Tum Hi Ho

Chapter 8

Paridhi tried not to make too much noise as she opened the door with her keys and tiptoed inside. She removed her sandals first and tossed her purse and phone on the couch. The house was quite and dark, which meant Nikhil was asleep in his bedroom. Paridhi peeped inside just to make sure and sighed when she saw him sleeping on his bed.
She then walked to her room, knowing that a big fight was on the way next morning. Though she was tired, she couldn’t sleep as she worried about Nikhil and thought about the happiest moments of her life that she had spent with Darshan in his car.
She tossed and turned for about an hour and finally slept around 2.30 AM. Next morning she was woken up by someone gently caressing her forehead. She smiled, still half asleep.
“Good morning Nikhil.” She mumbled sleepily and heard a chuckle.
“Good morning sweetheart. Had a good sleep?” He asked and Paridhi hummed. She lay there for a few more moments in blissful warmth as Nikhil continued to play with her hair.
She was jolted awake when she remembered that Nikhil had shouted at her rudely the last time she had seen him and then ignored her for two days straight.
And now he sat on her bed as if nothing had happened. She slapped away his hand and glared at him, sitting upright and away from him. Seeing her reaction, Nikhil sighed.
He bent his head guiltily and apologized profusely for had had happened that morning. He promised Paridhi that he would never act that way again and he would never ignore her calls again.
Paridhi found his behavior suspicious for a moment when he started apologizing because he rarely apologized after their fights even if most the times it was his fault.
But her suspicions melted away as she saw that he was apologizing genuinely. Or so she thought.
Paridhi had never been the one to get angry or hold grudges against anyone. Even if she got angry, it was rare and she could never remain angry for long time at her loved ones. She immediately forgave him and hugged him. Just like that their fight was resolved.
Paridhi decided to go shopping after Nikhil left for the office as she had two free days and had nothing to do. Darshan’s schedule was clear for 3 days, meaning no work for her.
She called her cousin/best friend Preeti and together they planned to meet at the mall after lunch. Paridhi reached the mall around 2.30 and decided to checkout an ethnic jewelry shop while she waited for Preeti, who was as usual late.
Preeti was her childhood best friend, they were friends since they were 5 years old. So obviously they went to each other for any kind of problem. Preeti was studying medical.
She had completed MBBS and was now currently doing Masters. She was the only one who knew about Paridhi and Nikhil’s relationship. Nikhil hadn’t wanted Preeti to know, but Paridhi needed to tell at least one of her friends so that they would cover for her in case of emergency.
Nikhil and Paridhi had had a huge fight over it, it was Preeti who had intervened and explained to Nikhil that she would help them hide the relationship from their parents.
Now that Preeti knew, she was the only one Paridhi could go for some relationship advice. As Paridhi reminisced the old memory and strolled through the sections of the shop, she heard Preeti call out for her. She turned around and hugged the most important person in her life.

“Goddd! I missed you so much.” Paridhi said as she pulled away and Preeti grinned. “I missed you too. Now spill. Something’s wrong.” Paridhi knew that Preeti would sense it. Preeti always sensed whenever anything was wrong in Paridhi’s life and Paridhi too had a knack of finding out Preeti’s problems and helping to solve them. They were soul sisters in a way. Paridhi sighed.
“Let’s talk over a cheeseburger.” She suggested and Preeti jumped in joy. After a small argument over who would pay for the order, Paridhi and Preeti grabbed a table while they waited for their order.
As soon as they were seated, Preeti went, “Spill.” And so Paridhi started explaining.
“Preeti, I know I should not think like this, but I can’t help it. It’s just that I am tired of fighting with him. All we do is fight. I really want to give this relationship a chance. I always forgive Nikhil whenever he behaves rudely with me and then he goes and does something that hurts me more. I love him, I really do. But now I have started having doubts. Is there really love between us? Are we together because of love or for the sake of being together?”
Paridhi emptied her feelings to Preeti who sighed. There was a pause as their cheeseburgers and drinks arrived.
“Jaan, I have always told you and I am telling you even now. Nikhil is not the right guy for you. He treats you like shit. He has never respected or even cared about your feelings. He always makes you do whatever he wants. This is NOT love. This is a toxic relationship and you need to get out of it. I know you have always ignored me, but there is still time. You can break up with him before this matter gets serious and your parents are involved. You deserve better.”
Paridhi shook her head at Preeti’s rant.
“Preeti you have always been biased towards him. He isn’t as bad as you think. He is just…control freak and a little dominative. All boys have little bit of dominance in them and that’s fine. I can handle it. But I am just tired. I think I need a break for a while.” Paridhi was afraid at the mere thought of breaking up with Nikhil. She was afraid of how he would react. She was afraid of her family finding out.
Preeti knew all these fears, so she tried to convince Paridhi, but Paridhi just dismissed Preeti’s arguments. Somewhere Paridhi knew that Preeti was right. But if she lost Nikhil, what would she do? Who would love someone like her?