Author's POV.....

His black orbs were fixed on hers. "Chandini" Aarav whispered when he saw her in front of him. Aarav was completely blown out by surprise, Chandini was praying tightly, holding her hands together, closing her eyes. Chandini's face glowed in the lights. It has been a year since he saw her. The girl he wanted to see desperately is in front of him now. When Chandini opened her eyes, she smiled looking at the God's sculpture but that smile immediately vanished when she saw Aarav.

For a second, Aarav had to turn his gaze to Keshav when he asked him something but nothing Keshav said registered in Aarav's head at that moment and within that second, Chandini disappeared.

Aarav stood there blankly. His heart was racing to see Chandini. Aarav immediately looked around the temple to find his Chandini but she was nowhere to be seen. Aarav walked back in disappointment to where Siddharth's wedding was going to take place. Aarav was stunned to see her there again. She was sitting and was looking down trying to hide her face. As Aarav approached her, he could feel his victory of eventually finding her. When Aarav stood in front of her, she lifted her head and immediately rose. This time Aarav noticed that she was dressed in a white and red saree which Aarav had once gifted her looking stunning. To match it, Chandini was wearing some wedding ornaments. This made Aarav suspicious.

Over the time he hasn't seen her, she has become so lean and mature, looking different to how she was a year ago.

"Chandini" Aarav managed to say after staring at her for a brief period.

"No, you have mistaken," Chandini replied.

"I am not mistaken Chandini. How can I ever forget you?" Aarav asked Chandini, choking in between his sentences.

"Aarav, what do you want? Will you not leave me at peace, even on my wedding day?" Chandini asked as her eyes got moist.

"Wedding?" Aarav was shaken. He was struggling to digest the fact that Chandini is getting married today.

"Didn't we end it all over a year ago? Then why?" She asked

"Chandini seeing you today was a coincidence. I came here for my friend's marriage" that's when it hit Aarav. Was Siddharth the one who's marrying Chandini?

"Are you getting married to Siddharth?" Aarav said with a lot of confidence even though he was breaking from the inside.

"YES," Chandini said under her breath but loud enough for Aarav to hear. That piece of information broke Aarav completely. He was shocked and broken beyond repair.

Siddharth knew very well about his relationship with Chandini and not once did he mention that he was going to marry Chandini. Aarav did not know how he was feeling at this moment... Was he feeling betrayed? Hurt or what? 'That is the reason he kept the name and the photo of his fiancé a secret' he thought.

"Look Aarav, whatever there was between us ended one year ago. I have moved on, guessing you have moved on as well. Let's not get into each other's way in the next chapter of our lives. It would be a massive favour if you could not attend mine and Siddharth's wedding as well" Chandini said, tearing Aarav's already torn heart.

"Sure, Chandini sure," Aarav said and walked away. As Aarav walked away, he wiped the tears that were falling like rain drops.

His friend Keshav, who heard this, hugged Aarav and encouraged him to be strong but Aarav broke down completely in front of his friend. "Some say it's painful to wait for someone. Some say it is painful to forget but the worst pain comes when you don't know whether to wait or forget them. At least I won't have to go through that sort of pain anymore right?" Aarav asked his friend but Keshav did not reply. He just hugged his friend very tightly.

It was after that incident; Aarav met Sakshi and Meera asking for a lift.

                                                                                      . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After that incident between Sakshi and Damini, Aarav was curious thinking who Damini is and why they argued. Aarav was not a person who liked to interfere in other people's lives but for some reason, Aarav couldn't stop thinking about Sakshi. After Damini left, Sakshi too left within twenty minutes and is not back home yet. He was getting worried because the time was now 8:30 but he couldn't express his concern to Keshav as he will start getting suspicious and that will be a reason for Keshav to tease poor Aarav.

Tonight Keshav wanted chicken fry and rice for dinner so Aarav and Keshav were busily cooking that.

"Aarav, guess what?" Keshav asked but continued before Aarav could reply "I've started an account on M4marry.com" He was blushing a little too.

"What? Why are you blushing for that idiot?" Aarav asked Keshav whilst laughing.

"I had thought about it deeply, Aarav. Actually isn't it cool to have someone to share a lifetime with? It's highly unlikely for me to fall in love with someone during our normal lives and I don't have parents to look for a girl to marry. For me to find a good match, I need to register on websites like this" Keshav said and laughed.

"Well good luck mate. It's hard to find good, loyal ones nowadays. People have their priorities and money is more important than love" Aarav said. Before Keshav could respond to that, the doorbell rang.

"I will open it Keshav," Aarav said and went to open the door. A guy in his early-thirties was in front of their door and along with him stood Sakshi. She looked as if she wasn't in her senses because she was leaning onto the guy's shoulders with her eyes closed. The guy was holding Sakshi's arms firmly to prevent her from falling. Aarav looked at the guy questioningly.

"Hello, I am Nikhil. I found Sakshi in a bar and she was causing a nuisance there after having a few drinks. The manager knew Sakshi was my ex-wife because I am the only contact he has so he called me. After paying a large sum in the bar for the nuisance Sakshi caused, I couldn't just leave her alone there even if I wanted to. This may sound wrong but because I didn't know Sakshi's address, I had to look through her bag and found this address in her diary. That is why I brought her here. If you have the keys to her flat by chance could you open it for me? Because I couldn't find any keys in her bag" Nikhil told his side of the story helplessly.

"Hey, you can call me Aarav. Nikhil, my flatmate and I moved here just a few weeks ago. Each person's key is unique here and I don't have any spare keys as such. Keshav and I are just good acquaintances with Sakshi and her flatmate Meera" Aarav said.

"SHIT!" Nikhil muttered, feeling annoyed. "I'm sorry, my wife has just had a baby and I want to be with them. I can't take Sakshi with me because our split up was a mess and my wife doesn't like her. As bad as this sounds, I don't want to do anything with Sakshi. We divorced many years ago. I only went to the bar due to the manager's insistence. I didn't want to abandon the girl I once loved and that is why I took her responsibility today. Wish Sakshi stopped causing this much havoc in my life. I don't know why I am telling this to you, probably out of frustration. Sorry man! I will take Sakshi with me. I can't abandon her here, right?" Nikhil said and decided to leave.

Without a second thought, Aarav decided to put forward a suggestion. "Nikhil, if it is ok Sakshi can stay in my flat for the night. You can trust me and Keshav. When she finds the keys, she can go back. Sakshi will be safe with us" Aarav assured Nikhil.

"But..." Nikhil hesitantly said

"Nikhil, like I said, you can trust me and my flatmate Keshav. We won't cause any harm to Sakshi. If you want, come and check on Sakshi tomorrow morning" Aarav said. Nikhil thought a lot about Aarav's suggestion. Taking Sakshi with Nikhil was not a good option. Shraddha will not take it well nor will his sister, mom or anyone. Aarav seems like a genuine guy as well so reluctantly Nikhil agreed to Aarav's suggestion.

"Ermm okay Aarav. I will leave Sakshi with you. See I trust you but she is unconscious at the moment so please don't take advantage of her" Nikhil said trying his best not to hurt Aarav's feelings.

"Don't worry, Oh and before you go please share your number, I will let you know how things are going tomorrow morning" Aarav said.

"Oh that sounds like a good idea," Nikhil said and shared his mobile number with Aarav. Just before Nikhil left, Aarav congratulated Nikhil for the arrival of Nikhil's little bundle of joy.

Now Sakshi was leaning onto Aarav's shoulder, to prevent her from falling. Aarav gripped Sakshi around her shoulders pretty tightly. Keshav widened his eyes when he saw Aarav come in with Sakshi. "Aarav, what is this? Why is Sakshi here? Is she sleeping?" Keshav asked curiously.

"Stop asking me too many questions, let me make Sakshi comfortable first" Aarav explained

"Eyy Aarav! Where are you taking her? I won't allow this" Keshav said sternly.

"Keshav as you can see Sakshi is unconscious, basically she is drunk. Her ex-husband just brought her here and unfortunately, the key to her flat is missing. So for the night, Sakshi will be staying with us in my room there and we will both take yours" Aarav said. Keshav frowned but of course Sakshi's safety was important so Keshav allowed it

.............

Hello everyone, hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) 

Guys I've started an Instagram account for my wattpad family. My username is Aishwarya5007, feel free to follow for latest updates and sneak peaks. . .

So I guess quite a bit happened in this chapter . . . 

What may have actually happened between Chandini and Aarav? Seems like Aarav is not not completely over Chandini ... 

How may have Siddharth entered in between Chandini and Aarav? Any guesses? 

So seems like Sakshi's drunk once again

Do you guys think what Nikhil did is right? Should he have avoided Sakshi at all costs?

Do you guys think what Aarav did is right? Should Aarav have allowed Sakshi to stay in his flat?

Ah Keshav's on a matrimonial site. Who might the one for Keshav be ??????????????????  

So thank you so much guys for reading this chapter. If you liked this chapter please do vote and comment. I feel so bad for  saying this but guys please do vote and comment if you can. For the last chapter I can see that around 212 people read it but only 51 people voted. I don't know if I am asking too much of you guys but please do vote and comment it would mean the world to me. It takes me a good 2-3 hours (sometimes more) at least to write a chapter, the only thing I am asking in return is to just some vote and leave a comment if you can, I am requesting this especially to my silent readers. Normally I don't do this but felt like letting you all know today what I think.  

And finally, thanks to all those who never forgets to vote and comment. You are the ones who keeps me going, without your encouragement and support I would not be writing this. I am not naming anyone you know who you are ... Thank you :)