Recap

Sam and Aayush spend two years together and they have a wonderful time. She understands that Aayush is conservative and doesn't openly express his feelings for her and she accepts that too. It is revealed that Aayush would beat up boys who teased Sam. Riya and her friends often insult her and one day Sam gets back at her rudely that Riya doesn't disturb her again. Sam and her friends give a surprise party for Aayush on his 20th birthday and they go for a movie where Sam tells him that she wants to live in New York with Aayush after completing her studies. He doesn't seem to notice her, but during his last semester, he confesses to Sam that he is leaving to New York.

Sameera's POV

"What ? Come again ?"

" Sam....I know this is going to be very hard for you but I have to go !"

"Why Aayush ? Why are you leaving me ?"

"Relax Sam. I am going there to do my masters degree. I will be back in two years."

"Why can't you study here ? Why New York ? What's in there ?", I argued.

"Your happiness !"

"What ? Wh...",Then it struck me.

"Just because I said I want to live there ? Is it so Aayush ?"

He nodded and smiled at me.

I went away to sit on the nearby bench and buried my face in my hands.

"Hey..It's going to be okay. I promise. After I finish my studies, I will come back here, marry you and we will go to New York together. I have all of it worked out."

"Aayush....we can go there later. We still have time for that. Please don't leave ."

"No Sam. I have decided to go."

"What about your dreams ? Your goals ? You wanted to take over your Father's business here ! You wanted to establish your own sports training academy. What about all those ?"

"I had no proper dreams or goals until you came into my life. I thought I would join my father in his business and it would have been boring. But now, after completing my graduate studies, I would get a job there itself and gain more experience Sam. The academy, well, that is not much important for now."

"Why do you justify everything Aayush ? Leave me alone !" , I said and went off.

I was frustrated and angry at him. I didn't want him to bury all his dreams for my sake. I felt like I was changing him. I was so mad at him that I didn't want to talk to him at all. This was the first serious fight in two years of our relationship.

I didn't go to college for the next two days. He had called me several times but I didn't attend any of the calls. I was still mad at him. I thought he would change his mind if I was upset. But, he didn't seem to have budged. I knew that he would visit me in college so I didn't go there.

Then came the day when he was to leave. Karthik and some of Aayush's friends were at the airport to see him off. His flight was at 9.30 pm and it was 7.30 already. I refused to go to the airport to see him . I stayed at home and Karthik kept on calling me to come to the airport.

In sometime, he would be gone. The thought of him going away so far made me sad. Suddenly Aayush called. I picked up in the first ring.

"Sam ?"

His voice quivered. I felt happy to hear his voice again.

I didn't reply.

"I love you Sam. Always ! I promise I will be back."

My heart melted on hearing his voice.

"I want to hear your voice Sam please.", he was filled with sadness.

I couldn't take it anymore. I decided that I would surprise him by visiting him at the airport. I ended the call and I grabbed my purse and dashed out of my house.

I still have time left, I told myself. I ran to the main road to search for a cab. I waited for a few minutes before I spotted an empty one coming. I stopped it and asked the driver to got the airport . It was a half an hour drive so I guessed I would be on time. It had only been a few minutes when we had reached the main highway and there was heavy traffic. We were stuck for almost 20 minutes. I knew it was getting very late and he would go inside soon. I paid the driver and I got out and ran through the cars and vehicles that were stuck in traffic. The driver told me that there was a shortcut and I would reach in 10 minutes if I ran fast. So, I did. I crossed the highway and ran through the way the driver suggested. The streets were narrow and there were lots of people on them. I wondered how many people I had pushed out of the way while running. But none of those mattered. I had tied my hair into a ponytail but all my hair had come out now and I had been sweating profusely. I finally found myself at the entrance of the airport. I stopped to catch my breath and I realized it was late.

I ran inside searching for Aayush. The airport was crowded and it was difficult to find him. I searched the display for details of the flight bound for London, as he would go there first and then take another flight to New York. The display indicated terminal 6 and I ran to find it. I crossed terminal 1, then 2 and so on till I reached terminal 6. I found Karthik near the barricades, talking on the phone.

"Where is he ?", I almost pushed Karthu down.

"Sam..he just left inside for checking."

"Karthu.. please do something. I want to see him .Please.", tears dropped heavily from my eyes.

"He waited a long time for you. If you were just few minutes early, you could have seen him."

"God..what am I going to do ?", I rested my head on the barricade that separated the visitors from the passengers.

Karthu tried calling him but his phone was not reachable.

"I am so stupid. I should have come early. I can't see him again for another two years !", I wept.

"Sam..please don't cry. It will be okay."

"No Karthu. I didn't even respond to his call and all he wanted was to see me before he left."

"Sam ?"

I looked up to see Aayush standing in front of me.

"AAYUSH !!", I screamed and tried to move forward without realizing that there was the barricade before me.

He rushed towards me and held my face in his hands.

"Sam...I knew you would come !"

"I am so sorry love.", I couldn't hold back my tears.

He was crying too.

"I will be back as soon as possible. Will you wait ?"

"I'll wait for any number of years for you Aayush."

"I wanted to check if you had come, for one last time.", he smiled, "Now I can leave happily."

"Call me as soon as you reach."

He wiped my tears off and kissed my forehead.

"Goodbye Sam.", he smiled and said to Karthu, "Take care of her bro."

"I will.", he assured Aayush.

Aayush turned and walked away.

I watched him longingly as he disappeared into the crowd. The moment he left, I felt complete voidness within me. That's it, he went away , taking all my happiness with him.

"Let's leave Sam.", Karthu gently took me outside. He dropped me at home and all the way I hadn't spoken anything to him. I was deeply immersed in my own thoughts and he perfectly understood that, that's why he didn't ask me anything.

"Come to college tomorrow ", he said while I got out of his car.

I nodded without even turning back and went inside.

Aayush called me after he reached New York and said that it was cold there .I told him I missed him badly and wanted to see him. I still hadn't gotten over it. I didn't speak to anyone properly for a few weeks. Not even to my best friends. They tried to cheer me up in many ways but all ended in vain.

Karthik tried to spend more time with me to make me feel better. I felt as though he ignored Sushma during that time .He assured me that she was mature enough to understand that I needed my best friend at this time of emotional breakdown but I felt that I was a barrier between them and I didn't want to create any problem in their relationship. Karthik wouldn't listen to me and he was very stubborn .But, I somehow managed to keep myself from disturbing them.

Aayush and I spoke through video calls and he convinced me that I should return to my normal state .After which, I did. As months passed by, I became completely alright and carried on my studies properly.

He would sent me pictures of him with his female classmates to make me jealous, but I would laugh and tell him, "No one else can tolerate you except for me.". He accepted his defeat and he confessed that all those girls already had boyfriends and they agreed to this fake drama of making me jealous .He also told me that they had seen me in pictures and wanted to meet me. I would occasionally talk to his friends over the phone .They were very interesting and jovial people and they sounded so much like my gang of friends here.

Besides, there was this Indian friend of Aayush called Ashok, who was a very sweet and kind person. I called him as "big brother" and whenever Aayush gave the phone to him, I would always ask him to take care of Aayush .

I missed Aayush a lot. Especially , when I visited our usual hangout spots without him and whenever I saw happy couples everywhere. It was his decision to leave. He is doing everything for my happiness. I felt really lucky to have someone love me, care for me and make me their top priority. I occasionally felt pity for Riya for letting Aayush go.

Aayush always reminded me that there was a lot of scope for designing and he persuaded me to take up online courses on Interior designing from some famous university in New York. He said that I would easily get a good job there if I have studied extra courses. So, I took them up for his sake.

Meanwhile, many people around me told that Aayush would break up with me and fall in love with some girl there. I asked them to shut the f*** up and mind their own work. I knew about my boyfriend and I also knew that those people were Riya's friends. Most of them, along with her had joined for post graduation in my college itself, and I had to tolerate the freaks for two years .Sometimes, I wished that Aayush was there to beat them up. But somehow I managed to endure them for two years .

As my college life came to an end, I suffered from mixed feelings because I would miss my best friends and all the endless fun we had. On the other hand, I was happy that I would get married to Aayush. We were yet to tell our parents about it and I prayed that they wouldn't object. My parents still hadn't brought the subject of marriage and I was thankful for it. I told them that I would go for work after I finish college and they were fine with it.

My birthday was the last to be celebrated in college and I had an unusually boring day. College was over but I went to sign some documents related to the eco club. After Aayush left, he wanted me to take care of it. It was evening when I had finally finish all the work and just as I walked out of the club room, there was a chorus,

"SURPRISE !!!!!"

I almost jumped in shock and it took a moment to realize what was happening.

My friends and all the members of the eco club were present.

"Guys ! What are you doing here ?"

"We came to celebrate your birthday fool !", Shabir grinned.

"I really didn't expect all of you would come together. Thanks guys!" , I beamed with happiness.

"Enough !", Radha said and blindfolded me.

"Hey...what's this ?" , I asked as she tied a piece of cloth around my eyes.

"You'll see !"

She led me somewhere.

"I know you have bought a cake guys. Please !"

"Can you shut up for sometime ?", Karthik asked.

"Ok. Fine."

I could smell freshly mown grass and I guessed we were in the college garden. It was strictly forbidden to walk on the grass, but I knew my friends must have bribed the guard.

"Can we please eat the cake ? I am starving !", I confessed as I smelt the cake somewhere near me.

I was really hungry.

"Why do you only think about food ?", Radha asked as she finally removed the cloth around my eyes.

"Your bad that the surprise has been broken already. I knew about the cake ,guys come on !" , I complained as I opened my eyes to see Vaibhav holding the open cake box in his hands..

He smiled and turned towards his right. I looked towards the place where he was seeing to spot Aayush ! He held a bouquet and smiled broadly.

I went blank. I thought I was dreaming and I rubbed my eyes frantically, to see him standing there still.

I just stood there blinking awkwardly and I opened my mouth to say "Aayush" but no sound came out.

"Happy birthday Sam !", he said as he handed me the bouquet.

"Is it really you ?", I asked as I touched his hand.

He nodded and smiled.

I clapped my hands over my mouth.

There was loud jeering from the crowd around.

"I...I ...thought ..you...you were in...in...New York....how..I mean..." , I stammered.

"I wanted to surprise you. Karthik gave me this idea though.", he grinned.

"Anytime.", Karthu said.

I still couldn't believe it. Aayush was with me, that too on my birthday. My joy was boundless. I felt that all the happiness had returned back to me and I felt butterflies in my stomach, like I was a girl madly in love. Yes, I am !

"Can we please cut the cake ?", Radha asked.

"Right sorry !", I apologized.

Everyone chorused the birthday song and we had a wonderful time. Half of the cake was on my face and Aayush helped me wipe it off. Then he was in the process of thanking everyone for the surprise , when I received a call from my Mother.

Manhattan, New york

"That call changed my entire life !", I said as I took a deep breath.

"Wow ! Aayush sounds like a wonderful person, Anita ! " , Chris smiled.

We were seated on the couch in the living room.

"Chris....my name is not Anita...I am Sameera."

Just as I had finish the sentence, there was a loud crash above.

"Emily must have broken something. I'll go check.", I said as Chris tried to get up.

I went up the stairs to go to her room. I opened the door to find Emily lying facedown on the floor. A vase that had broken to pieces laid around her.

"Emily ?", I called her.

But she didn't move. I rushed towards her and turned her over the side see blood coming out from the corner of her mouth.

"CHRIS !!!", I screamed.

Chris rushed in asking, "What happened ?"

"CALL 911", I shouted.

...........................................................................................

The suspense is finally revealed guys ! Why do you think she changed her name ? What will happen to Emily ?

To be continued in the forthcoming chapters :)

Hope you like the chapter my dear readers !!