Sands Of Time (Part 5)

She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not realize the time. Knock knock came the sound and she jumped back to her senses. It was Rachit.

‘Can I come in???”. He asked.          

“Yeah sure, look I ought to tell you but I just could not….” She was trying to explain.

“Yeah I totally understand” he said before she could even say anything that would have made any sense.

“So you are fine with me getting married???”

“Honestly, no. but the thing is it does not really matter. I am the third person here.  I mean I should never have told you about what I felt. It is all just a mess just because of me. I am sorry, I will go tell dad to pack up and leave and make this a little easier on you.”

“ummmm…..” she was speechless again. How does this man do this?? Every time he says something I am always left speechless.

“You do that a lot you know that??”. Making his manish face look like a little child.

“Do what??”

“This ummmmmm n then nothing.” He said smiling at her.
AAARRGGGHHHH. God can you please take my life now and end this?? She thought.

“I just need a favor, now that I might be leaving very soon, How about you show me around sometime??”

“Yeah sure why not, I will love to.”

So as planned they went off the very next day to see some of the most beautiful sites of the world. They saw hills, mountains and valleys. Both of them had a very good time. Rachit was trying to get over her and Pratima was trying not to think about him for some time at least. But it was kind of tough for a beautiful woman and a handsome man to keep eyes of each other for long. They were peeking to each other once a while and even though both of tried their best, it just was not working. It was almost lunch time so Pratima took her to her favorite restaurant. The place she and Aryan used to go all the time she remembered and suddenly she started feeling guilty about whole of this sightseeing, especially with the man she was trying her level best not to have feelings for.

They entered the place with her lost in thoughts and suddenly she froze seeing Aryan sitting there having his lunch. She had no idea about his plan, she was afraid of what he might think about her going out with someone else, knowing the possessive nature of Aryan. She somehow took the courage to walk up to his table.

‘Hey sweetie’ she said nervously.

“Hey beautiful, what a wonderful surprise. I didn’t know you were coming here today; otherwise we would have come together. Anyways come on sweetheart take a seat’

“Actually I want you to meet a friend of mine, here is Captain Rachit Singh, he was my commanding officer during the search and rescue mission I told you about??”
“Oh hello Captain, I am Aryan Sharma, this beautiful girl’s fiancée.”

“Hello Aryan, pleasure to meet you”
“Pleasure is all mine sir, and please let me thank you for saving my life.”
“I didn’t quite understand???”
“You saved her life didn’t you??? So you saved mine too. I have no idea how will I ever live without her.”
“Well I guess you love her a lot.”

“More than anything in my life sir, more than anything in my life”

Pratima was just watching both of them talking n thinking to her on how she is going to choose between them. The one she has known all her life or the one she feels like she had. She knew she had a tough decision to make and she knew she had to make it soon enough because the wedding was in a couple of days.

So soon it was time for them to go home. Rachit thanked both of them for a lovely time; Aryan thought it was good to meet a friend of hers from the army. Pratima thought it was ironical to see both of them getting along. Well as they say time and tide wait for none. Time passed at its own speed. Wedding date was getting close. And before you know it, the wedding was within a week. During this time Aryan and Rachit had become very good friends. Pratima was getting restless on what to do and what to decide on how to do. Aryan was super exited for the wedding. Pratima was equally impatient.

One day. About two days before the wedding she walked up to Rachit.

“Hey” she said.

“Hey hello, how are you doing? Must be nervous about the wedding right. I know it would be if I was at your place.” he remarked.

“Yeah about that, I need to talk to you about that.”

“Yes your honor tell me???”

“No not here. I need Aryan there too. Will you be able to come to the coffee house by 5 today?? It is really important.”

“Sure why not?? Everything all right??”

“No, that is why I want both of you there by 5.”

“I’ll be there.”.” And hey by the way, you look beautiful in this red kurta”

AWWWWWWWW…HELL

“Thank you very much”

Now Rachit was coming, only thing was Aryan to be there at that time. She went up to Aryan to ask him to come too.

“Hey” she said.

“Helloooo gorgeous.” He said hugging her.

“I…um…I need to ask you something.”
“Sure darling what’s up?”

“I need to meet you today at the coffee house by 5 today. It is really important.”

“Anything for you my love, and by the way, you look amazing in this red kurta.”

AWWWW…. Why god why????

“Thank you so much.”

“I love you”

“I love you too”

It was about 3 in the afternoon. The weather was pleasant. But due to anxiety Pratima was feeling all sweaty n nervous. Her every heartbeat was faster than the last one. With every tic in the clock her nervousness grew. She missed a heartbeat every time she even thought about the fact that she will have to choose between them, let alone live with it. And the worst part was, she had not even made a firm decision about what she was going to do. Her mind raced back and forth. One moment she was with Aryan at their favorite place in the hills. His face shone like an angel with the light of the beautiful sunset. As the light grew darker, she was with Rachit during the time he was saving her life. She remembered his face, shining in the moonlight. She felt started breathing heavily remembering all that stuff about the both of them. She took the courage to look at the clock with the hope that at least an hour or so had passed but it was just quarter past 3. She realized she had a lot of time to cover and think about what she had to do when she gets there. She somehow controlled the breathing, the heartbeat, the nervousness and tried to think with a rational mind. But she forgot that in love nothing is rational. It was, is and always will be the matter of the heart.

At the coffee house both of them reached right on spot with the timing, and naturally started looking out for Pratima because she was the one who had invited them there. But she was not here yet, maybe she needed some extra time to think about the decision. Aryan spotted Rachit and called him to his table.