"Mini!"

Shatakshi heard Nisha call her from a distance and frowned, rushing to her. Sriansh frowned at the name and looked at her talking to the unknown girl. She must be her roommate.

The girl said something to Shatakshi which made her hit her arm while a blush coated her cheeks. She nodded at something the girl said and then came back to Sriansh.

"Roommate?"

He asked and she nodded.

"That's Nisha. Keh rhi thi ki apne boyfriend ke saath jaa rhi hai toh shaam ko shayad late ho jaayega. She was asking me not to wait for her."

"What about the name though? Nickname or something?"

He asked genuinely confused and she scowled.

"More like a taunt name."

He frowned in confusion and asked what that meant.

"My friends and family call me that because of my height."

"What's wrong with your height?"

He asked looking at her. She was the perfect height. Atleast for him.

"What's wrong? Look at you and look at me Sriansh. I'm too short."

She said with a shake of her head and he shook his head.

"That's because I'm a man and you're a woman. I am supposed to be taller than you."

"I'm still a lot shorter than most girls."

She said and wrapped her arms around herself. Her height always made her feel insecure about herself.

"I think you're the perfect height. Plus it comes with an advantage."

He said and she frowned at him.

"What advantage?"

He held her arm and pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her body. She gasped at his move and her heartbeat accelerated as he held her head to his chest. He then whispered above her head.

"You reach my heart. You're meant to rule hearts Shatakshi."

Especially mine.

He thought and she felt her eyes get teary. No one has ever said it to her like this. Suddenly her height seemed perfect to her and she didn't want to be taller anymore. She reached his heart. Where she wanted to stay. Forever.

"You need to stop saying things like this before I fall in love with you."

She sniffed and hid her face in his chest making him chuckle and kiss her head. He wanted to kiss her so bad but they were in public. And this was India.

When he reached home he was stopped by Soham.

"I think ab mujhe hi usse milna chahiye. Tujhe bhi kab tak tang krunga mai. Waise bhi you're free only on Sundays and unn dino wo ghar se nikalti nhi."

Sriansh had told Soham that she didn't come out of her PG when he waited near her building.

Sriansh felt his heart skip a beat. He couldn't stop Soham. What will he say? That he'd fallen in love with her? That he had been lying to him, his best friend all along?

And now that he thought about it, he had been betraying Soham. Sriansh couldn't sleep the whole night. His heart and brain were at conflict.

By morning, he had done a lot of overthinking and he had decided that he couldn't betray Soham. Soham was the only family Sriansh had.

If he hadn't befriended Sriansh when they were kids and chosen to stay with him, he would have been an orphan all his life, with no one to call as his family.

It was all because of Soham that he had a family now. And he couldn't betray him. He had to do what he had decided to do even if it killed him and even if she started to hate him.

He only wished that she forgives him in the future some day.

And so Sriansh had stopped attending her calls and gave monotonous replies to her messages. Shatakshi did notice his behavior but thought that he must be tense about work.

But one morning when she woke up she received his message. She was overjoyed seeing his name in the notifications and hurried opened his message only to get shocked.

I don't think I can do this anymore. Whatever it is, let's just finish it.

What did he mean by this? Was this some kind of sick joke? It wasn't funny.

She immediately called him and thankfully he picked it up.

"What the hell is this message Sriansh? What can you not do anymore? Kya khatam krna hai aapko?"

There was silent at the other end for a moment before she heard him.

"Whatever it is Shatakshi. It's never going to work. We're no match and I want to stop this before it gets more serious."

"What are you talking about? Abhi kuch din pehle tak toh aap thik the. Sab thik tha. Ye koi prank hai na Sriansh. Ho gyi mai prank. You can stop this now. It's not funny."

Her voice broke at the end and he felt like stabbing himself.

"This is not a prank. I'm serious. Let's not meet anymore and let's not talk anymore. Early stage pr ruk jaaye toh better hai than hurting both of us when things progress. Good bye Shatakshi."

He said and disconnected the call not letting her speak and threw his phone aside. Tears fell from his eyes as he realised that he had done it. He had hurt the woman who he had started to love.

Shatakshi on the other hand was numb. She didn't know what to feel. She tried calling him again but he didn't pick up. When she realised what happened and that she'll never get to talk to him or see him again, she threw her phone aside and sobbed while covering herself from her duvet.

"Kyu kr rhe hai aap ye Sriansh? Why are you hurting me? Kyu mujhse wo sab cheezein kahi, kyu umeedein di? Kyu? I hate you Sriansh! Arghhhhh! Why can't I hate you!"

She didn't know how long she cried or how she slept after that but the next she opened her eyes, it was dark outside, so it must have been long.

**************************************

Please do leave your comments.

Also, please vote for the story.������

Laters!!��❤️