||Shubman||

After buying everything I needed, I went back to my car in the parking lot. I kept all my shopping bags in the back seat. It's almost dinner time and I felt really hungry. There was a restaurant just beside the mall so I decided to go there.

Just when I was about to step inside, something caught my eye. I saw two very familiar faces sitting together through the glass entrance of the restaurant. Prithvi and Anya were having dinner together, smiling at each other.

How is this possible? Anya said she had some work then what is she doing here with Prithvi? Even if there were change of plans, why didn't she tell me about it?

I felt extremely furious on seeing them together. Anya and Prithvi both are really close to me and I can't believe they're hiding things from me. I decided against going into the restaurant and creating a drama there. I went back to my car and sat inside.

I grabbed my phone from the pocket and dialled Anya's number. I want to know if she lies to me now.

"Hey Shubman" she answered the call.

"Hey Anya, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing" she replied.

"Where are you? If you're at home, I can come to meet you" I said.

"I'm sorry Shubman. I told you I've some work so I'm still at my office" she lied.

Why is she lying to me?

"Can I come to meet you there?" I asked.

"Noo!" she reacted almost screaming.

"Woah what happened?" I asked hearing her react like this.

"Uh.. actually I'm really busy and I won't be able to meet you so don't bother yourself" she said quite hesitantly.

"As you say" I replied. "I'll talk to you later then" I said and hung up immediately without waiting for her reply. I couldn't bear her lies anymore.

What could possibly be the reason behind her hiding things from me? Are Prithvi and Anya-? No! That's not possible. I'm pretty sure of it but I still feel so betrayed because of her. She decided to meet him instead of me. My heart ached thinking about it.

I drove to the outskirts, near the sunset point although it was night already. I wanted to be alone, far from everyone else. I got out of the car and laid on it's bonnet.

Anya was the one person amongst the very few I thought who'll never hurt me. But, I was wrong. She's just the same, she crushed my heart too. Even though we don't have feelings for each other, we're about to get married and it rips your heart when your partner lies to you. I felt a sharp pain in my chest because of what I saw today. Tears formed in my eyes when I recalled our conversation over phone where she lied to me. What's the difference between Anya and Siya then? I'm again at the receiving end of a heartbreak.

I didn't want to think over it so I grabbed a beer bottle from my car's trunk. I usually never drink, it's been a long time since I had beer. I'm not an alcoholic but I need it really bad right now. I had the entire bottle in a single go and after few minutes I started feeling dizzy and I dozed off there itself.

||Anya||

"I hope you didn't face any problem while coming here" Prithvi said once I reached the restaurant.

"I've been to this place before so I didn't" I told him.

"Did you tell Shubman?" He asked.

"No I promised you that I won't tell him" I said. "He wanted to take me for dinner tonight because he's leaving for Kolkata tomorrow but since I already said yes to you, I had to turn down his proposal" I added.

"It's okay you could have told me that you guys had plans. Hum kabhi aur mil lete" he said.

"It's fine Prithvi. I'll make it up to him when he comes back" I told him smiling.

"As you say" he replied. "Shall we order?" He asked.

"Yeah sure" I replied and he called the waiter. We ordered the delicacies and waited for our order.

"You know I talked to Shub the next day after the club incident. I told him that I wanted to apologise to you personally but he said it's not needed and that he'll pass my apology to you" he told me.

"Oh" I sighed.

"Yeah but after few days I got to know from Abhay that you guys weren't on talking terms" he continued.

"Yeah but we sorted out later and now we're good" I informed him.

"I'm really sorry. All of this happened because of me" he apologised again.

"It's okay. Don't apologise for the same thing so many times" I told him. "It's over and everything is sorted now" I assured him.

"Thankfully" he sighed.

The waiter arrived with our orders after sometime and served us the food. Prithvi and I had some random conversation and I can conclude that he's equally sweet as Shubman's other friends.

While eating our food my phone started ringing. I checked and it's Shubman. Why is he calling again?

"It's Shubman" I told Prithvi.

"What are you waiting for? Pick it up" he said to me and I nodded.

"Hey Shubman" I said picking up the call.

"Hey Anya, what's up?" He asked.

"Nothing" I replied.

"Where are you? If you're at home, I can come to meet you" he said.

From where did he get the sudden urge to meet me all of a sudden?

"I'm sorry Shubman. I told you I've some work so I'm still at my office" I lied.

"Can I come to meet you there?" He asked.

"Noo!" I reacted. Shit! I shouldn't have reacted like that. It'll create doubts in his mind.

"Woah what happened?" He asked.

"Uh.. actually I'm really busy and I won't be able to meet you so don't bother yourself" I told him.

"As you say. I'll talk to you later then" he said and hung up immediately. What was that? His behaviour seemed absurd. He never hangs up like that even when he's mad. I'll call him back and ask what's wrong when I reach home.

"Is everything okay?" Prithvi asked me.

"Yeah it is" I told him and he nodded.

We finished our dinner and Prithvi paid the bill even after my repeated protests of not letting him do so. He's just like Shubman, too stubborn. We bid goodbye to each other after shaking hands and went to our respective cars.

Just when I entered my car my phone started ringing once again. I checked it and this time it was mom.

"Hey Mom" I said answering the call.

"Anya" she cried.

"Mom? What's wrong? Why're you crying?" I asked in concern.

"Please come home right now" she sobbed.

"Mom please tell me what happened! You're scaring me" I said as she was continuously crying.

She didn't answer for few seconds.

"Mom? Are you there?" I asked scared.

"Dad" she choked in her sobs.