Rainbow.

Chapter 7

TWO DAYS LATER

I was seating on the couch doing the crossword puzzle when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." I said and went to the door.

Lo and behold! There stood...

"Hey Riya!" He said with a smile.

For a moment there, I felt time freeze. I couldn't understand what was going on. Is this real? Is he really here? Am I dreaming? I am sleep walking. It has to be sleep walking. Am I still alive?

"Hey! May I come in Ree?"

No. Holy crap! This is him. This is Veer Rathore back on my door step addressing me as Ree after 12 fucking God damn years like nothing ever happened.

"Who's there Riya?" My mother shouted from inside.

"It's Veer..."

"Veer? Come in. Welcome son."

"Hello Mrs. Solanki! How are you?"

"I'm doing good. What's new with you?"

"Oh, I'm in town for a few weeks. I heard Riya's in town too so I thought I would visit her."

"It's good that you thought of that. She spends her whole day sitting in her room. You have to take her out, Veer..." She was talking to him like they were best friends.

"I'll let you kids talk. I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need anything."

"Sure Mrs. Solanki." He said flashing his pair of perfect whites.

Then he turned towards me. I was still in a shock. How could he come in here like everything was normal. As if we had parted ways on a great note and it hadn't been 12 years since we last talked.

"Ree! I missed you." He walked towards me to hug me.

I stood there still.

"I'm getting super bored staying at home Ree. Wanna go out to our spot? We could catch up on all these years."

I looked at him and that lump in my throat was back. My rainbow has come back. Things are going to be totally fine. I couldn't contain my happiness and I pulled him into a long embrace.

"Woah! What's with all the love Ree? Still haven't found a boyfriend huh? You still dream about me, don't you?" He guffawed at his own joke which, like before, didn't make any sense to me.

Even though what he said reminded me of all the terrible things he had said, I let it go. He is just joking. He always had this terrible sense of humour.

"I'm just happy to see you Veer. Thank you for coming." I smiled at him.

"Yeah... Let's go c'mon." As usual Veer Rathore dodged what I said.

But I let this go too. He is just being himself. I love this guy. He's my best friend. I can't stop him from being himself. In fact, I love him in the first place for all this.

"I'll go get dressed."

"Sure. Don't be too long. Veer Rathore doesn't wait for anyone. Especially not for girls."

I went up to my room, changed and then we went out to 'Our spot'.

Walking beside him after so many years got me nostalgic. I remembered how we used to sneak out of our houses at midnight whenever Veer felt like going out to our spot. How I used to drink his glass of milk if he asked me to. How we would celebrate his birthdays in our spot. There are so many memories to go through...

However, something inside me told me, I wasn't happy. There was something tugging at the back of my head. I couldn't understand what was missing. Why didn't I feel as happy as I used to remembering all these stuff? Why was I feeling like there was something amiss? Why was I feeling that things aren't the same and that they would never again be?

By then we had reached.

"You remember Natasha? Yeah, she turned out to be a slut. But that was long time ago. College was fun. It was all party, booze, girls, sex. But yeah, there was something missing. Rather someone." He said this and turned around to look me straight into the eyes.

I couldn't stop smiling. He had missed me all these years! Our friendship was important to him. I mattered to him.

"... I missed my Hermoine. I didn't have anyone to do my stuff for me. No one to save me from trouble. No one I could shift the blame to. I missed my little friend maid! I missed you Ree." He started laughing.

Friend-maid? What?

I couldn't understand what he just said. I was his maid? I was there so he could shift his blame?

And suddenly I stopped feeling sad. It was like a bubble bursted inside me. And I realized, our friendship was never ours, it was just mine. To him, I was just someone who would do his stuff and save his goddamned ass. And this realization didn't make me feel sad. I didn't feel the urge to break down crying. That gut wrenching constant pain that I felt in my chest was gone. It was as if a boulder had been lifted up from my chest. I felt happy again.

I guess I had started laughing because then Veer asked

"Hey? Are you alright? What're you laughing for?"

"You. I am laughing at you and for you. Oh God! You're so pathetic. I spent my entire childhood thinking you to be my best friend, doing every possible thing I could to keep you happy, getting you out of trouble, getting into trouble to get you out of it. I even pretended to go out with you so that you could get a girlfriend. That's how pathetic you're and how stupid I had been. I spent 12 years crying over something which was never even there. Our friendship never existed. It was just a one sided relationship. Not a friendship. You humiliate me, hurt me, leave me and then 12 years later show up as if nothing happened. And I being the idiot that I was, thought you were here because I mattered to you. No! You are here because you were bored. You needed entertainment. You needed me back so that I can go back to being your 'maid'. You were right Veer. You couldn't have forced me into doing anything for you. I did it because I wanted to. I did it because I had promised you that no matter what I'll stand beside you and I kept my promise till every little string in me broke. You know what? Thank you. I don't regret the time I spent, I had fun. Keeping you happy had kept me happy. And now, I have realized. Thanks Veer." I turned back smiling.

"Riya, what did you realize?"

"I've realized some people can be a part of your story, but they're just not worth writing a whole book on."

And then he was history.