SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 41

Mani:-"Are you even listening to yourself? You need to understand that was my fucking call, not yours, Abhishek. That was my choice to make! Also, why did all of this even bother you? Why did you feel obliged to take action when nobody asked you to? You and your stupid sense of pride or your ego or whatever didn't have to fuck everything up!"

Her words caught Abhishek completely off guard. He was silent for a couple of seconds, blinking a few times as her words lodged themselves in his heart painfully.

Abhi:-"Oh, so me looking out for you counts as fucking everything up now? Me caring about you means that I have too much pride? This is all my ego's fault?" he questioned incredulously, his dead and empty laughter echoing off the walls, "That's nice, manisha, real nice,"

She knew that she crossed a line she shouldn't have, she knew that she hurt Abhishek  with her overly harsh words but she was too far gone and far too wrapped up in the heat of the moment to stop and care about the damage she was causing.

Mani:-"If you really cared about me, you would never have done something like this," she fired back, so emotionally exhausted that she didn't even know what was tumbling out of her mouth anymore, "And the fact that you went ahead and told vishal everything when I specifically asked you not to...you don't really value me or my trust, do you? Do you even care about what I think or what I want...heck, do you even care about me at all?"

Abhishek's entire being faltered for a second, her statement taking him aback with the force of a thousand bricks,

abhi:-"Seriously, is that -"

Mani:-"Let me finish," you cut him off, and his eyes flashed dangerously. Both of them were learning the hard way that the line between hurt and anger had always been a thin and hazy one, "I didn't ask you to look out for me. I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself, and I can take care of myself too, thank you very much,"
Abhishek scoffed in utter disbelief, his overwhelming anger and frustration pushing him to say seething things before he could even think them through, "Yeah, that's clearly why your ex walked all over you like a fucking doormat," he spat out as he glared back at her with just as much intensity.

They say that words are like arrows, and once fired, they can't be taken back. Her face crumpled and she deflated immediately, as if someone had stabbed her with a sharp pin and let all of the air escape, leaving behind nothing but an empty, shrivelled up shell.

Realisation dawned over abhishek a moment too late and regret instantly pooled at the bottom of his stomach. He'd gone too far. He'd been blinded by his emotions and gone way too far.

Abhi:-"Shit, I shouldn't have said that, I'm -"

Mani:-"Stop," she sniffled, standing up and moving away from him so that she could create as much distance as possible between both of you, "I need to leave now," she frantically reached for her phone and her bag.

Abhishek grabbed her arm and tried to catch hold of her before she could slip out of his fingers, "manisha, listen -"
But his heart sank when she forcibly removed herself from his grip.

Mani:-"I said I need to leave!" She repeated, her voice breaking into fragments just like her will and her strength. She pushed past Abhishek and left her first fight with him before she herself broke into a million pieces in front of him too.

Abhishek POV

[21st Dec, 17:13] Abhishek♡ : i'm sorry
[21st Dec, 17:13] Abhishek♡ : i really didn't mean what i said, please believe me
[2 missed calls]
[21st Dec, 17:34] Abhishek♡ : none of that should have happened and i shouldn't have
said any of the things i said...i'm so sorry
[4 missed calls]
[21st Dec, 18:06] Abhishek ♡ : please answer the phone
[1 missed call]
[21st Dec, 18:19] Abhishek♡ : god, manisha, please
[21st Dec, 18:20] Abhishek♡ : please talk to me
[2 missed calls]
[21st Dec, 19:17] Abhishek♡ : answer my texts at least?
[21st Dec, 23:02] Abhishek♡ : good night manu, i love you

[3 missed calls]
[22nd Dec, 11:14] Abhishek♡ : i'm sorry manisha, please don't cut me off like this
[22nd Dec, 11:57] Abhishek♡ : please talk to me
[4 missed calls]
[22nd Dec, 18:09] Abhishek♡ : manisha?
[22nd Dec, 18:10] Abhishek♡ : can i come over?
[2 missed calls]
[22nd Dec, 18:34] Abhishek♡ : i'm outside your house...come outside?
[3 missed calls]
[22nd Dec, 23:12] Abhishek♡ : good night my love
[23rd Dec, 10:45] Abhishek♡ : please don't shut me out, manisha
[23rd Dec, 10:45] Abhishek♡ : believe me, i didn't mean to hurt you, i know i did but i
really honestly didn't mean to
[23rd Dec, 10:47] Abhishek♡ : it's all my fault, and i'm sorry
[2 missed calls]
[23rd Dec, 19:09] Abhishek♡ : please say something, anything
[1 missed call]
[23rd Dec, 23:32] Abhishek♡ : sleep well, i love you and i'm sorry

Karan watched Abhishek dig into the food in front of him, frowning at how he seemed to
have quickly lost the spark that had started to live in his eyes not too long ago.
Karan:-"How are you?"

He was fully aware that it was the most ridiculous question on the planet since the answer was so painfully obvious, but he needed a way to start the important conversation that they were about to have.
The corner of Abhishek's lips quirked upwards at the choice of conversation starter, but he decided to cut karan some slack. He swirled a nacho around in the pot of sour cream, carefully considering the question posed to him.

Abhi:-"Honestly? I'm not okay...I'm going through hell," he said finally, and karan's frown deepened, "manisha's completely cutting me off and I miss her so much it's actually driving me crazy,"

Karan pursed his lips, "Well, she trusted you and you betrayed her," he pointed out, hoping he'd be able to help Abhishek decrease his frustration and increase his understanding of the problem instead.

Abhi:-"She told me I didn't care about her. She told me my pride and my ego ruined everything. She reduced all my feelings for her to nothingness so easily, karan. Does that even make sense?"

Karan:-"And you told her that her ex walked over her like she was a doormat," karan deadpanned, effectively shutting Abhishek up, "Both of you said hurtful things you didn't mean...you were both way too caught up in the heat of the moment and spoke without thinking,"

Abhi:-"What am I supposed to do though? I've apologised over text but she's ignored it. I've called her but she doesn't answer and I've even gone to her house a couple of times but she refuses to see me," he said helplessly, chugging on his drink in the hope that it would provide some kind of temporary relief to all of his wounds.
Karan bit his lip, "Maybe she just needs some space -"

Abhishek scoffed, immediately cutting karan off before he could speak any further,

Abhi:-"What space? We're getting married in four days!"

Karan:-"Well, from what kritika's told me, it seems like she's just as much of a mess as you are, so you both need to resolve this and make up now,"
Abhi's heart momentarily squeezed at the thought of her hurting, but then he fully
registered what karan had just said and raised an eyebrow in question.

Abhi:-"You talk to kritika like that?" he asked, wondering when this development had occurred and how he'd missed it.
"Occasionally," karan replied nonchalantly with a casual shrug and Abhi's eyebrow
hiked up even further, "Anyway, manisha's keeping her distance from you, right?" he said, seeming eager to steer the topic of conversation away from himself, "We can't afford to let that continue. So kritika and I have an idea..."