Jayveer took a pause to play without buffering. His mind could not process the secrets that Priya unveiled.

"I asked you a question. Who was your mother?" Jayveer asked sternly and Priya knew there was no going back. Her eyes gave Jayveer his answer, and they were full of varied emotions. "Pritestri?" He questioned with a gruff voice and shock written all over his face.

Guilt was written all over Priya's face, and she nodded her head in affirmative accepting her online name. "You knew it since the start?" Priya didn't reply, but the answer was obvious. Jayveer held her arms forcing her to meet his eyes. "Why did you never..."
Jayveer put his hands on his hips and shook his head unable to believe the secret that unfolded. "You deceived me worse than Arifa. I am... I feel like the biggest idiot on Earth."

Priya caught Jayveer's hand and said, "No. Please don't say that. I had my reasons." Priya narrated to Jayveer her story about the weight issues. The one she shared with Anandya.

"Papa and Mumma's constant fights were getting worse while I was trying to lose weight. I became irritated and angry even for the silliest of things. After we had a couple of disagreements, I realised I shouldn't create a ruckus in your life. I was broken, but that did not mean I break everything around me. It was so difficult for me to part ways with the only friend I had, but I knew I had to, to save him from the drama that I carried like my shadow."

Jayveer was sitting on her bed and listening to her quietly with his chin resting on his hand. "Why didn't you say anything to me in college? We were together for four years damn it!"

Priya was probably prepared for the question. She sat on a chair across from him and elucidated, "Mumma had just passed away a month back. She couldn't take all the accusations that papa planned against her. Dadu, my grandfather, sent me to the college of my choice and had a lot of expectations from me. I had to concentrate on my studies and..." A small smile played on Priya's lips while saying, "With you around I could barely do that. I decided to tell you everything if I scored well in the first semester but till then we were already at loggerheads, and you were courting Arifa. You both looked so good together that I didn't have the heart to create issues between you two."

As soon as Priya finished her dialogue, Jayveer stood up and in a rough voice told her, "You know you are not good a person. This act of wanting good for me is just to make yourself feel better. You are selfish, self-centered, and self-obsessed. How were you telling me that you were the girl, Pritestri, I chatted with online to break my bond with Arifa? How could you alone decide for both of us? If I was your best friend, you were also... You were practically my mentor, Priya. My love for cooking paved me in the right direction because of your guidance. Whenever I climbed up the ladder of success I never forgot to thank my online friend whom I never saw. Only if you were not so selfish and once, just once told me about everything, we could be in a better space mentally and professionally."

Priya didn't reply and sat with her head hung low. Jayveer waited for a few minutes then stomped his foot before opening the door to leave. Priya caught his hand just in time and confessed, "I know I have done more wrong than I intended to, but I feared if I told you I was 'Pritestri' then you would question me about my sudden disappearance. Please understand that I wasn't prepared to share my problems with you then. My mother's name became a cuss word in the food industry until Dadu fought tooth and nail to clear it. It was too much to handle and I just... I am sorry."

Jayveer stood with a Stoic expression and that pained Priya's heart. There was so much in their story that was never heard of except the fact that love is true if it's unconditional.

"What do you want us to do now, Priya? Knowing everything about you now I cannot even be annoyed or fight with you. I regret throwing stones at your counter more than I already did. I worshipped and treasured our online friendship and more than everything, I... You have no idea what I felt about you."

Priya clasped her hand together to gather herself and in a regretful tone, she said, "I know I have ruined everything. After Arifa's incident, I wanted to comfort you and explain myself but when you threw stones and my degree was at risk, I thought you were like Papa who took everything away from Mumma. I became sadistic to an extent and had to undergo countless therapies. When I saw you again at Master Chef, the number of fights we did in front of the camera made my belief stronger that we parted for the better. But when I met your Nani, and she told me you regretted your act deeply, I realised you weren't vile like Papa. You were just furious about everything Arifa told you about me." Jayveer furrowed his brows at the mention of his grandmother and Priya chuckled at his expression.

"Well, we were summer vacation neighbours, Mr Rathore. My dadu's parental house and your nani's house are adjacent. Mr Mohan Verma, is my dadu." Jayveer was surprised at the revelation.

"You were ten steps away from me still you chose to never meet me?" Jayveer taunted Priya in a disappointed tone.

"I was an underconfident 90killiogram teenager who didn't want the boy she had a crush on to reject her at first sight." Priya put her hand on her mouth to shut it from saying anything further. She had said enough to create a commotion in the butterflies in Jayveer's stomach.

Jayveer left her room abruptly. If Priya could, she would bury herself from the embarrassment she felt.

Why? Even if he didn't realise his feelings for her the least he could do was acknowledge hers and say a few words that could help her not feel bad about her cute confession.

Priya had just changed her clothes after a little more crying when the bell in her room rang again. She got up lazily from her bed and peeped through the keyhole to see Jayveer in the same clothes from earlier. Her heart sank seeing his dishevelled state, but she couldn't comfort him. She asked him to leave, but he insisted on her opening the door.

Realisation takes time but when it dawns completely there are no regrets.

In a slow motion, Priya opened the door and Jayveer stood quietly observing her. Priya motioned him to come inside, but he took his time and only after five minutes he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"You assume too much. I understand you had weight issues, but I had issues too. Who doesn't?" Jayveer held Priya by her shoulders and with conviction in his voice he asked her, "Did you not have the faintest idea about how I felt about you? You have always been the one who loves to keep secrets, but I was open about my liking towards you. And no, when I said, "I think you are God's marvel" I just didn't mean about your culinary skills, and you knew it very well, didn't you?"

Priya lowered her eyes not out of shyness but an altogether different feeling that one feels after passing with outstanding grades.

Jayveer put his thumb under her chin to see the flash of truth in her eyes. "Our feelings of admiration were mutual but because of your foolishness and insecurities, we lost 12–13 years of our life wasting it in putting each other down. Together as a team, we could be number one not only in India but the world." Jayveer left Priya with a jerk and raked his hands in his hair in frustration.

Priya stood quietly understanding the path she chose was not completely correct. She just had to trust their bond a little more. She put her hand on Jayveer's shoulder and said, "I am sorry. I just couldn't fight with my insecurities and..."

Jayveer turned around to face Priya, and she stopped speaking when his accusing eyes met her guilty ones.

Oh! I feel sad for these two.

All of a sudden Jayveer grinned and pulled Priya from her waist closer to him. He bit his lower lip at Priya's amused expression and said, "Between us, I am the wise boss and will not ruin our life more. What's done is done. Let's stand together beside each other and climb the mountain of success. And, before you repeat yourself that mountains have limits too, I have an answer today. Yes, mountains have limits, but we have a saturation point too. Let's not get too ambitious and destructive to achieve success. Can we give our friendship or whatever there is, one more chance?"

Priya smiled with crystallised eyes and taking that as a yes, Jayveer kissed her crown.

"You know Yayveer, I always thought I was a girl who was like those lines in a book one skipped reading and you were like those lines one highlighted as their favourite quote." At that moment, I could see the cloud of misunderstanding hovering over them fading away.

Jayveer probably understood why Priya was so arrogant. Oftentimes, people hide their insecurities in a bubble of self righteousness around them.

He gave a warm smile of gratitude to Priya and asserted, "Whenever you wrote my name as "Yayveer" in the chat box, I felt like a fangirl whose favourite star gave them a special name. I never knew its sound would fill my heart with contentment." Jayveer bent towards Priya probably for a kiss but she stepped back much to his dismay and her as well.

"Let us first get used to being under the same roof so that no one says, TWO COOKS SPILT THE BROTH."

It wasn't exactly a rejection or a proposal, but it was something beyond a promise of spending together all the tomorrow that comes in their life with sharing, caring, understanding, and above all, love.

Sadly, I won't be there to witness their journey or feel their emotions. My heart is burning. I burnt it such that no one would dare to rip anyone's heart for their benefit. Nature can avenge itself and people like Mehta need to know they are not invincible. No one is. 

Jayveer and Priya's story was interesting and unique, and I had fun being an audience to their banter. Narrating it was an experience of a lifetime. Unfortunately, this was my time, see you in some other story where I can complete the sentences of some other Jayveer and Priya that they leave in ellipses.
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Dear Readers
A chapter of mixed emotions. The unison of Jayveer and Priya has burnt the heart of our mountain. Will their story meet the same fate? Who could tell, since our narrator is now devoid of any emotions?

Drop in comments if you want an epilogue.
Lots of love!