Chapter 24- "Stupid Impulsive Decisions."

I pulled away as I felt a gentle push and wiped my tears. I looked up into the dark eyes of the person I had missed. The person I had wronged without reason. I could feel my heart in my throat as I stepped aside and walked into the parlour.

I smiled through the pain clawing at my heart and said, "The usual?" and hoped against hope that I wouldn't receive a curt reply.

To my great relief, Rhea smiled. "Sure." She turned to the cashier. "We'll have a cone of double chocolate fudge with infused caramel and a cone of roasted almond crust with a chocolate blast for my friend here."

I felt a sudden surge of happiness. She remembers our favourites. For the first time that day, I had hope that I could fix this. That maybe we could go back to the way we always were.

We walked to a nearby pair of armchairs and sat down. "Rhea, I- I am sorry. I know sorry doesn't even begin to cover the fact that I've been a terrible person and-", I began but Rhea cut me off mid sentence.

"Hey, don't do that. You don't know all the things that happened so what are you really sorry for?" Rhea's expressionless face made my heart hurt and I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat.

She continued. "Let me talk today Mira. Just this once, that's all I ask." I nodded.

There's no other way is there?

"You know, the day you took up the movie, I thought it was going to be like any other set. The same old director meltdown, costume frenzy, overwhelming tabloid articles. But one person managed to be the picture of calm through it all. Gaurav- he- he somehow inspired me to be better at what I do, you know? Being around him didn't make me feel like it was a paid compulsion. It was my job and I started looking forward to the frenzy.

And somewhere, along the way, I fell for him, Mira. I-I couldn't stop myself from wishing that we could be something more, you know? I wanted him to see me the way I saw him. I wanted to be his inspiration too. The night you and Raghav went out for the first time, I thought we'd finally have some time together. I might even have told him how I felt about him.

But you know what, Mira? He didn't look up at me once during our whole meeting. We just sat there discussing strategies about your press statements and that's it. That wasn't even it. We occasionally strayed from our topic and talked about you or Raghav. And every time he talked about you, Mira, his eyes would light up. Like he was in love. I recognised it because that's how I looked at him too. My heart broke that night but I didn't say a word.

That being said, I am not a petty bitch, Mira. I respect a decision. I know that I cannot make someone fall in love with me and I absolutely cannot blame you for something you didn't even do. My heart broke twice that night. Once, when I realised Gaurav was head over heels for you and twice, when I called you from the bathroom stall in the office, crying my eyes out. I needed you so much, Mira. I needed my best friend. I just wanted to cry and talk to you.

And maybe that makes me a horrible friend for wanting to disrupt your night out for selfish reasons but I just didn't know who to talk to. I shouldn't have screamed at you the next day either. That was entirely my fault. I was reeling from the previous night and I had to take it out on someone. I treated you harshly, Mira and I have regretted it every day of the last two months. I'm sorry. I hope you find it in you-your heart to forgive me." Rhea shaked a little as she started sobbing lightly.

I looked at her in astonishment. I reached over and clung to her arms tightly. "Hey, Rhea, don't cry. Look at me, please." She looked over at me, her hazel eyes clouded over with sadness. Gone was her earlier mask of strength now replaced by a soft and heartbroken girl who had nothing but regret in her heart. I felt myself tearing up as I struggled to talk.

"Rhea, I love you. You are my best friend, a sister to me. Nothing that you could do, would ever keep me upset with you. It wasn't only your fault. I failed you. I wasn't there when my best friend needed me. Hell, I was so self absorbed I didn't even notice that you had feelings for Gaurav. I never noticed you two hanging out or when you did, I shook it off as a business meeting. I should have talked to you after you calmed down, instead of rushing off and making impulsive decisions." I snivelled.

"Stupid impulsive decisions." Rhea mumbled and we both laughed through our tears.

"You know what?" I said, sitting up straight and squaring my shoulders. "I am going to make the best impulsive decision right here, right now." I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. I went over to my contacts and scrolled for a number. As soon as I fished it out, I called the number and focused on steadying my breaths.

The call was picked up on the fourth ring. "Hi Mira, what the fuck is this? Get your ass to the office right now. We have major PR issues. Entertainment 22 won't stop asking for an official statement from you. How will I handle this if you never cooperate? You don't want to go for guest appearances on Koffee with Kajol to help your image and now you don't even come to our meetings on time." My over annoying, over abusive manager, Garima yelled.

I breathed heavily. "Garima, I don't want to be represented by your PR house anymore. I'm so sorry but this isn't working out." I waited for Garima to scream at me but she didn't. The line was eerily quiet and it made me uncomfortable "Um, Garima? Are y-"

"How fucking dare you! What the fuck do you mean 'It isn't working out'? Do you have any idea how horrible and tiring it is, working with you? You never show up on time and when you do, you are distracted. You never attend client parties, you never learn PR statements by heart, you never fucking listen to me! And now, when I almost doused the fire on your burning career, you drop my ass? Are you insane? Do you know that you signed a contract or are you dense?" Garima hollered.

My head hurt from her intensified screaming. But she was right. I did sign a contract, didn't I?

Suddenly, Rhea yanked the phone out of my hand and placed the call on WiFi-calling. She started speaking in a dangerously hushed tone, "Now listen here, you asshole. No one talks to her like that. It isn't her fault that you a mannerless bitch and that she wants to drop your ass because of your annoying voice." I tried to snatch the phone away from her but she swatted my hand away.

"And who might you be? Let me just tell you, I have a lot of connections and I can make life pretty hard for your friend." Garima said, indignant as ever.

"Never mind the connections you may have. And before threatening her, you might want to consider who you are talking to. I might just be working for PR's most reputed company and might be the daughter of the Director of the Film Agency. So, if you don't want your company's name smeared and me talking to daddy about shutting you down due to negligent behaviour and inexcusable language, I suggest you send over the termination contract to your client."

Rhea cut the call and handed me the phone and sat back in her chair. My jaw had hit the floor and I continued staring at her. "What was that?!" I said, while she wiggled her eyebrows at me, a small smile lighting up her face.

"That, my child, was an Oscar performance." Rhea said and we laughed. Our ice creams were placed before us and as I took a huge bite, my teeth sinking into the creamy goodness, Rhea said, "So where's the invite?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, my mouth full of rich ice cream. "Iuydnvite?"

"Hailey's party, remember? She sent out invites today, right?" She looked at me, quizzically.

"Oh tdhat!" I mumbled. "Yeash, she did. How did you know?"

"I have other clients too, Mira. Anyway, are you going?"

"Like hell, I am." I set aside my ice cream and looked at her, directly in the eyes. "And I have a plan."

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A/N

Guess who got time to update her book? This dumbass right here, woohoo! Sorry, quarantine is hurting my mental stability. Speaking of which, what's up with you guys during this thing going on?

Love, hugs and badass calls,

RITWIKA

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