"Happy Birthday cheater!" Dev clapped when Amrinder walked out of his room, closing the door behind in the noon.

"Bhai please, I partied too much last night! Bohot badi galti ho gayi yaar!" Amrinder shook his head.

"Galti? Man you're gone now! Teri fiancé aayi thi tujhe surprise dene and she caught you red handed!" Dev alarmed him.

"Listen, I'm already feeling guilty. Kahaniya banake mera sarr aur na dukha!" Amrinder brushed off his friend, to stop him from making stories.

"Shehnaaz naam hai na ladki ka? Ghar pe Sana? Gori hai aur average height hai uski?" Dev said, watching his friend's eyes widen like anything.

"Oh shit! Vo sach me yaha aayi thi? Why didn't you wake me up!?" Amrinder was feeling even more terrible, scared and worried now. He had messed it up a big time, if Shehnaaz would not have seen him then he might have revealed her to the truth later. But now that she had seen him in an explicit condition, he needed to work hard on getting her back. 

Shehnaaz had received a bunch of calls and texts from a lot of people but it was mainly her brother's. Shehbaz was asking why she hasn't replied to him in the past two days. She had brushed him off saying that she was not aware that her phone had drained out. Amrinder was trying to contact her too, but she had blocked him out from calling her. Let him be, distance yourself and focus on your life and hope that he does come back, so the healing can begin, was her motto.

"Hey Shehnaaaz.." Ananya sang, to tease her friend who had finally joined the office back.

"Chal bata, sharmane ka nahi. I want all the details!" she added, jumping on the seat next to her friend in the canteen.

"Shut-up!" Shehnaaz rolled her eyes, keeping her emotions in check.

"Everything's over Ani, he cheated on me. I went there to surprise him and got myself surprised." Shehnaaz replied, just like that.

"Shit, really? I'm so sor-'' Ananya was shocked, beyond expectations and held her friend's hand in response.

"Sorry mat bol. Let me be! Ye formalities sunke na gussa aata hai." Shehnaaz cut her words and stated plainly.

"Okay!" Ananya bobbed her head and hugged her friend tight.

"Ghar pe bataya?" her friend asked then. Shehnaaz looked at her blankly, she hadn't informed anybody yet and she had no idea how she was going to do it.

"Ani, yadi teri engagement toot jati toh tere parents kaise react karte?" she asked, the question that had been roaming all over her head.

"Hmm, good question. Mere maa baap hai pure hindu brahman! Dukhi honge aur bezzati hogi ye sochenge. Lekin jab unko pata chalega na kisi uss ladke ne mera dil toda hai, toh sabse pehle bande ki tange tod ke hath me pakda denge!" Ananya boasted and it made her friend smile.

"You're going to be fine!" she gathered Shehnaaz in another hug, saying that. The girls were talking when Sidharth entered the canteen, he looked at her and she too looked at him and he simply passed by.

"Usko pata hai?" Ananya asked.

"Hmm.." Shehnaaz replied, recalling the previous night and the girls got back to work with that.

Sidharth saw a different Shehnaaz in the office the other day, she wasn't very chirpy yet her smile was on. He understood that she was trying to mask her emotions and carry on with her work like an employee does after break. They attended a meeting with their new client, organizing questionnaires regarding his interests, to customize his café the way he wanted.

In the evening, he was discussing the charges about their order with the administrative department.

"How come the shipping charges have hiked up? It's going out of the client's budget." he asked looking at the reports they had prepared. The client was bugging him about the extravaganza amount in the bill that he had been passed.

"Sir, apart from installation charges, items bhi zyada place huye hai toh budget increase hua hai." one of them replied.

"Sir aap Shehnaaz se puchiye, uske mail ko hi forward kiya tha humne." another one of them said.

"You need not tell me what to do, mails officially mere through hi jate hai. I know who prepares the docket!" Sidharth spat. This was their basic office thingy, shifting blames from one to another to save themselves.

He returned back to his cabin to call Shehnaaz through the intercom when he found out that she had already left. Sighing and wrapping up his work, he called it a night.

The moment he entered his apartment, he found her working on her laptop ignoring her phone kept on the tea table buzzing constantly with an increasing number of missed calls and texts.

"Phone kar kar ke pareshan kar rakha hai." she said, when he tried to peep in to see the caller's name. Amrinder it was.

"Hmm.." Sidharth replied, taking a seat next to her on the sofa and removing his shoes.

"Karlena baat." he suggested, watching her eyes on her phone. She was trying to ignore it but just couldn't.

"Kya baat karu? Maafi mangega, ya phir excuses dega. Cover up karne ki koshish karega! Ya bolega ki koi galat fehmi ho gayi. He's the last person I wanna talk to right now." she snapped at her roommate, focusing back on her laptop.

"Toh mere pe kyu chilla rahi hai? Uspe chilla." he commented. Why should he become the target of her sour mood?

The very next second, her phone buzzed again and she received it, contradicting her own words.

"Sana, please listen to me yaar. I'm so sorry. Sana mere se bohot badi galti ho gayi. Mai janta tu gussa hai, hona bhi chahiye tujhe. Hello? Sana? Kuch toh bol?" Amrinder hurriedly spoke.

"Kya bolu mai? Kuch bacha hai mere bolne ke liye?" she asked him, devoid of any emotion.

"Gussa nikal, gali de. Sana, mai maafi nahi mangunga, kyuki mai uss layak nahi hu. Ek chance dede yaar, galti thik karne ke liye?" he pleaded.

"Amrinder, please mujhe dobara call mat karna." she replied, before hanging up.

If I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it. He cheated on me and I don't owe him anything any more, she told herself. No matter how genuinely guilty he sounded, he was a bloody cheat at the end of the day. After getting her heart so badly bruised, Shehnaaz didn't even want to listen to him.

She blinked her teary eyes and looked at Sidharth, who was already looking at her. "Jo maine uss din dekha hai na, vo sab, vo scene, abhi bhi meri aankho ke samne hai. Ekdum fresh. Mere na vishwas nahi ho raha, ki kaise kuch din me sab kuch itna badal gaya. Aisa lag raha hai, jaise na kisi ne mujhe neend se utha diya. Ek bada pyara sa sapna dekh rahi thi mai aur kisi ne mujhe jaga diya. Sidharth, mai na bata nahi sakti aise dard ho raha andar seene me. Tu-tu samajh raha hai?" she let her tears break out and said.

He nodded along in response.

"Itna kiya uska. Aankh utha ke bhi kisi aur ko nahi dekha maine aaj tak. I was so loyal to him. Usko k-kaise mera khayal bhi nahi hoga, mujhe ye samajh nahi aata? I find it hard to comprehend." she added.

"Did you love him?" he asked her.

"I don't think so, maine na, accept zarur kar liya tha usko. That we would be getting married." she replied, sighing disappointedly.

"Tujhe bechari lagti hongi na mai?" she asked him then.

"Nahi, abhi tak toh nahi." he replied and she glared at him in return.

"Mera matlab hai, kisi ne tere sath galat kiya hai, usse tu bechari nahi hogi. You're hurt, very hurt but you aren't holding yourself back because of it. Tujhe apni value pata hai aur tu try kar rahi hai khudko sambhalne ka, ye infact achi baat hai. Tu apna stand le rahi hai. Bechari tab hoti jab tu kuch nahi karti, iss baat pe react nahi karti. Jab Amrinder ko dusra chance nahi mangna padta." he explained to her.

"Hmm.." she nodded in understanding.

"Apne ghar pe kab batayegi?" he questioned. Her parents should have been the first to get to know what had happened with their daughter.

"Yaar! Kaise batau? PapaJi itne dukhi honge na ke mai tujhe bata bhi nahi sakti. Iss rishtey se sabse zyada khush vahi hai poore ghar me. Amma bhi bohot dukhi hogi, royegi meri tarah." she replied, sulking. Apart from the hesitation, Shehnaaz feared her parents would be hurt and she won't be able to see them broken.

"But still, they deserve to know." he debated.

"I know!" she groaned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Permanent Roommates
Chapter 16

I think it's about time.. Peace.. Distraction.. And a bit of moral support.. Though some accidents can never be erased from mind and can hurt deeply without any actual wound..
But when someone's  trying hard to get up.. Be there to forward a hand to them.. Give them company if possible! ❤
And kuddos to those who are trying in their own way to get better! ❤❤