The Guests. #1

x United x

Ileana

I woke up the next morning feeling like complete shit. I didn't know if it was the alcohol or even just my whole being. I reeled back the events in my head as images of the game and Aditya's venomous words were dancing around in my head, all laughing at me. As I got out of bed, I turned to see Tara packing away her bag. My suitcase was already packed, which was laying near the door. As soon as she saw me, she looked at me relieved.

"Good Morning Princess, I hope you had a wonderful sleep. Because I surely did not."

"What happened?"

"You should tell me. If you remember anything."

I looked at her confused. She sighed, explaining everything that occured after I fled the scene last night.

"And now he is M.I.A."

"What?"

"He hasn't returned since last night."

I sighed.

"So can you fill in the blanks for me? Because Abhimanyu isn't telling me what you said to him last night. And I thought you trusted me enough by now to tell me."

"It's all futile now. But here goes."

I told Tara everything.

"Okaaay! But why did he kiss Zara like that?"

"He could still be in love with her."

"The way he was looking at Abhimanyu all night got me on my nerves."

"So he ran away because he felt guilty about what he did."

"Or he could be conflicted about his feelings."

"Somewhere I knew that he was lying."

"Who cares? He's hurt you enough. And he's still doing it."

"This is why I didn't tell you. Because I knew exactly what you would say. And I wasn't ready to hear it."

Tara came towards me, putting her arms around me.

"You deserve better, Ileana. That's why I tell you. Once this entire operation is over, you Ma and I are going to go away from all this. We will start afresh, tik hain."

I embraced Tara tightly. Maybe she was right. I had to move on. Whatever was in the past should remain in the past. And even if Aditya was confused, I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. Once Tara finished packing, we got ready to meet up in the living room. The rest of the group were all awaiting us, with the exception of Aditya. Abhimanyu was standing in one corner, with his arms crossed against his chest. Though as soon as he saw me, his mood changed. He walked up to me, with concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

I gave him a big smile.

"Better."

"Really?"

"With my hero around, how can I not?"

He still wasn't convinced.

"But I told Aditya that what we did was a lie."

"I know. And it's in the past now. And I think we should just focus on what we are doing now."

Abhimanyu smiled, as we walked outside together. Dev Sir was frantically trying to contact Aditya, who wasn't answering his calls. Earlier he had gone around to locate him, but he returned empty-handed. Ma looked at Tara furiously.

"I should have stayed up last night. I always had a bad feeling about your parties, Tara."

"Ma. Can you not start this right now? Whatever happened last night was a manifestation of everyone's emotions."