Iridescent

CHAPTER 22

I ask the driver to drop my suitcase in my apartment and go over to Amy's house, cake in hand, and the chain in my coat pocket.

I ring the door once, so that she doesn't become suspicious.

"Coming!" she yells.

I could die from the excitement I'm feeling in my gut.

She opens the door, I keep looking at her expression. First, it's shock. Her mouth parts into an 'O' and she covers her mouth with her hands. Then, happiness floods onto her face, stretching her lips into a beautiful smile.

"You are early!"

I shrug. "The work got over fast,"

I open the door and let myself in and place the cake on the dining table.

"What's that cake for?" Her happiness is radiating across the room, I swear. And her smile is so contagious,it's making me smile like an idiot.

"For my arrival of course," I go and engulf her into a hug, a tight hug. She immediately wraps her arms around my waist, and rocking us right and left. We let the silence do the talking for a while. God, I missed her.

Suddenly, she pulls away and pushes me. A small scowl is etched on her face.

"What happened Amy?"

"Are you hiding something from me?" she narrows her eyes at me, her tone challenging.

"What? No."

"Maybe there is something," she folds her arms across her chest.

I think. The chain suddenly pops up in my head. No. It can't be!

"How do you know about it?"

"So you were hiding something!"

"How do you know about it?" I repeat, my voice coming out almost whiny, now that my surprise is ruined.

"Shlok told me,"

"Shlok? But he didn't know about it!"

"Yes he did."

"No! He didn't. No one knows about it yet."

She scoffs. "You mean no one, no one knows that you're the CEO and owner of Mauve?"

I freeze. "You're speaking about that?"

"What else, Jai? How could you hide it from me?! Imagine how I felt when I got to know about it through Shlok. Why didn't you tell me?"

Okay, now the haze has cleared. She still doesn't know about the chain. But damn it! She got to know that I'm the owner of Mauve! And that too, from someone else!

"Are you going to talk?" her angry voice interrupts me.

"Um, Amy, I didn't tell you because.I didn't think it was important."

"It was not important. Such a lame excuse, Jai!" A tear falls down her cheek, and I know that she's taking this seriously. I rush to her immediately and wrap my arms around her. First, she resists, but slowly, she complies. She's sobbing now, her fingers gripping my shirt. I didn't know it was this serious, I swear!

"Amy.." I hold her face in my hands and wipe her tears. "I didn't think it was important. What difference would it make? What was the use of knowing? Now that you know, is anything different? No."

"At least I wouldn't look like a fool in front of people. I had no idea that all this while, I was living next to the house of my favorite clothing store! Why wasn't I supposed to know?"