Falling Softly

TRUST

Aaryan's POV

Used to be best friends, huh? Anxious thoughts surrounded me as I looked at Viraj. I had never heard of him before; what could be the reason behind it? I faked a smile as I shook hands with him. He leaned in and sat next to her, which boiled my blood.

She immediately stood up and closed the lunch box as she finished. She excused herself and went to the restroom. Oh boy, what am I going to talk about with him? I don't even want to, to be honest.

"More than best friends," he broke the silence. I felt numb at that moment. I had to ask him again.

"Sorry?" I exclaimed, wanting to hear what exactly he was trying to say.

He shrugged. "When she said we used to be best friends, I would say definitely more than that."

What the hell does this guy want? Were they more than best friends? No, that can't be true. She told me she didn't have a boyfriend, but what about her past? She never told me she never had a boyfriend.

Those words came at me like arrows. One thing is that people have pasts. I don't care if someone has been in a relationship in the past. That doesn't bother me much. But him being there at that moment with her... It felt strange to me. I didn't want to indulge in any conversation with him. Before we could exchange any more words, Kavya came back with a smile on her face.

She came to the table, and our eyes met. It felt like she didn't want to be there either.

"My break is about to get over, so we might get going," she said with a soft smile to Viraj.

"Nice meeting you," he stood up and we shook hands again. Then he turned towards her, "Can't wait to see you again sometime. I often visit this area," his lips curled up in a grin.

The audacity! What does this guy want? Like, seriously. Why are you planning to meet in the future? It was clear that he had intentions to carry forward whatever relationship he had with her in the past. It seemed like they must have ended on a good note to be able to talk this politely with each other. I have always seen in TV shows that exes don't get along. Is he still hung up on her? Wait a minute, they are in the past, right?

Should I just step in and yell at him to stay away from my girl or would that be too aggressive? Will I come off as insecure? I normally do not indulge in fights, even if it's verbal. However, she can handle her things and I do trust her. I can trust her, right? The question lingered in my mind.

In a fraction of a second, my wild mind went ahead and lingered with thousands of thoughts. The train of thoughts finally came to an end when she spoke.

"Sure."

Sureee... I yelled in my mind. I gave her a look, but she was busy looking at him. As we walked outside, I wondered what was going on in her mind. I clearly need some answers here. What bomb just dropped on me? What do you mean by "sure"? Do you mean like sure, in a nonchalant way, like okay, whatever, I don't want to be rude? Or do you mean like sure, we can meet again, it's been a long time, I have missed you? Oh my god, what am I thinking...

"Aaryan," I heard her. I got busy thinking and didn't notice we reached the entrance of the building. I came back to my senses.

"Are you okay?" Her concerned voice reached me.

"Yeah... yeah, I will pick Rahul up. See you tonight." I faked a smile for the first time at her as she entered the building.

I looked at the clock, and I still had an hour to kill. I had to talk to someone. I picked up the phone and dialed Nishit. He was at the office, of course. I took my bike and reached there. I messaged him to meet me at our usual place where we used to hang out during lunchtime.

I stood there on the ninth-floor balcony, a large balcony. The ninth floor used to be empty anyway, so we used to hang out there during lunchtime. The view was impeccable from there, but I wasn't in the mood to enjoy it. I rested my hands on the railing and leaned on it as I looked down at the road and other buildings. The influx of thoughts made me mad. The feeling that I never had in my life before, the uncertainty, the question of whether it was all lies that I have been living since our marriage.

When I looked to the left, I saw Nishit. Lost in thoughts, I didn't realize when he came.

"Want one?" Nishit stood beside me and offered me a cigarette. I never had it, nor had any intention to. I shook my head in no.

"What happened?" He questioned, as he blew smoke into the air through his nostrils and mouth.

"Do you think Natasha would cheat on you?" I asked.

He coughed, almost choked on a cigarette. In a concerned voice, he continued, "What? Oh man." He looked at the sky, shook his head. It seemed like someone threw a bowl of unhappiness on him as the spark of his face disappeared. "Here I am," he almost screamed, "like an idiot rotting my a*ss in the office, and she..." he shook his head, "tell me who he is? Who did she cheat on me with?" He went emotional and laughed sadly. "I thought you wanted to talk about your life, man. I didn't know you were coming to give me this tragic news... tell me, who is he?"

"Wait... wait... I was just asking hypothetically." It escalated as he threw away his cigarette.

"Have you lost your mind? I almost had a heart attack." He looked relieved.

"So... hypothetically..." I continued.

"I don't think she would cheat on me. Why are you asking such silly questions?" He looked puzzled.

"Does she have male best friends?" I inquired hesitantly.

"Alright, cut to the chase... what's going on?" He knew something was up. I couldn't beat around the bush anymore. I had to explain everything to him, and I did that in the next few minutes.

"I think you are overthinking it." He leaned on the wall, looking at the view. "You need to relax, you're worrying about nothing." He patted my shoulder. He came closer to me, "my guy, just talk to her, clear things out if you want to know more." He gave me the simplest advice.

"Look..." He placed his hand on my shoulder as we faced each other. "Do you trust her?" His words fell on me in slow motion as my mind wandered.

Do I trust her? The question lingered. I looked at the sky as I took a few heavy breaths. When I blinked, I recalled every single memory I created with her. In another blink, I witnessed her innocent smile-her efforts, her support, her willingness, her wish.

"YES," I SPOKE.

"Then you got nothing to worry about." He immediately tapped my shoulder and prepared to leave. "See you around," he called out as he exited towards the stairs.

Thank you for reading, Can I TRUST you? to add star