Page 96 of Right Where I Belong
Turning away, he returned to the party, waiting for this infernal night to end once and for all.
35
Singapore
Hi, Adi… I really need to talk to you.
Please, can you forgive me? I made a mistake…
I miss you…
I need you, Adi… This is so hard.
Please can you reply? Your silence is heart wrecking.
It had been two days since the night of Mamta Wahi’s party, and there was only silence from Aditya. He refused to reply to her messages, and his absence hurt. She’d even sent him a gift, still there had been no response from him.
Now she understood how he must have felt when she had tried to shut him out of her life. She’d been an utter fool and behaved awfully with him. She sighed. She remembered his face so clearly. He’d looked so angry and so very hurt that night. And it was all her fault.
After he’d stormed away from her, she’d forced herself back into the party, planting a smile on her face, carefully masking the ache inside her as she finished her work. Every task had felt unbearable with Aditya only a few feet away, refusing to talk to her, refusing to even look at her. The pitying glances from Aisha and Shauna only made her feel worse. She’d gone home that night with a heaviness lodged in her chest. Only one thought had kept her sane. He hadn’t denied their relationship when his mother had confronted him. That small truth had been her single thread of hope.
She had reluctantly boarded the flight to Singapore, her heart aching with every mile that carried her farther away from Aditya. She didn’t know when she’d see him next or even hear from him. He’d told her categorically that he wanted time, and she was trying to be patient. But it was hard. She’d sent him a text each time she felt weak and the urge to talk to him had taken over her mind. However, she had resisted calling him so far.
She looked around the empty house in Singapore, its silence pressing down on her. Shauna was still in Mumbai, and the house was too quiet without her. She checked the time. It was eleven at night here. Ahaan would be in bed by now. She’d left him back with her mother-in-law. The older woman had promised to look after him. She smiled, thinking of how her relationship with her mother-in-law was improving each day, and how the older woman was trying hard to be kinder and gentler. It was definitely a good start to, hopefully, a happier and better future.
She sat on the sofa, mindlessly flipping through the TV channels. Work, school, food, even sleep held no appeal. She was restless and on edge, her thoughts circling around Aditya. Where was he? What was he thinking? What would he decide? Had he received her gift? And what had he thought of it?
The bell rang, startling her out of her thoughts. She glanced at the clock. It was midnight. Who could possibly be here at this hour?
Cautiously, she opened the door. Her breath caught when she saw Aditya standing there, a luggage trolley by his side and a magazine rolled in his hand. Happiness burst inside her chest. Yet he only watched her, his gaze unreadable.
She stepped aside. Her hands trembled as he walked in, shutting the door behind him. He rolled his trolley inside and tossed the magazine on the sofa. Finally, he straightened, looking at her. The silence stretched between them, heavy and uncomfortable. She hated this awkward distance that had crept in.
“Sabrina,” her name escaped his lips like a plea, and before she could even move, he reached for her.
His arms closed around her, pulling her against him. She clung to him just as tightly, her heart racing, dizzy with relief that he was here, and she was back in his arms, right where she belonged.
“God, I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured into her hair.
Tears pricked her eyes. “What took you so long?”
“I needed to think… But the more I stayed away from you, the more I realized how much I loved you. And how foolish I was for wasting my time being miserable without you when all I had to do was talk to you and hear you out.”
“I’m so sorry for putting you through that.” She searched his face. “Are you sure you want to be with me, even after knowing what I may have done?”
“I don’t care about that. I know you, and I know you must have had a reason for doing what you did.”
She gaped at him, taken aback by his absolute faith in her. God, this man… She loved him so much. Why the hell had shenot putherfaith inhim? Why had she not believed that he would stand by her despite everything?
Her gaze moved over him. He looked exhausted. There were shadows under his eyes and a weariness in the set of his face. Then she saw what he was wearing… and her breath caught. The T-shirt of team India. The one she had sent him—her gift to him.
His eyes flicked to hers, catching her reaction, and the faintest smile touched his mouth. Without a word, he turned so she could see the back: her name was printed across it. And beneath it, the number six—Ahaan’s birthdate. She’d sent him a note with this gift.
The only name and number we want you to wear are ours.
Love, Sabrina and Ahaan
He had told her those exact words the day of the cricket match—the day everything between them had spiraled. Back then, he had said it lightly, teasing, but she’d heard the truth beneath it. And now, by sending him this very T-shirt, she wanted him to know she felt it too. That she chose him just as deeply. That her son did as well. She had hoped—quietly, desperately—that he would understand.
