A Twisted Tale

A Game Well Played

Valerio's POV

I was panicking here. I didn't expect Meera to announce that she would be confronting Mark right now. I tried stopping her but she didn't budge in the slightest. So I waited with a bated breath when she went over to his place.

I couldn't take the tension anymore so I called up papa to get his help. He picked up the phone on the very first ring and asked me what happened. When I relayed everything to him, he was furious. He started yelling at me in Italian and gave me an ultimatum. When I knew my dad was of no help, I resorted to waiting with anticipation. All the while, the possible scenarios and my plausible excuses were swimming in my mind. While I was being miserable, papa called back with a plan. I was slightly relieved because I knew that his plan would work.

I was lost in thought when the door suddenly burst open. Meera marched into the house and slammed the door shut. She walked right into her room and sat on the bed. I was a little hesitant to approach her because I didn't know what was going on in that mind of hers. I took a deep breath and walked into the room. She was way too quiet for my liking so I placed my hand on her shoulder and nudged her a little. She looked up and met my eyes but she looked away immediately and continued to stare into empty space. I asked her softly "Hey, please talk to me. You're killing me with your silence. Did you speak to Mark?" I didn't know I was holding my breath until she said no. All the air rushed out of my lungs in pure relief and I plopped next to her. "Baby, what's bothering you? Please talk to me." I said, once again.

"I was right outside the door Val. I heard him say that he hoped he never saw my face again. That stung. He and I have been best friends since childhood. Though I spent more time with Claire, he was always a part of my life. Whether it was phone calls after college hours or holiday visits, we've stuck together. I am not saying that we have never fought. We've had our fair share of misunderstandings but nothing pushed us apart like this did. I don't know whose fault it is. I am partially to blame because I didn't see him as anything more than a friend. And his fault is that he kept all this from me when he stood a chance and decided to throw it all in my face when I've already fallen in love with you." She kept on talking but my mind was locked on to the words 'Fallen in love with you'. They kept repeating in my head and I was both happy and guilty hearing her confess.

I caught her chin which forced her to stop talking and look at me instead. "You're in love with me?" I asked her smiling. "Of course. I'm surprised you didn't realize the minute I agreed to move in with you." She said. "Sweetheart, communication is the key. You are so special that I didn't think you would fall for an ordinary guy like me." I said and pulled her in for a kiss. A part of me was savouring the moment but the bigger part of me was planning a way to permanently remove Mark from the equation. I pulled away with a sigh and said "Now that you've confessed your feelings to me, it's my responsibility to settle the issue between you and Mark. I don't want you to have anything else on your mind while we celebrate."

She shook her head and said "You don't have to do that, you know." I just gave her a smile and kissed her forehead. I told her that I had phone calls to make and left the room. I made sure she wasn't in hearing distance and quickly dialled someone who would assist me with the task. Then I called up Mark. "We have to meet now. It's important and I'll be coming by your place." I told him and waited for his confirmation. I was determined to end things between these two tonight. I grabbed on to my phone and slowly looked around for Meera. She was sitting with a book in her hand and I knew that she wouldn't care about her phone for a while. I grabbed on to her phone as well.

By the time I reached his apartment, I handed over Meera's phone to my driver and gave him specific instructions. I took the elevator up and knocked on Mark's door, which was left unlocked. Mark was seated at the bar gulping down some scotch. I wrinkled my nose as I approached him. "I have always loved her. Unfortunately she never saw it and when she finally did, she was too scared to accept that she felt the same way. Morals and you got in the way!" said Mark angrily.
I just stood there not saying a word and waited for him to finish. "As long as you are in the picture she will not understand. She hasn't even spoken to me after that night. And she knows that I'm leaving tonight." I sighed dramatically and said "She clearly doesn't feel the same. She wanted me to tell you that she's done with you and would like for you to not have ties with her any further. If she felt even a little bit of what you've just mentioned, she wouldn't have sent me to do the deed. As hard as this is for me to say, you must respect her wishes if you want to see her happy."

Mark had the audacity to laugh at what I said. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? I don't blame you. Had our places been exchanged, I would have slaughtered you for even laying a finger on her. But I don't believe a word that comes out of your mouth. She would never say anything like that. She values family above everything else, and right now, I'm her family and you're not."

I was prepared for this situation and hence I said "Go ahead, give her a call.  You can get a confirmation from her itself. Call her up from my phone. She sure will not answer if you call her up from yours." I handed over the phone and smiled internally. Papa was very skillful. He asked a mimicry artiste to imitate Meera once I confirmed that she didn't meet Mark, and that put my next plan into motion.

"Is it done Val? I hope you told him that I don't ever want to see him face. I know you are hesitant given our history but I asked you to be brutally honest with him. I hope you've conveyed the message. Babe? Are you there?" Came the worried voice. "Don't worry Ms Iyer. The message has been conveyed very clearly. I didn't believe a word he said but my bad. Turns out he was the one being gentle with me." Mark said bitterly before hanging up.

I took my phone back from him and put a hand on his shoulder. Before I could say anything, he said "Just leave." I sat in the car and called papa. "It's done. Your artiste has done a perfect job in imitating Meera. Hopefully she hasn't realized that her phone was missing for a while." I paused and listened to papa while he told me what to say if she asked about about phone. "Now we move forward without any hindrance. Like we've already discussed, I'll put the plan into action after a week. I don't want to do this while her mind is preoccupied with Mark."