Chapter 23
Naina’s Apartment – Same Night
Naina moved around her kitchen preparing dinner. An hour had passed since they’d returned home after she had warned Ruhaan not to stalk her anymore or try to get in touch with even Neil without her permission.
For one week since returning from Delhi, she had managed to keep Ruhaan at bay, convincing her heart that some relationships were better left in the realm of ‘what if.’ And then he had walked into her office today, not just as Ruhaan but as a potential client.
The universe had a cruel sense of humor.
He wasn’t just back; he was even adamant and relentlessly invading both her professional and personal spaces.
No, she wouldn’t fall into that trap again. That beautiful, tempting trap of casual companionship that had nearly cost her son’s emotional well-being.
As she began setting the table, she noticed Neil’s absence inside the house and found him in the balcony instead.
“Neil, what are you doing here? Did you finish your homework?”
He nodded, then looked up at her with a hint of hope. “Mom, Ruhaan’s still there. Can he come up and have dinner with us?”
She followed his gaze and saw Ruhaan perched on the hood of his car, his eyes lifting to meet hers. She froze. Before she could stop him, Neil waved enthusiastically, and Ruhaan’s face lit up with triumph at finally discovering their apartment.
“Neil, no!” She pulled his hand down, perhaps too roughly.
Before Ruhaan could wave back at Neil, she quickly ushered him back inside.
“Come on, Neil. It’s time for dinner.”
At the dining table, she served him his food, trying to ignore the way his lower lip trembled slightly. “Why can’t Ruhaan come up, Mama? He must be hungry too.”
“Neil, enough.” She kept her voice firm despite the ache in her chest. “And no more TV today. Eat your dinner and then straight to bed. You have school tomorrow.”
“But, Mom—”
“I said no!” The words came out sharper than intended, making Neil flinch. He picked at his food quietly.
Guilt gnawed at her as she watched him eat without his usual chatter, but she steeled herself. This momentary hurt was better than the lasting pain of false hopes and broken promises. She couldn’t let Neil’s innocent hopes bind him further to Ruhaan, to a man who had always dodged commitment.
Later, as she tucked him into bed, pulling his favorite Superman blanket up to his chin, Neil caught her hand just as she bent to kiss his forehead.
“Mama?” His sounded worried. “Ruhaan will go home, right? What if he gets sick staying outside like that?”
Tears pricked at her eyes, but she blinked them back quickly. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a grown man who knows what he’s doing. He’ll be fine.”
“But Mom—”
“Sleep now, Neil. It’s late.” She kissed his forehead again, her lips lingering a moment longer than usual, hoping to somehow transfer all her love into him.
With a gentle pat on his shoulder, she coaxed him to close his eyes.
As he drifted off, Naina stood there for a few seconds, before leaving the room.
But she couldn’t head back to her room without checking once on Ruhaan.
She cautiously slid the curtain open, unable to stop herself from glancing down at the street.
And there he was…still there, pacing on the road next to her apartment, his gaze periodically flicking up to her window.
Her fingers clenched around the curtain fabric.
“You stubborn, impossible man,” she whispered, watching him run his hands through his hair in that familiar gesture of frustration. Needless to say, she was a bit worried for him as it was getting cold, and knowing him, he probably hadn’t eaten anything either.
With trembling fingers, she reached for her phone, staring at his blocked number, remembering all the reasons she had put that digital wall between them. But now, watching him pace like a caged lion outside her building, she knew she had to do something.
Taking a deep breath, she unblocked his number, her thumb hovering over the call button.
The rational part of her brain screamed that this was a mistake, that she was opening a door better left closed.
But the part of her that still ached for him, that still remembered the warmth of his smile and the safety of his embrace, pushed her to press that button.
Just to tell him to go home. Just to end this drama before Neil gets more upset.
Ruhaan picked up her call immediately.
“Naina?” He sounded surprised.
“Why are you still here? This…this isn’t healthy. For you. For me. And especially for Neil. He needs to understand that we don’t have the future he wants.”
There was a pause, and she heard the faint sound of him exhaling.
“And what about you?” he asked. “What do you want?”
She gripped the phone tighter, torn between her instincts to protect herself and Neil and the powerful pull Ruhaan seemed to hold over her.
“What I want…doesn’t matter. Because you’ve made it clear what you’re offering, and that doesn’t include what I need.”
“You think I don’t care, that I’m not invested?” he argued. “Naina, I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t mean something to me. This isn’t some fling for me. Not anymore.”
“But it’s not enough,” she snapped. “I wouldn’t have cared what little you could offer me had Neil not been a part of my life.
I’m not just a woman who can choose anything based on her desires and preferences; I’m a mother too.
And a mother always keeps her child’s wellbeing before hers.
So, I have decided. If Neil and I are going to have anyone in our lives, it needs to be something real, something that lasts.
Not this…whatever it is between us that’s filled with limitations. ”
He was silent for a moment. She hoped perhaps he’d finally see her point. But then, he surprised her yet again.
“I don’t have all the answers, Naina. I don’t know how to give you what you’re asking for, but I don’t want to lose you either.
I’ve tried, and I can’t. Last whole week I’d gone insane trying to contact you, to apologize to you for not taking a stand back there in Delhi.
Ask Rohit, how many times I have begged him to give me your address.
Had fate not intervened and we hadn’t met today, I don’t know what I would do.
I’ve always been clear in my life of what I want.
Even this time, I know I want to be there for you and Neil, however you’ll let me, but I don’t know how to make it happen. ”
Her fingers trembled as she gripped the phone.
“There is only one way this can happen,” Naina replied. “Either I change my mind and continue our relationship the way it started back in Delhi or you decide to put back your own fears of commitment and take a step to claim me and Neil in your life forever.”
For a long moment, there was only silence on the line before she whispered again.
“Just go back home, Ruhaan. Please,” she said before ending the call, standing there in the dimly lit room, her phone pressed to her chest, letting her tears fall.
*****************
Morning
Ruhaan jolted awake from sleep at the sound of a car horn.
Disoriented, he realized he was still in his car, slumped over the driver’s seat where he had finally drifted off just before sunrise.
The sky was bright now. He squinted at the glaring morning light, groaning as he checked his phone.
It was almost half past nine, and there was a message from his mother, asking when he was coming home.
He had lied to her about a late-night meeting at the office.
Last night after his call with Naina, he had spent hours wrestling with the idea of marriage, nearly convincing himself to give in just before dawn claimed him.
He stepped out of the car and rushed to the apartment gates, his eyes automatically seeking out Naina’s balcony.
The security guard, finishing his night shift, approached him with a sympathetic expression.
“If you’re looking for Naina Madam and the little one, they left a few minutes ago. She drops Neil at school before heading to office.”
“Damn it,” Ruhaan muttered, running his fingers through his disheveled hair, annoyed that he had missed her by only minutes. He thanked the guard and turned back to his car, frustrated and exhausted. He needed to regroup, shower, and change. He’d catch her at her office later.
Twenty minutes later, Ruhaan pushed open the door to his apartment. But as he stepped inside, he froze in surprise as there, seated in the living room, was his sister, Ryma, scrolling through her phone.
“Ryma? What are you doing here? When did you get back from Dubai?” His brotherly instincts immediately picked up on her troubled expression. “Is everything okay?”
Ryma looked up, her face lighting up at the sight of her brother. Without a word, she rose and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I’m fine my little brother,” she replied putting a soft smile.
But Ruhaan sensed something was wrong…something deeper than what her simple “I’m fine” suggested. Just as he was about to press her further, his mother entered the room.
“Fine?” she scoffed with bitterness. “Why are you lying, Ryma? Tell him why you’re really here.”
Ruhaan glanced back and forth between them, his brow furrowed.
“What’s going on?” he asked, trying to understand.
Ryma sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping as she turned to face him fully.
“I came back because I’ve decided…I’m getting a divorce.”
His eyes widened in shock. Divorce? He couldn’t believe it, though he knew she had struggled in her marriage for a few months now. “You…you’re serious?”
Ryma nodded. “Yes. I am. I need to end this, Ruhaan. That’s why I’m here. I couldn’t tell you or Mom over the phone. I’m flying to Chandigarh this evening to talk to my in-laws’ face to face.”
Ruhaan opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, his mother did.