07 : 23 pm | Tuesday

✉ Aditi || Karan ✉

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Karan :

Good morning!

Aditi: 

Good morning!

Karan :

Breakfast?

Aditi:

Yep. What about you?

Karan :

Leaving home.

Aditi: 

Have a nice day!

Karan :

You too! 

━━━━━━━━━━━

Karan was surprised to find Preeti at his doorstep at half past seven in the evening. He had just reached home a few minutes back and was changing when the door bell rang. He felt a little under dressed in just his vest, under her gaze. 

"Hi!" She greeted with a bright smile.

"Hi, didn't expect you.." he mumbled, smiling apologetically for his appearance.

"Yeah, thought of giving you a surprise. Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah. Please." He mumbled, opening the door wide. He was on high alert. He had decided to create a little bit more distance between himself and Preeti so that Aditi didn't feel threatened or insecure.

"You were cribbing about having to come home and cook yourself dinner, th either night. So, I thought of surprising you with dinner." She spoke placing the bag she had brought along on the table.

Karan looked at the bag and then forced a smile. Mentally, he was freaking out. If Aditi, came to know about this she'd be really really mad. 

"You just came home?" Preeti asked running her gaze from head to his toes.

"Yeah, I just..." Karan smiled, sheepishly.

"Go freshen up," she suggested, with a smile taking the jug from the table.

"It's empty," Karan muttered, running a hand on the back of his neck.

She rolled her eyes. "I will fill it. Go change."

Saying he felt awkward would be an understatement. Karan decided to make his appearance decent before talking to her. He quickly changed into his black t-shirt and casual track pants. Thinking of excuses he could make to avoid having dinner with her. He realized there was nothing really that could help him escape the situation. He panicked when his message beeped.

Aditi:

Home? 

Guess you must be driving. Let's talk after dinner?

Karan was momentarily glad that he didn't open the message but read it from the notification. He took a deep breath. Was Aditi right about Preeti? Was Preeti even tad bit interested in him?

He walked out of the room to the dining table, deciding to act normal and get done with the dinner as quickly as possible. He noticed that Preeti had set up the dinner table using plates from the kitchen. Plates that Aditi's mother had gifted. Any other day he would have been heartily grateful for the meal but today he was not. 

"You didn't have to do all this," he uttered looking at her. 

"Come on, Karan. Big deal. Anyways, how is Aditi?"

"She's good." He answered, gazing at her carefully. 

"Nice. How is the new city? Does she like it there?" Preeti asked while taking a seat. 

Karan took the chair across the table, "yeah. She likes the city." Preeti mentioning Aditi wasn't helping him clam down.

"Better than Pune?" She asked with a smile, serving out dinner on his plate. Little part of Karan's mind was occupied thinking about Aditi, there was no way she wasn't going to get mad about Preeti's visit or him having a one on one, dinner with her.

"No. I mean, home is home right?" He offered her a smile. Just eat the damn food and be done with it. 

"That's Gobi Manchurian," she said with a smile. 

He smiled, taking a spoonful.

"You remember the fourth block canteen?"

Karan smiled at the sweet memory, "every time we went to eat there we'd be late to class."

A silence fell as each ate thinking about college days, occasionally broken by their brief recollection college days.

"Preeti," Karan said after a considerable pause. "Do you still miss Vikram?"

Preeti looked up, the smile on her face disappearing. "Let's not talk about that." She said softly, looking down at her plate.

Karan stared at her. He still seemed to be a sore subject, still. He never understood what she loved about that man. He was good looking, no doubt, but that seemed to be the only good thing about him. He was always out of class, arguing and answering back professors, he even got caught for smoking on campus. Leave alone the numerous fights he got into. Everything about his personality was negative.

Karan focused on completing his dinner. Preeti cooked well, but today he just didn't have an appetite. Even simply having a dinner with a friend seemed like cheating on his wife.

"You look off, today. Work?" She quizzed changing the topic soon enough.

Karan sighed, "nah, just tired."

"Oh, okay."

"Preeti," Karan said carefully after thinking it over in his head..

"Hmm,"

"You should move on."

Her hands paused and she looked up at him. "What do you mean?" 

"You know what I mean." He said seriously, looking squarely at her. She simply resumed eating. A silence fell again until they both completed their meal.

Karan had strongly protested but Preeti anyway went ahead to help him cleaning the table. "I have two passes for the carnival that happens at Lumbini Resort. It's on the weekend. Do you want to join?" She asked, leaning backward, against the counter. 

Karan glanced at her and turned to look at her. Any other day, it would seem like an offer from a friend to hang out. But today, Karan found himself questioning everything that Preeti was saying and doing. 

"No. I want to just laze around this weekend."

"Hmm, okay!" She said with a small smile. 

Their gazes met.  

"I should get going, then." She spoke looking around, placing the kitchen cloth on the rack. 

"Thanks, for the dinner." He said softly. Maybe he was unnecessarily trying to read things that weren't there, thanks to Aditi's jealousy.

"Just for the dinner huh?" She teased.

"And your precious company," Karan added, taking a courteous bow.

She chuckled. "That's like a gentleman!" She exclaimed placing her hand on his arm.

"How is your business going?" He asked her as they walked out of the kitchen. Preeti was a fashion designer and ran her own boutique.

"Good. The marriage season is over so work is pretty relaxed." She answered.

"Nice." He muttered walking her to the door.

"Wait, you didn't bring your car?"

"Nope. I gave it for repair. Remember the dent story I told on Sunday night."

"Right."

"I will take the cab home."

"Do you want me to drop you home?" Karan asked, concerned.

"No, Karan. It's no biggie, I can take a cab home."

They waited by the gate for the cab to arrive. 

"Karan, how is your marriage going?" She asked softly.

Karan was caught off guard. He didn't really discuss his marriage with any of his friends. "Good, I suppose." He wondered what the actual answer would be.

He looked at her. "What?"

"Nothing!" She said looking away.

"Come on, what is on your mind?"

"Nothing," she repeated.

Karan was convinced, there was something she was hiding.

"Preeti?" He quizzed, gently placing his hand on her forearm. 

She gazed at him. If he wasn't imagining there were tears in her eyes. 

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," she muttered, putting up a smile.

"Say it."

"I like you!" She mumbled, loud enough for him to hear.

Karan froze. Aditi was right! Dammit! He withdrew his hand from her arm.

"Please don't be mad at me. I just... took too long to realize it."

"Do you realize what you're saying?" He asked a little angry. How could she say that to him knowing be belonged to another woman?

"I know. I didn't think you were serious when  you said you're going for an arranged marriage. But then you did. I never really liked Aditi, no reason. I just took time to realize it was because she had you. I know this sounds stupid, but, it's what it is."

"Why tell me this at all?" He muttered, burying his hands in his pocket.

"Because, I wanted you to know. You and Vikram were the only two guys I have been close to. But you were always there from the start, maybe that's why I never saw it until you had someone else in your life."

Karan let out an exasperated sigh. "This screws up everything!"

"Have you ever felt that way for me?"

Karan looked up. Her face glowed under the lamp of the light. There was sadness glimmering in her eyes. His heart pitied her. She was a nice person, she didn't deserve to be unloved. But he didn't want to lie to her either. Especially, not at the cost of remotely offendinghis love for his wife. "No." He said softly. He had never felt anything remotely close to what he felt for Aditi, for any woman. 

She smiled a little, "thanks, you've always been honest." She took a step closer to him, looking at him. 

Karan tensed up. 

"Can I hug you? Just one last time?"

Karan felt his heart stir. He couldn't deny her that. For the sake of their friendship, for her sake. He put his arms around her. She dropped her face on his shoulder letting out a sob. "I am sorry," she mumbled. 

Karan wondered what she was sorry for. For confessing? For not confessing early enough? Or for what she was doing right now? 

She pressed a light kiss against his cheek. "Thanks!" She whispered, stepping away from him. 

Karan looked at her. She refused to meet his eyes and looked away. But he knew she was in tears. She received a call on her phone.

"Hello, yes Bhaiya, inside that lane, third building." She spoke.

Karan fixated his unblinking gaze on her. 

"The cab is here," she said glancing at him and then quickly looking down the lane. 

Karan quietly stood beside her until the car came to a stop before them. He walked forward and opened the door for her. She finally met his gaze.

"I swear, I will never bring this up again." She said softly, before getting in. 

Karan glanced at the driver and then at her. "Text me once you get home." He said softly.

She nodded, while giving the driver the ride confirmation one time pin number.

He stared as the car disappeared from his line of sight. A thought hit him hard. If she had revealed her feelings for him earlier, he probably wouldn't have Aditi in his life. That hit hard. He couldn't think of not having Aditi as a part of his life.

I am not sure how this chapter is going to be taken. Waiting for your views...

-Anami!♡