Page 71 of Strictly Solo
Ruhaan’s frustration surged as he held his phone tightly, his thumb hovering over Naina’s contact, dialing her again.
“Don’t bother,” Rohit said flatly. “There’s no use calling her now. She won’t answer your call that easily.”
“I have to reach her, Rohit. I can’t just leave it like this.”
Rohit sighed, shaking his head as if he’d expected this.
“And what exactly do you plan to do? Chase her all the way to Mumbai? Apologize?” His voice was dripping with skepticism.
“Yes, if that’s what it takes!” Ruhaan shot back, his voice rising.
“You really think you can just show up and fix everything? Are you that blind? She’s not going to let you back into her life that easily.”
“I don’t care!” Ruhaan snapped, stepping closer, his desperation evident. “I need her address in Mumbai. You have to give it to me.”
Rohit let out a harsh laugh, shaking his head as if Ruhaan had said something ridiculous.
“Are you kidding me?” he scoffed, disbelief flashing in his eyes. “After all that’s happened, you seriously think I’m going togive you her address? No chance. I don’t want you bothering her anymore.”
“Rohit, please,” Ruhaan pleaded, the frustration boiling inside him. He hated this helplessness, the feeling of Naina slipping through his fingers without him being able to do anything. “I just need to talk to her. I can’t leave things the way they are.”
Rohit’s face hardened.
“I have strict instructions from my father-in-law, Subodh, not to give you any updates related to Naina,” he said coldly. “This time, I can’t help you, buddy. Not with this.”
Ruhaan clenched his fists tighter, knowing Rohit wasn’t going to budge.
“Only Naina can give you her address now, if she still wants to hear from you. Or you can take it up with my father-in-law. But neither Suman nor I are going to help you with this.”
Although anger flared, Ruhaan knew deep down that Rohit wasn’t to blame. He was protecting Naina, and after everything, how could Ruhaan argue with that?
He stepped back, running a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. He couldn’t rely on Rohit or anyone in Naina’s family. They were drawing a clear line, and he had no choice but to respect that. He had to figure out his next move. He needed to get to Mumbai. He needed to find her. He turned on his heel, his phone clutched in his hand like a lifeline as he walked away. When he tried calling her again, this time her phone was switched off.
“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, his frustration growing. He stared at the lifeless screen. How was he supposed to find her in Mumbai now?
*****************
Naina stood by the crowded airport, but everything around her felt distant, as if she were trapped in a bubble, cut off fromthe world. Her fingers itched to check her phone again, but she resisted. She had seen Ruhaan’s calls flashing on the screen, and it had taken every ounce of her willpower to switch the phone off. She didn’t want to talk to him, not anymore. Whatever they had shared in these past few days, it had to end here, with this departure.
Neil stood a little away from her, quiet and withdrawn. Suman was trying to distract him with jokes and the promise of chocolate, but Neil was in no mood. His small face, usually so bright, now seemed burdened with pain. Naina felt a pang of guilt every time she looked at him.
She was startled out of her thoughts when her uncle Subodh cleared his throat beside her. He had been watching her all this time.
“Naina,” he began, “whatever happened today, I don’t want you to stress over it.”
She met his gaze, trying to keep her expression neutral, but it was hard. The events of the morning played over and over in her head, and she couldn’t help but think about how much had gone wrong. She felt like a puppet, tangled in strings she couldn’t control.
“Neil is still young,” Subodh continued, “he doesn’t know Raj very well. In one or two meetings, he can’t make such a big decision about whether Raj should be his father. It was wrong of Kaushalya to plant that idea in his head so soon, suggesting that Raj could be his father. I think that’s why he was so shocked. It came from her, not from us.”
Naina listened, biting her lip. Her uncle had always been practical, and she knew he was trying to reason with her.
“But never mind,” Subodh went on, “now that you’re heading back to Mumbai, Raj will reach out. You and Neil will have plenty of time to get to know him better, to see if there’s a future there.”
“Uncle, didn’t you hear what Neil said today? He doesn’t want Raj to be his father.” Naina interrupted him.
“Yes, I heard. But Neil is a child, Naina. He’s confused. He can’t make these decisions.”
“He might be confused,” Naina agreed, “but I’m not. The man my son doesn’t accept, the man Neil doesn’t want to call his father, I can’t think of as anything more than a friend. I certainly can’t imagine him as my life partner.”
