In Her Eyes

Chapter 21 - Married?

Dev had been avoiding Pari for the next few days. He needed time to process the information. She was married. Why hadn't she said anything. He was confused. He was feeling a lot of things. Dev was also slightly hurt that she only mentioned him as a colleague. Like he didn't mean anything to her. He buried himself in work to forget about his surroundings.
An awful lot was going on for Dev. Not only receiving these informations, but also Sara and him breaking things off. Sara blamed their relationship going to an end on Pari and he certainly couldn't take this. She had nothing to do with all this. It was a very busy working period and if she couldn't accept it, then they were better off without each other. At least Sara knew Pari was a close friend. He shook his head in a pity.

While signing some papers Pari barged in.
"What happened to knocking?" Dev said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, I figured if I knock you would send me away again." Pari apologised.
"You were right, I'm busy.." he said and ignored her continuing to sign some papers. Pari walked over to him and took his pen away.
"Hey since when did we go back to kindergarten?"
"Why have you been avoiding me these past days?" Pari asked looking at him.
Dev avoided her gaze.
"I haven't been avoiding you, it's been very busy can't you see?" He lied.
Pari sighed. She knew he was hurt. At least she assumed so. Who wouldn't be hurt when they were not invited to their then best friends wedding. Pari also knew that he was probably offended by the semi introduction. She wish he understood that she had no other choice. If Kabir only knew how close they once were, he wouldn't give her any freedom. He would constantly find a reason to doubt her.

"Dev I know I owe you an explanation." Pari confessed. Dev finally looked at her.
"You don't owe me anything Pari, congratulations you're married. What else is there to explain?" He asked.
Pari could see the hurt in his eyes. She didn't know if it was directed directly towards her or not, but she felt bad.
"I still think I do, why don't you come over for dinner and we'll have a talk?" Pari offered. Dev wasn't quite sure.
"I don't want to disturb you and your husband!" Dev said. He felt a little sad. Maybe because there was way too much going on.
"No, you wouldn't, he will not be joining us." Pari explained.
Now that sounded wrong to Dev. He didn't want anyone to misinterpret it.
Pari could almost read his mind.
"Don't worry, he wouldn't mind at all!" She lied. He would mind. A lot in fact. It was not like they would do any wrong besides eat and talk. But somehow in Kabir's crazy mind he would twist things.

"Will I see you at dinner?" Pari remarked.
"If you give me a time and address I'll be there."
"Great!" She said. She took a piece of paper and scribbled down her address and the time.
She gave back his pen with the piece of paper.
"See you then!" Pari said and smiled slightly. She left his office and went to finish off her remaining work.
Dev looked at the piece of paper.
He wasn't sure if this was an good idea afterall. Certainly after his breakup he didn't want to hear about her happy marriage and how wonderful her husband is and so on.

Finally it was time to go home. Dev checked the time. 5.30pm, he had an hour to kill before visiting Pari. He decided to go home. Arriving at home he took a shower. After his shower he decided to dress up. He didn't wear anything fancy. More casual yet classy. He did his hair and grabbed some things and left for her house.

Meanwhile Pari started preparing his favourite dish. After all these years she was proud she still remembered what it was and how to make it. When setting everything to cook she went and got dressed. Pari didn't understand why she was slightly nervous, but she was. She hoped Dev wouldn't ask too many questions. Oddly it was bad enough for her that he knew she was married, she didn't need him to know more than that.

Before arriving at her place Dev stopped at a supermarket. He thought it was a nice gesture to get her something little, because it was the first time he was visiting her house.
Dev bought her some chocolate and some flowers and eventually arrived at her home. He rang the bell and waited for her to open the door. Not much later she opened the door.
"Hi Dev, welcome!" Pari greeted him and let him inside. She closed the door behind him and gestured him to the living room. Dev carefully had a look around. It was a nice place. He assumed Pari decorated it. "Lovely place you've got, oh by the way these are for you." Dev said and gave her the gift he had brought along. Pari smiled at him.
"Oh thank you, you didn't have to." She thankfully accepted the gift and quickly put the flowers in a vase. Today Pari did not want to worry about a single thing.
She went back to him and invited him to sit down. Dev wanted to compliment her on her looks but stopped himself from doing so. He didn't know why, but he felt a little awkward.

"So tell me the big story." Dev said as he sat down.
Pari took a deep breath and started.
"I met Kabir around six years ago. We became friends and a year later we tied the knot" she told him. Pari didn't sound as enthusiastic as someone usually would when talking about their significant other. Dev listened, but didn't know what kind of emotions to show.
"Congrats again." He awkwardly said.
"I'm sorry for not inviting you, you know the circumstances.." Pari said while looking down.
"It's okay, not your fault." Dev said.
Dev was happy for her. At least one of them was in a happy relationship.
"Glad you found someone to spend your lifetime with." Dev said.
Pari was confused. But also the world lifetime scared her. She wasn't sure anymore if she could bare a lifetime with Kabir.
"And you have Sara!" She reminded him. He let laughed what confused her even more.
"Not anymore, we broke up." Dev explained. Pari was shocked to hear. She felt bad for him. They seemed so happy together. Well she shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Pari pretended to be happy as well, but deep inside she wasn't at all.
"How come, what happened?" She asked. Dev didn't want to tell her the truth. That she was slightly part of the reason, so he just invented a lie.
"We both were too busy, couldn't make time for one another, it wasn't fair to any of us." He lied.
"Oh I understand, I'm sorry.."
"It's okay, not your fault, at least one of us is happy, you are happy right?"