Avneil FF

Chapter 12

As avni stepped out of the bathroom neel looked up at her and there was an air of awkward and uncomfortable silence. This was new to them. After avni's return from jail this kind of misunderstanding and fallout was not something either of them would have anticipated.

Avni finally broke the silence and said- tumne breakfast order kiya?

Neel- nahi.

Avni- toh karo. I know we need to talk. But let's at least get some food into our system first.

Neel – hmm ok. He walked up to the bedside and ordered room service. As he placed the receiver back down he suddenly saw a photo-frame next to the pillow on the bed.

As he picked it up he was lost for words because he saw that it was his photo-frame. He turned back to Avni and looked at her in shock.

Avni- aise kya dekh rahe ho she said self-consciously....and walked up to him and took the frame from him and put it into her suitcase. Tum nahi the toh photo se kaam chalana pada she said in a small voice not meeting his eyes.

Suddenly Neel also recalled something else- aur vo shirt jo tumne subah pehni thi... he trailed off...

Avni- hmm tumhari hai. It smells like you so....she said in a small broken voice.

Neel didn't know what to feel. One the one hand he was SO touched to see just how much importance he held in Avni's life. The fact that she had worn his shirt to bed and had brought his photo-frame along just so she could feel him close to her was completely overwhelming for him. On the other hand his heart was sinking as he thought about how much he had hurt her by accusing her of infidelity. HE mentally slammed himself- How could you Neel?! How could you ever insinuate even for a second that avni would cheat on you!

He looked down and saw Avni kneeling next to the suitcase, head hung low sitting with a defeated posture.

HE sank down on his knees next to her and pulled her in for a tight hug.

No words were said but as he felt her tears on his shoulder his heart broke too.

He just hugged her tighter trying to convey his emotions through his embrace and in response he felt her also coil her arms around his waist tighter than before.

They just stayed locked in an embrace until the doorbell rang indicating that their food had come.

Neel slowly disentangled himself from her and opened the door to allow the butler to come and place the tray inside the room. Once he left neel bolted the room once more and made his way back in. Avni had wiped her tears and had started serving out the food. She opened the tray to find that he had ordered her favourite chocolate chip pancakes, poha and coffee.

Avni- thank you she said in a small voice

Neel didn't say anything back.

He just helped her serve and then both of them settled on the sofa quietly eating their breakfast. They were both hungry and the tension was palpable but there was SO much to be said and it couldn't be done on an empty stomach! Once they had cleared the food, avni served the coffee. Neel meanwhile went and placed the tray and empty dishes away. When he came back he made sure to sit closer to her on the sofa. They continued to sip the coffee in silence still working out what to say and how to say it to the other person.

Finally avni took one large gulp of the last bit of her coffee, placed the cup on the table and turned to sit cross-legged on the sofa facing him. She was looking down as she started talking. Ok I'm going first. I'm really sorry ki main aaj ka date bhool gayi Neel. I can't believe that I actually forgot. There's no excuse I know...I mean I didn't really forget all about it. I swear. I had been planning for weeks what we should do and I even had it ready. But I cant believe that I lost track of the date. Main sach me bahut badi bewakuf hoon. I'm really really sorry. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and suddenly moved closer and held his hands in hers and continued....please neel you have to believe me when I say- this is the best and most important date of my life. It's the day I got the biggest blessing of my life. I promise aisa phir kabhi hoga she said with sincerity.