MY AVERAGE LIFE

Part 45

Sharath Pov:

As soon as she hung up, I asked, "What happened?"

"Jyothi and Swathi want to meet me in an hour at Good Vibes Only Café," she replied.

"Shivani, can I ask you something? and i want u to tell me the truth" I said.

"Sharath, you can ask me anything, just like I can with you. and i promise i will be honest with u"

"What did your friends say to you at the resort that day?" I asked.

She frowned. "I already told you, didn't I?"

"You gave me a brief summary, but you never told me exactly what they said. I really want to know," I said, holding her hands.

She stared at our joined hands for a few seconds before saying, "It's already over, Sharath, and anyway—"

"Don't you trust me, Shivani?" I interrupted.

"I do trust you, but... okay," she finally said, and then continued telling me what had happened that day.

I was so angry at her friends. How could they say such hurtful things to her? And my sweet Shivani thinks she deserves it. Even though I'm a little jealous of her first love, this wasn't the time to show it. so, I let it slide for now. She was holding back tears, so I immediately cupped her face and said, "You know what they said isn't true."

"It is true, Sharath. I don't know how to show affection, and I ruin the mood. You saw it happen earlier."

I chuckled. "Do you really think you ruined the moment? It was the phone call that interrupted us. Otherwise, we would've kept going."

She lowered her eyes shyly, and I made her look at me before saying, "It's not that you don't know how; you're just not comfortable yet. I'll help you feel comfortable with me, so you won't need to hide your emotions. It's us against the world baby, okay? And from now on, I want you to tell me the details, not just the brief version if something like this happens again."

She nodded cutely. My cutie pie.

"I have to get ready," she said.

"I'm coming with you," I responded.

"Huh?"

"Did you really think I'd let you go alone after knowing everything?" I teased.

"But—"

"Nope, no compromise on this babby. Go get ready, or we'll be late."

She left to get ready. Ten minutes later, she came back wearing black jeans and a brown crop top with a high ponytail, minimal makeup—just mascara and lipstick. With a sister who's into makeup, you tend to learn a lot of product names. But even with that simple look, she was both hot and cute at the same time. I couldn't help myself and hugged her. She hugged me back. Ahh, I could stay like this forever.

"Sharath, we'll be late," she reminded me.

I nodded but didn't let go.

"Is Mr. Sharath being clingy?" she teased.

"Yes. Does Ms. Shivani not like that?" I teased back with a smirk.

"I don't like getting clingy," she said, and I felt a bit sad, thinking maybe she needed more time to get comfortable. I was about to let go, but she hugged me tightly.

"But if it's you, it feels nice. Still, we need to go now," she said, pulling back from the hug, but I held her a little tighter to hide my grin.

We finally made it to the car after like a whole 10 minutes. The whole ride, I was holding her hand. I used to cringe at this stuff before, but now I couldn't help myself.

When we reached the café, her friends were already there. They looked shocked to see me but didn't say anything. I pulled out the chair for Shivani and sat beside her.

"Came straight from the office?" Jyothi asked.

"No, from her home," I replied.

Her friends looked confused. "Why were you at her house?" Swathi asked.

I stared at her, remembering the harsh words she'd said to Shivani. I think Shivani noticed, because she squeezed my hand under the table, calming me down.

"What do you want to talk about?" Shivani asked Jyothi, completely ignoring Swathi. My girl is so good at it that I just want to kiss her right now, but as usual, i controlled it. And u are right that's exactly the disappointment in my voice. If her friends didn't call, i would have kissed her. hump!!

"Nothing, we just wanted to meet you," Jyothi said. I stayed silent because Shivani was holding my hand; otherwise, I'd have spoken up.

"Since that's all, I'm leaving," Shivani said.

"Don't you want to talk to us? Forget Swathi—don't you want to talk to me?" Jyothi asked.

"When I wanted to talk, you weren't there. Now, I have nothing to say. If you have something, go ahead, or we're leaving."

"My engagement date is set. It's next Saturday. So, I planning a three-day stay in the house before the engagement, Will you come?"

"Congratulations. Send my regards to Siddhu," Shivani said calmly.

"So, will you come?"

"No, but i will be on there on engagement day"

"Are you still mad that I stayed by Swathi's side?"

"I never asked you to pick a side, but you did anyway."

"I wanted to talk to you, but Swathi's sensitive, so I stayed by her side. I knew you could handle it."

I couldn't take it anymore. I knew how much it had hurt Shivani when she tried to reach out to her friends and got nothing in return. She was keeping a neutral expression, but I knew she was feeling hurt.

"Just because she can handle it doesn't mean she should handle it alone," I said.

"Sharath," Shivani warned me.

"Either you say something, or I will," I told her.

"There's nothing left to say," she replied.

"What do you mean, 'nothing left'? Don't you want to be friends anymore over something so small?" Jyothi asked.

"If it's such a small issue, then why are you feeling guilty about it?" Shivani shot back. "You might not know me that well, but I can read your intentions. You're hoping we'll just sweep this under the rug and go back to how things were. But you're wrong. I thought you knew me better than that. Let's go, Sharath," she said.

As we were about to leave, Jyothi blurted, "Swathi's back with Akhil."

Shivani looked at Swathi but didn't say anything.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Jyothi asked.

"There's nothing I can say that'll change her mind," Shivani replied.

"That's why you're single," Swathi said. The audacity! of this bitch!!

"Who said she's single? She's my fiancée," I snapped.

"Don't lie. We know you just said that to help her out that day. You two just have a boss-employee relationship, it's u who likes her and u just grabbed the chance " Swathi said with full of confidence.

I raised an eyebrow. "So much faith in your friend, huh? Well, it's true. Unlike you guys, Shivani never lied or abandoned you when you needed her. And just so you know, I proposed today and she said, and you two interrupted our moment."

"You're lying. Where's the ring, then?" Swathi demanded.

"She's not insecure like some people. She said she wanted to wait, and I respect that. If it were up to me, I'd marry her today and yeah she said Yes to be mine," I said 

"Sharath," Shivani warned me.

"What? It's true! You said you wanted time, and I'm giving you that. But whenever you're ready, just let me know. We'll get married as soon as possible, and I'll give you the grand wedding you deserve."