2 YEARS LATER

Jayson stood next to the windows of his office, taking in the view of the New York City.

The intercom buzzer on his desk went off and Jayson cursed as he turns around to answer it, pulling on his tie and loosening it as he answers the phone.

“Yes Lily?”

“Sir, Ms. Maria Arquette is here again” his secretary, Lily said, sounding frustrated.

“Tell her I am in a meeting and I will talk to her later tonight”

“But Sir..---“

“Lily, my head is going burst open and this woman is not going to help it”

God, did he regret picking that woman up from that club the other night. She was becoming a nightmare.

“Okay sir.”

“And please send some Advil and coffee” Jayson said as he hung up the phone.

He pulled open the drawer to pull out the file of this project he was recently working on. This was a major project and two other companies were working on it along with his company.

He still had a lot to do and he was most probably going to crash on the sofa in the corner of the office for the night.

A lone paper fell loose and fell to the floor.

Jayson reached for it, very well knowing what it was, each and every word on it etched perfectly in his memory. It was possible for him to forget his name but not its contents.

The page was creased badly from being folded and unfolded numerous times. The ink was blotched from tears, his and hers as well.

He kept the letter on his desk and remembered that dreadful night when Kate walked out of his life leaving him with nothing but this piece of paper.

He had gone to her in the morning but she had just left. The doctor had handed him the letter saying that Kate had left it with him, asking him to hand it over to Jayson.

He had opened it with trembling hands knowing very well what was about to come.

Jayson,

Our relationship will be something that I will regret for as long as I live. It will be my biggest mistake. I loved you with everything I had but you threw it back at my face. I just want one small thing from you…if our love ever meant anything to you…anything at all….please do not look for me or contact me. Let me leave this behind…far behind in my past. I don’t want it to be part of me in any way.

Kate.

Jayson was lost. He didn’t know what to do.

The next day he had sold the house and shifted back to New York. There he had thrown himself into work.

Within the next few months he had taken over the Reynolds Inc as the new CEO. His dad still dropped by office and handled projects. His mother, Rabia on the other hand was worried sick.

Jayson never talked about her. He refused to think about her and as far as love could go, he knew he could never love with same intensity he loved her with. He didn’t hate her. No, he blamed himself. Even though the love he had for her seared his soul, it just wasn’t enough to feed the fire in her heart. If it would have been enough she would have never thrown those accusations at him. His heart was not broken when she left him, it was burnt to ashes.

He went out with women but it was never anything serious. He just couldn’t feel that way anymore. Love was lost and it was only lust now.

Those moments with her were now locked away in his mind, never to be touched again….

His phone vibrated, snapping him back to his surroundings. He looked at the caller id, it was his mother.

“Hey mom”

“Come home now. It is late. You have been at the office from the past three days.”

“I went home yesterday maa.”

“I dropped by your apartment Jay. Don’t lie to me. For how long will you keep this up? It has been two years. I don’t see my little boy in what you have become. This is not my Jayson. Working day and night will not help and what is with your temper these days? You need to start living again. We don’t discuss what happened with Kate because you told us not to but that doesn’t mean I am going to let you turn into a work machine. You can’t hide behind work all your life Jay”

“Plea—“Jayson was about to argue back but Rabia had hung up.

Jayson threw a few choicer swear words at the office walls and pushed back from the desk. He grabbed his jacket and throwing it on walked out of his office.

His fingers hovered over Maria’s phone number but he decided against it. He wasn’t going to turn into a man who made his way through women more than he changed his clothes. Instead he decided to hit the gym.

Jayson reached his penthouse and made his way to his wardrobe to grab a pair of sweatpants. He changed and entered the adjacent room which was turned into a gym.

An hour later he emerged from the gym, all worked out and tired. Just as he was about to open the door to the washroom to have a shower, it was pulled open from the other side.

“What the---“

“Jay baby…weren't you ever told...it is rude to keep a lady waiting” Maria said as she emerged wearing a skimpy black nightwear which failed to serve its purpose of covering anything.

“Damn me to hell” Jayson muttered and grabbed her by the arm as he pulled her towards her and whispered in her ear.

“Well I hope I make it up to you tonight.”