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“We are getting so late.” Akash started unbuttoning his shirt. “You and I are roughly the same size. Wear my shirt. It’s not so important for me to be presentable for this meeting. You, however, have to be impeccable to win over those government officials.”
Rohan’s eyes fell on a white polo t-shirt lying folded on a bottom shelf, one which he’d definitely not bought. He pulled it out and stared at it. She was the only one who could have left this here. She’d painted this exact scenario to him once, and now she was daring him to live it. Daring him to be different from his usual. She was reminding him that he’d tried something different with her, once. His heart leapt. God. She was too much.
He wore the t-shirt, tucked it inside his trousers, and donned the jacket over it.
He checked himself in the mirror. “This is fine.”
“Are you sure?” Akash asked, buttoning up again.
“It’s not my attire those officials will be concerned with, but my brain and my business acumen.”
Rohan preceded Akash out of the ensuite and into his office. At his door, Rohan gave him a sideways glance. “Tell Jiya to meet me once the meeting is done.”
Akash smiled. “Absolutely.”
Rohan exited his office and headed to the conference room. Jiya’s pranks had to stop. Her shenanigans were going out of hand, and he refused to live in constant threat of what she’d do next to gain his attention. She and he were going to talk and figure everything out once and for all.
21
Jiya took the elevator for the second time that day to Rohan’s floor, this time with a bounce in her step. After his meeting, Akash had sought her out and told her that Rohan wanted to meet her. She’d been happy to learn from him that Rohan had worn a white t-shirt to the meeting, one which Akash hadn’t known that she’d left for Rohan. It was her way of reminding Rohan of their time together. That he’d been different with her. That different was also good.
Rohan and Akash’s meeting was fantastic. Akash still found it hard to believe that she had the guts to play those pranks on him. She’d done so as a last resort. She didn’t know how to get Rohan’s attention. He was too closed off, and the only way she’d thought to make him respond to her was to do something that he’d least expect.
Hence, the salt in his tea and the red lipstick marks on his shirts. But her gamble had paid off, and now Rohan had called her to meet him. Maybe after today, everything would be back to normal between them. She was willing to give him time. What she wasn’t willing to accept was the way he’d suddenly, and without a valid reason, tried to cut her off from his life.
She knocked on his door and entered, bearing a wide smile. He was seated behind his desk. Her grin faded when she noticed that he was no longer wearing the t-shirt she’d left for him. Instead, another white shirt, sans any of her lipstick marks, was stretched over his chest, its sleeves folded to his elbows.
“You changed?” she said.
He dropped the pen he was holding and rose. “The thing is, Jiya, I’ve changed long back. You just don’t want to accept it.”
His quiet tone reeked of determination, and a warning clanged loudly in her brain.
“You have to stop your pranks. It’s getting too much now.” He neared her. “You have to understand that my heart doesn’t work the way everyone else’s does. I cannot give you what you want.”
“Then try, Rohan.”
He sighed. “The last two months have been about me trying, with you. And I cannot anymore. You and I are different.”
“And you realized that suddenly?” She shook her head in annoyance. Her hair fell over her shoulder, and his gaze instantly zeroed in on her red streaks as always. It gave her hope, but the next second, his gaze hardened as it rested on her face, leaving her disappointed and so bloody angry.
“There is a reason you are doing this.” She slammed her hands on her hips. “Can you honestly tell me that there is nothing in your past that is pulling you away from me?”
His face fell for the tiniest fraction before he masked his emotions. “Please stop trying to find excuses for me. I’m offering you the plain truth. You are better off without me.”
Her anger sparked. “And why do you get to decide that?”
“Have you considered the age difference between us?” he asked.
“Nine years is not a lot of age difference. People fall in love with more age gap between them. And shouldn’t you have thought of that before getting into a relationship with me?”
“You’re right. I should have, but now I know better.”
His resolve burned a hole inside her chest. “So, that’s it? I’m just supposed to accept your decision and move on as if you and I never meant something to one another?”
His lips thinned. “I’ve only always been honest with you. I told you not to fall in love with me. I told you I won’t give you a forever.”
Determination shone on his face, and she knew…she knew she’d lost the battle. He was cutting her off from his life.
