CHAPTER - 34

BEST LEFT UNSAID

"I'm never drinking again!"

A chuckle escaped my lips as Lee's pissed off voice reached my ears for the nth time since we woke up. I shook my head at my friend but I, myself, felt the after effects of drinking whole night as my head started spinning. Soon, I was also the one to groan in pain. "F*ck!"

"I'm never entering anybody's room at night," Adam grumbled from the couch where he had been sprawled since last night.

That had both Lee and me laughing, but we couldn't expand our teasing much as we were suffering from the hangover. This is what you get after a night of drinking and lots of drinking.

"This story would be the highlight of your existence," I informed Adam as I stood up to take a pain killer that had the capability of ailing the severe headache magically. Yeah? Bullsh*t! Yet, I gave it a try and gulped down the medicine. "And, would be narrated to all your coming generations." I added.

"F*ck off!" Adam hissed which changed to a groan. I just turned and grinned at my best friend.

Lee wiggled his eyebrows at Adam and said, "Wish I had recorded it. It was priceless." We both laughed as he said this and high fived each other.

"Real mature, both of you." Adam snorted as he caught the pain killer I had thrown towards him. "If it was any of you instead of me, you'd have reacted the same way," he said with the sternest expressions he could muster to bring on his face that time, but there was an underlying begging tone in his voice. He, for sure, didn't want us to tell about this incident to anyone, especially Autumn, his girlfriend.

Lee and I chuckled at his helplessness and muttered at the same time, "Keep telling yourself that."

For a moment, he narrowed his eyes at me which just made both of us laugh harder. Eventually, when he realized that it was of no use at all, he rolled his eyes and gulped the pain killer. On cue, my phone beeped indicating arrival of a message and I grabbed my phone from the coffee table. The message was from Andy, asking me to reach the restaurant downstairs in an hour as the interview was to be conducted. I replied back to him confirming that I'd be there.

I stretched my body and told my friends, "I've an interview to give. See you guys later!" Both of them were too busy holding their heads and groaning that they probably didn't hear me.

But I was proved wrong when Adam muttered, "F*ck off."

And, Lee finished his sentence, "With Adam."

"No thanks!" I laughed and headed towards the bathroom. Adam and Lee's fights could be heard from inside the bathroom as they both shouted curses at each other and as Adam told Lee that he wasn't interested in fulfilling Lee's fantasy of watching a boy and boy action. I just shook my head at them and got busy with my daily morning routines.

In an hour, I was walking towards the elevator to go to my destination. The headache was still there. But, it had surpassed the stage of complaining. As I entered the elevator, my mind drifted to last night, everything that had happened last night.

When Adam had started screaming in terror that he had just seen a ghost in my room, Lee had sprinted towards him to tell him that the white ghost was actually Kim. Once again, it was just Kim and me in my room amidst the weird silence; the silence she broke by saying, "I better meet Adam and calm him down."

I was not the one to stop her, I was too tongue tied to say anything to her. Wrapping my head around the things that had happened and could have happened if we had not been interrupted was almost impossible. She didn't look at my face even once. In fact, she looked anywhere but me. I was thankful for that. Just like that, she went out of my room and I had not seen her since then. She must have met Adam and shown him that it was just her because when he came back, he looked less scared and sh*t embarrassed.

Alcohol. We had drunk all night. Adam and Lee had planned my bachelor's night in the most boring yet supportive manner by bringing a huge stock of alcohol with them. After a lot drinking, we were not in our senses and were speaking whatever sh*t we wanted to. I didn't remember any of that. All I can recall is that there was undoubtedly lots and lots of alcohol and eventually, the after effects of it.

But, the most prominent incident of the entire night was what Kim and I were doing before the interruption. I closed my eyes tightly and ran my fingers through my hair in complete frustration. Sound of the elevator opening made me open my eyes and I realized that I was on the ground floor now. I stepped out of the elevator and made my way towards the restaurant that had been booked for the last shoot and the interview.

Shoot!

'Kim would be here. What the hell am I going to do?' This thought made me pause at my feet for a second.

"Stop being a pussy, Warren!" I told myself and took deep breaths. I rubbed my hands over my eyes in futile hopes of clearing up the confusion that was clouding my head. Realizing that stopping in the middle of corridor was of no use at all, I started walking towards the restaurant again.

Entering the restaurant, I glanced around it quickly to spot a certain brunette. But, she was not there. Before I could look anywhere else, Andy came up to me. "A very good morning, Keith," he greeted me with a huge grin.

"Good?" I raised one eyebrow at him and continued, "I'm not very sure about it."

Andy clearly couldn't understand what I was implying here and after a moment of thought, he chuckled lightly. "I fail to understand your humor sometimes."

A smirk made its way on my face and I told him, "Nothing new in that." This just increased his confusion and before he could say anything further, I cut him off, "What do I've to wear for the shoot?"

"Black tux," he answered in an instant. "Brianna will take your interview which would be recorded, but your photo shoot would be done in a tux. A few pictures with Brianna would also be taken as she is the journalist in this assignment." He went on about the details of the day, what all would be done and how, but all I could do was nod as I faintly heard him.

"Everything set?" Her voice reached my ears among all the noises in the background.

My head snapped to look at her and I watched as she talked to her assistant, probably telling him how she wanted the pictures to be taken and the set to be set. She looked tired, that was clear. The faint lines under her eyes were enough to shout out to me that she hadn't slept all night. She kept on running her hands on her forehead as she untied and tied back her high ponytail.

Andy's high pitched voice broke away my gaze from her and I looked back at him. Oblivious to my travelling thoughts, he grinned and told me way too enthusiastically, "Shoot would be done first. Doll up!"

He definitely had my attention now as I looked at him with the most ridiculous expressions on my face and suggested him whole-heartedly, "Get lost!"

 Kim was still busy with her assistant when I came back after dressing up in an Armani. She didn't notice me. She didn't glance at me even once; not even when all the girls in the team drooled at my sight as I entered.

My make up was done and so was the entire set, but yet she didn't spare me a glance. Something was wrong.

Urrgh! Women and their mood swings!

Her assistant said something in her ear and her head snapped towards me.

Blank.

Her face was blank and completely professional. "Let's get started now," she told everybody and that began our schedule. She had let one little incident effect us so much; and this was so un-Kim. She was always cool and happy-go-lucky, but not now.

One thing I was sure about after watching Kim like this was that we were never getting back to the normal 'us'. Things had changed overnight. Throughout the session, I kept my face blank and tried to look at her like she was a stranger. That was easier said than done due to the prevailing thick tension between, but neither of us tried to cut it. We were two professionals who had come here for an assignment. It would be over today and the next morning we would go on our own ways, in our own lives. It was simple. Nothing was complicated. We were friends at some point of time but still, there was something between us... something very weird and unsaid.

What would have happened if Adam and Lee hadn't interrupted us? I was over the edge last night, and neither did she stop me even once. In fact, by her eager touch I could judge that she wanted it to happen just as much as I wanted it to happen.

'What the f*ck am I thinking? I'm engaged to the girl I love, and she is engaged to the guy she obviously loves. All that happened was probably just a moment of sexual tension which was more than over now.'

I was glad that Adam and Lee interrupted us; I was glad that nothing more happened that we would have regretted; I was glad that neither of us cheated on our partners. But then, why was there a tiny part in me which regretted that the kiss didn't happen? Why was there a part of me which still wanted Kim; a lot more than I had wanted her last night?

*****

The shoot and the interview were done. I had never been more exhausted in giving an interview. Maybe it was my mind doing all the talking. But whatever, I was just relieved that this sh*t had come to an end.

"Why so serious?" Adam sang as he looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

Adam and Lee had come downstairs after getting fresh to see the shoot. They had said that they wanted to lend me support. I knew better! All they came here for was the free food. Who would ever say that we were a bunch of famous footballers? My friends were b**tards, not that I was complaining.

"I'm not." I denied him in an instant. "In fact, I'm happy." I grinned at him, which he didn't buy.

Lee too looked at me skeptically, but just as he was about to say something, his phone rang. His lips stretched up into a huge smile and it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Joanna, his wife's phone. "I've to take this one," he muttered and answered.

I drifted my attention to the coffee on the table, but I could sense Adam's scrutinizing glare on my head. I knew he wanted to know something, but how could I tell him anything when I too was unaware of everything?

"Lee, where did you get that stripper from last night?" I asked, looking at him as I tried to lighten up the mood. This helped as Adam let out a booming laughter and Lee chuckled but showed me his middle finger while talking to his wife. This just made me laugh harder. Joanna's frantic questioning voice from the other end wasn't helping the situation.

Adam got my cue of fun and he joined. "I like your choice, dude. Betty, Candy and Kitty were f*cking sexy," he said as he brought his face closer to Lee's phone, while Lee tried to pry him away.

"You guys are sick b**tards." Lee laughed and got up to talk to his wife in a corner. Adam and I bowed in thanks at the compliment.

Just like that the little moment that I had tried to create by diverting Adam's attention from me was over. I leaned back in my chair, faced the ceiling and started whistling any random tune. Anything to avoid this conversation!

"Where is she?" Adam's voice reached my ears. There was no need for him to mention her name.

"I don't keep a track on her," I replied with slightly gritted teeth. She had suddenly disappeared once she was done with clicking my pictures in the tux. Her assistant had shot the video of my interview. Nobody knew where she had gone.

I heard Adam take in a deep breath and after about a minute, he again started, "Why are you doing this, Keith?"

"What the hell am I doing?" I questioned him back as I opened my eyes and looked at him with pissed off expressions. "Why in the world do we need to talk about this?" I asked him as I was completely clueless about the importance of this topic.

Adam was calm and completely cool, contrasting my moods. "Look, Keith, I don't know what the hell is going on between the two of you. I don't know what the hell any of you is thinking. But, I do know that this is not healthy; for both you." He knew he had my attention now. "I know how pathetic you became after she left five years back. I know each and everything, Keith. All you need to do is get your sh*t together. You had managed to collect yourself so well, f*ck you're about to marry that Barbie; and now you look like you're back to square one."

"I'm not back to square one and Veronica is not a Barbie," I told him, running my hand through my hair.

He rolled his eyes at me and continued, "What I'm trying to make you understand is that don't spoil your life. Get things straight. Maybe all you need is a closure..." I looked in his eyes and saw the seriousness there as he finished his sentence, "...with Kim."

"Closure?" I asked in merely a whisper.

"Yeah!" He shrugged his shoulders and bent forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. "When Kim left, you obviously had unrequited feelings for her."

"They were not unrequited. I just never got a chance to tell her," I corrected in between in an attempt to not wound my ego, but he just dismissed me.

"Whatever! Even though you're going to marry that Barbie-" Just as I opened my mouth to correct him again, he raised his finger and motioned me to shut up. I complied and he continued, "-somewhere deep down, you still have feelings for her." I couldn't say anything at all. Adam in his psychiatrist mode was dangerous. "Maybe if you had confessed your feelings for her back then and if she had rejected you right there, you'd have definitely been over her by now. You've to make a choice, Warren. It's either Kim or Veronica." His eyes were dead serious and so was his voice.

Maybe he was right. Maybe if I'd just say out loud the feelings I had for her years back, everything would go back to normal. Maybe if I'd get the answer of every question that I had been itching to ask her since years, everything would be fine. We just needed to talk. We just needed a closure from our past; a closure from each other.

*****

I parked the bike and turned off the engine. Looking around the area, a smile made its way on my face as the memories attached to this place clouded my head. But, this was not the time to think about all that.

In the distance, I could spot a silhouette sitting near the water. A sigh in complete relief escaped my lips as I saw her. I jumped the little barrier that we had jumped years ago. I removed my shoes and started taking steps towards her.

There was anger in me, but there was relief too. When at ten at night, I still couldn't spot her anywhere in the hotel and nobody had any clue about her whereabouts, I took it upon myself to find her. It was like I knew that I would find her here of all places, and how right I was.

Her back was towards me as she was sitting on the sand with her face towards the calm water. She probably didn't hear me as she looked like she was lost in her own world. The anger I was feeling started to fade away as the distance between us decreased. I had to talk to her tonight. This was my only chance of getting my sh*t together. I was here to scold her for running away today and five years back. I was here to get answers. I was here for a closure and there was no chance in hell that I would go away without getting it.

As I neared her, I watched the sand around her and noticed that she had done many little drawings around her. One thing that hadn't changed at all in these eight years was my inability to understand her art. The dim moon light was not helping either.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a shocked voice, making me realize that she had definitely noticed my presence.

"It's a free country," I answered as I sat down beside her, facing her instead of water.

She looked at me with eyes turned into slits, but that failed to remove the slight smirk from my face and eventually, she removed her gaze from me in defeat.

"Where were you the whole day?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Here," she answered in a whisper as she started back at the view in front of her.

I tilted my head to the right to get a better look at her face and asked, "Why?"

She looked back at me and with a little smirk on her face answered, "It's a free country." That made me chuckle a bit.

Again, there was an uncomfortable silence that settled between us. I had never been good with silences and just as I was about to ask the many questions whose answers I had been searching over the years, she broke the silence.

"I went to meet Martin last night." She looked at my face carefully to gauge any reaction that I might give away.

But, years of playing poker helped me. "That's good." I nodded my head in appreciation.

She chuckled lightly and turned so we both were facing each other now while sitting on the sand. "I know." She grinned and continued, "But you know, what's better?"

"What?"

She kept looking at me for a moment and it was like a staring match between us. Neither of us was ready to give up this time. "He told me that when I left Miami five years back, someone came here to meet me; some guy in search of me." She chuckled at the end and looked at me with surprise. "Isn't it weird? Why would anyone come here for me? Right, Keith?"

I gulped the lump in my throat and let out a chuckle as I answered, "Must be some jerk."

She shook her head at me and continued, "I mean, it is so strange. Why would anybody in their right mind ever search for me?"

I pressed my lips in a thin line and nodded my head, feeling the lump rise in my throat again. "Yes, it's strange."

"I know, right?" She chuckled again and moved near me. "And, you know, what's even more strange?"

"What?" I whispered the unnecessary word as it was obvious that she would continue whatever she was saying despite of my opinion.

"The thing that's stranger than that was the way Martin was looking at you on Friday night. And, what's even stranger is that I remember that I never told Martin your name and on Friday, he called you Keith." Her voice grew serious with each word and the little smile, she had a minute ago, completely disappeared. "Isn't it strange, Keith?" Here I was to ask her questions, but I, myself, was stuck now.

I didn't answer her.

I couldn't answer.

Some things were definitely best left unsaid.

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A/N

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