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Swara's POV-

Stepping inside home, for the first time in about six years was just altogether a completely different feeling. A happy one at that.

" Shona, don't roam around unnecessarily there are there. Come on, I'll drop you to your room or you'll end up straining your leg." She said.

" No mumma, I first need to go and meet Aryan." I told her.

" But beta, he would be in office right now." She replied, furrowing her eyebrows.

" I don't know mumma, I want to meet him right now. Apologizing to him will take a lot of time. Can you please call him?" I asked her, mustering up the most adorable puppy eyes that I could.

" Shona....I'll call him for dinner today. I promise but right now, let him work and that's final." She said sternly and I nodded.

Then I was dropped off to my room and mumma and mom were in the living room, supervising the NGO from home only.

I had nothing to do and was banned from getting up from the bed so I just eventually fell asleep and then woke up for lunch and then slept back. It felt so good, I slept like a baby after so long without any tension to do anything or go anywhere.

Then I finally woke up at around 7:30 in the evening and went to the living room. Mom must have gone back and papa was sitting with grandpa and mumma was in the kitchen.

" Shona, how is your leg now?" Papa asked as he saw me walking towards them.

" Much better papa. The pain is almost gone." I replied, taking a seat next to him.

" Swara, Aryan and Tanya will be here in about some ten minutes." Mumma said as she was cooking something in the kitchen.

I really had no idea how I was going to justify myself or pacify him. I know that he will forgive me but I am not sure about the when part.

While I was in my thoughts, the door bell rang and I immediately walked off to hide behind the curtain. I can't just appear in front of him from nowhere.

Papa opened the door and he walked in, with Tanya. He looked the same, just developed some muscle.

" Uncle, here is ice cream. Let me go and keep it in the fridge or it'll melt." He said, as he stepped towards the kitchen.

" Ice cream? Chocolate or chocolate?" I asked, coming in front of him.

He turned towards me, now looking at me in the eye. Tanya came to stand next to him.

" I am hallucinating, aren't I?" He asked Tanya who was looking me with just as the same expression as his at me.

" Nope. She really is here." I heard Tanya. She had just whispered but there was so much silence that every word being spoken was loud and clear to everyone.

He said nothing, just came towards me and embraced me in a bear hug for good one minute before leaving me.

Then I could see the complete three hundred and sixty degree change in this emotions from warm, accommodating and love to being completely cold.

" What are you doing here? And why are you back?" He asked, harshly.

" I.....I am back because...." I started, almost sobbing because of his coldness.

" No Swara, you have no justification for what you did. Absolutely none. You did not think of anyone but yourself that day. You took such a bad decision in haste and now you are back. What happened? Did you finally realize how stupid you are? Or how immature you were that time? We were best friends. Why did you not come to me to talk? Did you not trust me? I had always been there for you since we were in fourth grade and then suddenly, you decide to throw me and everybody else out of you life and that too, for a silly misunderstanding which could have been cleared so easily?" He continued to shout.

No one stopped him because each and every word that he had uttered was completely true.

" You are right. I have no justification of what I did that day and no justification on so as to why I am back. I messed up big time and now there is nothing I can do that will change what has happened but will you still be able to accept this retarded best friend of yours back? Aryan, I met several people in these span of six years, trying to find someone like you in them to confide but I failed. There is no one in this whole world who can be the Aryan to my S. I did a huge mistake that day but will you be the bigger person here to forgive me? Please? And also, I'd like to have the post of being your best friend back if it's still vacant after I left." I said as I held his hands and he sighed.

" I really don't know what to say S." He said.

" Nothing Aryan. You calling me S just said everything that you could possibly wanted to say. Do I assume that I've got your apology?" I asked, using my puppy eyes.

" You've got my apology but you'll have to earn my trust. In fact, not just mine, you'll have to earn back everyone's trust S. And as for you being my best friend, that post only belongs to you." I said, softly this time.

" That's the plan but when all of you are with me, it'll be a cake walk." I replied and hugged him, he wrapped his arms around my shoulder too.

Then I hugged Tanya and all of us just sat there, talking about things, more like catching up. There was still that boundary present but it's my fault and it will obviously take time for things to get back to how they were six years back but I will do whatever it takes.

After dinner, Tanya was helping mom in the kitchen and I was sitting with papa, grandpa and Aryan.

" S, let's go out for a walk." He offered.

" She can't beta. She tripped and fell off the stairs yesterday. That's why she is sitting the way she is or else did you ever see Swara sitting so still?" Grandpa mocked me.

" God S, you are not home one day and you've already made everyone's life revolve around you again." He taunted me.

" See, I don't try to make it happens. It just somehow does!" I explain.

" I know that. You hate attention." He muttered and I nodded.

" Fine, let's go to have cold coco at our usual place. We will go by car." He said and I agreed immediately.

While talking to him, I got to know that he was working with a finance company at a good post. Tanya had joined her father's business and stuff. It felt so good.

" So, why London?" He asked as we sipped on the drink.

" No idea. That was the first place that came to mind. That's it." I told him honestly.

" Hmm." Was his reply.

Then soon, we got back home. And I congratulated them for their wedding and despite everything I had done, Aryan said that his wedding would always have felt incomplete without his best friend and I felt that he may deny it, but he never stopped trusting me or else he wouldn't have said what he did.

After both of them had left, I went back to my room but sleep was far far off from me because of two reasons, the first being that Aryan had actually forgiven me and secondly, I was missing Aditya now. Not that I would confess that to him. But there was a third reason too, it was that I had practically slept all day.

As I was in my own world, my phone went off. It was some unknown number.

" Hello." I took the call.

" Mrs. Kapoor." I heard that deep, husky voice on the other side which was one of the reasons that I couldn't sleep.

" Aditya....how did you get my number?" I asked him.

" Swara, I found you. Didn't I? Then I don't think you should be that surprised about me finding your number." He taunted.

" About that.....I was meaning to ask you about that. How did you manage to find where I was?" I questioned.

" That's for me to know." Came his over the top, arrogant reply.

" That's not fair. Tell me." I demanded.

" Are you thinking of working?" He asked, completely off the topic.

" Yes, of course! What will I do sitting idle at home all day?" I asked him. I mean, of course I want to work! It's the most obvious thing in the world!

" Good. I'll pick you up in the morning sharp at 9. You will be working for our company and once you've learnt the ropes and got a hang of how things go around, you will be promoted to COO." He said, dropping a bomb.

" Aditya, I don't think that is a very good idea." I objected. People will obviously start talking about how I got the job because I am my father's daughter and his wife.

" And why is that?" He asked, his tone suddenly changing.

I expressed my concerns to him but he immediately brushed them off.

" Swara, that is the reason I am not directly hiring you for the post of COO. You will undergo training like everybody does before joining up the ranks." He said.

" But Aditya, after training, not everyone goes on to become the COO of the company." I replied to his logic.

" What are you so afraid of?" He asked me.

" Being called out things that I am not and being judged for being associated with the company because of papa and you." I confessed the truth.

" Swara, you do anything anywhere, you will be judged in the corporate world. You need to come there and prove your worth to people and then, they will not dare point at you for being your father's daughter or my wife. You belong there and that is the reason you took up business studies in the very first place. Besides, I'll be there to help you." He tried knocking some sense into my head.

I sighed, because as usual, he was right. I was my dream to continue papa's legacy. Kritika was never interested in it. She wanted to be a model but I always wanted to be a part of that company.

" I am getting used to saying this, but you are right. I will join the company but you need to promise me something." I asked him.

" What?" He questioned.

" You will not help me. I will figure things out on my own and prove my worth as you said all by myself. Yes, if I'll be struck somewhere, I ask you to guide me but you will not go out of the way to do anything for me. Can you promise that to me?" I posed the question.

" As you say, your highness." He attempted to lighten up my mood and it did put a smile on my face.

" So now, tell me na.....how did you find me?" I asked, going back to the original question.

" I told you what needed to be said. Now sleep because Mrs. Kapoor, I hate tardiness. If I said that I'll be there at 9, you need to be ready by 8:55 because I will not wait for you." He said, with a lot of bossiness.

" We will see about that Mr. Kapoor. If you don't wait for me, then I'll complain about it to mom." I threatened him.

" Are you still that eighteen year old who complained to mom about me not coming down for dinner?" He asked, chuckling.

He remembers. And here I thought that I was the only one who remembered all of it. In fact I tried to forget everything. Thank god I couldn't.

" Are you planning to say anything?" He grabbed my attention, breaking my thinking trance.

" Yes, I am still that person who will complain to mom. If you want to make sure that I'm telling the truth, try leaving without picking me up and you will see." I assured him.

" At 9 Swara. Goodnight." He said, groaning.

" Huh! I still manage to shut you up.....see you have nothing to say." I sang, sounding irritating to myself even.

I could just imagine his face.

" Trust me love, there will be various instances where you will shut up because of me even without me doing anything. That, Mrs. Kapoor is a promise." He said, his voice so dark and different that it sent shivers down my spine.

" Goodnight!" I exclaimed, hanging up.

How did he do that? Just a few seconds ago, I was the one with the upper hand, shutting him up. How on earth did the tables turn in mere seconds? How is that even possible!!

I turned to keep the phone on the nightstand, but it pinged, indicating a message.

I opened it to read Aditya's message,

This was what I was talking about Swara. You have nothing to say, do you? Goodnight. Dream of me.

Okay, I don't think that there is anyway he can know that I had nothing to say or no comeback. I can easily bluff him.

Come out of your own paradise Mr. Kapoor, I am very sleepy, that's why I hung up. Not because I had nothing to say. You think too highly of yourself.

My phone pinged again after a few seconds when I hit the send button.

And yet you are here reading and replying to all my texts without sleeping while you were so sleepy that time that you couldn't even say a proper goodbye? Sure Mrs. Kapoor, you are a terrible liar.

This was his reply. Blah, blah, blah!

I decided to ignore replying to his messages.

Well now this is kiddish, not replying. I know that you are reading the messages.

I chose to ignore this one also. Anything I further say will just add to my embarrassment.

Well, fine if my wife still chooses to behave like a child. Sleep well.

This put a smile on my face again. I don't know how, but he always manages to do it. But whatever, it makes me feel good!

So guys....who is up for some office romance? I hope you're liking the track!

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I love you all. Until next time. Byee!!