Just Friends

CHAPTER 7

 "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." 

—Robert Frost

^^^

"Can I meet Dhruv Rathod?" Kiara was standing at the receptionist's desk. The lady moved her glasses, staring at Kiara for a longer period.

"Sorry, ma'am. I am ordered not to allow anyone inside." She averted her gaze back to the screen.

"Say, it's Kiara Ahuja." Kiara's voice was filled with confidence, even after Dhruv's frequent ignorance of her text and calls.

"But ma'am, try to understand he isn't in a..."

"Give it a try..." Kiara pointed at the phone on the desk.

"Ma'am try to understand..." but before the receptionist could brush Kiara away. The door of the office was pushed open and Dhruv emerged from the room. The view before Kiara made her feel guilty about why she hadn't arrived early. The suit no longer was wrapped around his body. Lie loosely hanging on his neck. Sleeves of shirt rolled up till his elbow. And his exhausted orbs staring at Kiara with guilt.

"Allow her in..." he muttered before walking inside his office.

"Dhruv..." without waiting for the assistant permission, Kiara followed Dhruv inside. "What's wrong with you?"

"If you want to talk about Aditi and me then..."

"I want to talk about you. Why aren't you responding to my messages?" She accused him, folding her hand around her chest. Glaring at the human who seems drained from within.

"I wasn't in a condition to have a conversation."

"I was just waiting for a response that you were fine." Those words made him glance into her eyes. Allowing her to glimpse at the inner pain he was undergoing.

"Why can't everyone be like you?" He inquired getting infuriated as well as broken. "People are least bothered if I am fine. They just want to know why have I asked for a break? Not even Aditi wants to know it. Isn't she, my friend as well? My childhood friend! She wasn't like this. Do this relationship tag change everything between a friend?" Dhruv sounded confused with the reaction he was offered to his action.

"I wanted some breath of relief from this relationship drama. It was suffocating me. I don't understand but I wasn't able to deal with it any longer." He buried his face in his palm. Kiara stood at the corner allowing him to unbottle his frustration.

"Don't you think, you hurried with accepting the proposal?" Kiara inquired as she was keenly observing him.

"I believed friends could turn a better companion. But maybe I was wrong. A friend should be left as a friend because if you take any step further it breaks the beautiful bond." Those words by Dhruv hit Kiara differently. She felt like he has rejected her indirectly. "Aditi wouldn't ever see me as her closet friend. I lost her, Kiara." He stared at her, shattering her into pieces.

He seemed lost and at that moment a spark of jealousy concurred in Kiara's heart. She couldn't believe herself even in such a situation, she wasn't able to keep her emotions aside. "It isn't like that. Your friendship isn't that weak to break like that. She will be fine and will understand the reasoning behind your decision." Dhruv seemed far away from getting convinced by her words. "Dhruv..." she kept staring at him and he back at her. Not a word was exchanged but simply staring into each other souls.