In Her Eyes

Chapter 9 - You

Many years had passed. None knew of one another. Those who once were best friends were strangers now. Both pursued their dreams and reached the top. Dev owned an engineering company. And Pari was the best in her game. She was one of the best architects in all of New York.

Dev was buried in his work. They had a big project coming up. It had to be perfect. He spent time working on this project day and night. A knock on his office door made him stop his work.
"Sir, the architects you are planning to work with have arrived, they're wating for you in the meeting room." His assistant said.
"Thank you, tell them I'll be there any minute." Dev said and sent her away.
Dev put aside his paperwork and stood up from his chair. Before walking to the meeting room he checked himself in the mirror once and started his way towards the room.

Walking closer to the room Dev noticed three persons. Two of them were men, they were standing next to a woman. He could not see who she was, because she was standing with the back towards the door. She must be the head architect he assumed. Dev wanted to make a good impression. The project depended on their agreement. Dev was not nervous. He was confident in his work, he was sure all would turn out just fine. He knocked and walked into the room.
"Welcome, I am Dev Khanna, owner of the company, pleasure to make your acquaintance." Dev said closing the door behind him. The woman drastically turned around. Both gasped in shock. They could not believe their eyes. Was it possible?

"Dev?!"
"Pari?!" Dev said in shock.
He just could not process the information that Pari was standing right in front of him. How long has it been. What a coincidence it was they thought. The world was small after all.
"Are you the head architect?" Dev asked after a while. Both were visibly awkward. Something they were not used to. Usually they were super comfortable and very close with each other.
"Yes I am."
She turned to the two men.
"Guys, could you leave us alone for a second please?" Pari asked the two men next to her.
As said as done. They were both alone now. How desperately Pari wanted to run into his arms and hug him, but restrained herself from doing so. An awkward atmosphere lay in the room. It was like they have never met before.

"How long has it been?" Pari mumbled.
"I see you achieved your dreams, congratulations." Dev said not paying any attention to what she previously said.
"Thank you.. you too." She said smiling a little.
Dev did not know whether he wanted to run out of this room or stay here with her. Something about her didn't match the Pari he remembered. Dev had to say, she had become more beautiful. But her smile? Her smile was not as honest as it used to be.
Pari was filled with thousands of emotions at once. She could not point to what she was feeling. She knew a lot was going on, not only in her mind, but as well as in her heart.

How they had faded away over being stubborn, one will never understand.
"Should we start with the meeting?" Dev asked trying to enlighten the mood.
He did not know what to say. He did not want to say anything wrong. Dev was sure he would not like losing her once more, so he decided to remain quiet.
"Sure.." Pari said with a rather sad smile. Dev could not understand why.
Pari asked her employees in and with that the meeting started.
Throughout the whole meeting they could not help but to gaze at one another. Luckily everyone agreed and approved of the project. So it was set, they were partners and were going to work together. Secretly Pari did not even care about the project. The fact she would meet Dev more often was reason enough to agree. She knew Dev and she had faith in his work, so there was no reason to doubt the project.

Dev shook the men hands goodbye and hesitated doing the same with Pari.
Pari gathered all her courage and asked him. "Would you like to grab a coffee with me? Of course if you're not too busy and everything."
Pari thought how silly it was.
Never in her life did she have a hard time spending time with him let alone talking to him. Dev checked his schedule and agreed.
"I do have some time. Why not." He said unsure. Dev could not refuse the offer. He would love to catch up with her and see what she has been up to. Afterall they had missed one another deeply.

They had made their way to a small cafe next to his company. They sat down and ordered some coffee and began to catch up slowly.
"Tell me, how long have you been in New York?" Pari asked while drinking her coffee.
"Well it's been three years. I think I made a good decision." Dev said.
Dev was just so lost in thoughts that he answered with either short or rather absent sentences. Not that he knew, but it did hurt Pari. It reminded her of how she lost her best friend and all she wanted was to go back to being friends. If only she could change things..