Vishal's eyes slit open as sunlight streamed into the room through the window the next morning. He jumped up in bed as he recollected that Darling had called him but he had fallen asleep without hearing the reason for her call.

Vishal found his mobile phone lying next to his pillow and grabbed it. He unlocked the screen and checked the call log. It was not Darling but Shreya who had called.

Vishal hit his palm to his forehead upon realizing his mistake. Their voices are so similar that I mistook Shreya as Darling. Hearing me say 'darling', Shreya would've been pissed off. Shreya doesn't like Darling. She's already being aloof to me for some reason and now, she'll be annoyed as well.

Frantically, Vishal dialled Shreya's number.

"Sorry, the number you have dialled is unreachable. Please try again later...." The response he was getting from the other end of the line worried him even more.

He tried calling her a few more times but to no avail. Her number was unreachable.

In a hurry, Vishal got ready and headed out of his room to Shreya's room nearby. The door to the room was open. The hotel cleaners were bustling around inside the room.

Vishal peered into the room, looking around for Shreya, in confusion.

"Yes? How may I help you?" asked the main cleaner, upon noticing Vishal.

"The girl staying in this room, where is she?"

"She already checked out of this room early in the morning. You may ask the receptionist downstairs if you want any more details."

Shocked, Vishal rushed downstairs to the reception area. The hotel receptionist smiled upon noticing him.

"Hello, sir. Ms. Shreya had asked to inform you that she had to leave urgently for Bangalore in this morning's flight. She will contact you from Bangalore again."

"Oh okay, thank you." Vishal returned to his room in a state of confusion. Why had Shreya left so hastily? Could that be the reason she had called last night?

***

Later that morning, Vishal left Goa as per the scheduled flight that he and Shreya were supposed to travel in. Jo and Abhay were traveling in the same flight but their seats were further away during this flight.

After landing in Bangalore, Vishal tried calling Shreya's number again. Her number was reachable now but she was still not answering his calls.

***

Late in the afternoon, Vishal was in his apartment when he received a phone call. He checked the screen of his mobile and frowned. Darling? After more than a week since she last called, why's she calling now?

Puzzled, Vishal answered the call. "Hello."

"Hey, Vi. Still remember me?" Her familiar chirpy voice infuriated him today. She's the main reason I couldn't keep Shreya happy in the first place! And look how jovially she's talking now!

"How can I forget you? Ever since you started making problems for me, everything in my life has only been going worse!"

"I didn't know I was such a torture for you. If you found me such a problem maker, why didn't you block my number in the first place?"

"I blocked your number actually. Then I unblocked it the same day thinking no matter what problems you caused me, you're still my friend."

"Oh, so you still have a soft spot for me?" Vishal felt gobsmacked by her response; he didn't know whether to snap or laugh hearing her question. Did she really think that I might still have a soft spot for her after she ruined everything between me and Shreya?

"What do you want now?"

"Aww, will you really give me anything I want?"

"In your dreams! Tell me, why have you called now?"

"I want to meet you." Her voice had turned serious.

"For what?"

"As a friend, can't I even ask to meet you?"

"You created more than enough problems for me without even meeting. Now, are you planning to make more problems between me and Shreya if I meet you? Look, if that's your idea, then forget it. Shreya is the perfect girl in my life. Because of you, our relationship is on the rocks now. For all the problems that have arisen because of you, I know the solution. I am going to propose to Shreya right away. Then she will trust my love for her and you won't be able to do a thing. Nobody will be able to separate us again, not even you. Try whatsoever you want but nothing is gonna work. Goodbye!"

Without even waiting to hear Darling's response, Vishal disconnected the call. He dialled Shreya's number; she didn't answer his call this time as well. He decided to check at her fashion designing studio if she or Swati would be there.

No matter what happens, I am going to propose to Shreya by this evening. She has to know that I have chosen her. I couldn't forget her over the past few years; it is a sign that I love her. Her mood always has the ability to affect my mood; this is certainly love.

Vishal checked his shirts and first chose a white shirt to wear. After changing into the white shirt and black trousers, he checked his reflection in the mirror and felt a little incomplete. He rummaged inside his wardrobe again for a few minutes before he finally changed into a turquoise shirt and jeans.

***

Almost an hour later, Vishal stepped into Shreya's fashion designing studio.

Wearing a sea blue coloured salwar suit, Shreya was standing at a table, working on a piece of garment. She was alone.

"Hey," started Vishal hesitantly.

"Hey, what brings you here now suddenly?" Shreya paused but Vishal remained silent. "Sorry, I had to leave early from Goa. A client had urgently asked Swati to do a lot of alterations to a dress she wanted to wear to an important function this afternoon. Swati was struggling with it since there were a lot of changes to be made to it and there wasn't any extra material of the same cloth. So she called me and asked for help. Since I couldn't help her over the phone, I decided to leave Goa earlier. I had called to inform you that but I think you fell asleep without hearing what I said. I wanted to message you in the morning too before I left but my phone died when I was leaving so I couldn't. That's why I asked the hotel receptionist to inform you. I hope you weren't too worried. I left my phone at home to charge when I arrived and I haven't gone back to get it yet."

"Oh, okay." Vishal hesitated. "I wanted to tell you something important."

"Before that, I also have something important to tell you."

"You may not be expecting what I've come to say. Please listen to me first then you can decide whether you want to tell me what you have to say." Without giving Shreya a chance to respond, Vishal continued, "You may not know this but from the first time I saw you, I felt you are the perfect girl. I wanted to tell you or at least show you a sign that you're the one I love when we were at Goa but I never got a chance to do that. When I landed back in Bangalore, I thought, why am I waiting? Why don't I just tell you? Looking for the right time, what if the right time never came? So, I decided to meet you here and tell you, I love you and no one else, you can take all the time you want to decide about our relationship but this was the truth and I wanted you to know that."

Shreya froze. What do I say now? You have to know that I am your darling.

"Just as I was about to leave my apartment to tell you this, the doorbell rang. The only girl I have ever wished I had met before, Jo was standing at my doorstep alone."

Shreya frowned a bit.

Vishal started to narrate what had happened upon Jo's arrival at his apartment.

"Hey, Jo, what a surprise!"

"Hey, Vish. I was thinking about what you told me last evening and I realized something. That's why I came to meet you here to tell you my decision."

"Okay. So, what have you decided, Jo?"

Jo hesitated for a moment before saying, "I love you, Vishal. You asked me to realize Abhay's love for me but he doesn't show me anything more than our friendship. If he felt that way for me, would he have considered other girls in the first place? No, right? That's why I've decided. This is my life; you are the one I love. You are not happy with Shreya anyway, right? Knowing that I too have a place in your heart, why can't we be together? Abhay will always be able to find another girl, the perfect one for him. But I love you, Vishal. I like everything about you. You know what? I already liked everything about you from the first time your Grandma told me about you."

"You liked everything about me already then why did you say no to Granz that day?"

"I didn't realize that I liked you then."

"Why not?"

"I didn't know you then, right?"

"You liked everything about me at that time. But you say you didn't know me?"

"I mean I knew you but I wasn't sure enough until I met you in person."

"So, just because you didn't get to meet me in person, you weren't sure and decided to reject me that day? If all you wanted was to meet me in person, then why couldn't you just ask my Granz for some time? She would've been ready to give you days, weeks or months to decide; she didn't ask you to decide immediately. You could have just met me in another pretext if all you wanted was to meet me in person. Anyway, I never said I won't marry a girl I have met before. All I wished was to have the anticipation without knowing till the wedding day who the girl I'm going to marry would be."

Shreya didn't reject me but she ran away from the wedding. So, what is the difference between her and Jo? The difference was that though Shreya was not given time or a chance to meet me, she didn't reject me instantly. She wanted to give me a chance to check if my intention for this arranged marriage was right. If her friends had not suggested the plan to her, she would have married me without any objection. She only agreed to her friends plan because she thought it would be a good way for her to know if she could trust me without hurting me or her parents at the same time. But because of me, her plan didn't work the way she thought it would.

Jo frowned a bit. "Yeah, but how does that matter? I mean you've left the idea of arranged marriage already, right? I always wanted a love marriage so I rejected you then. But I like you now, isn't that enough?"

"Yes, but what I don't understand is, just for the reason that you wanted a love marriage and that wouldn't work with me, you rejected me that day because you weren't in love with me yet? You didn't even want to give me a chance or at least see if I was the kinda guy you might like?"

Vishal froze as he reflected on what he had just uttered impulsively. Just for the reason that I wanted an arranged marriage with the girl Granz chose for me, I rejected Darling because she was not my Granz's choice? I didn't even want to give her a chance or at least suggest Granz to consider her.

"Perhaps you could make a nickname for me? You can call me any name you wish."

"Congrats, Vi.. Wanted to be with you during this special day so a small gift from me for you.."

"I thought you didn't remember...."

"What's wrong? You can call me darling; you've been calling me that all these days."

"Happy birthday, Vi."

"Darling was always just your friend, right?"

"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."

"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?"

"Did you just forget about my existence or didn't you realize that I was also an unmarried girl like Shreya and Keerthi?"

"No one has understood you better than I have, Vi."

As Darling's words replayed in his mind, guilt flooded him. Vishal glanced at Jo, at a loss for words. How could I be upset with Jo when I had done the same thing to my Darling?

"If you don't like me, please tell me that. Don't try to use Abhay as a reason please. Abhay has always been my friend. There was once a day when I realized that Abhay is the most perfect guy in my life. But before I could tell him that, he spotted Shreya and there was no flaw I could point out about her to change his mind. That moment I figured that I'm nothing more than a friend to him. So, I thought let him have Shreya, I'll have you. I don't know why things didn't work out between him and Shreya but since then he has not considered anyone else like her."

Vishal noticed that Abhay was standing at the door, with a slight frown. He must have followed Jo.

Vishal called out to Abhay, "Abhay, please come in. You love Jo but she doesn't know that. Jo, you think Abhay doesn't have any feelings for you so you want to move on. But the truth is Abhay loves you and he's loved you for a long time already."

Jo frowned a bit as she glanced at Abhay.

"Jo, I'm sorry but I don't love you. I like how you are so open, cheerful and how you are capable of making anyone happy. But it is only like, an attraction. I can't love you like Abhay."

Jo glanced at Abhay and frowned again followed by an awkward moment of silence. "Won't you say anything? Do I have to say everything?"

Abhay chuckled. "You never gave me a chance to say it."

"Then, you'll never get the chance." Jo turned on her heel and stalked out of Vishal's apartment.

Abhay trailed after her and grabbed her arm once he reached her. "Hey, I don't need a chance to say it anymore because I know you know it. But still I'll tell you, I love you when you're naughty and I love you even more when you're naughtier! I've always loved you, I still love you and I'll always love you, Jojo."

"Did you have to take so long to say this? Idiot!" Jo glared at him for a moment before she broke into a grin.

To be continued...

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