Love Is...

40. Failure

CHAPTER – 40 (Yup, you guessed it right - Unedited)

LOVE IS... FAILURE

'Most relationships fail because one person was being loved too much, and the other wasn't being loved enough.'

Almost every living being on this planet has one particular bad habit in common; a self destructive habit – not in the physical sense, but a habit that leaves us hurt, misunderstood, and make us realize that what a grave mistake we had done by keeping that habit. Post that realization, we resolve to stay away from that stupid habit, only to end up going back to it and repeating the awful cycle.

And that terrible habit is that of keeping expectations from other people.

True to the spirit of a writer and an avid reader, I had pictured the various possible outcomes of this scenario in my head multiple times. I knew how I was going to handle Ashton once I had told him about leaving the city.

The best scenario in my head was that after getting hurt and angry in the beginning, he would understand what an amazing opportunity has landed in my lap and how I should not let it go. He would magically fall in love with me and tell me, that he would wait for me. Or he would just come along with me as if he doesn't have a life of his own. Just like some freakishly cute cliché.

The worst case scenario that I had expected was for him to clench his jaw, bang the table, get angry at me, yell at me, and then leave my apartment in complete frustration of being lied to. I would have understood him completely.

So, with all my patience intact, I waited for him to reply in any of the manners I expected him to.

I watched as his expressions didn't alter even a bit as if I hadn't just given him some big news. He looked at me as if waiting for me to continue, but other than that, his expressions didn't give away anything. There was no trace of hurt, or disappointment, or surprise, or shock. Nothing at all.

When I didn't say anything to explain myself as I was too busy in observing his handsome features for any give away of his moods, he finally decided to open his mouth. "Yup. I know."

"Um... what?" I asked the question with which I had expected him to reply to my confession.

"I said, I know that you're going away in a few days," he answered with an air of nonchalance around him, which left me visibly flabbergasted.

"H-how?" I managed to ask in a whisper.

He rolled his eyes at me, ignoring the state of shock I was in, and shrugged. "Dylan told me a few days back. It's good that you accepted the offer though." He winked at me, showing his playful mood, but my mood wasn't ready to cooperate with him. I was anything but playful.

"Oh." I mumbled, suddenly feeling embarrassed about making a huge deal about this news.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Is that all you wanted to tell me?" Surprised and hurt at his attitude, I merely nodded. He smiled his dazzling smile and I cursed myself for noticing his striking features even in the state that I was in. "You are an idiot, Liana."

I couldn't smile in response. This wasn't how I expected today to turn out to be. Just a few moments ago, I was ready to handle the ever so moody Ashton Parker. I could calm his anger with a hug and a kiss. I could be happy and smiling with him, had he been happy for me. I could make him understand my point, had he been hurt because of my decision. But I couldn't handle his indifference.