*SPLASH!*

"Woah!! Niti what the hell!" I woke up from my sleep as someone splashed a bucket full of water on my face.

"Wake up lover boy, it's not Niti. Akku hoon." I realized that I had taken her name. Her name. Even in my unconscious state I thought of her. She wasn't ready to leave my mind!

I was back at Pune after I had left Mumbai forever. I swore to never visit that place. Those sets. Her memories. I wanted to keep away from everything that reminded me of her, but how do I get her out of my brain and my stupid heart!?

She was gone, nowhere to be seen. I tried looking for her but she was nowhere. That morning after our break-up when I came back home she was missing, her stuff was missing. I searched her everywhere. Even though I hated her, I searched every place where she could have been. I went to the studio hoping to find her there or to find any clue of her. There I was told by the production that they had called her to renew her contract and she didn't sign the new one. She said she wanted to leave. "She was with that guy who visited her daily on sets."said the production guy."I knew it! Who else could she be with! Of course the guy who meant the world to her!"

"What the hell akku! Kya hai tujhe!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Ye jo maine kiya na, this was nothing. You should be thrown off a cliff you moron! Jerk!"she blabbered some more abuses to me.

"Kya kiya Maine? Subha subha you're irritating me." I said as I woke up from my bed yawing.

"Parth, stop pretending to be normal okay? I know you're awful. Halat dekh apni! Sookh ke kaanta ho gaya hai, khata nahi, baat nahi karta seedhe muh, poora din bed pe padha rehta hai, kaam dhaam chodh kar vapas aa gaya hai what the hell do you think you are doing!?" She yelled at me.

"I'm fine. Who said I'm pretending?" I shrugged.

"Parth seriously? You know you need her! You know she needs you the most! Jo uska condition hai abhi.. Parth don't you realize apni mistakes at all? Zara sa bhi tujhe realization hai ke nahi!?"she went on shouting and I turned a deaf ear to her.
I went into the bathroom to take a bath.

"Parth seriously tu ek din regret karega bahut zyada ki tune pehle kyun nahi suni kisi ki baat! Remember that!" She banged the door behind and left the room.
I ignored whatever she said. I didn't want to listen to anyone. I didn't want to realise anything, I wanted to be left alone.

----

"Maa! Main ja raha hoon!" I shouted so that she could hear my voice from inside the kitchen.

"Parth nahi! Wait." She walked out of the kitchen with Akanksha. Why hadn't she left yet. She had began to annoy me a lot lately. The more I wanted to forget her, Akanksha made sure that she never left my mind even for once! "Parth aaj tu kahin nahi jayega.. Today we are talking!" My mom said in her 'I am damn serious about this' tone. I didn't want to argue with mom even so I listened to her.

"Talk about what?" I said as I sat on the cough.

"About Niti." Niti. The name was like music to my ears, I hated the fact that just her name could calm a part of me. From the time I had returned she had just been mentioned as 'her' and 'she'. No one took her name. I never took her name until today when Akku splashed water on me, because that was how she woke me up for the last time when we were together.

"Parth beta please, kab tak aise karega? Kab tak apni ego ko apne relation ke beech mein laayega? Kab tak tu usko and khud ko hurt karta rahega? Kab tak? Parth kya haal bana liya hai apna.. Na zyada bolta, na kuch karta hai.. Kaam bhi chodh ke aa gaya vapas.. Sara din ya toh apne room mein locked rahega ya toh bahar chale jayega.. Why are you punishing yourself like that? Why aren't you understanding that you need her! Parth more than you need her, she needs you! She's having your child Parth! Usko pregnant karke akela chodh diya tune! Just because of your insecurities! Just because you are still holding on to your past!" My mother literally yelled at me. She liked her a lot. I had brought her home just once and she had connected to my mother instantly.

"Mom please! I don't want to talk about all of this please!" I shouted at my mother for the first time then. "And haan.. Main usko chodh kar nahi gaya tha! Vo mujhko chodh kar chali gayi thi apni 'best friend' ke sath!"

"What else do you expect her do to! Haan!? Kya karti vo!? Parth, you had made her suffer a lot! You had given her so much of pain! That poor girl loved you with everything inside her and this is how you pay back to her? By leaving her alone! Zinda hai ya nahi, kahan hai, kaisi hai, how is my grandchild.. Kuch bhi poocha tumne usse!? Call karne ki koshish kari? Nahi na! Bus usko publicly humiliated kar diya! Itna zyada sab hone ke baad bhi she told you she was pregnant with your child! She made you aware with the fact that you were going to become a father ! Do you realize all of this? Did you ever think over this? Parth whatever happened three years back, jo bhi uss ladki Sukriti ne kiya.. Beta tu uski saza Niti ko nahi de sakta! You cannot punish her something that happened with you in your past! And I know your insecurities and your behavior is all because of that one girl who still affects you! Why did you take your relationship ahead with Niti when you were still not over Sukriti! Why!?" Tears ran down my mothers eyes. She really did have an emotional connection with her and now that she knew that she was going to be the mother of my child she was even more angry and hurt. She said it was not her who cause her pain but me.

"Mom! Maine kaha tha ki usska naam mere samne kabhi mat lena!" Hearing that name which I had turned deaf to again by my own mother pinched me in the heart.

Sukriti Bhatia, this name took me back to my modeling days.
Sukriti and I were both in for the same modeling campaign. Those were our initial days as models. We met on the very first day of the campaign in Mumbai and I was instantly attracted to her. She was a very fair, tall, beautiful and indeed a hot girl. Maybe the hottest amongst the other girls, at least I found her to be the hottest. She had a perfect body with perfect curves and her eyes were of hazel color. She had long curly hair, her curls fell smoothly on her face cause her skin to tickle. They were soft, I could make out just by looking at them. During our photoshoots we used to pair up for projects and ours was the hottest pair among the other there. Her skin was soft as cream and white as milk. Her cute little features defined her face perfectly. I had been in a serious relationship with her. A very serious one at least from my side. I had confessed my love for her the first we had made out.
I really loved and I wanted to spent the rest of my life with her. She never confessed anything to me, neither did I force her to. I thought that when she'll be ready for it, she'll confess it herself. I had never believed in one night stands or friends with benefits kinds of relationships. I had been a flirtatious kind of a person during my college days but Sukriti was the first girl I had fallen in love with. It wasn't just the way she looked, but the way she was... Or maybe the way she portrayed herself to be. I was madly in love with her falling head over heels for her and she.. She was just playing around. She was fooling around with me. I wouldn't have known this if I didn't walk into her room that night.
She and I had fought over something relating to the photoshoots we were having and I had really shouted on her for something that had annoyed me. She left the photoshoot in anger and walked out on me. At first I was really furious at her but later on, I thought that maybe I had over reacted a bit so I went to her room to apologize to her. As I opened the door of the room I found her in bed with some else. "What the hell is this sukriti? Who is this man?" I was shouting at her at the top of my voice. I was shocked by the sudden revelation that she had someone in her life already. She had been fooling around with me and I had no clue about it. She was the first girl I had ever got serious for and the first girl I had ever loved. She said that guy was her best friend and that she loved him and not me. She said that she was with me because she wanted to get that guy jealous and make him ask her out. I was just a toy for her. She used me and when she was done she threw me away.
"Sorry Parth, I don't like you anymore. I needed someone to make this jerk realize his feelings for me and you were the easiest chicken. You were from day 1 attracted to me and that was what I wanted. I wanted for you to get attracted to me so that he notices it and tired to get back to me. I'm sorry." Was what she said.
I was heart broken and devastated. My first love broke my heart, she used me and and when was done she tossed me out of her life. I considered myself to be such a big fool to have fallen in her trap. But I still loved her even after what she did to me. It pained me a lot to live that way. My mother and my sister would always be worried about me. I had made my life miserable as hell.
I always thought I was over her and I would never let anyone hurt me ever again but I was wrong. I met Niti, fell in love with her, loved her more than I loved Sukriti, loved her with all my life, with all my heart and soul, with everything within me and I was happy with her until her best friend came in to destroy my perfect life.

"Parth please do not punish yourself and that poor girl for whatever happened in your past. Har ladki ek jaise nahi hoti Parth! You should have trusted Niti! Tujhe usse jaane nahi dena chahiye tha Parth. I know she loved you and only you! Jab bhi tum logon ki ladai hoti this she would call me up and cry and ask me how to make you understand and how to get you back to her! Parth you have to understand this before its too late. Please beta.. Please mat kar apni life and usski life barbaad." My mother pleaded me to understand and get Niti back in my life, but I didn't want to listen to anything from anyone about Niti.

"Mom please main apne room mein ja raha hoon" I looked her and walked off to my room "aur haan isko mujhse dhoor rakhna" I said indicating towards Akku. She was a pain in the ass! She'd keep on talking about Niti again and again and I hated it. I didn't want to talk about her, I was already fed up with her thoughts that kept running in my mind 24*7! I couldn't keep her off my head.

I went inside the room and my mother started crying. "Akanksha beta, kya ho gaya hai isko.. Kyun nahi samjhta ye apni galti.. Kyun uss bechari ko chodh ke aa gaya aise.. Kahan hogi, kaisi hogi, ghar gayi hogi bhi ya nahi kuch nahi pata.. Mera phone bhi nahi uthati hai ab toh. I am sorry worried about her, kaise handle karti hogi.. Kaise samjahoon Parth ko main ki he has to realize his mistakes! He's spoiling his life and hers too!" She cried as Akku hugged her.

"Aunty aap chinta mat karo... Abhi bhi sab theek ho sakta hai.. Aunty aap please ro mat please.. I will talk to him. I will get him back on the right track. I will make him realize his mistakes, aunty I promise you.. The next time he walks out of that room would be only to win his love back. Niti ne bahut test diye hai and now its his time. Iss ghadhe ko seedha kar doongi aunty you don't worry at all."