After yet another rash turn, his car once again screeched to a stop at the gate of Riya's apartment. Unlike that day, it wasn't anger that pumped up his adrenaline today; it was the need to claim his best friend back. He just couldn't afford to lose a person this beautiful from his life. Today, he was determined to make it all right.

Ram hurried to the fourth floor, climbing a couple of steps at a time. Though, when he reached her door, a horde of uncertainties hit him all of a sudden. Should he really be there? What if he had misread her silence? What if she didn't want to see him at all? These, and a series of other what ifs ballooned the determination out of him. Although his heart wanted him to, he just didn't have the strength to knock on her door.

Depleted, he was about to turn back when the door in front of him opened itself. The look on his face would have been completely different had it actually been Riya to open the door. He was secretly relieved it was her roommate, Pooja, standing in front of him.

"Ram?" she asked, clearly not expecting him to be there.

If Riya too was going through what he was, if she too wished to meet him as badly as he did, he knew Pooja,s reaction would have been a lot different than that. She was a bundle of energy who would have bounced around with excitement and called Riya by now. This shocked look on her face was enough indication for him to get lost.

Yet, his heart compelled him to make one last try.

"Is...Is Riya here?" he stuttered.

"Why would she be here?"

It was his turn to look shocked. Either he had lost it or the world around him had actually gone mad. Why was everyone so bent on throwing him in a puzzle?

"I mean," Pooja continued, "She went home last week. She told you, right?"

Wrong! He wished to shout at the top of his voice. The girl that he called his best friend failed to mention such an important thing. When did the rift in their relationship grow so much that she didn't even wish to see him before she left? Anger was building in him once again. This was just not acceptable.

However, the one good thing about it all was Pooja didn't seem to know anything about their fight. And if Riya didn't see it right to tell her roommate about it, he wasn't keen to do it either. The less this treacherous world knew, the better it was.

"Yes, she did," he lied, "it just skipped my mind, that's it."

His tone wasn't convincing at all, but Pooja bought it anyway. Or at least she showed she did.

Without saying another word, he sauntered down and threw himself in the car. Anger once again fueling his adrenaline, his car raced away from there, destination unknown. 

***

"The less this world knows about your life, the better it is."

It was too late after all!

All this while, I had been thinking that it was Ram and his big ego that was ruining it all between them.

Now I realize how wrong I was.

The real villain ain't Ram, it's Riya.