Love and Music

The Endless nights and after

The night for Arshi was endless. She wept the whole night. There was no way that she could help herself and Rahul. The entire night felt like years. It was strange that she was ready to sacrifice her life with Ishaan just because she wanted to save Rahul. The night passed, and at 4:30 AM, Arshi went to the kitchen to make coffee. She had not even touched her phone the entire night. She feared to see a message or a call from Rahul. She knew that what she was doing was necessary for Rahul. She sat down with a mug of coffee in her hand in the balcony. She remembered the day when Rahul had confessed his true feelings to Arshi. Arshi just held her coffee and lay on the newly placed bean bag that was Rahul's favourite spot, closed her eyes and all their memories together just flashed in front of her eyes. She had to get off her frustration someway. 

She always loved to write. So, she went to her room to fetch her diary and a pen and sat where she was sitting earlier. She penned down her feelings. There was a lot that she was going through. She sat there till 10:00 AM, skipping her breakfast. After she was done writing, she read it out to herself. 

You taught me what love was. You taught me what life meant. You were the one who held my hand when in pain, I bent. You loved me, cared for me and made me smile. Not realising that it was you who would become the sole reason behind my smile. You stood beside me when the world wished to break me apart. When I broke, you healed me. When I shook, you held me tight. When I cried, you let my tears flow without judgement. When I smiled, you made me laugh aloud. You called me your strength not realising that the power that I gave you was given to me by you yourself. We promised to survive through all storms, but I ran away at first sight of rain. I am ashamed of what I am doing, but I am helpless too. I want you to be happy and prosperous, but I can't ensure both. Your happiness was with me, and your success was at stake because of me. I have to make a decision no matter what. I choose the latter and ensure your success. I am sorry for what I will do, but I wish I could tell you the truth. I hope you could see the nights I stay awake and weep for you, but then I realise that if you see me this way, it will break you through. So I keep strong and promise to let you never realise that this is a sacrifice and not a wish. 

Tears flew down as she read the words. It was the truth that she wanted to share but could not. She was in pain and also knew that she was hurting Rahul that multiplied her plight. She finally stopped weeping and settled down a bit at about 11:00 AM. 

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Rahul, on the other hand, could not understand what was going on between him and Arshi. Arshi had ignored his calls, and the last text that he received from her gave shivers down his spine. He could sense something was wrong but couldn't guess it at all. He sat in his music room and remembered the day where he had introduced Arshi to Divyansh and Chetna and how they both gelled well. He could feel all the past moments of him and Arshi. He was lost but then concluded that probably Arshi wanted some time to herself and spent some time with her parents too. He also could not reason as to why Arshi had not introduced him to her parents when she had promised to do so. He was worried but still decided to stay calm and give Arshi her space and time.  He kept himself busy working on music. As he settled down in front of his set up, He got a call from Radhika. Radhika informed, "Rahul, are you free today at about 5:30 PM. It has been long that the entire team has sat down and chilled, so I was planning if we could meet over zoom. He agreed. 

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Arshi had a better frame of mind after having penned all the emotions in her diary. She settled down at about 11:00 AM in her room. She received a call from Radhika who happily spoke, 'Arshi, Good Morning. Listen, will you be free at about 5:30 PM." She replied in the affirmative and Radhika continued, "So I will send you the room code and password for the virtual meet. Join on time." Arshi asked curiously, "Why all of a sudden has this plan being made?" Radhika replied, "It has been so long that we all sat down together and Akshat sir asked if we could meet, but most of them were busy, so I thought we could meet over Zoom and all agreed including Akshat sir and Amit sir. So this plan was made. Arshi and Radhika spoke for some time after which they hung up. 

Arshi was not hungry but still went to the kitchen where her mother stood and cooked with Lata di making lunch. Mom asked, "Will you not have breakfast?" Arshi simply nodded in negative. She kept the mug in the sink and left to her room. She also skipped her lunch and had lost her appetite. She sat beside her window and went on to Instagram to scroll trough Rahul's profile and found a photo that he had posted in which Rahul and Arshi stood beside each other with a mug of coffee in their hand and immersed in their work. It was a candid shot captured by Radhika. Rahul had posted the picture with a caption, "Partner in Music and Partner in Crime. Thanks for always having my back. Thanks for the coffee too." She smiled, looking at that picture and tears flew down her eyes even before she could realise and hold it within.

Radhika sent the Zoom Room Code and Password in their Whatsapp group. Arshi went to the washroom to freshen up and wear some proper clothes. She wore her favourite T-shirt that Rahul had gifted her when she had gifted her a similar T-Shirt. So, Rahul had planned to buy her a T-Shirt identical to that one so that they could Twin. 

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Rahul received the Zoom details and decided to get ready and look presentable before joining the meeting. He decided o a T-shirt that Arshi had got for him and they would often twin with that. It was a black and white striped T-shirt in which 24 was written at the back and it symbolised their favourite Bruno Mars. Rahul joined the meeting. 

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To know what happened in the Zoom meeting stay tuned to read the next part.