Canvas of Destiny

Chapter twenty-five

A little response will help a lot :)

Happy reading.

~~~

Ishika's POV

"Where have you been?" I ask Rishi, my voice firm.

After my date with Jeet that day, he asked me to stay the night with him, and I agreed. But I needed to go back to my apartment to change. When I got there, I noticed Nitiya's bedroom door was closed and assumed she was already asleep.

The next morning, when I returned to get ready for work, I heard sobbing coming from her room. And without thinking, I burst in.

She was crying, holding her swollen ankle. She had fallen and torn a ligament, as the doctor told us.

"Some urgent work came up. Bhai couldn't make it, so I went instead," Rishi says, casually flipping through a file.

"What about your phone?" I press, my tone sharp. "Why was it switched off?"

I had tried calling him while we were at the hospital, but his phone had been off, and it stayed that way until now.

He didn't show up at the office until today. I took Monday off to take care of Nitiya, but by Tuesday, she insisted I shouldn't miss work because of her. After hesitating, I finally agreed.

Rishi sighs, closing the file and looking up at me. "Are we having an interview or something? Why are you asking so many questions? I told you it was urgent, and I had to go."

"Yeah, but you could’ve at least turned on your phone to check if everything was okay here!" I exclaim, following him as he heads to his table.

"What could’ve gone so wrong that you're making such a big deal out of this?" he asks, turning to face me. "And even if it was so urgent, don't you have your boyfriend here with you?"

"I do have my boyfriend here, but Nitiya didn’t have you when she needed—"

"Nitiya can manage just fine without me—"

"Yes, she can," I snap, finally losing my patience. "But after falling down the stairs and tearing a ligament in her ankle, all she did every hour was ask if Rishi had picked up the call or come back yet."

"So yeah, she can manage without you, but she didn’t."

"Because she needed you," I say, my voice softening, "and you weren’t there."

I watch as the color drains from his face, leaving him pale. In the next second, he’s running toward the stairs, not even waiting for the lift.

Something must have happened between them after I left with Jeet that day. Rishi has never turned off his phone for four days straight—he can’t go a single day without talking to Nitiya.

But whatever’s going on, it’s high time they figure it out. Especially now, when Nitiya is hurt, both physically and emotionally.

---

"Where’s Rishi?" Ms. Patel asks as I enter the lift during lunch break. "He came to the office today, right?"

"Yeah," I nod. "I told him about Nitiya, so he went to see her right away."

She nods, and we step out of the lift and head toward the cafeteria. With Divya gone and Rishi absent for so long, Ms. Patel has insisted that we have lunch together.

"Oh, look at that," Ms. Patel whispers with amusement.

"What?" I ask, bewildered, looking at her.

"Over there—your man has some company." I follow her gaze and see a sight that isn’t exactly amusing.