Destined to be One

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Varun dropped his keys on the side table as he entered his apartment then headed straight for his room. He felt the old restlessness return back after his conversation with Alisha. It's been a while since her face had crossed his mind, yet she is never too far from his thoughts. She dropped in and out of his thoughts and dreams at a whim. It made him wonder if she ever thinks about him. He wondered what she is doing now.

He stripped out of his shirt then pinched his eyes shut to ward off his thoughts but the dam is broken and he couldn't control the memories that flashed behind his closed eyes. How many times had he wished to do things over, but life rarely gives second chances. He threw his shirt in the laundry hamper then headed for a shower.

Trying to wash away the memories under the hot water turned out to be a futile task. Giving up after twenty minutes he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his slim hips then walked out of the steamy bathroom.

His feet automatically carried him to the hidden safe in his walk-in closet. He turned the combination dial on the safe then opened it, to reach for the small box hidden at the back of the safe. Fisting the box in hand he walked out of the closet and sat on the bed.

One-carat diamond engagement ring, nestled in the soft velvet brought back bittersweet moments spent with her, especially one memorable night. Clutching the ring in his hand, he lay back on the bed and closed his eyes he recalled the last time he had seen her.

She had simply placed the ring in the middle of his palm then turned and walked away, with her head held high. There had been no complaints or accusations in her eyes or her words that she had spoken to him before she had placed the ring in his hand.

There had only been simple acceptance in her eyes. At that moment he had wished she had screamed at him, hit him, anything to make him realize that he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life by letting her walk out of his life, but may be at the time he would have only cut her more with his words. It had already been too late to take back what he had done to her. He sat up straighter and locked the ring back in the safe. He wished locking his memories somewhere in the dark recess of his mind were just as easy.

***

Niyati's excitement mounted as she took the exit to the road that led to her townhouse. The last time she had been this excited was when she had moved into the house gifted to her by her two grandmothers at the age of eighteen.

Her maternal and paternal grandmothers had been best friends for years and had dreamed of turning their friendship into a much more stronger relationship. Their dream had come true when their respective children. Niyati's mother, Sudha, and father, Manav, had agreed to an arranged marriage between them sacrificing their true love for their mothers' wishes.

Niyati's grandmothers' had ignored the fact that Sudha and Manav had been in love with other people and had no desire to marry each other.

Her parents' had done their best to make the marriage work. They each tried to forget the person they had loved and given each other a chance, but the fragile relationship broke when their respective lovers came back into their lives. In the end there was only resentment and bitterness between the two and there was nothing anyone could do to save the marriage.

When Niyati turned three her parents gave up and divorced each other. For a short period of time they had tried their best to nurture and raise her, but once they remarried their first love she became a burden on her parents'.

Their respective spouses did not like to be reminded that they were rejected the first time and preferred not to have Niyati in their home for a long periods of time, specially after their own children started arriving in the world.