silence.

"I don't think so. He was hitting on all of us, hoping one of us would say yes," I replied, shrugging.

"Oh please, he danced with you, took pictures of you, and even directed your poses. My goodness, how sweet is that?"

"What sweet? As you said, he was hitting on me. Whatever he was doing was to impress us with how good of a man he is. If he succeeded in his plan, we would see his true self, which would be utterly disappointing."

"And why is that?"

"Because he's a man. That's what men do. They pretend to be something they're not, and once you give your heart to them, they show you their true colors. They make you beg for the tiny amount of affection you deserve."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Aathi. One bad experience shouldn't dictate your mindset for life. Everyone is not the same as him."

"Let's leave it at that. Why are we even discussing this? The event is over, and it's not like I'm going to meet him again. You have work in the morning, and I need to visit some homes to finalize one. Let's sleep. It's already late."

"True. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." We drifted to sleep.

I woke up late the next morning. I checked my phone and saw a notification from Snapchat. Reyansh Takhtani added you as a friend. What a surname; it sounds like a brand name. I chose not to open Snapchat. With only one class today, I could easily go house hunting. The phone could wait. I saw almost five homes, but none matched the photos posted on Kijiji. When I visited the fifth home, my phone died.

"What the hell, Babaji? Is this the time to mess things up? How will I get back without maps?" I requested the owner of the house to charge my phone, and thank God, he allowed me. It was so embarrassing. I couldn't find a place today. While coming back, I saw another ad on Kijiji, posted just five minutes earlier. I immediately texted to arrange a visit for tomorrow since I was getting late for my class.

I came home looking for Aaru. She should have been home by now. I texted her, "Where are you?"

After twenty minutes, she replied, "At work."

"Why? It's late."

"Will explain everything when I come home. Ttyl."

What had happened to her? I started feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Damn, I hadn't eaten anything. But I had a class in one minute. I took the laptop to the kitchen and started cooking. I couldn't stand. If I skip one meal, my blood pressure drops, my body heats up, and I collapse. I feel it coming about a minute before. I put the roti on the pan and was about to flip it when I felt my breakdown coming. I left the roti, turned off the gas, and rushed to my room. I only made it to the couch before collapsing, my head spinning and my body radiating immense heat. I tried to calm down, but nothing helped. I lay there for fifteen minutes, then slowly took the water bottle from the table and sipped it. After about half an hour, I regained my senses. I went to the kitchen, and seeing the burnt roti, I felt like crying. Why am I like this? I can't do a single thing right. Aaru must be coming home soon; I should focus on food. I ate while watching a Pakistani drama, and when I went to clean up, I saw Aaru coming in with a furious face.

"Hey, you're back. What took you so long?"

"The manager resigned."

"Whattt? When, why?"