Fire In Hearts

Chapter 10

Sara stood in the corner, trying to hide her emotions. Her tears were threating her to spill over and her throat was getting tightened.

Ibrahim, on the other hand, was laughing and talking with Palak. He seemed completely at ease, as if he'd found someone who shared his interests.

Kartik had already introduced Palak to Sara. Sara insisted to go home that time but he didn’t let her.

"Sara tum thik ho na?" Kartik asked again and she just nodded.

Suddenly, a group of Kartik's friends joined them, pulling him into a casual conversation.

At first, it was light and playful, but then one of them, with a sly grin, nudged Kartik and asked, "So, Kartik, You really quit car racing?"

The rest of them laughed, but the comment clearly caught Kartik off guard. He stiffened slightly, looking between his friends, unsure where this was going. Sara, who had been silently observing, felt her chest tighten. Racing? He had never mentioned anything about that.

Another friend jumped in, chuckling, "Come on, man, just admit it. You quit because of our rumoured Vhabi ji, didn’t you?" He motioned toward Sara with a wink, causing everyone to laugh again.

"Kartik..." Sara called softly.

"Sara esa kuch nahi hain...yeh baas ese hi...I used to do that"

"Fir?" she asked with hurtful expressions.

"Fir I realised life main reckless hona accha hain paar unnecessarily reckless hona thik nahi hain" he said with a smile. She knew it was her words during a conversation.

Suddenly everything felt wrong. Was she the reason he had given up something he loved? Was he not like that? She knew that it was ridiculous but she never wanted him to change for her.

Kartik noticed the shift in Sara’s expression, and guilt crept over him. He hadn’t meant for things to go this way, but his friends were relentless, and he didn’t know how to handle it. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Sara took a step back.

"Guys let me leave now....bye Kartik...bye everyone" she forced a smile.

She didn’t wait for his response. The weight of the situation pressed down on her, and all she wanted was to escape, to get away from the awkwardness and the growing pain in her chest.

As she was taking steps, she heard Kartik saying angrily,

"Tum log had karte ho...I didn’t give you guys the right to open up anything about me!"

But before he could say more, another one of his friends called out, "Aw, come on, Kartik! Don’t tell me you’re letting her take all the fun out of you! You used to be the life of the party, man and you quit everything"

Sara almost ran to her car getting inside. She felt insulted and she couldn’t afford to be humiliated by asking him about Ruchika. It was upto him then rather he wanted to tell her anything or not.

Ibrahim asked Sara the entire way to tell him what happened but she didn’t reply. She messaged vaisoha

"Kal mil sakti hain please?"

But V replied,

"Sorry yaar main to out of town hu...parso?"

Sara didn’t reply and kept the phone aside.

Kartik called her the entire night for hundred times but she didn’t receive. At last he called Ibrahim and he said that she slept just she came back home.

The morning after the party, things took a turn for the worse. Kartik’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing with notifications, and soon enough, he realized what had happened. The media had gotten hold of the rumor that Sara was his new girlfriend. They had twisted every little detail, dragging Sara’s name through the mud.

His heart clenched. He used his power to the highest level to remove all the speculations but the damage had done. He had enemies from industry and even from his business and he was sure they had done that. But Sara had nothing to do with these still she was dragged.

The media storm would settle, but he needed her to know that their bond mattered more than all the noise around them. He texted her, setting up a time to meet later in the day.

"Sara please aaj mil sakti ho...I need to meet you...please"

"Send me the time and location"

They both released a breathe that they were holding.  They knew that conversation would fix everything.

But as fate would have it, nothing ever went as planned.

Sara was about to leave the house when her mother called,

"Sara tum abhi Delhi aa jao"

"Mom abhi?"

"Tumhare papa kuch lekar bohot pareshaan hain aur na medicines na khana kuch nahi le rahe...tum aake unhe samjhao"

"Paar hua kya mom?"

"Tum aa jao beta...sab bata denge"

"Ji mom main first flight se hi Delhi aa rahi hu"

Kartik’s text chimed on her phone just as she was getting ready to leave for the airport. She hesitated for a second, reading his message:

"I can’t wait to see you, Sara. We need to talk"

Her heart clenched. She had been ready to clear the air with Kartik, to find closure or perhaps a fresh start. But now, that moment would have to wait. With a sigh, she typed back quickly:

"I’m sorry, Kartik. Something urgent came up. I’m leaving for Delhi tonight for family reasons. We’ll talk when I’m back"

Still, as he stared at the text, a part of him felt hollow. What if this distance between them grew larger with every passing day? What if they couldn’t get back to the place where they once were? His thoughts raced, but he swallowed them down, knowing Sara needed to be with her family right now.

He texted her back: "Take care, Sara. We’ll talk when you’re ready. Call me for anything you want"

The meeting they had both desperately needed didn’t happen. Sara boarded the first flight to Delhi, her mind consumed with worry for her father, while Kartik sat in his room, wondering if fate was pulling them apart before they ever had the chance to truly be together.

Sara was inside the flight when she heard a familiar voice,

"Sara...tu yaha?"

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