Broken (Wattys2016)

CHAPTER 22

The next day when Aarav woke up, he knew what he had to do. It was just six in the morning and Raima was still sleeping beside him. He took his phone from the bedside table and walked out of the room into the small balcony. He dialled a very familiar number and pressed his phone to his ear as the call got connected and he waited for someone to answer the call.

"Hello?" The person picked up the phone after the fourth ring.

"Hi Priyansh."

"What's it Aarav?" Priyansh asked in a low yet upset tone.

"I – I..." Aarav was saying but trailed off. He was so at a loss of words.

"Can you stop stammering and make it fast?"

"Is Jay in Hawaii?" Aarav finally asked after taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, he is. Why would you be asking me that?"

"Do you know in which hotel are they staying? I want to meet him."

"Halekulani Hotel. You are just welcoming your death by going there. It's not like I care though." Priyansh said and Aarav smiled sadly. He knew he deserved this for what he had done so far, he knew he deserved worst for still being able to stand up for himself and what he loved.

"Start preparing for my funeral then, Priyansh." He said and the line went silent. Both of them didn't speak for a minute.

"Why do you want to meet Jay now? You can meet him once you return home before the divorce."

"I want to tell him everything." Aarav said he looked out at the beach where the sun had started to rise out of its horizon.

"Aaliya told him everything already."

"Aaliya told him what she knew and saw, it's my turn to tell him my story." Aarav said and sighed.

"Nothing can justify what you did." Priyansh said sternly.

"I know that, but I need to open up. I need to know if I'm even doing the right thing by getting this divorce because I think I'm not."

"Go meet Jay then." Priyansh said finally after a couple of seconds and the line again turned silent. For a minute Priyansh thought that Aarav had hung up on him but when he checked, he was still on the line.

"How is Ally?" Aarav finally asked.

"Much better than yesterday. She looks genuinely happy today, not the way she used to be earlier but she's improving. She's moving on definitely." Priyansh said.

"I think I'll talk to you later, thanks again Priyansh. Bye." He said and hung up before Priyansh could say anything.

Aaliya was moving on.

He went to the en-suite to freshen up and get ready for a long day. He knew this was going to be one of the toughest days of his life. It was around seven that Raima woke up just to find Aarav all ready for the day.

"We are not leaving before ten, Aarav then why are you all ready?" Raima asked raising an eyebrow.

One of the reasons that Raima had forced Aarav to come to Hawaii was so that she could meet her elder sister who was living with her husband. She had asked Aarav on the plane itself if he would come with her to visit her sister and maybe stay with them for a day or two, to which he had agreed. But now, he had different plans.

"Uh Raima, I need to go somewhere." Aarav said and Raima blankly looked at him for a minute.

"Where?"

"A friend of mine is in Hawaii and I need to meet him. I'm sorry." Aarav said rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's okay, we can go tomorrow."