Nishant Naik, billionaire MD of Naik Builders gets engaged but without love. Disillusioned, he gives up when a chance encounter leaves him intrigued and confused. For him, loving someone is giving your soul to her. Will he ever find someone to love...
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Everything around him just stopped still. Nishant wanted to step inside and sit down but couldn't. All he felt was her scent around him.
She must have been here.
Every sense of his erupted with it and bombed past his month old resolve. He clutched the door knob with effort as he tried to control his galloping heartbeat. His palms sweated and his knuckles became white as his fingers gripped the door knob harder than before. His mind took him back to the sensations he had been trying hard to keep buried deep inside him.
Dhruv looked at him and instantly knew something was wrong.
"Nishant, you okay?" he asked as he came and stood next to him.
In a daze, Nishant just nodded and sat down on the chair nearest to him. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his mind but failed. He knew everybody in the room was looking at him. But he wasn't able to control anything now.
"Nishant, we can have the meeting later if you are not feeling well," Siddha said looking at him with concern.
Gulping down, Nishant clenched his hand into a fist and shook his head.
"No, I am fine. Let's begin."
Gradually the meeting progressed but his mind was still reeling from her overwhelming scent. He couldn't shake it at all. The more he tried to, the more it took over him. He could see Naina explaining something on the whiteboard, nothing registered. The only thing he saw was her face and felt only her arms around him.
Stop it!
But his heart refused to listen to his brain. He clenched the armrest and tried to control but nothing happened.
Get out of this place before you make a fool of yourself.
But Nishant couldn't get up.
He breathed in and out and instantly realised his mistake. His world turned upside down as everything that had happened in the past months came back to him. He was there in Tosh with her, and then back in Delhi in her arms making plans for their future together. And then, suddenly he was on that street trying to stop her from leaving. His heart thudded with the impact of her words and finally, everything in him shattered with her last words.
"I would rather die than to be with you, than to love you."
Nishant whole body shook with its impact and he got up from the chair. As he looked around the room, he realised the meeting had finished. Dhruv was saying something to him but it just didn't register. He just stared at Dhruv's face not knowing how to react.
Get out of here.
*****************
Aparna crossed the street and waited for an auto to stop. As she glanced at the watch, she realised that it was time for Prakriti to return home. No point waiting for an auto, it's better to hire a cab.
As she fetched her phone from the bag, she suddenly realised her wallet was missing. She didn't remember keeping it back in the bag after paying the cab driver. Had she dropped it somewhere?
Oh no!
What about Rajput Constructions? Could she have dropped it there?
"You okay?" Dhruv asked Nishant shaking him a little.
Although he nodded but Nishant knew he was not.
"I am leaving," he said clearing his throat.
Aparna quickly crossed the road and entered Rajput Constructions once again. She neared the reception and attracted the attention of the girl there.
"Hi, did you find any wallet here? A brown coloured one?"
"Did it have an ID inside Ma'am?
When she nodded, the receptionist handed her the wallet and Aparna heaved a sigh of relief. Thanking the girl, she turned and put it back in the bag. As she was closing the chain, the pen fell out and she stooped low to pick it up. Just as she was straightening, her eyes fell on the glass panel upwards and Aparna stopped dead.
***************
Sid saw Aparna entering the main lobby and he smiled. He saw Nishant leaving and instantly pulled him towards himself.
"Come on, guys, we need a photograph. This is an epic thing happening," he said extending his hand towards Naina.
He saw Nishant sigh and give in. Giving a glance towards the lobby and praying that she would see them together, he asked Naina to stand next to Nishant.
"Come on, put your arm around her, after all, she is your partner now," Sid said to Nishant, who shook his head and put his arm around Naina.
Aparna kept looking at the glass pane not believing her eyes. At first, her eyes were only fixed on Nishant's face but then they widened as she saw a woman coming towards him.
She recognised the woman from the Cancer Event. But her blood drummed against her ears making them red as she saw him putting his arm around her.
The woman murmured something going really close towards him and instantly she saw him smile. As Sid focused his phone on them to click a picture, she saw him pulling her close. The woman also put her arm around him and Aparna's lungs constricted almost immediately.
Closing her eyes, she slowly moved her heavy feet and left.
Nishant did not know why he was going through this charade when all he wanted to do was leave. As Sid clicked the picture, his 6th sense told him that someone was watching them from downstairs. He let go of Naina and looked towards the lobby but he only saw a woman's hand on the side wall and then it disappeared.
Sighing, he moved away and then stepped out of the conference room.
Time to leave.
****************
Aparna didn't know where to go. Nothing made any sense. As she stepped on the road, the June sunlight pierced her eyes but she did not notice it. All she registered was what she had just seen.
So, he has moved on.
Just as the thought occurred to her mind, she stopped in the middle of the pavement. Her world suddenly whirled around her and a strange buzzing started in her ears.
Slowly tears fell freely as her last hopes shattered completely.
