Riya's pov

" When will we reach?"I asked Arjun who was busy in explaining the route to the driver.

" With in an hour" he replied and I opened the window.

The cool breeze of Manali kissed my cheeks. The glorious weather was enough to put off the fire inside me.
I felt great calmness and peace after a long time.

I felt my lungs inflated with the onrush of scenery- air,mountains trees, people.
Nature is a faithful healer for the soul.

Beside me, Anu and Hema were sleeping hugging their sweaters.

This trip was Arjun's idea. His dad owns a farmhouse in Manali.
At first I was a bit reluctant about this idea. But now I think it was the best decision I have ever made.

After sometime we reached his spacious  ivy  covered farmhouse.
" Wow, It's awesome" Hema said wide eyed.

In the evening, we decided to play a movie.

"Comedy?" Anu asked

" No,no Romance" Hema replied.

" What about Action?" Arjun interfered.

" Get lost with your action, Riya you tell what should we choose?"Anu asked me who was busy in exploring Arjun's showcase.

My crazy friends were arguing for the last 30 minutes about the selection of movie for tonight.

" Anything except Romance" I said and continue to examine the army medals and badges of Arjun's grandfather.

Suddenly something caught my attention.

" Riya, be careful, it's loaded" Arjun said I kept the revolver back at the drawer.

Me, Arjun, Anu and Hema were friends from college. It's been 2 years since we completed our graduation, and parted our ways.

So it's a kinda reunion. My thoughts were broken by Hema's words .

" What about Twilight?" she asked and the word ' Twilight' brought me back to many memories.
Those memories which I want to erase from my mind.

" I told you NO ROMANCE" I yelled.

I can't watch " Twilight".
It's the first movie that we watched together . That too on our first date. Tears welled up on my eyes. I wiped them immediately , but my friends already noticed that.

Arjun side hugged to confront me.
" Sorry yaar, I didn't mean to hurt you" Hema said  wiping my tears.

" Ok, let's watch The invisible guest"
Arjun said breaking the silence.

It was a very interesting movie that I couldn't take my eyes off the screen even for a second.

We finished the movie by midnight and decided to call it a night.
I was about to retire to my room when Anu caught my hand.

" Riya, it's been two years, you should atleast listen to him " she said and I shook my head.

" It's over Anu. There is nothing left in that relationship".I said and left to my room .

Next morning when I opened my eyes I found myself lying in the floor of living room.

But how? I clearly remember , I slept on my room last night. I tried to get up, but failed. My head was spinning.
After  lots of attempts, I managed to get up.

I was shocked to hell when I saw the sight in front of me. I saw a gun lying on the floor and stains of blood in the walls. My head starts spinning and I fell on the floor .

When I got my consciousness, I tried to call my friends. But I didn't get any response .

Resting my head on floor, I tried to remember the last night events.

Last night

After that conversation with Anu I left to my room. I cried till I lost my energy .It wasn't the first time that I am crying like this . It has become my routine for the last two years.

Siddharth....the man whom I loved more than myself. He was my batch mate. We fell in love during the second year of our graduation. But he left me.
He left me for his career.

My parents started talking about marriage proposals as soon as I finished my studies . I asked him to talk to my parents, but he denied. For him, his career was important.

After a few days, he left to Mumbai to accomplish his dream to become a film director. I tried to call him many times, but he didn't pick up my calls .

It was Arjun, who informed me that Siddharth is no longer interested in our relationship and he wanted to end it.
Last month, he came back and apologized. He said he want me back.I was very angry on him. I said I am not a doll, that he can kept and threw whenever he want.

But he kept following me  chanting he want to say something. I was irritated by him. That's why Arjun took me to this trip.

The ear breaking sound of thunder brought me back from my thoughts.It was raining heavily outside.

I glanced the clock and found it was already 2'o clock in the night.
Suddenly I heard the sound of calling bell. I came out of my room and opened the main door.

I was shocked to see Siddharth standing there fully drenched in rain.
I tried to close the door, but he pushed it to open.

" Riya, please listen, you are in trouble" he said but I pushed him back and called Arjun.

" Riya, you are mistaken" he said with panic.

"Yes, I was mistaken, that's why I loved you, now I don't want to hear your explanations, Just get lost" I yelled at him.

" Riya , it was Arj......" Before he could complete I heard a shooting sound. I saw him falling on the floor .

" SIDDHARTH........" I screamed. I felt my heart stopped. I couldn't breathe. I turned around to see Arjun standing with his gun.

" Arjun, what have you done?" I yelled.

" Riya, he is here to kill you, that's why I shoot him" he said stammering .
From his eyes I could clearly say that he is lying.

Siddharth, who was being shooted on his shoulders starts yelping.

" Riya, don't trust him. He is the one who separated us.  He called me days after our break up and said that you
have moved on and is in a relationship with him" he said and Arjun hit him with a rod.

" Arjun!!!!

" Yes Riya, I have done that. You know why? Because I love you. I love you from the moment I saw you. I was about to propose you but this bastard came in middle" he said and stomped his foot on Siddharth.

" You bloody cheat. How could you do this to me. Listen one thing carefully, I have always loved Siddharth , and will love him" I said and he slapped me hard. I fell on the floor and lost my consciousness .

That was the last thing I remember.

Present

With great difficulty, I stand up and searched for Siddharth and my friends. The saw blood at the place where Siddharth was shot. But I couldn't find him.

I fell on the floor and starts crying.Suddenly I heard the sound of opening of gate. I rushed to the entrance and found Anu and Hema.
They hugged me as soon as they saw me. I cried on their shoulders and they calm me down.

" Where is Siddharth?" I asked with trembling voice.

" Don't worry, we took him to the hospital, and he is safe".
Anu said and I felt relieved.
If something had happened to him, I wouldn't have forgive myself.
I couldn't live without him.

"  Yesterday night, we woke up hearing the sound of shooting. We saw Arjun hitting Siddharth with a rod. We informed the police and after 10 minutes they came and arrest Arjun". Hema said wiping my tears .

" Then we took Siddharth to the hospital. You know what he is waiting for you" Anu said and I hugged my besties.

I never thought Arjun would betray me. He degraded our friendship. But still I am thankful to God that I have two real friends.

2 years later

Many things changed in these two years. Siddharth became a successful director. He changed a lot.
Now Siddharth loves another girl.

She is very beautiful. He loves her more than me. He will do anything for her. I wonder how he changed his priorities in these two years.  He would postpone  important meetings  just to spend time with her.

Her name is Siya. She is none other than our daughter.

Hi guys,
Hope you liked my story.

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If you have time please check out my first work "Damsel in Distress-an Indian story'".

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