𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞

𝟒𝟎. 𝐖𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞

AUTHOR's PoV
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1:45 A.M.

"Atharv, it's all over the news man. She knows it bro, she definitely knows it by now. What are you thinking? Say something for God's sake bhai!"

Ahaan's panicked voice rings in Atharv's gym as he paces back and forth, holidng an iPad in his hand, that displays the news articles and the Instagram posts of Atharv's and Geetanjali's so-called date.

Atharv sits there, staring into a void, his mind still, and mouth quiet, he looks like as if he's thinking something very deeply.

"Pick her up. Call her, bring her here to me, we need to talk." Finally, after what feels like a decade to Ahaan, Atharv commands him to pick Evara up from her residence.

"Do you think thats best idea? To drag her here, so you, the King, can talk to her? Man you should be in front of her right now, on your knees, apologizing to her!" Ahaan yells.

"Ahaan, I really wish it would be that easy for me, but I can't waltz into her house like that. Her parents are over. I don't want to make this more difficult for her. Please help me man. Please bring her here."

A part in Ahaan stands there shooketh, witnessing something that he has never seen before: an emotional, vulnerable Atharv.

He simply stands there for a few minutes, staring at Atharv, who sits there, almost on the verge of crying and breaking down.

"I'll get her." Thats all Ahaan says, before striding out of the gym, grabbing his car keys.

One hand on the steering wheel, while other dialing Evara's cell, Ahaan's brain multitasks amid the dilemma. He calls Evara, not once, not twice, not even thrice, but more than 6 times.

But every single call goes straight to voicemail as Evara refuses to pick any. Without giving up, Ahaan calls once again. This time, Evara finally picks up the call, her voice muffled on the other end, almost coming out in breaks, as she responds. "Evara, please calm down. Atharv needs to see you, I am coming to pick you up, please be ready and walk upto the back street, bring Inder along with you, don't come alone please."

"I don't want to see him." Hears Ahaan from the other line of the call. "Evara please. Just talk it out, you don't need to suffer. Please. He can explain everything."

"Okay. Let's see what excuses your friend has prepared this time." Evara hangs up as the line goes dead.

Ahaan sighs and speeds his car.

In a matter of few minutes, Ahaan reaches the destined spot and picks Evara up. She sits obediently in the backseat of the car, her face expressionless. Ahaan decides to not say anything and simply drives off.

5 HOURS AGO..

Evara stands there, in the middle of the staircase, her phone lays flat on the floor, that slipped moments ago from her hands. Her vision blurs from tears pooling in her eyes. All she could hear are the faint buzzes from the background. "Evara beta, come down sweety." says her parents, but their daughter stands there, frozen in a world that has just shattered beneath her feet.

She is standing, yet she is falling.

"Evara." One final call from her mother's mouth, pushes Evara right back into reality. She quickly collects herself, wipes the tears that her eyes carried, shrugs off the weight her shoulders bore.

Evara quickly manages to put on a fake mask on her face, a mask of fake happiness, a mask that looks like she is happy on the outside, yet she was all empty on the inside.