Siddharth

I leaned back to the car seat and sighed. Finally the shopping marathon has finished and the package is delivered safely to her house. No need to face the tsunami off scolding from my mother. I looked at the time in my phone. It was quarter past 8. God, I spend almost 6 hours shopping with Sakshi, well she was shopping and I was waiting in the cafeteria doing my work half of the time. But still why do girls spend so much time for shopping is what I don't understand. I sighed and shook my head. I started the car and drove off from the front of Sakshi's house. She invited me to come inside and have dinner with her parents but I was totally exhausted and didn't have energy to bear with more drama. So I politely declined the offer so that she won't call my mother. This is all because of Priya. If she didn't trick me I wouldn't have suffered this exhaustion. I thought with a frown in my face.

That's when it struck me. I had asked her to complete the project report by today. I know it was a Himalayan task I didn't really expect her to complete it by today. I told her that at the moment she teased me for apologizing. Afterwards I forgot about that so I didn't make a call to her to tell her that she can go home. Did she take it serious? No. She would have left the office after the working hour's right. I connected my phone to the car's blue tooth and dialled her number. But it was switched off. She must have left the office I tried to convince myself. But I don't know why there was uneasiness in me. I wanted to make sure that she left office. I sighed and took the U-turn and drove towards our office building, Aryan's Enclave.

I stopped the car in the parking lot reserved for higher officials and walked towards the entrance. Just when I was about to reach the entrance the doors opened and Priya walked out. She gave a smile to the security guard and nodded her head. I stopped on my tracks at looked at her in surprise. Did she really stay for this long? This girl!! I sighed rubbing my forehead. I ran towards her and stopped in front of her. She gasped in surprise and took a step back.

"What are you doing here this late?" I asked annoyed. She looked at me with a frown. "You only told me to finish the report right. I was doing my work. I completed it and kept it on your table. You can check it tomorrow morning." She said and looked away. I sighed and gritted my teeth. "Are you dumb? Did I tell you to stay this late? What happened to your phone? Why is it switched off?" I asked getting more annoyed. "It was switched off. I checked it only after finishing the work." She said. "Then you should have called me and ask. Are you trying to give me a mean boss image?" I asked. "As if you are not." She mumbled under her mouth which I heard unfortunately. I sighed.

"Now come. I will drop you home. It's not safe to go alone at this time." I said. "No need. My friend is coming to pick me up. He will be here soon. You go on." She said.

I looked at her questioningly. "Friend?!! Which friend?" I asked with creases in my forehead. She looked annoyed. She sighed and crossed her hands across her chest. "How many of my friends do you know?" She asked. Yeah. I don't know anyone. I sighed looking away and was about to say something when a motor bike arrived and stopped in front of us. The man riding it was wearing a black jeans and black leather jacket. He lifted the glass shield and waved at her. She smiled and waved back. She turned to me. "He is here. I will go now. Goodnight, sir." She said and walked towards the biker. She hopped on the back of the bike by holding on to his shoulder. He looked at me and said something to her. She shook her head sideways and tapped his shoulder. I looked at them with creases on my forehead. He put back down the glass shield and kick started the bike. They took a U-turn and she gave me a last look. Then she turned her face and put her hands around his waist. My blood boiled. My hands formed into a fist and I gritted my teeth. I HATE BIKES!!

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I was not able to sleep properly yesterday. My exhaustion couldn't take away the thoughts coming into my mind. Where did he take her? Are they in any relationship? Is that why she left me? Are they staying together? My mind was a mess. Sleep was far from me. I want to see her. Sitting in home was not giving me peace. So I came to office early. There were only few staffs in the building, mainly the cleaning staffs and securities. They all greeted me with a questioning look. I didn't mind and walked towards my office.

I was in my office room checking the report she prepared yesterday. To be frank she did a good job. I smiled. That's when the door to my office opened and Priya came inside. She looked at me surprised. "You are early today." She said mostly like a question. I closed the file and nodded. I got up from the chair walked towards her. "You reached home safe yesterday?" I asked. She nodded in yes. "Who is that guy? What is his name?" I asked curiously. She frowned. "Which guy?" she asked. I was getting impatient. "The guy who picked you yesterday, your boyfriend. What is his name?" I asked irritated.

"Who? Gautham?!! He?!! He is not my boyfriend." She said instantly. I felt relived. Okay. So they are not in a relationship. "He is my class mate. I'm staying in his home." She said.

"What? You. You are staying with him?" I asked with confusion and anger. Why in hell is she staying with him? My knuckles were turning to white. "Yeah. His family knows me well so his mother didn't allow me to rent an apartment. We were family friends and known each other for many years now. So they insisted me to stay with them." I sighed in relief. Well that's good. He is living with his parents. "Oh. Okay." I said still not satisfied but what else can I say.

"So when we are leaving?" She asked. "Where to?" I asked confused. "To Lonavla. We have to see the resort right." She said shrugging her shoulders. Oh yes I forgot about that. "Yeah. The report is finished right. We can leave as soon as possible." I said keeping my hands in my pocket. She nodded and went out.

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We reached Lonavla by noon and the staffs and manager were already standing at entrance to receive me. We sat down and discussed about the purchase, then had our lunch. After lunch we looked around the resort. It was a beautiful resort on a hilltop. I hope this will be an asset for us. We said our goodbyes and walked towards our car. That's when the driver came and told there was an accident happened on the way back. It was a gas tanker accident. It seems that the gas leaks after the tanker overturned. The officials are evacuating the neighbours and the road is blocked. It will take some time to clear the traffic. We sighed we don't have any other options other than stick around. We just walked around the resort for some time in silent.

"Shall we take a walk outside the resort?" I asked her. She nodded in a yes and we walked out of the resort after saying to the driver to call me when we are ready to go. We walked in the streets outside the resort. She was looking around. It was not so crowed. Only few people were roaming around. I looked at her. She has a smile on her face. She looked so cute in her pink kurti and leggings. I smiled at myself. I felt happy being by her side. Is she really Aami or is she Priya? This doubt was still lingering in my mind. If she is Aami why is she hiding it? I sighed. Suddenly it started to drizzle. We both kept our hands above our head and ran under the tarpaulin sheet roof of a small tea stall.

"I think today is not a good day." I sighed and said. "Why?" She asked while playing in rain water with her hands. "First the road is blocked now this rain. We are stuck at nowhere." I said annoyed.

"It's nice right. For a change. Away from all tensions. Being close to nature. Lovely rain. I like it." She said still playing in the rain water. I looked at her. She looked genuinely happy. I smiled keeping my hands in pocket and kicking the stones under feet. Smell of masala chai filled my nostrils. I am a coffee fan but I like to have masala tea some times.

"Would you like to have a tea?" I asked her. She looked at me and nodded. I went to the tea stall and asked for two masala tea. I looked at Priya, playing in rain water falling from the sheet serving as a roof for the tea stall. She looked like a small kid. The rain drops splattering were making her face and dress wet, but looked like she doesn't mind at all. The smile never left from her face. I was completely lost looking her when the man called me to give the tea. I paid him and took the tea cups and walked towards her. I stood near and extended the paper cup to her. She took it with one hand while splattering the water with other hand. "Don't get wet too much. You will get sick." I said.

"You are same like my dad." She said looking at me. But then her smile vanishes. She looked down and turns to other side. "What happened?" I asked going close to her. "Nothing." She shook her head without looking at me and sipped the tea. I held her hand and turned her to face me. Her eyes were glossy. Is she crying? "Hey, what happened?" I asked concerned. She didn't say anything, instead tears started to flow down her cheeks. I cupped her face and wiped her tears with my thumb. I felt something pricking my heart. I hate tears in her eyes. I side hugged her and patted her head. She cried on my shoulders.

The rain stopped after sometime. I looked at her. Her eyes were puffy but other than that she looked normal. "I think we should go back to the resort." I said to her. She nodded and walked towards the resort. "Why did you cry before?" I asked her softly. She looked at me and said. "I remembered my father."

"Oh home sick? Do you want a break from the work? So that you can go can see your parents." I asked walking. I turned to my side when I didn't get a reply. She was not by my side. I looked back. She was standing behind me. Her eyes started to moisture again. I looked at her startled. I walked back to where she is standing. I kept my hands on her shoulder and asked. "Hey. What happened? Why are you crying?"

She lifted her head to look at me with her glossy eyes. "My father is more in this world. He is dead."

I felt heaviness in my chest. She lost her father and I know exactly how it feels. I feel pity towards her. I slowly pulled her to me and hugged her. She sobbed silently to my chest. We stood there like that for a few moments.

************

"Oh Oh. Look who we got here? Honey moon couples? Han?!!" We both turned our heads when we heard voices behind us. There was three men standing together and looking at us. We broke the hug and took a step back. They didn't look like good ones. They had this evil smirk on their faces and were giving a hungry looks towards Priya. She crossed her arms in front of her and hugged herself.

They walked towards us. "Hey beautiful. Why are you crying? Did your husband made you cry during your honeymoon?" The man looked like the leader asked to Priya. She gave him a disgusted look and kept silent. The man smiled showing his yellow paan stained tooth. He moved forward a step close to her. Suddenly I pulled her back and stood in front of her. Even though I was taller than them, they were more muscular than me. I'm not sure that I can with stand a fight. And they look so intimidating. Still I won't allow anyone to touch her. I narrowed my eyes at them.

"Uff. Look at the hero protecting his wife. Han." The yellow toothed guy laughed and gestured towards the others. They too joined the laughter. Suddenly I started laughing; they stopped their mockery and looked at me in surprise. I can sense Priya staring at my back. I tried to stop laughing by holding my stomach. All the men were looking at me like I have gone mad.

I cleared my throat and stopped laughing and tried to put up a serious face. "Sorry brother, it's just that you were mistaken us. We are not couples. We are just work colleagues." I said while moving to the side and smiling. "You want her? No problem, take her with you. Anyway I was fed up of her. And I can't put up a fight with three body builders at once. I love peace." I said and smiled bowing my head and keeping my palm on my chest. I looked at Priya; she narrowed her eyes at me and gave me a weird look.

But the men looked happy. "You have got brains boy." The man with yellow teeth smiled and said by placing his hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him and gripped his wrist holding my shoulder and suddenly I twisted his wrist and kicked him where the sun don't shine. He holds his groin and kneels in pain. The two men were first in shock but suddenly recovered, they came running to me. I poked my fingers into the eyes of the first men approached me and pushed him back he hit the third one and both fell down with their back on the road. I turned and grabbed Priya's hand ran as fast as I could. "Catch them." I heard them shouting behind me. But we didn't stop.

We ran through the main road. I looked back and see two of the men running behind us and shouting to stop. We took a turn at the end of the road. That's when I saw a narrow passage between two building I quickly ran towards it and pulled Priya with me. I pushed her towards the wall and pressed my body against her. I looked to the road to check whether the goons are coming or not. They came running stopped in front of the passage and looked around. There was a truck parked in front of the passage that covered us partially from them. One of them looked our way and started to walk towards us. Priya gasped. I closed her mouth with my hands and pressed my body towards her more. So that he won't get to see us hiding. I closed my eyes tight. I hope they won't see us. He was about to come around the truck when the other one called him and they went straight through the main road. I sighed in relief closing my eyes. I turned to look at Priya my hands were still closing her mouth and my other hand were on her waist. We were standing like we were glued to each other. She was staring at me with her black eyes. I slowly removed myself from her body and released my hold from her mouth and waist. We looked here and there awkwardly and then stared at each other again. That's when we broke into laughter. We laughed till our stomach hurts.

"Shall we go now?" I asked and she nodded. We came out the passage and walked towards the resort. We reached at the entrance of the resort. "You really thought that I will leave you there right." I asked her smiling. She looked at me. She scoffed at my question. "What? I asked you a question. You were looking at me like I am a traitor." I said narrowing my eyes. She smiled. "No. I was thinking now what strange idea was cooking in your head that would put us in a weird situation. But I was sure that you won't leave me alone there." She said firmly. I stopped on my tracks.

"How can you be so sure that I won't leave you?" I asked. She too stopped and turned back to me. She looked surprised. I slowly took few steps towards her and stopped right in front of her. She gulped. I gripped my hands above her elbow and pulled her towards me. She gasped. "And what other strange ideas of mine are you familiar with?" I asked like a whisper. I was getting curious. Is she really who I want her to be? Is she referring about that night? She licked her dry lips and pursed them.

She lifted her face to look at me. "I. I. I mean such ideas like hiding behind the door." She said in a weak voice and looked away. "What?" I asked confused. She turned to see me again and slowly removed my hands holding her hands. "Like Mr. Siddharth Aryan, you get such incredible like hiding behind a door to escape from your fiancée. You know, no one would have tried such ideas to avoid their fiancée." She said smiling at me. I gritted my teeth. "She is not my fiancée. Okay. We are just family friends." I told irritated while holding my hips. "Whatever." She shrugged her shoulder without any interest. I frowned and was about tell something when my phone rang. I picked it with a annoyed face. "Hello. Aha. Yeah. Ok. We are at the entrance bring the car here." I said into the phone and cut the call.

"The traffic block is cleared we can go now. The driver is bringing the car." I said to her and she nodded. We waited for a few minutes and the car arrived. We both hopped in and the driver drove us to Mumbai.

She was sleeping leaning back to seat when I looked at her. It is the same face. How could someone look so similar when they are not identical twins? Am I confusing myself? Is she telling the truth? Today I thought I caught her but she found a way out of it. Aha!! This Aami is getting on my nerves. I sighed in irritation and ran my fingers through my hair. How do I solve this mystery? I sighed and looked outside to the dark road ahead.