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- The Day He Lost Her
- Chapter 24 - People Don’t Do This to Someone They Claim to Care About
“It’s a good day” Khanak thinks to herself. If everything had been normal, she’d have enjoyed the day out with both her best-friends but for all intents and purposes she only has one best-friend now and the other person who is in car with them, she doesn’t know why he is here. Scowling, while looking outside through the car window, she wonders why did he come today?
Why today? After more than one year! And he says he is sorry – Khanak isn’t going to believe it!
She can’t trust him again! He is the one who has discarded her so easily, as if she didn’t matter… as if her feelings didn’t matter.
No… it would be stupidity to trust him again. She hasn’t asked him to like her back that day, when she confessed her feelings to him. She had just wanted her friend and their friendship back, and see if there is anyway that they could be more than friends. She would have been okay, hurt and upset but okay, if he had just told her that he doesn’t like her like that and only sees her as a friend. But he just ended their friendship as if their friendship is nothing to him.
“I think, we shouldn’t talk for a while” he has said. People don’t do that to someone they claim to care about. And even if they do, they don’t take more than one year to realize that they have done wrong and that they should apologize.
No way, is she ever going to forgive him!
Thankfully, her mom has messaged her to let her know that Rishav was down in the living room, waiting for her to apologize to her. At least she got the chance to prepare herself. She got the chance to control her heartbeat, because it has skipped as soon as she saw her mom’s message, and dry the tears that have instantly appeared in her eyes.
She has already seen him but she wanted more time to herself and it was fun to see her oh so confident friend, sorry ex-friend, fidgeting. She knew he thought she was listening to a song but she wasn’t. Her whole was on him. She was fully aware of his every move even when she went into kitchen. When he has apologized, he has looked so sincere that she wanted to forget and forgive everything but then she remembered how he has behaved.
When Ankan came in the middle of their conversation, part of her was relieved but a bigger part was annoyed at the interruption. And then she felt so guilty for thinking like that about Ankan, someone who has always been with her without expecting anything in return, that she asked him to take the decision about whether Rishav should come with them or not. Then the stunt of asking Ankan to make coffee for her was a double-edged sword- she was trying to give Ankan the importance he deserves and she was also futilely trying to make Rishav jealous. Huh?! As if he cares about her!
“So, what’s the plan?” Rishav asks from the backseat, excitedly. When they were coming out Ankan has already opened the passenger seat door for her and for a moment she thought to refuse it because Rishav might feel bad but then she stopped herself. Why should she care whether he felt bad or not?! But she did feel something when his smile dimmed for a moment on seeing the seating arrangement and it wasn’t any feeling similar to happiness.
At Rishav’s question, Khanak turned to look at Ankan. Because even she doesn’t what he has planned for today. He has told her to change and she has seen a picnic basket on the backseat so he must have planned a picnic but where, she doesn’t know.
“Surajkund Lake!” Ankan answers, looking at her with a knowing smile.
“Are you serious? My mom agreed?” Khanak asks but she already knows the answer. Ankan wouldn’t have made the plan if her mother would have said no.
“I know, right?” He asks rhetorically, looking at her surprised face. “I have been trying to make her say yes since last week but she has been saying no continuously but then before I was about to come to your house, she called me herself and told me that we can go there if we want to and that we should come back before 9 pm”
Khanak turns to look at Rishav and sees that he is also looking at her. They both know why did her mom do this. But then she turns back to look at Ankan, feeling so much gratitude.
“Thank you so much, yaar! Even I have lost the hope to convince my mother but as always you somehow managed to do the impossible”.
“Come on! Don’t thank me. Remember what I said?” Ankan asks and Khanak smiles before repeating what he has said numerous times in this one year and few months.
“That I am your best friend and I deserve the special treatment”. She doesn’t know why her eyes automatically went to Rishav in the rear-view mirror. Maybe she wants to show him how a friend should treat a friend or maybe she wants to make hm jealous again but she knows it’s something more than that. The silence in the care became uncomfortable and Khanak turned back to look outside.
“Soooo, it seems you both have been planning this for quite a long time?” Rishav asks awkwardly and for a moment she thought to answer as she has wanted to go there after she has heard few of her college friends discussing the place and the fun they had. But she stopped herself.
Ankan, realizing that Khanak isn’t going to reply, says “Yeah, actually it was Khanak’s idea but Aunty has been saying no. But today she said yes so here we are!”.
She feels bad for Ankan. It’s not his fault that both of his friends are fighting but still he is the one who suffers every time. And, he does it without any complain.
‘I am going to get something for him. Something he really wants! He doesn’t want me to thank him but he also deserves a special gesture’ She plans in her head. ‘I am also going to answer Rishav, if its necessary so that Ankan doesn’t feel like a messenger’.
She takes a deep breath, “You should also call your mother and tell her the plan otherwise she will keep worrying” Khanak tells Rishav, all the while looking outside. As soon as she finishes her sentence, she could feel two pairs of shocked eyes on her. She rolls her eyes at their reaction. And everyone sits in an awkward silence.
“What do you have in that basket? Please tell me none of them is cooked by you” Khanak asks, trying to behave normally as if the pair of eyes from backseat, continuously looking at her, doesn’t impact her.
Ankan huffs and narrows his eyes at her, faking his anger and when all she does is make a funny face at him in reply, he pulls her cheek with his free hand, “Don’t worry! There are some chips, cookies and some fruits”.
Now it was her turn to show anger at him. “You mean to say there is no real food in there?!”
Rishav snorted at her indignation. Her love for food is nothing new, after all. Khanak turned her glare in his direction and he smiled in a charming manner.
“Your mom said yes just half an hour before I reached your house. I didn’t want to risk her changing her decision” Ankan explain, trying to pacify her.
“I have just eaten a sandwich and how will I survive this whole day with just chips and cookies”
“Don’t forget, we have fruits too!” Rishav teases and Ankan high-fives him, and Khanak glowers at him.
“I am all set. I have eaten more than 5 parathas today, that too dipped in desi ghee” Rishav shares and Khanak turns in her seat completely to hit him.
For a moment Khanak feels as if everything is normal. Rishav and Ankan teasing her together but then she remembered how he has behaved and how long it has taken him to realize his mistake. And she sits back, looking outside through window.
“Don’t worry, we will eat something from any good breakfast place, okay?” Ankan asks and Khanak nods, smiling at him.
- Home
- The Day He Lost Her
- Chapter 24 - People Don’t Do This to Someone They Claim to Care About