Thanks to jofunny Kyra92 Amiishi for voting up.
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" Woman! what are you talking about? Who came out of nowhere?can you talk some sense?" I asked exasperated. She gave me a weak smile, thought about it for a second and said " Its my ex- boyfriend" . It took me two minutes to register what she was talking."Wait! What? You hav- i mean had a past relation?." I asked surprise clearly showing on my face and my tone. She had been a very good friend since the time she joined MST. That was of-course just an year ago. But at this point I felt betrayed. Drama Queen, you may call me, but the fact remains. " Ms Sneha Priya, will you please tell me everything clearly?" I asked glaring at her. The usage of her full name was enough proof of my anger, however the expressions added to it. She sighed and put her head down on the table.I cursed myself for adding to her dismay and gently touched her hair. "Hey! that is okay. I was just kidding. Take your time. Tell me when you want to. You know I am always there when you want to talk." I said softly. I could see her nodding her head. " Priya" I said and weighed my words before asking " Does Kailash know about it?" .She finally lifted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were red, and her face held too much pain. " Yeah Payal, he knows everything." she said and fell silent. " What is the issue then?" I asked, now curious to know, what was troubling her so much. " Can we go out somewhere calm for dinner, I want to get my head off this nonsense." she said " And yeah I will tell you everything there " she added giving me that, I know your curiosity, kind of smile. I agreed instantly, I had my issue that I wanted to escape from too.

We had gulped down two glasses of wine and were in the middle of our main course when she finished telling me about her and this guy, her ex-boyfriend. Their story seemed too good to be true, a perfect couple madly in love. But like in all love stories they had their share of problems. Unfortunately, Jain had no balls to stand up for his love and they had to part ways. " Gosh!You must be hating this Jain guy?" I asked taking a bite of the Butter Naan with the yummy Paneer Curry. " How can you hate someone you have loved so dearly? Is that even possible? Their presence won't affect us the same way anymore. You might not be passionate about them and might not want the same thing from them anymore. But you can't hate." she said ." Are you not angry with him?" I asked amused at what she just said. " Angry? I was furious. I wanted to kick him where it hurts the most." she said winking at me." But deep down I know what he did was right", she said. " Right my ass. If he loved you so much, he should have manned up and stood by you.Period." I declared. " Well, easy said than done." she said looking down." Above that now he comes again and tries to talk like nothing has happened. What does he think?As-" I started to swear but stopped, looking at her face. I shrugged and drifted into my own world. After a few minutes of silence, " Argghh!!I hate guys" I said irritated". " No, you don't", she sang, her eyes wide . " Yes, I do" I mocked the same tone. She laughed" Is it about that guy and the meet?"." What? No!. Why do I care?" I lied and ofcourse got caught. " Do you like him,Payal?" she asked seriously. " Hell No! I would be very happy if this marriage thing doesnt work. You know that." I said waiting for her assurance, instead she just stared at me without an expression. " What?" I asked. She shrugged " What is his name? You din't tell me." she asked. " Forget about him. Lets have an ice cream" I successfully changed that topic. I could get a glimpse of how difficult it was for her when they broke up. It made my heart melt looking at her in so mich pain. I was happy she found Kailash. " What about Khailash?" I asked like a kid who has lots of questions. " What about him? He is a great guy. He has been my pillar of support. I will be very happy with him.I am sure of that." she smiled, for the first time today. " But do you love him?" I asked. " Yes Payal, I love him very much" I could see her eyes twinkle as I got down the car at my home.

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Next day

Viren's POV

I had too much of alcohol yesterday, the result? I was pulling my hair to stop my head from throbbing. The time was close to noon and I had missed around 20 calls from my mom. I couldn't drive back home in the night so I stayed back at John's place. My mom must be freaking out, of course I informed her but its in their nature to worry,MOTHERs. I rushed home ignoring the tantrums my body was throwing due to the hangover. I gave her an awkward hug and ran to my room before she could notice my swollen face.

After I had taken care to look a little civilized, I joined her at the breakfast table. I frowned at her grim face. " Did you call her?" she asked sternness in her voice. Shit! I mentally face palmed and my mind began to race finding a reason to convince my mom. " I know you didn't. So don't bother replying to that." she said walking into the kitchen. I followed her like a puppy still trying to find an excuse. " What is your problem Viru?Why are you doing this?" her voice was choking. I turned her around to face me, tears were welling up in her eyes. Oh God! " Mom" I said softly, taking her hands into mine and walked her to a chair, where she could sit. " I am sorry. I was really caught up with something very important the last few days. " I said sounding as true as I could. She averted her gaze trying to control tears. " I will call today.I promise" I said, a last attempt to comfort her. " Forget it, I know you won't. I will only call them and apologize. What will they think of you, of me? This is how I raised my son, doesn't care to apologize when a girl is hurt?." and she went on and on. " Mom! Mom! Let me call her right away. You be by my side.Ok?"I asked hurriedly to stop her from lecturing me further. She remained silent. I didn't have Payal's number. I had no option but to call her on the office line.

My call was immediately received by a cheerful automated message asking me to dial the extension. I vaguely remembered the extension of Mr.Subbu, she mentioned to me during our first meet.I keyed in hoping it to be the right one. It connected and I was greeted by the voice of Mr.Subbu. " Hello Mr. Subramniaym, I am Viren from UHC." I said waiting for his response. " Hello Mr.Viren.So nice to hear from you.How have you been" he replied getting excited. " I am doing good Sir. I wanted to talk to Ms.Payal, if I may." I said hoping he would not pry into what and why. " Of-course of-course.Let me just connect your call to her" he said and a pleasant music played while I waited impatiently.After around a minute, I heard a click " Hello?" the voice that clearly belonged to Payal said. " Is it Payal?" I said not knowing how to start. " Yes.May I know who's speaking?" she asked politely. "Oh good I could reach you. This is Viren. Can we talk?" I said looking at my mother from the corner of my eye. She was staring at me with anticipation. " Yeah. Hi Viren.Tell me.Is it something about the interviews?" she asked genuinely." No not about any official stuff. I just want to make it up for the other day. I don't think I apologized you enough. " I asked sounding very casual." Oh Viren, I have accepted your apologies.Please don't let what happened bother you .Things happen I can understand. Lets just forget about it. Ok?" she said and I sighed in relief." I was worried you would still be angry ." I said smiling at my mom. She started to gesture something and I had to cover the mouth piece to understand what she said."Ask her if you can meet" she whispered." I shook my head vigorously to tell her I am not going to ask her out. She gave me a death glare and I had to ask " Hey. Lets just forget about what happened. Why not meet up just casually. Grab a cup of coffee and chat for a while." She resisted for a while but finally gave in."How about at 6 today at Kholani's? They serve great coffee along with hot samosa? its a great place." I said. In-fact I started to feel it was not a bad idea to meet her." Yeah.Sure" she said and cut the call.

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