Page 79 of Strictly Solo
With trembling fingers, she reached for her phone, staring at his blocked number, remembering all the reasons she had put that digital wall between them. But now, watching him pace like a caged lion outside her building, she knew she had to do something.
Taking a deep breath, she unblocked his number, her thumb hovering over the call button. The rational part of her brain screamed that this was a mistake, that she was opening a door better left closed. But the part of her that still ached for him, that still remembered the warmth of his smile and the safety of his embrace, pushed her to press that button. Just to tell him to go home. Just to end this drama before Neil gets more upset.
Ruhaan picked up her call immediately.
“Naina?” He sounded surprised.
“Why are you still here? This…this isn’t healthy. For you. For me. And especially for Neil. He needs to understand that we don’t have the future he wants.”
There was a pause, and she heard the faint sound of him exhaling.
“And what about you?” he asked. “What do you want?”
She gripped the phone tighter, torn between her instincts to protect herself and Neil and the powerful pull Ruhaan seemed to hold over her.
“What I want…doesn’t matter. Because you’ve made it clear what you’re offering, and that doesn’t include what I need.”
“You think I don’t care, that I’m not invested?” he argued. “Naina, I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t mean something to me. This isn’t some fling for me. Not anymore.”
“But it’s not enough,” she snapped. “I wouldn’t have cared what little you could offer me had Neil not been a part of my life. I’m not just a woman who can choose anything based on her desires and preferences; I’m a mother too. And a mother always keeps her child’s wellbeing before hers. So, I have decided. If Neil and I are going to have anyone in our lives, it needs to be something real, something that lasts. Not this…whatever it is between us that’s filled with limitations.”
He was silent for a moment. She hoped perhaps he’d finally see her point. But then, he surprised her yet again.
“I don’t have all the answers, Naina. I don’t know how to give you what you’re asking for, but I don’t want to lose you either. I’ve tried, and I can’t. Last whole week I’d gone insane trying to contact you, to apologize to you for not taking a stand back there in Delhi. Ask Rohit, how many times I have begged him to give me your address. Had fate not intervened and we hadn’t met today, I don’t know what I would do. I’ve always been clear in my life of what I want. Even this time, I know I want to be there for you and Neil, however you’ll let me, but I don’t know how to make it happen.”
Her fingers trembled as she gripped the phone.
“There is only one way this can happen,” Naina replied. “Either I change my mind and continue our relationship the way it started back in Delhi or you decide to put back your own fears of commitment and take a step to claim me and Neil in your life forever.”
For a long moment, there was only silence on the line before she whispered again.
“Just go back home, Ruhaan. Please,” she said before ending the call, standing there in the dimly lit room, her phone pressed to her chest, letting her tears fall.
*****************
Morning
Ruhaan jolted awake from sleep at the sound of a car horn. Disoriented, he realized he was still in his car, slumped over the driver’s seat where he had finally drifted off just before sunrise. The sky was bright now. He squinted at the glaring morning light, groaning as he checked his phone. It was almost half past nine, and there was a message from his mother, asking when he was coming home. He had lied to her about a late-night meeting at the office.
Last night after his call with Naina, he had spent hours wrestling with the idea of marriage, nearly convincing himself to give in just before dawn claimed him. He stepped out of the car and rushed to the apartment gates, his eyes automatically seeking out Naina’s balcony. The security guard, finishing his night shift, approached him with a sympathetic expression.
“If you’re looking for Naina Madam and the little one, they left a few minutes ago. She drops Neil at school before heading to office.”
“Damn it,” Ruhaan muttered, running his fingers through his disheveled hair, annoyed that he had missed her by only minutes. He thanked the guard and turned back to his car, frustrated and exhausted. He needed to regroup, shower, and change. He’d catch her at her office later.
Twenty minutes later, Ruhaan pushed open the door to his apartment. But as he stepped inside, he froze in surprise as there, seated in the living room, was his sister, Ryma, scrolling through her phone.
“Ryma? What are you doing here? When did you get back from Dubai?” His brotherly instincts immediately picked up on her troubled expression. “Is everything okay?”
Ryma looked up, her face lighting up at the sight of her brother. Without a word, she rose and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I’m fine my little brother,” she replied putting a soft smile.
But Ruhaan sensed something was wrong…something deeper than what her simple “I’m fine” suggested. Just as he was about to press her further, his mother entered the room.
“Fine?” she scoffed with bitterness. “Why are you lying, Ryma? Tell him why you’re really here.”
Ruhaan glanced back and forth between them, his brow furrowed.
