Separated Love

Chapter 20: Kartik Drinks Again

Kartik turns to look towards the door in utmost excitement. Since we've gotten back together, talking about my family never really came up so I never got the chance to tell him about Mishti coming back.
"Mishti!!" Kartik runs towards her and quickly picks her up. He swings her around in excitement with tears flowing down his face. "Mishti, do you know how much I missed you?"
"I missed you BFF!" She waits for Kartik to put her down. Once she's back on the floor, she looks at both of us in anger. "I'm upset with you for how you treated Naira Di, but I'm also upset with her for not putting in more of an effort to talk to you and explain herself. Both of you idiots have always been like this. I left for a little bit and look what happened." She jokes around with Kartik.
"Then please don't go so far away again. When did you come back?" Kartik asks Mishti.
"I got back a year ago. I wanted to call you, but I didn't know if everyone would be okay with that." I walk over towards Kartik and Mishti.
"Mishti, regardless of what happens between Kartik and I, you can always talk to him. He's your BFF, right?" Mishti nods and gives Kartik a huge hug.
"BFF please stop crying. I'm gonna come visit you soon with Luv, Kush, and Gayu Di, okay?" Kartik nods, still crying and hugs her tighter. I look back at the family members who are emotional watching them. Even Bua Dadi and Gayu Di are tearing up a bit.
Kartik and I say our final goodbyes to everyone. Kartik and Arjun just nod at each other briefly. I have to talk to him about Arjun. We get into the car, and Kartik is still very upset. I put my hand on Kartik's when he has his hand on the clutch, but he moves it away. Wait, is Kartik upset with me? What did I do?
"I know you're upset, but is something wrong between us?" Kartik clenches his jaw. Well, I got my answer. "Kartik, what did I do?" Without even looking over at me, he continues to stare forward during a red light and responds.
"Why did Arjun know about us not talking?" Kartik asks.
"Look Kartik, when I went to the U.S. I met Arjun. I was staying at Gayu Di's apartment complex when I ran into him. He lives in that same complex. We started talking and overtime we became very close. He was going through a similar situation with his girlfriend where misunderstandings led to them breaking up. We both confided in each other at times because no one else quite understood us." Kartik begins to speed up the car. "Kartik, driving fast isn't going to make your anger go away. I don't even understand why you're mad at me right now. You know Arjun is just a friend."
"Naira, did I ever say he wasn't?" Kartik snaps looking over at me. "Not once did I imply that. I trust you wholeheartedly that you will always remain faithful to me." I look down in guilt. Why is he so upset then? "I don't even know how to feel. The family that treated me as their own before can barely even stand me now. They meant the absolute world to me Naira. Look at where we are now. Even Nani wouldn't look at me in the eyes."
"Kartik, you have to understand that they're going to need time. I'm one of the daughters of the family. They saw the emotional rollercoaster I was on when we separated. Can you blame them?" Kartik anger soon turns to him simply being upset.
"No." He says sounding defeated. "I guess I can't." He turns up the volume of the radio showing me he wants space. I don't know if we're okay. I can't tell what exactly he's upset about, and I don't think he even knows the answer to that either. I rest my head on the window and look forward. I hate fighting with Kartik, but even more than that I hate seeing him so upset. I know how hard today must have been for him. As I'm thinking about everything, I get a text.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to get so upset with Kartik. I didn't even know you two were back together!!"
"Wait, didn't Papa tell you all?"
"No! He said he was excited for us to hear it from you guys. That didn't work out well..."
"Yeah...Kartik isn't even talking to me right now. He's so upset. Music is filling up the silence in the car but it's not really helping."
"Man I'm sorry Naira. You know we all love Kartik at the end of the day. It's just that he put you through hell in those 2 years by not talking to you."
"Honestly Gayu Di, we both were going through hell. Imagine how he must have felt being away from me. We are seeing..." I erase the last three words I typed. I don't know if Kartik is okay with everyone knowing about his drinking problem. "Thankfully we sorted our stuff out. Things have been a lot better between us. He even defended me to Ma."
"WHAT?! I need the deets on that!!"
"FaceTime tomorrow night? We clearly have a lot to catch up on!"
"Definitely down!"
"Also, why is Arjun here?"
"I guess he couldn't keep away ;)" I laugh at her text and look forward. Ugh Kartik talk to me. I look over at him and he's lost in thought as he's driving. I'll give him his space.