Chapter 3

Elena's POV

It is been two weeks since that dreadful incident which stole my peaceful and carefree sleep for nights. 

His last words kept ringing in my ears and roaming in my mind. 

His hazel orbs went on haunting me for nights. I have never been traumatized by anyone in this way. I was always the one who picks up a fight and never lose it. Then why am I scared of him? 

He cannot do anything to me. It was just an empty threat as I haven't seen or heard anything from him after that day. And I pray that I never get to face him ever again. 

I have decided to take my life a little seriously and these days I was working on upgrading my CV. I have applied for many jobs and I am waiting for my CV to get shortlisted and a company to reach out to me. 

Yawning, I stretched my hands and legs. My body is aching as I am sitting in the same position for a long time with my laptop on top of my lap. 

My phone pinged grabbing my attention. Stretching my hand I picked up the phone. The notification is from a random app. 

I opened one of my favorite social media sites to cut the time and regretted it immediately. 

As the home page of my profile popped on the screen, his face came in front of my eyes. My finger stopped scrolling down the feed as my breathing hitched in my throat. My eyes were not ready to even blink and my vision suddenly became blurry. My hands began to shake lightly and it felt like the energy of my body has been drained all of a sudden. 

That's why I hate myself. I am still not able to forget him. We are not following each other on any social media site. I don't have enough courage to follow him. Whenever his picture appears in front of me with our mutual friends my heart always reacts the way it shouldn't. I know how I control myself every damn time. 

Whenever I feel low or lonely, I always want him and only him to come and hug me tightly, kiss my forehead and caress my back the way he used to do. 

But I could never forget his betrayal that shattered my heart into pieces. 

People say sometimes what our eyes see is not true and I pray every day that what my eyes saw that day to be an illusion. My heart is still not ready to accept the betrayal, and it still beats for him and only him. 

But I have decided to move on and I will marry the day I will find someone of my type. The one who would be honest and loyal to me. In this picture too I can see clearly that he has moved on. He is standing in the picture with a wine in one hand and a girl in another. Although the picture is blurry but still I could see the faint smile on his lips. 

He has grown into a man. After all, it is been three years. I can't imagine how much he must have changed. 

Sometimes I ponder that he even remembers my name or not or I was just a plaything for him like any other random girl. 

Locking the phone, I placed it back in its place. My mood was already off because of that incident and I got to see his photograph too. Oh, God! Why did I pick up the phone in the first place? 

Urgh... I uninstalled the app which gave the notification and compelled me to scroll down the feed. The app deserves it!

Yeah I know I am weird. But this is the way I am and no one can change it. 

"Ella" my mother called me softly. Her tone is telling me that she needs something from me. 

"Yeah" I looked up to find her standing at the gate. 

"Whenever I come to your room, I always find you either sleeping or sticking to the mobile like a lizard" 

Uff her taunts!! 

"All this is just because of you" 

"Because of me! Why?" She sat on the bed. 

"You never allowed me to date any boy so it is obvious that I will cut my time somewhere" 

"Oh! So my Ella needs a boyfriend" 

I nodded with a pout on my lips. 

"I will search for a perfect groom for you from today" 

My eyes lit up. 

"I love you mom" 

"Mom loves you too" 

She kissed my forehead. 

"Now stand up and come to the kitchen to help your mom" 

Ok! I got it why was she going all lovey-dovey. 

"So that's why you were here" I rolled my eyes. 

"No, it is not like that. I was just kidding. Actually, I wanted to meet you too. From the last few days, I am observing that you are not well. And this thing is not related to your health. Something is there that is irritating you, making you sad, and negative about life" 

I was looking at him with an open mouth. Although it is not a new thing. In the world, only she is the person who always gets to know that I need help or I am not well by reading my face no matter how much I try to hide it from her. 

"Is there anything related to him?" She asked placing her hand on my knees. 

I know whom she is asking about. My mother knows each and everything about my life. She is my diary in which all my secrets are locked. At times she also becomes my friend and pulls my leg and sometimes she consoles me like an elder sister. But most of the time she stays in her role of being a Hitler mother. But whatever it is, I love her the most. 

I love my family more than anything. They are my weakness and strength. 

I looked down for a minute before looking up. 

"No mom. There is nothing related to him. You already know that it is been three years that we are not in contact neither any one of us has tried to, so there is nothing to worry about. He has already moved on. I also wants to do the same" I forced a smile. 

"Then why your face is so dim? I decided to keep your name as 'Elena' not because I like the name but because the name means moonlight which your face carries. And I never like whenever you look so dull" 

She placed her hand on my cheek. 

"What happened Ella? Please tell me. Won't you share it with your mother?" 

Should I tell her about that incident? Maybe this way I would feel light. I gulped and moistened my lips to prepare myself. 

"Mom..." She nodded her head asking me to continue "that night....." 

"Mom, here you are! I was searching for you everywhere. He will come anytime. Please come out and help me. You can talk to her in the night" 

Raine barged into my room without even knocking spoiling my mood to share my problem with my mother. She waited for a second for a mother to stand up but when she didn't move she rolled her eyes and left my room. 

"Mom, who is coming?" 

"You know your brother was struggling for the loan for months to invest in his business?" 

I nodded. 

"So a man came as a savior and gave him a huge amount as loan. He has helped your brother when he was in dire need of money" she smiled. 

This thing also brought a smile to my face as I know how hard my brother is working on this project all he needed was capital, which has also been solved because of this generous man. 

"And when he came to know that earlier we were Indians he told your brother how much he loves Indian food that has a perfect blend of spices. So your brother invited him to the dinner to thank him for the help and also to fulfill his wish of having Indian food with a family" 

I smiled again. That's great! 

"Then you must go to the kitchen before Raine puts the kitchen on fire. She must be going mad" 

I giggled. She slapped me. 

"That could wait. First, tell me the thing you were about to tell" 

"Oh! That was nothing! For now, guests are more important" 

"For me, nothing is more important than my daughter" 

"Mom you are forgetting. You once told me that in India we consider guests as our Gods and now you are forgetting it by yourself" 

"Ok! Ok! But I will not let you sleep until you will not share your problem with me" 

"Ok!" 

"Now put your laptop aside and get ready for the dinner" 

"Me?"

"Yes you"

"But what would I do? Please give me my food here" 

"A few minutes ago you were reminding me about our culture and all" 

"Yeah! But mom I am busy searching for jobs" 

"So finally you decided to take your life seriously" 

"Maybe" I smiled sheepishly. 

"But you have to come for the dinner today. I am not going to listen to any of your excuses. I want you at the dining table within 20 minutes" 

She stood up and moved towards the gate. 

"And yeah wear something decent. I don't want you to see in your ripped jeans that look like a beggar" 

Rolling my eyes, I forced myself out of the bed. I can't skip dinner. I am hungry like hell. I picked out a pair of jeans and a crop top. Splashing some water on my face I got fresh and applied very light makeup. It took the whole 10 minutes to untangle my elbow-length hair. It is because I haven't stepped out of the hone from the last week so I haven't combed my hair too. I got so tired of untangling my hair that I decided to leave them as it is and just used a simple hairband to stop them from falling on my eyes and act as a hindrance between me and my food. 

"Bui, everyone is waiting for you" angel informed me. 

"Let's go" 

She wrapped her little fingers around my hands and we moved out of my room. As we reached the dining area she left my hand and sat on her chair. I also stood beside my chair while mom and Raine were doing the same. 

Bhai has gone to the gate to welcome the guest. I could hear them talking and laughing. I don't know why the voice is sounding very familiar. 

I decided to ignore it as soon I am going to get a chance of meeting the person.

As Bhai came in, the guest followed him. 

The moment my eyes fall on the man and his eyes connected to mine the lump got stuck in my throat. 

Out of the world what he is doing at my house?