The Stigma Called Love

Chapter 78 - Please Don't Go

Aparna's back collided with his chest and instantly she felt his arms going around her midriff. As he nuzzled his nose at the back of her neck, tell-tale sensations zipped through her. She turned and encircled her arms around his neck and pulled him to her.

"Please don't go," she pleaded.

"I am not till you don't let go," she heard him say as he placed small kisses on her shoulder.

Aparna whimpered trying to hold on to the little bit of sense still left in her but the more his lips brushed across her shoulder blades, the more her control kept slipping. In the end, he won and she turned her head towards his mouth and instantly it landed on hers.

Hungrily, she kissed him back, biting and licking his lips, trying her best to sear hers with his taste. As she felt him pulling her more into his body, she fused her mouth more onto his until she could no longer breathe. But still, she did not let him go. Her hands rested on his heart and the only thing she heard was her name.

As wild sensations took over her body, her mouth slanted towards his cheek. Her tongue snaked out and she tiptoed to kiss his forehead when suddenly she saw the red mark across his brow. As her desire-fused mind recognised it, everything came back in a flash and immediately she let go.

Aparna stumbled back as tears streamed down her eyes.

"Please go."

"Why? Don't you want me?" she heard him ask as he came near her again.

She moved away instantly trying to put as much space as possible between them.

"Why do you keep coming back?"

"That's coz you want me to."

"I don't want you to come back again. Please don't do this to me," she pleaded tearfully.

She saw him smile the moment he heard her.

Slowly he came near her and whispered in her ears, "So you want the love but not the pain?"

The moment Aparna heard him, her eyes widened and she looked straight into his eyes, which were brimming with tears.

As the tears ran down his cheeks, she raised her hand to brush them off but he caught it midway.

"I am crying for you."

Saying this, he turned and slowly his shadow started to diminish in the air around her. But before his presence was completely gone, his last words reverberated around her.

"You can never know the meaning of love if you haven't known the pain of losing it."

***************

Nishant was standing the balcony with her resignation letter in his hand, staring at the horizon. His heart was screaming at him but his mind was continuously trying to fight the urges to stop her. It was as if there were a whole lot of electric pulses zipping back and forth in him.

Closing his eyes, he breathed hard. But the moment he did that, she was beside him.

"Stop it!" she warned.

"I can't."

"Why?"

Nishant turned and looked at her. She had the same defiant look. He was again back on that street trying to stop her. That night he had listened to her but tonight something happened and he pulled her to him the moment she started to turn away from him.

"Because I love you and I can't let go even if you have."

"That's bullshit. You are making it more painful for you."

The moment he heard her, he smiled.

"You can't rule everything. Loving you is my choice, so is living it every day. Feeling this pain is just a way of keeping you alive in me. And, you can do nothing about it."

She was gone the moment he said that.

Nishant sighed and looked at the letter again. It had been lying in his laptop bag like a heavy stone on his heart. All the way to the Chawla site and back, he had stared at the bag as if there was a ticking bomb in it. But now, as he stood holding it in his hand the only thing he felt was a sense of utter loss.

He had wanted to be hers.

He is hers.

But still, he didn't belong. At least she didn't want that.

Shaking his head, he turned and instantly saw Dhruv standing in the doorway staring at him intensely.

Nishant brushed past him and kept the letter inside the bag again.

"Will you stop pretending?"

Nishant flicked his gaze at him in a questioning way.

"I know you since the days you used to shit in your pants, so don't behave like you don't feel anything," Dhruv said coming near him.

"Would it be okay with you if I rant and rave right now?"

"But you are letting her go just like that."

"Do I have a choice?" Nishant asked him turning towards him.

When Dhruv did not reply, he shook his head and opened his laptop.

"You know we can get her back. After all, she has signed a contract."

"I don't want a contract to be the reason for her coming back to Naik Builders."

"I was talking about you."

"Then also, No," Nishant replied a sad smile spreading across his face.

He was about to open the designs for the Chawla project when Dhruv sat down on the bed in front of him and moved the laptop away.

"What about you? When are you going to think about yourself? You love her, so, get her back."

Nishant shook his head and picked up his laptop but again his friend pulled it away from him.

Losing the battle, Nishant got up from the bed and started to go towards the washroom.

"Nishant, I am talking to you. Why are you so hell-bent on this?"

Nishant still did not say anything. He was about to enter the washroom when Dhruv stopped him.

"Please listen. If we all go there, I am sure we can convince her to come back."

"No!"

"Why? Don't you love her?"

Nishant took a deep breath and turned towards his friend.

"Yes, I love her. I love her crazily. But that does not mean I will run after her. I cannot lose it completely just because she isn't there. She is a part of my life and she will always remain one. If it is my responsibility to make her come back then I have a bigger responsibility towards you guys, towards Naik Builders. I cannot stop everything because someone I love has left me. And, right now the only thing that can keep me sane is work."

Saying this, Nishant palmed Dhruv's face and said intensely, "Help me remain sane, please."

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