Page 71 of Playing By her Rules

“Thank you for coming so quickly!”

“Of course, I’d come for you.”

She breathed in his familiar scent, and for the first time since her problems with Rohan had begun, she felt secure and certain that everything would be fine no matter which direction she took. Janak was her lifeboat. He always made her feel safe and that every problem in the world could be solved if they thought it through. And while she ached to call Raashi and pour all her worries to her, this time, especially when it concerned Rohan, she found it hard to do so. She’d not shared anything about their relationship with Raashi. Now, explaining everything to her from the beginning and listening to Raashi condemn him was not something she was in the right frame of mind for.

“Babe, don’t give him all the love,” a new voice intoned. “Save some for me too.”

Jiya looked beyond Janak to Shauna, who was waiting behind him. Her heart swelled on seeing her friend. Shauna came closer and kissed Jiya’s cheek.

“Janak’s filled me in on what’s going with you,” Shauna said. “Frankly, I’m rather upset you didn’t tell me or Rhea anything.”

“Actually…” Jiya began, but Shauna put a finger on her lips.

“That’s not important right now. You are!” Shauna said. “Rhea couldn’t come, but I’m here to help in any way I can and report everything to her, obviously.”

Shauna stepped into Jiya’s house and stopped short. A strange expression crossed her face when she spotted Akash standing next to Janak. She watched the two of them talk in soft tones for a moment. Then her face cleared, and she walked further, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world.

“What areyoudoing here?” Shauna asked haughtily.

Akash swivelled. His gaze turned heavy as it landed on Shauna. His eyes ran over her from top to toe.

“I’ve been in Delhi for a few months now,” he replied. “I’m working for Rohan.”

Shauna raised a perfectly arched brow. “I didn’t know you’d quit Sehgal Media. Perhaps Fortuna is a better place for you.”

“I’ll never quit Sehgal Media.”

“Then why…”

“Hey, you two,” Janak said softly. “Tonight’s about Jiya, right? You can catch up later.”

“As if,” Shauna said under her breath.

Akash squinted.

Jiya alternated her gaze between the two of them, finding their interaction very odd. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen the two of them together in a room, and she racked her brain for any odd interaction she’d witnessed between them in the past, but she came up blank.

“So, Jiya,” Shauna said, distracting her. “I can whack some sense in Rohan for you. Then you can go back to being happy.”

“If only it were that easy,” Akash scoffed.

Shauna scowled at him. Janak shook his head at the two of them and came to Jiya instead.

He took her hands in his. “Jiya, we are all here for you. But you need to decide what you want to do next. The way I see it, you have three options. Either you quit your job, return home and forget him altogether, or you stay here and move on from him,oryou fight for him no matter what it takes.”

She breathed out. She’d already considered and come up with the same options in her own head. The first two options were too painful to even consider, not that the third wasn’t equally disturbing.

Jiya ran her hands through her hair. “How can I stay when he doesn’t even want me to fight for him?”

The doorbell rang again, and she looked at the door, wondering who it was now.

Janak smiled. “The answer to that question can be only given by the people behind that door. Go on, let them in.”

Confused, Jiya opened the door, and her jaw fell to the floor. Rohan’s parents, Tara and Varun Bali were standing at her doorstep.

“Hi, Jiya,” Tara said, sounding hesitant.

“Hello,” Varun greeted.

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