Behind closed hearts

Chapter3

The city never truly sleeps , but tonight, its did seem like the city was sleeping, it was as if the world had decided to hold its breath together with Rian.

He stood in his apartment, his phone still in his hand, the screen glowing faintly with the message that had just shattered his mind.

“You should know what you’re marrying into, Rian.”

— Anonymous

Attached was a photo.

A photo of Anika laughing in a café, holding the hand of a man who definitely wasn’t Rian.

At first, he thought it was fake, someone trying to look for trouble, but the timestamp in the corner of the photo tells an entirely different story, the time stamp shows that the picture was taken just two nights ago, this was the same night she told him that she was at her friend’s bridal shower, his mind was troubled.

He sat on the couch and he could feel his chest tight very tight and it became a bit hard to breathe, everything he had planned around the idea of “us” the plans, the family meetings and the engagement suddenly felt like it was never going to happen, and even through all the chaos, one thought still made its way to him. The thought of Maya.

The next morning, Maya was sitting at her desk, scrolling through her notes when her phone rang,

Rian: Are you home?

Her heart raced.

Maya: Yeah. Why?

Rian: I need to talk to you.

Minutes later, she heard his knock.

When she opened the door, he was looking very different, he looked not composed, not smiling, she could sense that he was angry but not at her.

“Can I come in?”

She nodded yes and stepped aside to allow him in.

He didn’t waste time, he showed her the message, the photo.

She screamed, “Is that—?”

“Anika,” he said angrily. “Yeah.”

She looked at him, waiting for him to go on, but the silence between them was very loud, filled with betrayal, disbelief and heartbreak.

“What are you going to do?” she asked him quietly.

“I don’t know,” he said, “I need to hear it from her first, maybe there’s an explanation, maybe ” He stopped himself, shaking his head, “I don’t even know what I believe anymore.”

She looked at the photo again, staring at Anika’s smiling face, there was something sharp in that smile now she figured, something she noticed before but couldn’t figure out what it was.

“You deserve better,” Maya said softly.

Rian gave a fake laugh, “Yeah, well, maybe I don’t know what I deserve anymore, he looked at her, then really looked and the room seemed to become smaller.

There was a question in his eyes, unspoken but trembling between them, was I blind to the wrong person all along?

But before either of them could say it, her phone rang.

Arjun.

“Maya? Hey, listen is Rian around?”

She was still trying to get back to bring herself so she replied “Uh, yeah, he is here.”

“Good, tell him I’ll be back tomorrow, he’ll want to come over, I’ve got something for him.”

“Sure,” she said, looking at Rian.

When she hung up the call, he was still looking at her but his expression had become softer.

“You should tell him,” she said, “about Anika.”

He nodded slowly and said, “Yeah. I will.”

But as he left, she saw some emotions he was trying to hide, a mix of anger and relief, pain and freedom, and she couldn’t tell which one scared her the most .

That night, Maya couldn’t once sleep again, her thoughts was all about him, Rian’s face when he’d looked at her, the way his voice had broken just slightly when he said I don’t know what I believe anymore.

She wanted to comfort him, to tell him it was okay, that he’d survive this, but she knew she was the last person who should do that, knowing fully well that a small, selfish part of her was so happy. She was happy the wedding might not happen, happy that just maybe the space between them wasn’t impossible to fill up anymore, and she hated herself for it.

The next evening, Rian didn’t go to see Anika right away, he sat in his car outside her building, watching lights in her room the windows, trying to summon the courage to confront her about what someone sent to him and when she finally came out, she wasn’t alone. The man from the photo was with her, they were laughing, she tilted in to kiss him before getting into her car.

Rian felt the world tilt as they kiss, It wasn’t a misunderstanding. It wasn’t an accident, It wasn’t a lie.

He sat there for a long time after she drove off, it was as if everywhere became blur and then without thinking, he started the car and drove, he did not drive home, he did not drive to Arjun’s place, he drove to the only place that felt like clarity he drove to Maya’s place.

She opened the door and froze when she saw him.

His face was pale, his eyes stormy.

“Rian”

“She lied,” he said, his voice very low, “all of it, she's been seeing someone else for months.” Maya’s heart broke for him and for herself.

He sank onto the couch, burying his face in his hands, he said “I feel like an i***t, how could I not see it?”

She sat beside him, close but careful and she said “because you trusted her and that's not weakness.”

He looked up, eyes glistening, “You really believe that?”

“Yes.”

The word came out soft but steady, and for a moment, he just looked at her as if the chaos in his head finally calmed down, without realizing it, their hands brushed, the touch felt very electrifrying, he didn’t move away, neither did she.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he whispered, but he didn’t stand up.

“Then why are you?” she asked him, he didn’t answer.

Instead, he starred at her lips, then back to her eyes, looking so conflicted, and just when it felt like the world might break, he stood abruptly.

“I’m sorry,” he saidwith a trembling voice, “I shouldn’t”, he stopped, breathing hard. “I just… needed to see someone who didn’t lie to me”, and then he left.

Maya sat there long after he closed the door, her heart racing, her mind spinning, for the first time, she told herself that what she felt for him wasn't a simple crush, that it was something deeper, dangerous and it felt very real.

And if she wasn’t careful, it was going to destroy both of them.

But what non of them knew was that someone else had seen Rian’s car parked outside her house that night, someone who was about to make sure the world knew exactly what was going on between them.

And once that secret got out, not even Rian, Maya and even Arjun would remain the same again.