The Distance Between Us

Track Forty - You're My Best Friend

The one thing that Nikita Modi, nee Malhotra, prided herself in, was being the best, the most supportive friend anyone could ever have. Ever since she was a kid, she'd always felt that she was a good friend, and she had been. There weren't many people who had the privilege of saying that they were friends with her, but the few that did, had always sung praises, never shutting up about how good a friend she was. Now though, she was doubting all herself. Was she a good friend?

She hadn't been there for Riddhima when she should have been, she'd been so curt with Anjali, and now she was finding out that she didn't know anything about what Jaanhavi and Armaan, who had inarguably been her best friends for almost a decade, had gone through, especially Jaanhavi.

How could this have been possible? How? These thoughts haunted her the entire night and her sleep was littered with nightmares where all her friends took great pleasure in telling her what a shitty friend she was.

So, she decided the first thing she'd do the next morning would be talking to Armaan. She knew that it wouldn't be a particularly happy conversation, but she thought it was about time they had one. Sure, Armaan was her best friend, and she never doubted that, but this friendship had been through too many lows and both of them had swept things under the rug countless times when in fact they should have talked about all of it. They never talked about how Armaan's changed behaviour after Jaanhavi leaving had affected Nikki, or how Nikki leaving overnight had affected Armaan. Since she'd come to New York, they hadn't even talked about how the other coped all these years. Only now was she realizing that Armaan may have been her best friend for 25 years, but they hadn't even been in touch with each other for almost 14 years of those 25. That sent her into a tailspin and she really needed to speak to Armaan about it.

At 5 in the morning, she gave up on trying to sleep and made her way downstairs. She was surprised to see Armaan in the living room, sprawled on the couch, holding a photograph close to his chest, but she shouldn't have been. Of course he wouldn't have gotten any sleep the previous night either.

She walked over to him to check if he was awake or not and Armaan sprung up when he felt someone's presence in the room. As he sat up, completely startled, the frame fell from his hands and onto the sofa. Nikki smiled when she saw a picture of Shalini Aunty smiling up at her.

"Oh! It's you!" Armaan mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Nikki joked.

Armaan rolled his eyes at her, which made Nikki chuckle. She sat beside him and picked the frame up.

"She was so gorgeous," Nikki whispered, caressing the picture.

"The most," Armaan replied, taking the frame from Nikki. "Gods, I miss her!"

Nikki rubbed his arm in a comforting gesture. "I miss her, too," she said. "But, she's looking out for us, wherever she is, and I'm sure she's absolutely happy to see how far you've come."

"Thanks, Nik," Armaan replied, smiling at her. "I like to think so as well."

"I don't think," Nikki countered. "I know. I know she's happy. I know she's proud of you. And of Jaanhavi. Maybe she's proud of me also. She's making the most beautiful music and wowing everyone with her voice, wherever she is."

"She really was the best musician ever, wasn't she?" Armaan asked.

"She was," Nikki agreed. "I've never heard someone sing like that."

The two of them sat quietly for a few minutes, lost in memories.

"Are you okay?" Nikki asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm fine," Armaan replied.

"Seriously?" Nikki questioned. "That's what you're going with? I'm fine'?"