Adhvik's POV
"What do you mean by 'you are taking her under your wing' ? I can't... And I won't", I reasoned out.
"Oh yes.. You can and you will.. I meant what I meant earlier... You are taking her under your wing, you are going to work with her and teach her all the tactics of business and this is final, Dhvi...", my dad Rahul said, with a finality in tone. He doesn't demand anything from me or my twin sister Adhvita often. He let us do things our way. But, when he demands it's final. So, that means I have to accept my defeat and do as he says.
"But why me dad?! Why can't you take her under your wing and train her?!", I asked with a slumped shoulders.
"Because I promised Varun that she will gain good expertise... And besides you guys were best friends as kids... So it will be more comfortable for you both to work together.. It's just about work Dhvi... I dunno why you are reacting like this!!", my dad countered with a sigh and left my old bedroom in my parents' house.
"Best friends my ass", I muttered under my breath and sighed aloud putting my face in my hands.
If you are thinking that this is a simple matter and I'm overreacting , let me tell you my reasons.
I, Adhvik Rish, 24, son of my lovey-dovey parents Rahul and Sanvitha, is the CEO of Rish and Sanvi group of companies, one of the leading group of companies in the world that specializes in various fields.
Now, let me tell you about this girl that my dad was talking about. Her name is Rika Shrinikith, 23, the daughter of Varun uncle and Pia aunty and also the future CEO of Shrinikith Corp. I don't know how she is looking now. But as for 6 years ago, she is an Angel without wings, with her piercing brown eyes, dark brown-black hair and all her rightly proportioned features. I can still remember the innocence and the calmness in her angelic face. But, whom am I kidding?! How can I ever forget her?? She was the one who broke heart and because of whom I'm the way I'm now ~~ away from all love and commitment shits.
As you can guess, our relationship dates back to the day she was born. May-3-1992. My Dad is her dad's best friend and so are our moms. So we literally grew up together.
Rakshath, her older brother by 2 years and my twin Adhvita are best friends. So, those two always hang out together and that leaves me and Rika to hangout as kids. As the time passed by, we both become best friends. But little did a 5 year old know that the feeling is more than friendship.
As time flew, my feelings towards Rika grew by loads. So, I decided to limit our meets and talks hoping that, it will stop my infatuation on my childhood friend. So, I started hanging out more with Rakshath and started drifting away from Rika. But boy, I was completely wrong. My crush on Rika did not stop at all. It, in fact, grew by leaps.
When I was 11 years old, Rika moved to Delhi because of her dad's business and stuff. That's the first time I ever cried. But I accepted life as it is and tried to move on. When I reached my adolescent age, I was already the cool dude and jock of the school. Awarded with extreme good looks from both of my parents, I was and I am always surrounded by girls. Even though I can have any girl I want, all I ever wanted was Rika, my brown eyed angel.
To forget about her, I started dating numerous girls. But boy, I was too much in love with Rika that I can't even kiss them. Every time I tried, I got this feeling as if I'm betraying her. But I can't let my feelings continue because I never heard from her all these years. She may be happily committed with someone else. She may not even remember me. These thoughts brought immense pain to my heart and ripped it apart. Yet , I know this is the reality. So, I continued on my mission~~ mission forget Rika. But as always, I cannot succeed. But in the course of time, I became too proud to admit that I loved her to my friends because who would want a love failure at the age of 18 as their friend?!
Then, that fateful day arrived. It was my winter holidays and my parents planned a formal winter party for my dad's colleagues. It was in our beach house. Both Vita and I had our liberty to bring our guests. So, I invited few of my friends and Vita did the same. I'll never ever forget that day in my life.
Flashback:
"Dhvi and Vita, come here... Someone came to visit you guys", my mom called out enthusiastically.
"Coming mom!", Vita and I called back with irritation. This is the part I hate the most about parties. We have to meet my dad's colleagues and answer all their boring questions.
But as we reached the end of the stairs, my eyes darted to the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen, who is standing beside my mom smiling angelically. She had brown eyes, dark brown-black hair, full pink lips and the most flawless skin. There was a innocence in her face and a strange calmness. She did not wear any make up and was dressed in blue skinny jeans and white Levi's T-shirt. But there was something familiar about her. I felt as if I knew her forever. That's when I heard the most shocking and heart warming words said by my sister.
"Rika! Is that you?!", Vita said in a surprised tone to which the girl smiled and nodded.
Oh my God! Am I dreaming?! Its Rika in front of me.. Gorgeous as always... My prayers are finally answered. I always dreaded the day I can meet her again and finally today, she is in front of me, in all her glory.
Both the girls went forward towards each other and hugged each other.
"I missed you so much Vita", Rika said hugging my sister. Wow! Her voice is divine... How will it be when she tells it to me?! I can't help the thought and right now I'm jealous of my twin.
"Of course you missed your best friend...I missed you too girly...", Vita said with overwhelming joy.
Right then my mom said, "Don't worry sweetheart.. You got Rika all to yourself for this holidays.. She is staying with us for this winter. Right now, I'm heading towards the kitchen. I have chores to finish before this party". With that she moved off.
Even though she said the words to Adhvita, I can't help but feel happy. Whole winter with Rika! Woww! I'll definitely make it special to her and will never miss a second to make her cell beautiful.
Finally, after all the girl talks, they noticed me standing there. Rika's eyes shown with joy, if I saw it correctly, when it met mine. So, I decided to make my introductions myself. I was about to introduce myself, but she bet me to it.
"Hey Dhvi! How are you?!", she questioned shyly.
"I'm fine.. You?!", I said, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. All I wanted to do is hug her tight and tell her that I missed her. But unfortunately I can't. Anyways, I stepped forward and extended my hand for a handshake to which she responded shyly.
"Woah woah! What's happening here?! I can almost cut the tension over here with a knife... Stop this act you both... We all know that you guys missed each other pretty badly as you guys are best friends... So stop with this awkwardness already and hug each other like best friends do", said my witty sister with a playful smirk.
Right now, I love my sister to the core. She is my guardian angel...
Both I and Rika smiled awkwardly and stepped forward to give each other a hug. She wrapped her hands around my torso and leaned in, pressing her cheeks to my chest. I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and rested my head on her shoulders and whispered " I missed you so much" in her ears. I felt her shiver. But, then she leaned more into my chest and said " I missed you too".
We both stood in the same position, with her in my arms protectively, for few minutes until Vita cleared her throat. The sound brought us back to this wicked earth from our heavens.
Did I tell that Vita is my guardian angel... If so, forget it.. I'm going to kill her for interrupting our moment.... Grrr...
I let go of her and suddenly my I felt lonely. From Rika's expression, I knew that she don't wanna let me go too. This brought immense happiness to me. Maybe she likes me as I do! Maybe, I do have a chance...
After stepping backwards, I gave Vita a stern look as if telling don't-you-dare-open-your-mouth-about-it-and-comment to which she just smiled and shrugged. By then, my friends came into the room and I introduced them to Rika. Since they knew about Rika already to an extent and also predicted that I like her, they didn't make a move on her. They were polite and brotherly to her. Thank God! This saves me from throwing punches on anyone who eyes her. Wait.. What did I just say?! Man... I'm so whipped...
After Vita introduced Rika to her friends, she took her to her room. And I settled in my room to get ready for the party. Since it is a formal party, I wore my blue jeans, white V neck polo T-shirt and a black blazer over it. I matched my attire with my black Nike shoes and went down. When I was descending down, I saw Rika and Vita on their way down, followed by Vita's friends.
Vita wore a red off shoulder dress which reached till her knees. My sister looked good as usual. But with Rika, it's otherwise. She was absolutely stunning in her Black one-shoulder, knee length dress. She wore red pumps to match it and her hair was cascading over her shoulders in its natural waves. She wore no makeup which made her look more stunning. Simply, she looked angelic and stunning. God! I hate shoo away boys from these two girls now.. Ahh..
After they reached down, I went over to Rika and said, "you look absolutely stunning" to which she blushed a cute shade of pink before responding, "you look handsome yourself".
Our nice little exchange is cut short by my devil of a sister who said, "oh! Thank you for asking about me brother....", sarcastically yet playfully.
"Yeah yeah.. Whatever", I replied her and left the place.
I joined my friends and soon the party was in full swing. I and Rika exchanged few glances often and smiled at each other.
All is going good now!! I'll be having a chance as soon as I tell her my feelings... A chance to find happiness... A chance to be with my love... A chance to be together forever...
After the party was over, everyone of us settled in our assigned rooms since my mom told my friends and Vita's friends to stay the night with us as it's unsafe to travel at this pitch hour.
After my whole family slept, I and my friends were having our little conversation in the kitchen.
"Man... Why didn't you dance with any girl or make out during the party?!", Ashiq asked me out of blue.
"That's because I don't want to", I said coolly. The truth is I don't want to hurt Rika or destroy whatever is between us..
"Oh, really?! I think it's 'cause you didn't get any girl and no girl is interested in you anymore...", Gaurav said mockingly with a wink, hurting my ego.
"Ah!! Keep dreaming... I can get any girl I want with in a fraction of seconds. All I need to do is just smile at them, hug them and kiss them... They will fall at my feet...", I said smugly.
"Oh... Then why is that you can't show your charm to Rika?! After all, you are so in love with her... Before you can deny the truth, we tell you that we know how much you love her... You didn't even have your first kiss till now...", Ashiq spoke again with seriousness I'm his voice.
"That's because Rika is not 'any' girl... She is my 'only' girl... I don't want to rush anything between us... That's why I'm waiting for a perfect chance...", I told them.
"Man, we can clearly see that she likes you either... So, you better go tell her before it's too late", Gaurav reasoned out.
Maybe I should tell her! Dad and mom told me their love story n-number of times... Just because they both didn't talk to each other as soon as they found out about their feeling on each other, that lost their love and waited for all those years to get back their true love. They were lucky enough to be pushed into arranged marriage to the person they loved... But not all are so lucky... So it's better if I say it out loud to her... Better now before it's too late... We surely don't want the history to repeat itself...
"Okay! But how should I tell her?! I feel too nervous to tell her that! What if she rejects me??", I asked them worried.
"Action speaks louder than words... Go kiss her... Pour all your feelings in that kiss... Go now... If she accepts you, it's her gain... If not, it's her loss...", Gaurav said, giving me confidence.
With all the confidence I can muster, I went to her room and knocked the door, after taking a deep breath. A Chance for together forever now... Lights... Camera... Action....
Then, the door opened to reveal a distorted looking Rika with red puffy eyes as if she is crying. Her face registered shock as soon as she saw me. My heart pained at the sight. I want to kiss away her pain or whatever is bothering her.
"Why are you here?!", she asked me coldly.
I feel something is wrong... Better not to talk and make things worst... Go kiss her and comfort her... Pour all your feelings in the kiss.. Maybe she will feel better after your confession... You can do it Adhvik... Go.. Do it..
After that pep talk I gave myself, I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips on hers. So soft her lips are... She seemed dazed at first... But then, she pushed me away and slapped me. My cheeks sting by the impact. Her tears flowed freely.
"How dare you?! You man whore! Whom do you think you are?! Do you think I will bend according to your wishes as like those other girls?? Get it in the thick mind of yours.. I'll never ever ever ever fall for a guy like you.. You are nothing but selfish who only cares about himself... Go fuck your slut.. Don't ever look at my face... ", she spitted out with tears streaming down her cheeks and closed the door at my face.
I stood there in shock. What just happened?! I'll never ever ever ever fall for a guy like you.. You are nothing but selfish who only cares about himself... Go fuck your slut.. Don't ever look at my face.. Her words kept repeating itself in my mind. My heart constricted. It hurts like hell. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I quickly made my way to my bedroom and cried my soul out. This is the second time I cried. This time, it's also because of the same girl. I cried all night and cried myself to sleep.
When I woke up next morning, I was greeted with the news that Rika left due to some urgency. But, I know the truth. She really meant every word she told me yesterday. Don't ever look at my face..
If she was not interested in me, then why did she lead me in that hug and all that smiles?! In the end she is not the one who is broken, it's me... It's me who lost my love... It's me who is broken... It's me whose heart hurts like hell... Not hers... I promise myself today that I'll never love anyone again... I don't want to go through this pain again.
°•°•°End of flashback°•°•°
I still remember that day like it happened yesterday even though 6 years has already passed. That's the day I promised myself to never go into love and I keep my promise till this day. All these years, I dated a lot, most of them being sluts. But whenever I start kissing them, I can't help but remember my first kiss with Rika. Even though it was a simple pressing of lips only for few seconds, I can't erase how wonderful and complete it felt, from my mind. All these kisses with other girls means nothing to me and I can't go further than kissing them. I feel like cheating Rika whenever I kiss others. So, my guilt stops myself from going any further. Even though I scold myself for my stupid thoughts, I can't help myself.
I tried hard to bury my feelings and continue my life. But it was not easy as it sounds. But I diverted my attention from all these and put my full attention to my work. Today, at the age of 24, I'm one of the richest CEOs of the world and among the top 3 eligible bachelors worldwide.
And then today, when I came to visit my parents, my dad dropped me a bomb. He wants me to take Rika under my wing and teach her business as she will soon take over her father's company. Rakshath is not interested in business. He is a doctor. So, the company is passed on to Rika who currently finished her masters in business administration.
Both dad and Varun uncle wants me to train her and I don't want to as I have my reasons. But since dad don't know what is happening between us, I'm forced to train Rika. Which I assure you is going to be like hell...
I'll never ever ever ever fall for a guy like you.. You are nothing but selfish who only cares about himself... Go fuck your slut.. Don't ever look at my face..
Her words, which I never forgot, played itself in my head repeatedly. Signing, I ran my hands through my hair and sat at the edge of the bed, putting my face in my hands.
I promise myself that I'll never let her hurt me once again and I'll never let her once again in my life.
