Achilles' Heels: An IPKKND FanFiction

Chapter Seven: Collateral Damage

And more importantly, for you.

His voice rang in her head. No, they weren't mere echoes of some words he had said. They were reflections of her past, which attempted to confirm her future. They were the sweet and sour reflections of the past they had shared. And as much as she wanted them to not affect her, they had unlocked a vault in her heart that she had bolted shut a long ago after promising herself never to open it ever again.

But she did not realize that she never had its key in the first place.

She wanted to laugh at her stupidity in believing that she ever had any control over her life. At least not after she had fallen in the arms of this one man who had turned her life upside-down without really caring about the consequences, never bothering to ask for her permission.

The words that he had just said had etched a new, unnamed place on her heart, carving an intricate, beautiful design on it to be cherished forever. Her anger, frustration, and annoyance at his behavior since she had met him faded under the soothing tone of his voice. A voice that promised that she held a place in his life.

But then her momentary elation faded into a blurry haze as she felt choked under the weight of his words, overwhelmed with the vigorously surging emotions for it was a moment, unlike everything Khushi had ever experienced. It was the moment when she felt as if she could live and survive a hundred lives.

But then it disappeared as soon as she realized it. She tried again to reach the strange bubble of her unnamed feelings that erupted inside her like a volcano. But it wasn't an effort worth making.

Because she just wanted to berate herself at ever believing that she knew who Arnav Singh Raizada was. She refrained a haunting chuckle that threatened to burst through her; she had really thought she knew this guy who was sitting across her, his relaxed profile strangely contradicting the anger that coursed through her by talking to him. He had told her a story - his story, that narrated his side of things. Unfortunately for the two of them, she did not feel it was enough. It did not justify much of anything he had done to her.

Her eyes traced the outline of the man she had once loved with the bottom of her heart. Maybe she still did. Maybe she will always do. She took a deep breath and settled her eyes on his face only to find him looking straight into her eye. She had looked away at the first encounter with his piercing gaze that demanded a response from her. She didn't want to look back.

Because she knew that this guy was unpredictable - the very definition of it. Because this guy was as self-centered as any man she had met in her life. Because this guy did not think beyond himself. And whatever he said about her importance in his life, it ultimately meant nothing. And because this guy was someone whom she had lost her heart to. The realization hit her square; she shuddered under its impact.

"Me?" she rode high on emotions coursing her heart from all sides, "Di and me? You left us because of us? This sounds ridiculous and - insane?" she cleared the dull lump that was blocking her throat. Her tone was scornful as if she believed none of him. But did she? Did she mean the words that had escaped her before she even had time to process her stand? True to her confusion, her words ended up in a question. Her hands moved animatedly as her voice rose and fell in pitch.

He took a deep breath. "You have no idea, Khushi," he said flatly, rubbing his palms over the long sleeves of the navy blue sweater he had worn.

"Humor me," she challenged.

"As I said, Khushi, Shyam had influenced my life as I had never imagined. He had tricked me in his shrewd nature, and look at the irony, Khushi, me - who always believed in my incisive, perceptive mind was fooled, right under my nose! And I never had had an inkling about it. Strange, I sometimes wonder how this happened. Maybe I should have known; maybe I should have dug in for some way to avoid this. I wish."