Love's Strange Ways *COMPLETED*

Chapter 12

Vishal returned to their table and seated himself. Shreya smiled and Vishal couldn't help reciprocating her dazzling smile.

"So, umm..." Vishal was trying to start a conversation with Shreya when a waiter arrived with their cappuccinos.

There was another long silence after the waiter left as they sipped on their cappuccinos.

"So how has your week been?" Vishal finally broke the silence.

"It was okay. Just busy. How was it for you?"

"Umm... as usual. Nothing special." Vishal frowned a bit as he realized that he had nothing to say to her. The lady seated before me would probably be my future wife. Though I had been speaking to Darling daily, I had always had something to talk to her about. But why wasn't I able to talk to Shreya like that? Certainly, Shreya is the one I should be talking to without any qualms.

"Okay."

"Shreya, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Shreya hesitated. Personal question? What could it be? Despite her uncertainty, Shreya flashed a smile and answered, "Sure."

"Have you ever been in love with anyone before?"

Shreya froze; she had not been expecting that question. Before she could stop it, her eyes glistened with incipient tears for a moment. Shreya shifted her gaze to the wall on her left abruptly, trying to fight back her tears before they spilled. Yes, I am weak. But that is not for everyone to know. I can't let him see my tears. In an instant, she was as composed as before. Shreya forced a smile and glanced back at Vishal, as she replied, "Yeah, once."

"Oh, then what happened?"

"Nothing. It just didn't work out."

Vishal hesitated before inquiring further, "Did he leave you or you left him?"

Shreya smiled a bit again, emotionlessly. "I don't know."

"Oh." Vishal paused. "How was he? What kind of a person?"

"He's a great guy. Please don't ask me anything else about him."

"Okay. I think you really loved him. He's very unlucky to have lost you."

"I don't know; I don't think he's unlucky because he lost me. But I'm sure he will forget me and find someone else for himself soon after that."

Vishal smiled. "So, it was just that one guy who won your heart? No one else?"

"No. Why do you think there might be more guys like that?"

"Just guessed. You're a beauty queen, right? I thought many guys would have tried hitting on you."

"Yeah, there were. But none of them could win my heart. They either ended up becoming my friends or left after calling me arrogant for turning them down."

"Oh, okay."

"Only one guy was able to win my heart; won't you ask me who he was?"

Shreya's heart was beating rapidly inside her chest. What am I doing? This is not according to my plan. I had never expected that Vishal would ask me such questions today. But now that he had asked, I felt an urge to put a stop to my revenge without hurting him even a bit. An urge to tell him the truth. The truth that I was his Darling. The truth that I had loved him before, only to be shattered by his rejection.

He might hate me if he knows the truth. But he should know just how much his actions hurt me. I know he will never belong to me again anyway. So, we might as well get over with it today. But only if he asks me what I want him to ask me now. If he actually asks me who the guy was, I will surely tell him the truth right away. If not, I don't know... I might just return to my plan....