Vishal looked around for Shreya frantically as he stood outside the Café Coffee Day opposite his apartment. He didn't know Shreya's phone number or any other details about her though he desperately wanted to contact her now. He had to explain everything to her. It was his fault; he had to apologize to her.

After a few minutes of waiting in despair, Vishal returned to his apartment since there was no point standing outside the café. Shreya was not gonna come back....

As Vishal walked into his apartment, his mind was still reeling in shock. Darling had told Shreya about her phone calls with me? But she was the one who had told me not to tell Shreya anything about her. How could Darling do this to me? Let me call her. Does she think this is some kind of prank? She has ruined everything between Shreya and me!

Vishal grabbed his mobile and dialled Darling's number.

***

Shreya was standing in the balcony, deep in thought, when Swati walked up to her.

"Hey! You're back early?" asked Swati, walking into the balcony with a grin.

"Yeah." Shreya flashed an artificial smile at her friend.

Comprehending Shreya's fake smile, Swati's smile faded. "What happened? Didn't you meet Vishal today, Shrey?"

"I did."

"Then, what's wrong? Didn't your plan work?"

"My plan worked. Perfectly... though I didn't wait for him to propose to me." Shreya flashed another smile.

"I thought you said you'll be very happy once your plan works."

"Yeah, I guess I am; my plan worked today. I left him and ended my part as Shreya in Vishal's life. I'm waiting for him to call his Darling and close her chapter as well. I won't have to disturb him anymore after that."

"You left him. Okay, but how can you be so sure he won't try to meet you again?"

"If he wanted, he could have come to meet his darling but he didn't. He knows nothing about Shreya even if he might want to meet me again. Even though he had been really comfortable with his darling, he could leave her so easily. I'm sure he'll give up on Shreya too very soon and find someone else. He was never that close to Shreya anyway."

"But how can you let go of him so easily, Shrey? I thought you love him."

"I loved him Swati. But I don't love him anymore. And I didn't let go of him. It was he who let go of me. What guarantee do I have that he won't leave me again for any other reason? I'd rather not have him in my life again without that guarantee."

"Then, why did you go for revenge? You don't want him now; yet you entered his life again on another pretext. Couldn't you have just let him be? I'm sure he would've faced the consequences for his deeds even if you had just left him that day."

"Yeah, he might have. If I had left him that day, he might even be married by now. I wanted to delay it just in case he might realize that he loves me. But I was wrong. He hasn't realized till now and I doubt he will ever realize it. He will move on; I hope he finds someone who will love him more than I do."

Swati remained silent.

Shreya sighed. It is time for me to move on too.... The ringing of her mobile phone interrupted her chain of thoughts within a minute.

Shreya and Swati glanced at each other, sharing a small smile before heading towards the living room. An interesting conversation was about to ensue between Vishal and his darling....

Shreya seated herself comfortably on the couch before reaching forward to take her mobile phone which was lying on the table. A bittersweet smile crossed her face as she swiped the screen to answer his call and put the call on speakers so Swati could hear him as well.

Shreya waited; there was only silence between them for a long moment.

"Hello? Darling, are you there?"

"Of course I'm here! Who else did you expect? Shreya?"

"Wow. Your voice is so similar to Shreya's; I could almost mistake your voice for hers."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. The only difference is that your voice is usually chirpy. Shreya's voice is very reserved."

"Oh, so you called now to do a comparative study of voices, is it?"

"In your dreams! Do you have any idea how tensed I am right now?"

"Nope, why are you tensed?"

"You blabbered things to Shreya and made a rift between us, won't I be tensed?"

"It's up to you if you want to be tensed."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, enjoy your tension!" Hearing Shreya's retort to Vishal, Swati couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you think this is a joke?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you do this? I thought you're my good friend and listened to you blindly or I would have told Shreya about you long back!"

"Aww, poor you."

"Why are you talking like this? I trusted you as my friend, is this what any friend would do?"

"Certainly not. Any doubt?"

"What do you mean? You're not my friend?"

"Am I your friend? Since when?"

"You're the one who said you're my friend that day, right?"

"Oh... but a long time before that, you had spoken to me about marriage, remember?"

After a moment of silence, Vishal's puzzled voice asked, "Marriage?"

"Yeah, marriage. You wanted an arranged marriage so you're the one who told me that I can get to know you over our phone calls and chats. When I am sure that I like you and am ready to marry you, I can tell my parents and your Granz, that's what you had told me. Do you recall that now?"

"I thought that was over... I said sorry to you and you said, you were always my friend, right?"

"So, one day, you'll talk to me about marriage. Another day, you'll talk to me about friendship? Do you expect me to agree to whatever you decide?"

"Darling, I told you all that about marriage thinking that you're Keerthi, my Granz's choice!"

"Oh, so because I was not her, the words you had uttered to me don't apply anymore? Don't I seem to you as a girl who might have a heart?"

Silence.

"Instead you asked your Granz to find another girl for you, Shreya. Was that necessary? Did you just forget about my existence or didn't you realize that I was also an unmarried girl like Shreya and Keerthi?"

"Darling, why are you talking like this? We had an understanding between us. We were just friends. How can you expect me to think of you along the lines of marriage now?"

"Didn't you ever think of me along those lines before? Oh, so it was just the name Keerthi that was connected to marriage? The problem is that my name is not Keerthi, is it?"

"What can I say to make you understand?"

"You don't have to tell me anything to make me understand you. No one has understood you better than I have. You have these connections in your mind: Darling – friend and Keerthi – marriage. But the connection to Keerthi failed. Now, it is Shreya – marriage, right? Find someone else if you can. But I will never let you unite with Shreya... since you chose her over me."

"You've already ruined everything between us. Now, I doubt Shreya will want to meet me again."

"Then, go find someone else. I won't disturb you if you choose someone else over Shreya."

"Darling, what is your problem with Shreya–" Shreya lowered her mobile from her ear and cut the call before Vishal could finish speaking.

"Why did you cut the call? When I told you to cut some other call last time, you refused to cut it saying it's rude," claimed Swati.

"I never cut calls because I know it's rude. But let Vishal think that I'm rude. I can't answer his question and I don't want him to know my weak side. He has to forget about Shreya and Darling, that's all I know. He won't be able to meet or contact Shreya again. And after this conversation, he wouldn't want to call his darling again."

"But what if he ponders along the lines that you spoke? Especially when you questioned him, don't you seem to him as a girl who might have a heart?"

"He won't think like that, Swati. I know him too well."

"Okay, but I have to say he actually sounds innocent, Shrey."

"He is. Too innocent that you can't hate him. But if a guy called you Darling and made you feel so special, just to chuck you out of his life saying 'sorry, you're a wrong number' the day you are ready to do anything and everything for him, it would hurt. Really. But I'm not gonna dwell on it anymore. I'm gonna move on. I have a family, career, you and all our other friends. I can't keep thinking about Vishal. I have to move on."

"Okay, but why don't you tell Vishal the truth? That you are his darling too."

"If I wanted to tell him that, there have been many instances when I could've told him. But there is a reason I never told him the truth till now. I know it's pointless now but let it be, I don't think telling the truth will make any good difference either. It's better we leave it at this."

Swati remained silent.

Shreya left the living room and walked over towards her bedroom. As she stepped into her bedroom, an idea struck her.

Shreya stepped back and turned to Swati again, asking, "Swati, yesterday you were telling me about a fashion expo in Goa? When is it again?"

"Oh, it's the first week of next month."

"What do you think? Shall we showcase our designs at the expo?"

Swati smiled in surprise. "Sure. It's a good idea but I thought you weren't interested in it yesterday."

"Yeah, because we don't have much time. But we can try especially since Mrs. Verma suggested us to consider having a stall at the expo to present our designs."

"I think we should try too. And it's in Goa, Shrey! We can go sightseeing around after the expo too!"

"Of course! It'll be my first visit to Goa. So we can stay an extra day there after the expo to go sightseeing too."

"I've been to Goa a few times; I'll show you around there. It's gonna be fun to have you with me this time."

"Okay, let me check the brochure Mrs. Verma gave us. We need to book a slot for a stall before it's full."

Swati smiled as Shreya searched for the brochure and dialled a number in her mobile phone. Shreya was an inspiration; the way she was trying to move on....

***

Shreya was standing in the balcony after the phone call. So, it was fixed. We would have to come up with some chic designs for the fashion expo in three weeks. This would be the best way to keep myself busy so I can stop myself from thinking about Vishal again.

Shreya looked up to see that the sky had become dark already. It was almost night; there were a few stars twinkling in the sky.

Shreya smiled as she glanced at the stars. The floating lanterns that had printed out the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING" in the sky on her birthday still appeared before her eyes as a fresh image today. A tear spilled from her eye and trickled down her cheek as she glanced down at her mobile phone. Why do I smile yet feel tears all at once whenever I remember you, Vi? Forgetting you and moving on is gonna be a tough task.

To be continued...

A/N: Please don't forget to vote and comment.. Hope you like this chapter.. What do you think of Vishal and Shreya and their future? :)

Reminder: Updates will be on Thursday/Friday but I might publish a bonus chapter in between some weeks as a surprise hehe.. :)