16- “That's brutal love to its finest.”

VANSH

I was watching TV when the stalker showed his sorry ass in front of me (after attending the bathroom and kitchen). He slumped on the sofa at a considerable distance and began watching a reality show I was watching. Nothing was spoken for a few minutes, except for the people speaking behind the screen. Soon the advertisements popped up.

“Gotta admit to your level of shameless- ness though,” I commented implying on the obvious.

“Gotta admit to your level of insanity too, for letting me in,” he threw back. His gaze dropped to the small basket that lay a few apples. He picked one and dug his teeth in it. “Don't mind me.”

This motherfucker! “I think it's high time you kick out of my house. Or maybe I should let Natasha know about your whereabouts,” I informed, picking up my phone.

“Sure, go ahead,” he replied, playing cool. “Wherever I go and die is of no concern to that woman. She'll only whip my ass about troubling you later.”

Damn, this was starting to irk me. “Seriously, what kind of relationship do you two share?”

“Or rather shared. Man, this is good,” he complimented about the apple and took another bite. Meanwhile, I messaged Natasha that her supposedly boyfriend was at my home, though I also added that he wasn't causing trouble anymore. After finishing his apple, the man threw it on the empty plate and got up. “Thanks for letting me stay over and, yeah, for this apple too.”

It was evident he didn't want to disclose their personal details to me. I felt stupid for asking. “Yeah, whatever.” 

He swiveled his head around, observing the apartment. “Must be pretty lonely living alone. Boston's a nice place though. Wish I had more time and opportunity to explore. That cold hearted... She refuses to tour around the city with me, even though she knows I've never stepped out of the country before. She did take me to the public garden though.”

“You mean it's your first time?”

He nodded, appearing to be sulking. “Uh- huh. It sucks. Feels like I came here for almost nothing. I'm leaving after a few days. We are over.”

I wasn't going to lie, I actually felt bad for the man. “That indeed sucks. Your grandeur efforts went to waste. Was it even worth it?”

“Worth it? Are you shitting me? It was totally worth it! It didn't go as planned. It hurts, but in the end, I'm getting to spend precious time with her. That's enough to live for now.”

“You really love her,” I pointed out with a laugh. He agreed, drawing out a sigh before speaking.

“Do you know why rose represent love? The petals, they represent the sappy part while thorns equal to pain. We all know that shit but that isn't it. Everyone can accept those harmless petals but try to love when those same thorns pierce your flesh, again and again,” he said and walked a step closer to face me, his eyes bloodshot, “When each breath feels like a loads worth of cash, when you wanna rip your heart out because it hurts that fucking much. When love goes out to suffocate you... so much that not even your own dick can stand up to it. That's brutal love to its finest.”

“No, it's you being a drama queen to the finest,” I commented. Love was painful, I agree, but not everyone went through the excruciating pain he was talking about. It depends on what their life had to offer. He signaled himself to leave but I stopped him saying Natasha was on her way to get him. Just then, I remembered something. Something I should have asked long back.

“Are you Arora?”

“Yeah, Rithik Arora.” He raised one brow, skeptically. “How did you know?”

'Maybe there's one surname I won't mind.'

'Mrs Natasha Arora.'

I almost tittered at that. Maybe there was a tiny hope left for him (provided he was a decent person). “It's not much but this might cheer you up.”

A huge grin blew up his face after I told him. Just how whipped was he.

Rithik gave a rather harsh pat on my back, making me welp. “That cheered me up big time. Thanks, bro! So what else did she mention about me?”

“Hmm, Natasha did mention she was in a good relationship once. It was nice- she said that with a smile. Perhaps that was you?”

“Yup! Her knight in shining armor.” He smiled proudly.

We ended up chatting a bit more (don't ask me how). Rithik seemed a lot more normal than before, just heartbroken. The pain was crystal clear in his eyes whenever he mentioned Natasha or talked about their past relationship.

Natasha turned a little while later. She didn't waste time biting Rithik's ears off while he apologized profusely. Even though she used harsh words on him, her eyes told a different story. One look at them and anyone could tell straight away. They loved each other.

I let out a sigh, feeling lighter after they left. Man, that was something. Rithik came in like a hurricane and left like one, too.

~

Natasha was on leave for two days in the upcoming week which I presumed was to spend time with Rithik and bid him farewell. In the days that followed, Natasha and I barely exchange words, despite sharing the same table during lunch. Irfan wouldn't stop pestering about it either.

However, Natasha was far from herself. She would stay aloof most of the time, working relentlessly till the end of her shift. She wouldn't eat much during lunch. It frustrated me to the point where I broke the silence between us, telling her to finish her plate. Although she forgot to finish her fill but strangely, she didn't forget to drag a smoke after work. I didn't want to admit but she was starting to worry me.

Turns out, I wasn't the only one.

“Irfan, what's the meaning of this?” I questioned the situation I was put in. I was in the front seat with Irfan driving his car while Natasha was seated at the back. I didn't know she was here until I got inside his car. I craned my head behind to glance at her. She sat crossed legged, furiously tapping away on her mobile. I knew that from the constant clicking sounds, emanating from her device. If she had been her normal self, she would have confronted Irfan to know where he was taking us. Honestly, she was creeping me out.

“Oi, speak up before I gag your mouth for good.”

The only response I got was a deadpan look in the eye before Natasha started fumbling with her mobile again.

“Either I'll snatch her mobile or slap her,” I spoke out loud enough for her to hear. Irfan raised a hand in protest, then placed it on his chest, silently telling me that he understood me and that he'll do something. When the car got away from the signal, he spoke.

“Didn't know that Rithik guy had so much impact on you. It's like you are lovesick for him. I thought you were better than that, Natasha.”

Both of us whirled our heads to him. I was staring at him in mock surprise but Natasha had already situated herself at the space between two front seats. “Who told you that? Who?! You!” she turned to me with her killer eyes. I quickly shook my head to save myself. “Fuck that wuss! I'm gonna roast her tonight.”

Thank God, she's back. Even Irfan had a smile now.

“Don't you dare say anything to my Kyle, alright,” he protested, taking a sharp turn. The number of buildings were slowly fading away, giving rise to more vegetation and plateaus. Were we heading outside the city? “I was the one who pressured her to spill out about you since my own friends wouldn't. I knew about your fued but I figured there was something more, too. If you'd want to blame someone, blame me though, I'm not sorry for knowing. Not after I revealed so much about myself.”

Maybe Irfan wasn't involved in all of this, but perhaps he deserved to know. Thus, I recited him about the morning when Rithik showed up, followed by the argument with Natasha afterwards. The conversation heated up as both Natasha and I put forth our points in our defenses while Irfan became the unanimous councillor, trying to explain us. But somewhere along the way, I began to feel that it wasn't the only reason behind our hostile behavior. There was no particular need to prove ourselves anyway. My thoughts trailed back to that washroom in the parking lot. Somehow it connected back to small moment of weakness we shared. I shuddered. Then again, it was nothing to freak about. It wasn't  like I needed to take her to a secluded place like before.

A while later, Irfan stopped the car in a corner, after we reached a considerable height above the ground level. He forced us out of the car, exposing us to the chilly weather.

“Apologize,” he stated, pointing his finger to both of us. When we shot him an uninterested look, he added. “You guys better make up right now or I'll take my baby (car) and leave you two, on your own. Then you'll have no choice but to waste your expenses in getting a taxi.”

Was that why he brought us to the highway? Natasha and I glanced at each other and muttered a quick sorry, to get it over with.

“Good,” Irfan grinned. “Now shake hands.”

“Shake hands?!” I emphasized.

“Yeah. Why are you acting as if I just asked you to jump off this cliff?”

“Tch,” Natasha grumbled and extended her hand towards me. I hesitated for a moment before raising my own hand near hers. I won't feel anything. I'm a wood. A plank of wood, incapable of touch.

Keeping that in mind, we shook hands. I let out a sigh of relief, for not feeling anything. Not even when her soft, long fingers entwined with mine. Positive.

Looks like Irfan had another reason to stop the car. He left us to dump his heavy stomach in the public washroom nearby. Meanwhile I walked to the boundary and sinked down near the edge of the cliff. Natasha followed, sitting at a considerable distance from me. I took in the scenery of the vast stretch of mountains, surrounding us with their greenery. I caught sight of her fishing out a cigarette from her bag. She lighted it and smoked. Sensing my eyes on her, she asked, “You want one?”

I shook my head in a negative. I would have taken one, but with such a refreshing weather, stirring my senses, I didn't feel like polluting myself. For a while, we basked in the sounds of nature, until I interrupted, “Your guy talked quite a bit about you back then.”

She shot me a glare for obvious reasons but soon turned away, “Let me guess— Either he must have whined about what a cold ass bitch I am, or he asked you to take care of me. That chivalrous bastard.”

At that, my thoughts trailed back to that conversation with Rithik. Particularly the things he mentioned before Natasha came over.

“You are her friend, right? Platonic friend,” Rithik asked, scrutinizing his gaze at me.

Absolutely, “Yes.”

“And nothing lewd happened that night or any other time I assume.”

“Nothing!” I swallowed. If you didn't count that touch kiss and that weird near kiss in the bathroom. He'd definitely strangle my neck for real if he knew.

He visibly relaxed with a sigh and faced me with a small smile, “Then look out for her a bit, will ya? She tends to stress herself a lot sometimes. I seem to have that effect on her too, so I know she's going to be off- beat for a while. She will eat less and yeah, she'll smoke a lot, too. I really hate when she does that. She will either behave like a lunatic bitch or sulk quietly on her own, trying her best not to show any emotion to anyone. That's how she is. Hmm, who else I can tell this? Kyle is a better option. I'll tell her, too. To make my mind at ease.”

From what I observed from the past few days, he was right. Natasha was behaving exactly how he anticipated. What's more, she also guessed the same. “You two seem to know each other so well, it's weird. Sounds like a soulmate connection to me.”

I wasn't even surprised when I received a smack on my head, “It wasn't hard to guess. He told the same thing to Kyle before going. Like I need others to save my ungrateful ass. Fuck that shit, I'm more than fine by myself,” Natasha said with a bated breath, and took a long drag, the cigarette dusting to ashes. I thought she was done with it but no, she just had to take out another cigarette from the pack and start smoking again. As if she wanted to vent her anger by it. I wanted to stop her but how could I? She didn't seem like the kind to listen to and I wasn't in the mood for another argument.

“Thank you...” I heard a soft female voice speak and I whipped my head to confirm whether it was really Natasha or a wandering spirit from the mountains. Her head was slightly downcast as she stared down the depth of the cliff, one of her fingers carefully messing with the strap of her handbag, “For taking me home that night. I, um, I don't remember much but I enjoyed it. And—”

“Natasha,” I cut her off, gently, “you don't need to word it out. I get it.”

She shook her head. “I just feel embarrassed that you got dragged into our mess for no reason. I genuinely feel so stupid that he attacked you. I even lashed out on you— on everyone that crossed my way. Last week was batshit crazy. If I would have known that he would magically find you, I wouldn't have lied. But if I had predicted his moves, I would have also predicted his grand arrival here. Ha, whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm glad that pest came and got rid of him for good this time. It- it's for his own good, actually. I'm no good... Everything's normal...”

She had her face towards me when she had said everything was normal and that's exactly when I caught on the moisture in her eyes. She didn't seem to realize it herself until she noticed the change in my expression. “Seems like something got in my eye. Jeez, what a perfect timing, too.”

Did she really think I'd believe her lie after how she spoke in that croaky voice? Her hands skimmed inside her bag, for a handkerchief maybe, while blinking off her tears that rolled. She must have forgotten that she was holding a burnt cigarette since it slipped through her fingers to her other hand, making her whimper.

“Shit, your hand!” Before I knew, my hand was already reaching out to touch her affected one. It was trembling under my touch. I looked into it and indeed, there was a small burnt mark on the back of her hand. Before I could act upon it, she swatted her hand away as if I was a contagious disease.

“Finally,” Natasha said, more to herself as she found her handkerchief and turned to the other side to wipe her face. I even heard her sniff a few times. A few seconds later, she turned to my side and my eyes widened.

Her face showcased a slight shade of red, like it was containing her grief. Even her eyes had dried up but it wasn't that, it was the look of nothingness behind them. Like she had closed several doors before her with a lock. She was seated a feet away but to me that distance felt like several miles. For a fleeting moment, I wanted to shake her, to get a reaction. I closed my fists on the side, feeling agitated.

I think I got why she was mad at me, post the alcoholic night. It didn't precisely have to do with her drunkard self either. Maybe she felt embarrassed for that, but it was our conversation back on the bridge. The one where she talked about getting drowned in the sea. She had unintentionally let her guard down. Was she referring to her possible heartbreak or something else? It was a mystery.

“Let's head back,” she said, waking me from my thoughts. She got up, motioning me to look behind. Irfan was heading towards us with a relieved smile on his face. The kind of face you make after you excrete. “Took you long enough, gluttony.” 

I was about to get up as well when something white caught my eye on the ground. It was her packet of cigarettes. When I became sure they weren't looking at me (especially Natasha), I stole that chance to throw the packet off the cliff. To make them look like I was doing something, I clicked a few selfies.

“Come or we are leaving you behind!” Irfan shouted far behind me.

“Coming.”

We were about to head off when the stupid girl remembered leaving something outside. She actually stepped out of the car to find it since she didn't want to waste her money buying another. “Damn fuck, I can't find it.”

“It's because I dumped it, you idiot,” I answered in a voice, low enough for Irfan to hear.

“Shaabash, puttar (Good work, son)!” Irfan complimented and we shared a knowing smirk.

“You, too,” I shot back, for bringing us here.

“I did it for her, not you.”

“I know.”

Meanwhile Natasha approached us slightly panting. “Are you sure you didn't see it?”

“Positive,” I placed a hand on my chest. “I was too busy clicking photos anyway.”

“Whatever.” She waved a dismissive hand then paused, looking at Irfan and me, both, until a small smile bloomed her face. “Let's click a selfie.”

The three of us proceeded to stand in front of the car in line, with Natasha in the middle. She expressed content with the photos. “What?” she looked between the two of us, still glued to our position. Irfan and I shared a knowing smirk. And then—

“Aaaahhh!”

Natasha covered her ears from the impact of us shouting in her ear and screamed. She looked at us, red in the face after she recovered,

“Saalo, kutto, haramkhoro (Dogs),” She barked in Hindi. And then, we were running around the car with a mad Natasha behind our trail.

Afterwards, we got into the car with me taking charge this time. I drove along the highway, past the cool winds slapping our faces, past the green mountains with the orange sun descending behind them, leaving a trail of dim rays in its wake. It was beautiful. More than that, it was nice witnessing the three of us laugh together, especially Natasha. We exited the mountain side until we reached an intersection where the roads were divided into three. I stopped the car. There was a sign board above us, one of them reading- New York.

I cast a devious look to both of them before changing the gear and drove past that sign.

“Nonononooo~” Natasha yelled in panic, “I understand that you're excited but cool down your hormones and think. We have office tomorrow and WE HAVEN'T PACKED!”

“I'm torn between listening to my logical mind and following my heart,” Irfan voiced out while rubbing his chin in thought.

“Follow your heart!”

“Followed!”

“Unfollow them!”

“Hell nooo!” Irfan and I roared in unison and raised our fist outside the window.

It felt like a dream come true as I drove towards New York with the two of them. Natasha whined over not having a proper make- up kit and clothes while the two of us brushed it off.

We planned over our unplanned trip— That was the amount of money our credit cards bore, things to buy for necessity, searching for cheap hotels from the hotel app and the most difficult hurdle of all— Framing a plausible excuse to convince Richie for tomorrow. Natasha being a party pooper, tried to convince us to go back several times. We almost got convinced, but regardless, I never made a U turn. I wanted to keep going forward, facing a new light, a new adventure without worrying about the shortcomings. It sounded crazy, I know but when did I follow the norm?

Later, I mulled over the past few days. Funny how love played a different role in everyone's life. Take the three of us for example. In my case, the love and stability that was there in excess before, had been partially lost and now, I was trying to restore them back with the same girl. In Natasha's case, from what I've gathered, love that was there before had been shattered to pieces. While in Irfan's case, love has been put on hold in the form of a promise between two old friends. It further went on to prove that love never remained static. It changed its course with time, for better or worse. I still wonder how love would mould for the three of us later. Would we find what we were looking for? Would I find Ahana at the end of my road? Guess that was something for the future to find.

⚫⚪⚫⚪⚫

A u t h o r s   N o t e

With this arc, I guess I gave away the trailer to the story of Natasha— Both to those who have read a part of her story before and to those who didn't. It will tell the story of their (Natasha and Rithik) past, hers too, and it will extend beyond Boston as well. Infact this arc will also be there, but in Nat's pov. So peeps, are you excited? What do you think about their situation? (I'm asking this to all of you, Natasha and non-Natasha readers. Because Natasha is a part of this story, too).

So SeIL readers, if you're interested to know more about Natasha, you can always check out her book which is still in my profile. It's only six chapters for now. (Yup, that's my self promotion 😅)

Moving on, a bunch of things happened in this chapter. Share your thoughts about it and the whole arc in general. Did something change? *clears throat* Don't forget to vote 🌟 and plz, plz COMMENT 💬

Enough of Vanshiness, the next one will be in Ahana's pov. It will continue right after Piyush's accidental proposal. It's kinda going simultaneously (I think).

PS- This is early but LOOK FORWARD TO CHAPTER 19. You're gonna 💗 it.