Second Chances | Grooms #2 | Slow Updates #WattyLonglist

【iv. happy marriage】

Nikita stepped out to the living room once she had made sure Maahi was asleep in the guest room. Parth had asked her to sleep there so Nikita could stay with her. He had learned too much than he could have ever imagined.

After Nikita's wedding, he never heard from Maahi. He'd assumed she'd went to India like she had said and then a month after, had started the internship. Maahi had tons of good things waiting for her. He had imagined she'd be happy in her life.

While finishing his law school and then starting a job at a law firm, he hadn't had much time to socialize and catch up with people he knew.

He'd almost pushed her to the very back of his head in a pile of forgotten memories. After seeing her again out of the blue, all those memories were fresh as if they were just yesterday.

There was a heavy burden on his chest. He knew that for her, they were anything but yesterday. He couldn't imagine how long the last three years would have been for her.

Nikita asked, "What are you thinking?" taking a seat next to him on the couch.

He turned to sit sideways and put one arm over the back of the couch. "How could so much happen?"

"It's been three years, Parth." She reminded him, but she knew what he meant. Sometimes, it didn't feel as such. Sometimes, they seemed to have passed by too quickly. Only when she really would think about it, she would know it had been long three years.

A lot had definitely happened.

A lot had changed.

Maahi had changed a lot.

"How come you never told me?"

She tried to explain. "Maahi is private, Parth. I couldn't just tell you about her life." Maahi was her best friend. She confided in her. She couldn't betray her by telling him, even though she had many a times thought about how Parth could legally do something about it.

He expressed his restless feelings. "Just thinking about it, it makes me so mad. I can't imagine how she lived the last three years."

"I know. I had to see her go through it as if I was a by stander, not her closest friend. I used to be scared for her, you know? I have no idea how she would put up with it." She inhaled and then put an end to the topic.

It was all overwhelming enough for one night.

"Anyway, let's just take it one day at a time. And Parth, for her sake, be as rational and objective as possible," she advised. "If you add your emotions in this, it's going to make it that much harder for her."

"Add my emotions?" He questioned her, unsure of what she meant.

She smiled, wondering how he could think she would be fooled by him, "Parth, you may be the lawyer in the family, but I have an excellent eye for details too. Since you met her at my wedding, you've been a different person. It was as if I was seeing my brother grow up and be mature overnight."

He opened his mouth to object. He still couldn't deny it. The two of them always shared their feelings with each other. No relationships they ever had were a secret from the other.

"Bro, don't try and deny it. I didn't say anything back then, because... well, she left and then all this happened. But now, she's back in your life and unlike last time, you're going to see her more than just a day."

"I hear you." He let her know.

She was unsure if he truly did. But, if anything she had learnt about him in the past couple years, he had grown to be a reasonable, mature adult.