Team WORDOHOLICS : Chapter 23
You can read the previous chapter here
Her fears perspired down her temples forming little droplets of salt water that hit the floor . There were splashes of guilt and sympathy too . Guilt for having lied to her best friend and sympathy for her husband who was being pushed to the dark corners of her heart . She wished to take her secrets to grave because she knew that if it were to happen otherwise her grave would reach her too soon . She had warned them all to stay away from Aryan ……her Aryan . Her fingers clasped the pendant of the chain she wore around her neck . She longed to be the other half of it that caressed the torso of the love of her life . “ What happened to us ? We were so happy then. What went wrong ? What have I gotten myself into ? It’s all his fault , if it hadn’t been for his greed for power ,for money we would have been together . Roohie likes him too . Does he really love me ? Only if I knew ” .
Ten years ago they were the talk of the town ,head over heels in love , at least she thought that way. Aryan was a handsome , intelligent Managing Director of one of the top publishing houses and Tara was a budding journalist . He knew she had it in her to reach the very top of the ladder . She was oblivious to his growing avarice for power and failed to realise that she was being used , a symbiotic relationship it was for Aryan in which he was the clear winner . Tara wanted to be loved , wanted to scale new heights and he helped her achieve that . And he was waiting for the right time to take the next step towards his dream . He wanted Tara involved in Insignia ,wanted to use her potential to gain inside information plus she was every man’s dream and he could never have enough of her .
His calculations misfired when Tara on her first meeting with insignia developed cold feet and left . She was shocked and was way more ambitious than he ever imagined . She did not want her career ruined if they were to be exposed ,she valued it more , even more than her love ! Tara moved on to have a whirlwind romance with Shekhar and married him in haste . Aryan lay low planing and abiding his time when the world would be in his fists . He despised rejection and Tara was his insatiable desire .
A chance meeting three years back had got them together again . By that time she had come to realise that marrying Shekhar was a mistake , rebound love never worked for her and she could only love Aryan . She wanted him so much she was willing to keep a blind eye as long as he was with her , nothing else mattered to her anymore . He had seemed to acquire a new found interest in Shekhar too . Though it felt odd for her to be discussing her husband’s work with her boyfriend she obliged never giving it a second thought .
One day she had , in one of their conversations told him how much she missed him ,and the next day he was at her doorstep . He still had the chain hanging around his neck . The pendant was a heart ,she had one half and he had the other . Seeing her he had kissed his half and his eyes , they were magnetic and in no time she was in his arms . This was her secret ,that which kept her going . But then there was Jenny ,her best friend ,who knew nothing of this little adventure of her’s but unnecessarily poking her head into things that were better to be left alone . She had tried to warn them , to keep them away , Jenny and the stupid geek friend of her’s . She knew Darius would never come back ,she wanted to tell Jenny to find solace elsewhere but she couldn’t . She couldn’t risk losing Aryan . Jenny’s call had startled her ,she felt scared and words failed her . She had no choice but to cut the call knowing very well that Jenny would have sensed the fear .
She washed her face and looked up to see her pale self staring back at her , her face was yet to regain it’s colour .
“What did Tara say ,Jenny ? ” , Cyrus asked a perplexed Jennifer . Tina sat next to him listening carefully .
“ Nothing ,she doesn’t know Aryan at all , but somehow I have a feeling she isn’t being very truthful and I could feel her fear . I wonder why ? ”, Jenny said looking at both Cyrus and Tina .
“ It’s simple Jenny ,it’s because she isn’t . Please show her the pics Tina ” , turning towards the computer Cyrus asked .
Seeing her eyes widen with shock Cyrus added , “ I just received these pics via mail ” . Jenny had her eyes fixed at the images of Tara standing next to a much younger Aryan , their fingers teasing each other’s , clearly they had been engaged once . Just then Tina pulled out a write up about Aryan , which showed him being part of A.V publishing house years back ,the same publishing house where Tara had worked and also to their disbelief Jenny remembered Tara mentioning about her working at around the same time .
Betrayal was not a feeling alien to Jenny but this broke her down . Her anger ,she couldn’t hide . “ If she has anything to do with my Darius , I will make her pay ” .
“ And speaking of mails, I remember getting an email that gave me the link to your blog Cyrus , it wasn’t a coincidence at all ” , Jenny said with a vigour that she never knew existed .
“ Really ? Can you please show me the mail ? ” ,excitement vivid in his usually stern eyes as he realised that the ids were the same . “Someone is working very hard ”, he said
“ Tina , could you please get me the IP address of this account ? ” , he asked .
“ It depends Cyrus , if he is using a proxy server I am afraid I won’t be of much help but if he isn’t then maybe I can . It will take time though and I might have to pull a few strings .” Tina said , getting back to work .
While Tina worked Jenny sat lost in her thoughts of Darius , “ He wanted to protect me , that is why he left . I was such a fool to think otherwise ? ” , her eyes were slowly filling up .
The horse like mystical creature with it’s single horn stared back at Cyrus form Jenny’s right hand . It’s beauty and grace had a resemblance to Tara which reminded him of his nightmares . He felt concerned for Tara even though he knew she had lied . “ I think Tara is in trouble Jenny , I think there is something else . You remember my dreams , the ones with a naked girl ? Well , I think it’s Tara . She is in danger and we need to help her .”
“ Hmm …There better be a good explanation . I trusted her so with my life and she ? I feel bad for Roohie , you know . Poor girl ,all alone . No wonder Tara has no time for her , I remember Roohie talking about an ‘ Ahuja uncle ‘ , what if he is Aryan Ahuja ? And Tara is still in touch , covering up for him ,leaking information ? What if ? ” ,Jenny said getting up from her chair .
Just then Tina got a call and as she spoke her face formed a palette of expressions . And finally when she did keep the call ,she said “ I have some good news for you guys . We have the address from which the mails were sent and believe me guys it would definitely be a surprise you if it does not shock you already . It’s from Tara’s house . ”
Jenny and Cyrus couldn’t comprehend the news Tina had just given them and they could only think of one person . Cyrus got to the computer and typed in a mail to the person who had got them together . A minute after he send the mail there was a reply which said , “ yes , it’s me Shekhar , meet me asap . Don’t forget to bring Jennifer along . URGENT ” .
Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at http://www.BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.
you can read the next chapter here .
In love with a twilightstar 