Separated Love

Chapter 19: Singhania Disaster Visit

Kartik and I walk into my house, and everyone gets up right away to greet us. They are thoroughly surprised because we didn't tell them we were coming.
"Naira!!!" Gayu Di yells. She comes running at me and gives me a hug. She looks over at Kartik and her smile fades away a little. "Hi Kartik." She says trying to force a smile making it very obvious she doesn't want to greet him. I look at her surprised, but decide to address it later. Kartik looks down at me confused about why Gayu Di is behaving this way.
"Gayu Di, when did you come back from the U.S.? You have to tell me about everything!!" I hope this will allow us to get some alone time because I genuinely want to catch up with her regarding everything. She's my best friend.
"How are you Kartik? It's been a long time. We didn't talk much because of your anger." Bua Dadi says. I'm shocked at what just came out of her mouth. Kartik looks down in shame immediately. Before I can say something, Papa interjects.
"Guys, Kartik and Naira have solved their issues. They've put everything in the past so why don't we all do the same?"
"Yeah please! Let's just forget everything!" I say hoping Bua Dadi and Gayu Di listen to me.
"Forget everything? Naira, did you forget the amount of times you cried over everything you lost because of his inability to hear you out? I can't forget your tears." Gayu Di is visibly angry now. I confided in Gayu Di a lot when everything first went down with Kartik. I even visited her in the U.S. once I could walk again and it was one of the greatest trips. Being with my sister made me remember what it was like to be me without Kartik. I don't think Gayu Di understands though that my happiness is in being with Kartik. Initially I may have needed sometime being my old self, but nothing can compete with the way I feel when I'm Kartik's Naira. I look over at Kartik, and he looks completely broken down.
"You know he ran into our family once at the temple and he barely even met us properly because his mom was there? Who gets so blinded in someone's love that they can't see between right and wrong? This isn't just about your issues with him Naira. He nearly ignored us if it wasn't for Keerti being there. What did we do to deserve that from you?" Bua Dadi asks him. I wasn't aware that this happened. It must have been when Papa and I were in Mumbai. It makes me upset because Kartik was never one to treat my family differently regardless of our issues.
"I'm sorry. I treated everyone terribly. That day I was with Ma, and I knew meeting you all would upset her so I had to be distant. I wanted to meet you all so badly. Especially you Nani, but I couldn't put Ma through more pain. Would you guys ever do something that you know what absolutely kill your parents inside? Because that's how the situation was and still kind of is for my Ma. The only difference is that now I see she's wrong because I properly heard Naira out. I admit that I messed up when it came to Naira, but please also try to understand my situation."
"We both made mistakes," I tell my family who doesn't seem to understand this because of their anger. "The way you all are unable to understand Kartik's point of view because of your anger is the same way Kartik was with me." I try using this tactic, and I know it works because everyone begins to look down. "Please, let's all give each other a fresh start. Kartik and I are working through our issues, and if you guys all remain angry at him, this won't make things easier." Well so much for surprising everyone. Almost everyone's mad at Kartik. I can't blame my family either. They were my support system when I was going through absolute hell after Shubham's death. I know they are going to take time to warm up to him again. I'm just afraid of how Kartik must be feeling right now. He used to hold my family above his own. Even Nani is upset with him which I know is breaking Kartik inside. I move in closer to him and rub my arm against his a little. Just to let him know that I'm here for him - on his side. I can tell he's trying very hard to hold back a river of tears.
"NAIRA!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???" I look over at the stairs and I'm shocked. What is Arjun doing here? He comes running at me and hugs me, picking me up off the ground. I can't help but laugh seeing him. I've missed him so much!
"Arjun! When did you get here? Why didn't any of you tell me he was here?" I ask my family.
"I told them not to tell you! I wanted to surprise you, but of course you end up surprising me instead. God Naira I missed you so much. We never ended up staying in touch. I'm not gonna let that happened again though." He puts his arm around me, and I remember that Kartik has no idea who he is.
"Arjun, this is my husband...Kartik." Arjun takes a step back from me and shakes hands with him.
"Hey man. How do you two know each other? I don't remember Naira mentioning you before." I can hear the annoyance in Kartik's voice. I think Arjun picks up on it too because the smile on his face disappears.
"Yeah you probably didn't hear it because you two weren't talking at the time when we met." His response back is so sassy that I know I have to step in.
"Okay guys that's a story that I'll fill Kartik in on during our ride back home." I look over at Kartik and smile trying to get him to chill. Nothing is going as planned. First my family was upset with Kartik and now Arjun and Kartik have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm beginning to regret my decision.
"We should probably head out now because we have a long drive ahead of us Naira." Kartik sounds so upset.
"You're going to leave without meeting me BFF?"
Author's Notes
I know you must have a lot of questions after reading this update. I wanted to make the story a bit interesting so here we go! You'll have all of your questions answered soon. I promise I will update more frequently. Also, I decided to keep Gayu because I never wanted her to leave the show in the first place. Excited to write about her and Naira's bond. Hope you enjoyed this update!