#MaanYa ~ IFs & BUTs of LOVE

FRIENDS

Was she shivering with hurt or were these the after effects of anger...or was it both. She felt deceived to the extent that an unknown feeling of numbness was capturing her sanity and thoughts.

She wanted to disappear, wanted to be in the soothing arms of her mum, wanted to hear playful words of her dad filled with infinite love for her.

She wanted to be anywhere but here in this office, where she was standing facing this man...who has somehow entered her very being , who was the prime focus of her every thought these days and the one who had hurt her the most today.

Maanav was now getting worried about her. It was for the 5th time when he has called her name but she wasn’t responding at all. She was just standing there all blank, staring at nowhere.

She appeared so vulnerable at the moment that he just wanted to hug her tight and soothe away all her stresses. But, he knew deep down that he has lost that right.

He knew it very well that although Riya may try to appear all practical and cold blooded at the workplace but she wasn’t. She was a very sensitive girl with not a single manipulative bone in her body. For her to accept such unethical attitude towards a project for which she has worked so hard and more importantly, his treacherous involvement in performing that deed was a big blow. 

With too much of effort, Maanav softly grabbed both shoulders of Riya and shook her a little,””RIYA, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING”

A Sudden jolt of electricity ran down her spine. Her heart could recognize this touch in its deepest slumber but today her brain registered the attempt more strongly and a sudden feeling of detachment filled her mind.

She shuddered away from his touch and squeaked in an uneven but affirmative tone “DONT TOUCH ME”.

Maanav felt as if Riya has slapped him hard. He immediately removed his hands from her shoulders and could just utter out with pleading and disturbed eyes, ”RIYA,,,,,,I AM SORRY”.

Riya didnt knew whether  it was the guilty oozing from his voice or her own fuming anger at his apology, she suddenly felt like waking up from a bad dream and gained strength enough to reply in a balanced voice,

“WHY R U SAYING SORRY TO ME MAANAV????

“HOW DOES IT MATTER THT U MADE ME FEEL GUILTY FOR A WRONG I HAD NOT DONE FOR LAST FOUR DAYS…FOUR DAYS....."

"HOW DOES IT MATTER THT ME,,WHO WAS INCHARGE OF THIS PROJECT WAS KEPT UNAWARE THT PROJECT WAS NOT MEANT FOR US FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. HOW DOES IT MATTER THAT ALL THE HARD WORK  OF ME AND MY TEAM WERE WASHED DOWN THE DRAIN FOR SOME FUTURE GAINS. "

" AND....HOW DOES IT MATTER THAT YOU..WHOM I TRUSTED TO BE THE MOST MORAL PERSON TURNED OUT TO BE A WEAK PERSON WHO SCCUUMBED TO SOME IMMORAL DEMANDS OF HIS FATHER AND COULDNT TAKE A STAND FOR HIS COMPANY N ITS REPUTATION...."

"IT WAS A HARDCORE TOP MANAGEMENT DECISION WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN TAKEN FOR BENEFIT OF EITHER COMPANY OR THE OWNERS,,,HOW MUCH UNETHICIAL IT MAYBE,,I AM NOBODY TO DECIDE .JUST NOBODY...."

“NO RIYA!!! YOU ARE EVERYBODY....DONT SAY LIKE THAT””,,,

Maanav exclaimed in a loud and disturbed voice and was himself taken aback by the truth and confession mirroring through his words.

Both suddenly looked at each other and went speechless in the intensity of the moment and heat of sudden confession hanging between them. The eye lock may have lasted for few seconds only but it did felt like eternity.

By now, tears had started forming in Riya’s eyes which broke the moment for Maanav.

“PLEASE,,,,DONT CRY RIYA”,,, maanav said in a broken voice.

Riya somehow took hold of her over displayed vulnerability and replied back,

“MAANAV, I AM TAKING OFF FOR TODAY..THIS ALL IS TOO MUCH FOR ME AT THE MOMENT.I NEED SOME TIME TO GATHER MY THOUGHTS. SORRY,FOR HAVING CROSSED MY LINE AND SPOKEN HARSH WORDS ABOUT THE DECISION TAKEN BY THE BOSSES ...SO OUTRIGHTLY.
AFTER ALL,ITS NOT MY POSITION TO SPEAK.FROM NOW ON,I WILL JUST LIMIT MYSELF TO DOING MY THING.SORRY AGAIN..."

With these final words, Riya stomped out of the office with her head held high and her controlled steps hiding her inner turmoil to the maximum.

It was Maanav’s turn to go numb now. He stood there gazing at Riya going away. Her well worded short speech was ringing back in his ears. Yes,, he has many a times seen an agitated Riya before but has never seen such cold side to her. The fear of losing her ,,,losing her as a friend,, even losing her totally  was making him feel blocked..constricted and deadly blank.

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Riya directly headed to the washroom avoiding eye contact with her two friends who must have listened to all the high voices coming out of Maanav’s office. She wasn’t in a mood for any kindaa confrontation at the moment.