Tum Hi Ho

Chapter 19

Paridhi shook her head as she checked the time again. It was almost 9. They were officially half hour late. She considered calling Darshan to check if he had forgotten her address and was unable find his way. But then she remembered that he was ignoring her. Why should she call if he was behaving so rudely with her? It was his photoshoot, he needed her help to get to the location. If he was lost, he should call her.

Darshan cursed as he honked his horn. He was stuck in traffic at the signal of Jogeshwari circle. He had slept late last night, thinking about Paridhi and he had missed his alarm. When he woke up at 7.45, he had quickly got ready and left the house at 8.20. Now he was late. He cursed at his luck. He knew that he had to interact with Paridhi as his entire schedule depended on her. Hell, he depended on her entirely. But now that he was trying to ignore her, going to pick her up was frustrating. She was surely going to think that he was bi-polar or something. But he had no other option as no one knew the location except her and Naushad Khan and he was stuck. He sighed as the traffic in front of him cleared and 10 minutes later he arrived at her apartment. He looked at her name on his phone for 2 minutes before he realized that he was really late and he should call her. He dialed and she received the call within 2 rings. He took a breath before speaking. “I am here. Come down.” He cut the call before she could say anything else. There, that would be enough to tell her that he didn’t want to talk to her. He sighed as he felt immense pain for being so rude to her. He loved her for god’s sake and here he was, trying to not look at her as she walked across the parking lot. He tried to keep his eyes on the steering wheel, but as she knocked the window, he automatically glanced towards her and his heart sped up. She was looking really beautiful. She motioned him to open the door and he realized that the door was locked. As she sat in the car a moment later, he inhaled a sweet scent and he took a deep breath just to feel it again. “Where to?” He asked curtly as he pulled out of her lane. There was a moment’s silence where he was tempted to turn his head and look at her. But he kept his eyes on the road, gripping the steering wheel tightly and trying to control himself. “Jogeshwari circle.” Paridhi replied in a clipped tone. The edge in her voice forced Darshan to glance at her. She was sitting stiffly in the seat, folding her hands and looking out of the window. It looked like she was angry at him and was trying not to snap. When they reached the circle, Paridhi spoke up again, only 3 words. “Aage se right.” Darshan followed the instructions she gave out occasionally and within 10 mins they were at the location. The location was an old mill; they had chosen it for the theme of the photoshoot. Old, fallen buildings were a popular trend these days. Paridhi jumped out of the car as soon as Darshan stopped the car and went over to find the director. Darshan found a vanity which was assigned to him and stepped inside to change. Paridhi came few moments later with his dress and handed it to him wordlessly. They worked silently, Paridhi had nothing much to do except supervising the shoot and helping with some technical things. When Darshan had changed, he stepped out of the vanity and Paridhi’s breathing hitched. Her heart skipped a beat as he slid on a pair of Raybans and walked in full attitude towards the set. Damn he was hot, Paridhi thought and blushed as Darshan caught her staring. His lips curved into a small smile, but an instant later, his smile vanished and it was replaced by a sad and pained expression. Paridhi frowned. Was Darshan feeling well? She wondered. But as he confidently strode towards the set, and the photoshoot began, she felt that he was fine, but something was bothering him mentally. Might be some issue, she told herself and ignored the feeling of uneasiness that she had been feeling since morning. Seeing him sitting in the car, like any normal person after seeing him as a savior in her nightmare had brought her back to reality. She had accepted the fact that she was just an ordinary girl, nothing more. Why should a superstar like Darshan Raval care about her? She was just his PA and he must have realized that she was a boring, depressed girl so he must have stopped talking to her. It was fine, she understood his side. But that didn’t make the pain she felt lesser. She was really hurt at his silent treatment. She had somehow got attached to him. And now that he had drifted away, she felt alone again. She had always had a crush on him, but she had always thought of it as just a physical attraction, a celebrity crush. But now that she had worked with him closely, gotten to know him as a human being, she had started falling for him. And he had crushed her heart in pieces in just one stroke. It’s your fault, she told herself, as she wiped a tear. As she saw him pose for the photos, smiling brilliantly, giving a killer attitude, she decided to get married to Nikhil as soon as possible. Sure, her relationship with Nikhil wasn’t great, sure she loved someone else, but Nikhil was her only choice and she didn’t want to lose him too. She took out her phone, glanced at Darshan one last time and was startled when she found that he was looking at her. She held his gaze for a few moments and she felt like his eyes were trying to tell her something. There was a kind of defeated and lost look in them. His stare was so intense that she was the one to look away. She sighed and then took a deep breath before unlocking her phone. “Let’s get married Nikhil, Your way. Do anything you want, just let’s get married as soon as possible.” She sent the message. There, it was done now. Once she got married and settled in her life, it would be easier to move on. Her feelings for Darshan would fade away with time and it won’t hurt like it was hurting now. It was after 5 PM that the director wrapped up the shoot. Paridhi wanted to hurry home as she knew Preeti could be coming anytime now and she also knew Nikhil would come home early. Nikhil had called her after she had sent that message telling her how happy he was that she had finally agreed to do it his way. He had said that though he had a lot of work and an international videoconference, he would try to get home early.