Love Finds a Way !!!

Chapter 53

Aarav's distrust hurt. Kanak had tears in her eyes as she walked out of his office but she didn't give in to them till the doors of the elevator closed. Then she sagged against the walls and cried a little but wiped her tears off when she approached the ground floor. She didn't want the receptionist or the guards to see her in such a state. She walked out with her head held high and a smile plastered to her face. She could not take public transport home not in the state she was in so she took a taxi. It was okay to spend a couple of hundred rupees after the trying day she had had. Wasn't it?

She sat in the taxi and let the tears flow. Why did it hurt so much? What had she expected from him? Why? She didn't care if the driver thought her to be having an emotional breakdown after all there were very few things a taxi driver in Mumbai hadn't seen. A girl crying in the backseat had to be the most common of it all. How could he not believe her? He had always been insensitive towards her, a brute and yet she had liked him. Admired his strength to reason, to stay calm and collected even in the face of worse adversity, to be able to distinguish between right and wrong and then standing up for what he believed in. She had foolishly let her heart have ideas about him and what had he done? She had been telling the truth and he had refused to believe her instead he had wanted her to come and talk to him about it first. She dashed an angry hand across her cheeks. This was it. She was done with the Singhania family and the likes of them. Now that Palak was also married she didn't need to burden herself about humoring them. If she saw Aarav Singhania again she would refuse to recognize him.

As the cab stopped in the courtyard of her building she got down and paid the fare. Then tiredly went to her little flat. Once inside she washed her face despondently and changed her clothes. Her stomach protested. She should eat something but she was not up to cooking. She felt so depressed. Then she ordered a pizza for herself. So what if she had lost her job and her bank accounts were not brimming over with cash she had the right to splurge just a little. She decided to not think of depressing things and switched on the television. With nothing interesting coming she watched the music channel. Her pizza arrived and she ate it even as she cried all over it.

Why didn't he believe her? Why couldn't he have just said he knew she wasn't lying? That Asthana was manipulating the whole situation. Why hadn't he held her and hugged her and consoled her that everything would be alright? He was there for her. Why? And she knew the answer. Because a man like him could never fall for a girl like her. Forget about love he wouldn't even spare a glance at her. He had met her because the circumstances had been such and she had like an idiot fallen for him. Why him of all the people? What was so special about him that she hadn't been able to control her feelings for him?

The answer to that was EVERYTHING. Everything was special about him. People thought he was cold and calculative. Maybe he was and he had started out that way with her too but then she had seen glimpses of the brilliance of his sensitivity. The way he had tackled things. Faced censure and criticism for Dhruv and Palak keeping their secret locked away. The little things he had done out of courtesy and consideration for her uncle and aunt and her too. He had made sure their self-respect was not trampled upon by anybody. Who does that? Nobody. Dhruv and Palak had been so wrapped up in their own world that they probably hadn't even known about these things. He was curt but never without reason. He manipulated so there could be limited damage. He blackmailed so the family members could be kept safe from malice. He took care of everything just as he had told her. 'I would have taken care of it...you should have come to me'. His words echoed in her ears. He was right and she was sure he would have done so. Instead she had gone ahead and slapped the man and now Aarav's hands were tied. All her hurt and anger melted away as she realized what she had done. And she cried again this time for her hasty judgment.

How could she have ever doubted him? He would never have stood with the wrong side. He would have stood up for her. She put the pizza away her appetite gone. As it is her tears had made it overly salty. She was such a fool. She lay down on the couch and cried herself to sleep wondering if he would ever want to see her again. What would she do if she met him? Would she apologize? What was she going to do now with no job and just a little amount of savings? She slept restlessly the questions doing rounds at first and then taking the shape of dreams. The one man who remained constant was Aarav and she hoped he would forgive her for doubting his intentions.

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