Highest rank: 43# in short story
"Harshad", I began
He looked straight into my eyes.
"He is no more in my life"
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She was the only girl he loved while she had lost the guy she loved.
The only simil...
"Hey, Deeksha, look at me", I said trying to calm her down. But she simply kept crying. I didn't know what to do. My heart ached to see her weeping.
"Okay, look I'm sorry. I won't ask you anything. Please stop crying", I said holding her arm. She suddenly jerked my hand and left. I could not figure out what had happened.
Was something wrong with her married life? And why is she here in Bangalore? Did she shift here with her husband or was there any other matter?
She came back wiping her face. But anyone could easily make out that she was crying.
"I am sorry Harshad. Can we continue the work tomorrow?", she suggested in a low tone. "Ya sure. Are you alright Deeksha?", I tried asking her out of the sheer consent. "Yes, I am fine. Just a little tired. I shall see you tomorrow, bye" and she left without looking back.
"Bye" was all I could tell.
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Deeksha's POV:
I was a little disturbed after today's incident. Nobody here had questioned me about Nikhil. But today, when Harshad did all the events, replayed in my mind.
That scene, his accident, his death, all these terrible incidents started reappearing in my senses again. It tore me apart.
That episode of my life had changed me so much. I lost my husband within a few hours of getting married. All the jewels adorned my neck only to be removed after a few hours. My vermilion was applied only to be erased. I was cherishing the moments of my marriage only to cry profusely after that. Happiness was all around only to make me suffer more.
I was in the cab on my way back home when I received Ananya's call.
"Hello," she said
"Hi Ananya", I replied by recovering my poise.
"How are you?", she asked sounding worried.
" I am fine, why?", I asked getting out of the cab.
" Actually, you were crying today..so..umm..I asked ", she told in a hesitant voice. How did she know? Did Harshad tell her?
" No no, I'm good Ananya. Who told you that I was crying ", I asked her. "I asked Harshad and he told me", she was about to tell more but the call got disconnected.
Damn it. My battery was dead.
What the hell! How can he do that? Why did he tell her? Nobody here in Bangalore knew about my past and I didn't want anybody to know either.
I immediately rushed into my room and put my phone for charging. I called Harshad and I was in no mood to listen to him.
"How dare you Harshad? Why are you spoiling my life? I am trying to move on here and you are dragging me into the darkness. For God's sake leave me alone and stop interfering in my life because its none of your business" I shouted at him when I saw Ananya calling me. I disconnected his call.
"Sorry Ananya, the battery was down", I apologized after picking up her call. "That's okay", she said. I really did not want her to interrogate now.
"Actually, I thought Harshad and you had an argument and that is why you were crying. I also tried asking him, but he didn't tell anything clearly, so I asked you. Is everything okay with you guys?"
Not again, I thought to myself. When did I turn into such a short-tempered person?
"Ya it is, I am a little busy. Can I call you in sometime Ananya", I asked her. "Yeah sure," she said. I hung up her call with a bye.
Why am I so stupid? I should have at least waited for Ananya to finish instead I blurted out whatever came to my mind. I had to apologize. It was my fault. I shouted at him for no fault of his.
I have always been rude to him. I had not really noticed him back then until my friends told that he had a heavy crush on me. We slowly became friends but I was never really interested in relationships and concentrated more on my studies until I met Nikhil. We gradually stopped chatting after that.
I dialed his number and relaxed myself this time. "Harshad, I'm sorry. I know you must be thinking if I am mad but you know what, I'm one. I just misunderstood stuff and spoke to you rudely without thinking. I am really very sorry. It was a misunderstanding. Everything is sorted now. Please forgive me"
"Its okay", came his pale reply. "I'm very sorry Harshad. Please listen to me", I was regretting all that I told him. "Tomorrow Deeksha, I have to go now", he said.
I knew he was upset and it was obvious. I blamed him for no reason but I would settle this issue tomorrow.
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25th October 2017
I was running late today. I wore a camouflage T-shirt and black jeans, tied my hair in a ponytail and left for work.
Harshad had not come yet. Good for me, I wrote a small note which said "I am sorry. Can we go for a coffee? :)"
I kept it on his table and started working. He came after about fifteen minutes and read the note. He didn't bother to look at me and started working. That was kinda rude. I too did not look at him and continued my work when he dropped a note on my table which "6 pm XD" written on it.
We didn't talk to each other for the rest of the day. At 6, he came to my table.
"Shall we?" , he asked in the most adorable way.
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I nodded my head and we headed towards the cafe. The ambiance was simple yet elegant. I ordered an espresso while he settled for a cappuccino. Both of us didn't know how to start. I had asked him for the coffee so naturally, I had to start.
I huffed and covered my face, "I'm sorry for whatever happened yesterday."
"That's fine Deeksha", he answered.
"Actually Ananya asked me if I was crying and she told me that you told her about it but "
"No, I never did. In fact, I changed the topic when she asked me about it", he hurriedly added without letting me complete.
"Yeah, I know. I couldn't hear the complete thing. She just took your name and my battery ran out so I misunderstood everything. My bad, I'm extremely sorry. I shouldn't have said those words", I apologized honestly. "No issues", he said sincerely
I expected him to ask about my married life but he didn't which made me happy. He respected my privacy. We started talking about general topics after that. But I don't know suddenly how come I could gather that courage,
