75. Pin Him Down!

Arjun’s PoV

I picked up the questionnaire from the doctor’s office and came out of the doctor’s office. I tried to keep my mind open for all the possibilities but I wanted to wait until the results of this questionnaire. Preethi is clearly in distress and is not herself. She has always been that adamant girl when she wants things her way but that was when she was little. As we grew up, she was more like a brilliant girl who acted by putting her mind first, when I always struggled putting my heart first. I have always wondered where she gets that clarity of mind from, given any situation. I truly wanted to be like her to avoid all the anger issues I had to deal with all my life. I was pretty convinced that all my problems start with my anger because I do what my heart tells me to. But Preethi on the other hand, was a very mindful girl who took her emotion out of the equation to analyse the situation better. She can get out of any scenario with her intelligence.

I couldn't stop but remember that one situation when she tried to sabotage the science fair project of a girl when we were in our high school just because she tried to flirt with me. She was a girl from a different school and almost got eliminated from the competition. Later she told me that she taught that gold digger a life lesson which I honestly at that point thought was a bit too much. But I also hated any girl's attention on me so I just left it. She even made trouble for the girls who tried to talk to either me or Praveen. She was a protective sister. Now thinking back, I reckon very less female encounters in my life and all because Preethi was with me.

Once, she was ruining all the record works and composition books of Praveen just because he was spending too much time with me excluding her. She calmed down once I told her that she is more important to me than anybody. But later she told us that she destroyed only the photocopy of his works and not his real works. Though Praveen was so mad at her and even accused her of having a criminal mind, he promised her that he will never exclude her in our fun. That is how she got what she wanted. But she never meant harm to anyone.

All the craziness of her was a display of extreme love towards us. In Fact it was her witty side that made me talk to her in the first place. She is poles apart from my character. I am not an open person, I don't talk easily, I don't let people talk to me easily, I am that guy who always posts a warning on my face to not approach me. But Praveen and Preethi are the exact opposites of me which made them the closest persons to me on this planet, just like I love Anika for the rebel she is. It is their distinct trait that attracted me to them.

“Arjun Sir!” I heard someone calling me from behind.

“Arjun Sir, Please wait!” I saw a girl running towards me as I was walking to my car. I know this girl, she is Anika’s friend. I have seen her in college with her, in her home when we went to see her, in our wedding. I clearly remember her.

“Hello sir, How are you? How is Anika?” She asked me as soon as she reached me.

“We are so good. You are Anika’s friend, right?”

“Oh, sorry, I am Nithya. I am Anika’s friend, neighbor, and college mate. How is she?”

“She is fine, she is at home resting.”

“Resting?”

“Oh, yeah, we are pregnant.” I told her, I actually am happy to let people know that I am going to be a dad. When that topic comes out, I could not help but forget everything else, I tend to brush everything under the rug.

“Wow, congratulations, sir. I am so happy for you guys. With your extended honeymoon, I knew this was coming. Haha, don't mistake me, she was madly in love with you from the first day she saw you. So I know what she could do.” She started laughing happily.

“Oh, yeah, she did, but after Arun!” I said and regretted letting it slip out of my mouth.She was taken aback for a split second but got it together soon.

“Um… I hope you are not busy right now, can you please come with me for a coffee? I would like to talk to you.” She asked me boldly. With her stern look, I knew she had something to tell me.

“Sure.” I went along with her, by walk, to the nearby coffee shop.

“Sorry, I know it is a bizarre time for coffee, but I have to talk. I don't know what Anika had told you and what she didn't. But I can sense you are not comfortable with the Arun topic. You need to know things from a third person point of view too, that way you can get a clear insight.” She said as soon as we settled ourselves in.

“It is nothing like you anticipate, Nithya. We are perfectly fine.” I told.

“No, sir. If you are perfectly fine, you wouldn't be talking to me now. You could have avoided my invitation.” She said with a little smile.

“Smart! But know that no matter what, I love Anika.” I assured her before she started speaking.

“I wouldn't care to explain if it is not. Arjun sir, I am sure you know Anika better. But just erase everything you think you know before listening to me. Get to know Anika from my point of view. Anika is a lovely girl. She is a very carefree girl and a brilliant student. I have known her since our childhood. She has a tendency to talk everything she thinks, she talks her mind out. That character of her was not liked by many around us that resulted in a very few friends for her. As far as I am concerned, I love her because I love straight criticism rather than honey coated words. She had helped me to bring out the better person inside of me. I won’t say there was no situation where I wanted to physically strangle for her insensitive talk, but that is her! Her father was her pillar of support. Her rapport with her brother, a typical brother sister relationship. Lots of fight and loads of love. She loves her mom equally even though she is not her birth mother. Her father was the one that kept supporting her even though she brought so many problems because of her straight forward character. She believes there is no wrong in being what she is. She won't accept it if I tell her any different.”

“Haha, I knew this much about her! Let me tell you this, Nithya, it is this rebel character of hers that I liked in her first. She can survive in any situation given her opportunistic behaviour.”

“No sir, she is not an opportunist. I don't know what made you think like that but I can tell you she is not. She has never done anything thinking she can reap its fruits in future. She is a plain girl who just lives in the moment. Never once has she thought about her activities before you. You are the first person to make her feel regret about her behaviour. She was erratic the whole time between your meeting and your marriage. She felt anxious and nervous of what you would think of her. But you should know that you are the first person she has ever loved in a romantic way.”

“But she said Arun…”

“No sir, she is an idiot. At the end of our first year in college, she started receiving emails from an unknown person. That person made her feel special. He shared his personal troubles and accomplishments with her and she replied to him in a way he would feel better. She started to like him for what he is, he never misused the relationship they shared. But I warned her not to feel emotionally attached to that faceless person. After certain meetings with Arun, who was our senior at the time, she was convinced that he was the email stranger. So when Arun proposed to her, she accepted his proposal. Later Arun said that he was not the one that mailed her but she liked Arun so she stayed in the relationship. If you saw their relationship, it was nothing but just friendship. Arun is a nice man, I won’t say otherwise. But he was just a friend to her, nothing more. I tried to tell her that he is just a friend and she wont feel elated if she was with him, she said that friendship is more important for a relationship that is going to continue till the last breath. I knew she wouldn't listen to me so I stopped telling anything as I saw there was no problem with them being together. There had been some problems in Anika’s family that followed with her father’s illness that made Anika to distance herself from Arun until they both got settled. Everything was fine until she met you in her native.”

She thought Arun was me? Is that why she accepted his proposal?

“She struggled hard to keep her emotions in check whenever she was around you. She immediately felt intimidated by you. She started dreaming all romantic ideas about you and also felt guilty because she was in a relationship with Arun. She figured out that hating you and making you hate her is the only viable solution to distance you from her. She did what she did only to make you stay away because you were messing with her mind and body. But when your wedding proposal came in, she was overwhelmed but angry at the same time. You were changing her to be a bipolar person. Her mom told her to bring Arun to talk to them but Arun was not interested in her anymore, he told Anu to move on and not to wait for him. Anu felt relieved of the stress she was feeling after the break up and all her suppressed love for you broke the bounds. She said yes to marry you and even convinced her mother for this arrangement. She is in love with you and only you, Mr.Arjun.” She looked at me with conviction.

“I… uh… I don't have any problems with her having an ex-boyfriend. That was not my problem because I had a past life too.” I told her because I felt like she was accusing me.

“I didn't mean to offend you, sir. But this is the truth. She has no ex, all she had, has and will have is you! She is stupid, arrogant and sometimes a handful, but she strongly feels that you are the one for her. Trust me, sir, a girl would know!” she said with a smile.

“Thank you, Nithya for telling me things that you thought I should know. I really appreciate it. But trust me, I am in love with her and I will keep her happy like she deserves! You don't have to worry about her. I won't lie, but you have truly erased that nagging feeling in my heart about Arun. Thank you for that.” I told her from my heart.

“You are welcome, sir. Convey my regards to her. Tell her that I will talk to her on the phone.”

“Can you do me another favor? Don't talk to her unless she calls you. I would like to surprise her and I want you to come to my home on her birthday.” I told her.

“Oh, her birthday is in two weeks, right, I will be there and I won't call her.”

“Thank you, Nithya.”

“Please don't mention it, sir. Will see you on her birthday. Bye.”

“Bye!” I took leave from her and walked towards the car. Anika is truly in love with me, I have hurt her more with all my assumptions. Arun! He is the reason for all the chaos. If he voluntarily broke up with Anika, why would he come to me with false information? Why would he call and talk to Anika? What is in it for him? He must be put down but I should apologize to my wife for all the inhumane things I have done to her.