I was just looking at her with my mouth hung open.

This is the reason I thought the voice was familiar.

Avni.

"You both should get into the car." Mihir said but I paid no heed. I was too busy staring at her.

She looked diffrent.

Good diffrent ofcourse.

She was trying to tie her hair because it was too much windy and her hair were flowing in all directions.

Her skin looked absolutely flawless and ofcourse she had no makeup.

She was never a fan of it anyways.

"Veer" Mihir shook me and then I looked at him getting out of my trance.

"Hmm." I said to him distracted.

"Get into the car. Raghav is following the 2 people with a few police men." Mihir said to me. He turned to her and said

"Thank you for your help. Come I'll drop you too!"

I turned to her and she smiled at him.

"No it's fine. I have my car parked over there." She said pointing towards a car.

"Noo!" I said instantly.

She looked at me raising her brows.

"It is not safe. Come with us." I said holding her wrist because I very well knew how stubborn she is.

She just looked at my hand which held her wrist and looked at me and then said

"I've been managing just fine all these years." She said getting her hand out of my grip and turning around.

Honestly speaking,

It stung me!

She is been alone since she is 15 and all the years we were friends I was the only one she had.

And you left!

I got out of my trance.

"We will follow you till your apartment. No arguments on this." I said with a No-Argument look. Which always does wonders on my clients.

She just sighed and said "Whatever!"

We were seated in our car and her car was just before us.

Mihir was eyeing me again & again.

"What is it Mihir?" I asked frustrated.

I was already frustrated with Avni's behaviour.

She was behaving as if she doesn't know me.

No girl has ever behaved like that with me.

She is nothing like them!

And I know it.

"Do you know her?" Mihir asked looking at me.

"Yes.." I said absentmindedly.

"But how do you know her. And why do you care so much about her?"

"Some other time Mihir. Not now." I said and closed my eyes.

"Veer... You really like Trisha?" Avni asked me while preparing coffee for me.

"Yeah I do." I said sitting on the kitchen counter.

"She seems a bit off to me. I don't know. I don't think she actually likes you." She said and poured my coffee.

"Avni we are not having this conversation again. Don't see too much into it." I said irritated.

Whenever Trisha comes over this is the only thing Avni talks about.

Trisha is not good.

Trisha this Trisha that.

I just went to my living room and sat down irritated.

Why can't she just digest the fact that we love each other.

"Veer.." She called and gave me my cup of coffee.

She sat beside me on the couch. Held my elbow in both her hands and kept her head on my shoulder.

"I am sorry... I was just trying to... umm..leave it." She said.

I kept my coffee aside.

"You don't need to be sorry. I overeact everytime you talk about her." I told her.

She left my elbow and looked at me and then hugged me. I hugged her back smiling.

"You know I don't like it when you get irritated because of me." She said with her head in the crook of my neck and I chuckled.

" You keep irritating me all the time and then expect me not to get irritated?" I asked her.

She laughed a very hearty one.

"It is my duty to irritate you." Saying this she broke the hug and punched my shoulder.

"Owww! What was that for?" I asked rubbing my shoulder.

She just shrugged and left laughing.

Brat!

I was smiling remembering our days together. When I shifted to Mumbai for completing studies in business I used to live in an apartment near my college. She was my neighbour. We started talking and then we got very comfortable with each other. I did not know how to cook anything. She teached me everything. With college I also wanted to startup my business. She used to help me with everything. There were times when I would give up on my dream but she never did. She always believed in me and made me believe in myself.

I was very protective of her. If ever I saw anyone giving her a hard time i would show that person what hell looks like!

And that is what she was being.

Protective of me!

She was right about Trisha everytime. I wish i would have listened to her.

And one fucking day I just left like that. Without seeing her, without talking to her.

Why?

Because we had a major fight due to Trisha the previous night.

And when I came to know about my brother's plane crash I just left everything behind and came here.

Ofcourse she would behave like this!

I left her!

I was bought out of my thoughts when I heard her voice.

"Thank you...!" She said to mihir and did not even glance at me for once.

Mihir got down and followed her till her apartment door.

I just sighed and kept my head on the head rest of the car.

It would've been good if we did not meet today!

If she would've not hugged me today!

Because now she is going to be on my thoughts 24/7.

I was habituated to her!

She has just brought out all the memories and the same warm Veer Singhania who I tried to bury years ago.

Mihir entered the car and said "This is the first ever time a girl noticed me when I was with The Great Veer Singhania."

I just laughed at him.

"Don't over exaggerate now. She would notice any person on the earth except me." I said shaking my head.

"That bad?" Mihir asked starting the car.

"Trust me.... it was worst!" I said.

"When did you guys break up? I mean i never knew you had a girlfriend after Trisha." He said while driving.

Break up?

I gave him a smack on his head.

"Idiot! She wasn't my girlfriend." I said glaring at him.

"What? Why would you hit me? But wait, if she wasn't your girlfriend then—

He stopped talking as he realised something.

"Don't tell me she is the Mumbai neighbour girl." He said with wide eyes.

I just nodded.

Yeah they know i had a very good friend when I was in Mumbai.

What they didn't know was she was not just my good friend.

She was my morning coffee.

She was the fresh air which i needed after every time some interviewer rejected me.

She was both my strength and weakness.

She was my support system.