by Durjoy Datta
‘You never fought for me, Benoy,’ Shaina said and looked away.
‘Totally,’ Diya said, still eating.
‘You know. GET LOST! Both of you,’ I shouted and got up. ‘I am fucking leaving. I am not into your games. I love you but you never fought for me! I am with that guy but I have no problems kissing you and then dumping you for no good reason. He’s an asshole but I will still be with him. I’m DONE with all this!’
I started putting my shoes back on.
‘See, you’re still running,’ Diya pointed out.
‘You’re always running,’ Shaina said.
‘Manoj and his family are minutes away from getting here,’ Shaina said.
‘And if you loved my sister as much as you say you do, you wouldn’t be leaving. You would sit here, punch him in the face and kiss Shaina right in front of his family. Instead, you choose to run. You’re a coward, Benoy,’ Diya said, disgusted.
‘FINE! I will just stay here and show that bastard his place. I will beat him up, right here, in front of his parents, and in front of yours. Don’t give your community crap then! Don’t go telling me that your parents would lose all their respect and their daughter is a slut. I am SERIOUS. I WILL FUCK THE GUY UP!’ I growled and clenched my fist.
‘We will see,’ Diya said and Shaina nodded. They sat on the sofa while I paced around the room, trying to remain angry, reminding myself of everything I had faced because of Manoj.
Twenty minutes passed by.
‘Where the fuck are they?’ I asked angrily.
‘Maybe they just knew you would beat them up, and hence decided not to come,’ Diya said.
‘I think that’s a fair assumption,’ Shaina said and laughed, and then Diya laughed.
‘What the fuck is going on here?’ I asked Shaina.
She got up from the sofa and walked up to me. She put her arms around me and kissed me on my cheek. ‘No one’s coming,’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, perplexed.
‘I broke up with him two weeks ago,’ Shaina said. ‘The day I met you and cried. I had already broken up with him, but I thought I would go back. But then you called and came over, and I knew if I went back then, it would be the biggest mistake ever.’
‘You knew?’ I looked at Diya.
‘Of course I knew!’ she exclaimed.
‘So Manoj’s chapter is like finished? He’s not coming? Like no engagement and all the bull crap?’ I asked in disbelief.
Shaina kissed me again. ‘Nope!’
‘Why didn’t you guys tell me? I was dying. I was literally dying!’ I shouted.
‘I wanted to tell you,’ Shaina said. ‘I wanted to run to you the moment I knew I had to be with you, but Diya wanted you to toil after me! Trust me, it was hard for me to stay away.’
I kissed her.
‘You’re a witch, Diya,’ I said. ‘You should know that!’
‘If it weren’t for me, you two wouldn’t have met,’ she countered.
‘You never know,’ Shaina said.
‘I love you, Shaina,’ I professed and turned to her.
‘I love you more,’ she said and kissed me on my lips.
‘That’s gross. This is officially the worst day of my life,’ Diya said.
THE BEGINNING
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First published by Grapevine India Publishers Pvt. Ltd 2011
Published in Penguin Metro Reads by Penguin Books India 2013
Copyright © Durjoy Datta 2013
Cover photographs © Getty Images
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-0-143-42155-9
This digital edition published in 2013.
e-ISBN: 978-9-351-18296-2