Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

2.23 | Gone + Say Something

Posted on June 20th, 2017 | Edited on November 28th, 2018

| . . . C H A P T E R - 23.1 : G O N E . . . |

The next day, I woke up to have him gone. Given the morning rays shone through the window, I was able to take a look around. I was surprised when at the side table, I found a photo frame... with my picture. I couldn't even remember when that picture could have been taken. Sometime during college time for sure, but I couldn't remember the particular day or if I even owned the clothes I was wearing in this picture.

This was the picture Aarav must have meant when we first met. It had to be. He is doing this... and yet keeps a picture of me in this room where he doesn't let anyone enter? He keeps me hidden... he keeps his feelings for me so well hidden.

By the end of the day, I was close to having a breakdown. I had no idea why Arnav was behaving like this. He wasn't talking to me. He didn't answer to any of my messages. He stayed in his office the whole day and no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't find an excuse to just go up and talk to him. not sure I could have anyway. The whole day, people kept coming in and out of his cabin as if he was overworking them, sending them out every few minutes to fix something. It seemed today, he chose to review every department files and get on everyone's cases and make their life difficult because his was difficult.

He even stayed in the office after work hours and the driver told me that he had asked him to take me home. When I had asked, the driver assured me that Arnav worked after hours many times so I didn't have to worry about it.

But I knew that it wasn't work; he was avoiding me. Arnav hadn't returned by dinner. He wasn't even back home when Anjali had said she was going to sleep and I should too. I was surprised to see Anjali wasn't concerned by Arnav not being home. I wondered if it was normal for Arnav to not come home till this late. The month of staying with him, he was always home after work unless there was a dinner meeting or business party he had to attend.

Even in the room, I couldn't go to sleep thinking Arnav wasn't home because of something I had said. I fell asleep eventually trying to stay up till he returned.

When I woke up the next morning, he wasn't in his room. I went down the stairs hoping to see him at the dining table having breakfast. He wasn't. My unasked question was answered when Anjali informed, "Arnav had an early meeting."

I gave a small smile in response as I ate breakfast. Atleast he had returned home for the night. That gave me some assurance, not a lot. The rest of the day, I hoped to get a glimpse of him if he would get out of his cabin, but he didn't.

The rest of the week went by the same. I would wait for him but eventually go to sleep not being able to stay up that long with my tired eyes and body from the day's work. When I would wake up, he wouldn't be there. I didn't know if it would be alright to ask Anjali without getting her concerned about him. For most of the hours at office, he wouldn't be in his cabin. He was always in one meeting or the other.

Come Friday, I couldn't take it anymore. I thought atleast I should have the right to know what I'd said that was so wrong. I picked up a file and climbed up the stairs towards his cabin. The file was only for others to see if they saw me going up. But, when I walked in the door, I saw he wasn't there. My heart sank as I returned to my desk.

That evening when it was time to return home, I didn't leave. I informed the driver that I had work, so I'd be working late. When he said he would wait, I ordered him to go home. Even though he looked like he didn't want to, he did.

I went up to his cabin and sat down on the couch. I had no pending work to catch up on. I just wanted to be somewhere where no one was. Somewhere I could feel his familiarity. I wanted a peace of mind. The whole week, I had been trying to look for reasons and figure out why he was avoiding me and what the reason could be behind his breakdown.