The Sane One!

Riya woke up fresh and completely recharged the next morning after a good night's sleep. She yawned really big and stretched her arms and legs to the lengths they would go. 

But soon she realized she was in her house and not in Dhruv's, which pinched her heart with a small worry. But now that there were so many confusions about her company and business, she decided that she would first do something regarding that and then could take care of the other businesses. 

For this, the only sane and rational person she could talk to, in order to get the right intel would be her father. 

Because she finally learnt a lesson yesterday that everyone were shaken in one way or the other about what happened! Her husband, or more so, fake husband, told her that he was the one who leaked the information and he even seemed to enjoy Riya's suffering. Until Riya met Sam, she believed that hard core. 

Later, after coming home, she met her brother first. He quit his job already and seemed aloof without an ounce of idea as to what he would do next. That basically meant, he was affected by Riya's unemployment in his own way. 

Next, Sam. No need to brief on that. Sam was completely out of focus and she imagined a whole big novel in her head without even confirming to the so called "Culprit"

But the only person who was still in Riya's Choice and the one she still had not come across was her father. Of course, her dad was the first person who didn't give up on her and kept calling her, but she was so deep in limbo that she denied everyone's calls and messages. 

In a way, she could say that, although negatively, Dhruv had awakened her from the coma she was in. If he had never told anything or riled her up, she would not be having the same clarity she had now. At least she was thinking now, instead of mindlessly scrolling through unnecessary news and emails. Now was the time she must be so focused on her life than before.  So, she finally took a decision to never think of Dhruv in any way other than as a business enemy and a fellow human being.

She got up, quickly brushed, cleaned herself up and went out of her room to meet her dad once he was back. Her father always made sure to go for a morning walk and start the day early at office. Hence, she must catch him before he leaves to the company. 

To her surprise, when she entered the living room, her father was already seated on the couch reading newspaper. And as soon as he saw her entering the room, he dropped the newspaper and tilted himself towards her. She took the seat near him. 

"I'm so sorry", was his first sentence, for which Riya rolled her eyes. This was off-putting. By now, she was so sick of everyone telling "sorry" to her. She never wanted anyone's pity and now she was receiving it for free from everyone around.

She raised an eyebrow in question.

"I know! You don't like people to see you as weak..... But, I apologized for a different reason", he smirked. 

"What?", she asked utterly confused. What was her father trying to convey now? Did he also get affected by Riya's problems? No way!

"It's a long story, Riya. I will tell you. But first of all, how are you?", he was worried. 

Riya mindlessly nodded at first, and decided to tell something or the other to evade dealing with  actual emotions. But she realized that if anybody could help her now, it was her father. So, she went ahead with revealing her real feelings. 

She was looking down at her feet and mumbled, "I'm fine. Not completely, but doing much better than yesterday. It was hell for the initial few days. I went through all the crazy emails and news articles and they were disturbing to say the least. I couldn't bounce back to normal", she paused.

She gazed her father's face and he was listening intently. 

She had never been this open to him before, but this time the frustration went over her head to bear.  "I knew I was becoming weak, but didn't see a point getting up to do anything. Then, yesterday Dhruv came in to give me a drink. I was avoiding him too for the past few days."

"But he said something which was most disturbing than anything. He admitted that he was the one who broke me and killed my career. Frankly, I got more pissed and upset about him than being fired from the job or anything else. Of course I didn't mean anything to him, so I buried it and left from his house"

"I.... Yesterday was hard to digest but now, I don't know..... Things feel a little lighter than before... You know what the funny thing is..." she chucked dryly before continuing, "my heart already forgave the bastard. Sorry for using this language, but...... I didn't know the asshole meant so much to me until everything ended", she completed her monologue wiping off a single tear which managed to escape. 

"Hmm...", his dad was still listening hoping she would share more, but she stopped with that. 

"So... What next?", he asked calmly.

"I'm okay... As I said.... not completely okay, but I'm fine.... I just.... I want to understand how Dhruv did it. I know, it'll be more painful. But I know you'd have already found out everything that happened. So, I've been meaning to meet you since yesterday.", she accepted.

"I should add. I'm still not ready to come to office, but, if it's possible, can you please tell me what exactly happened? it'll be helpful", she saw his father expectantly to know what he thought. 

"Hmm... I can't do that", he rejected immediately. Riya saw him wide eyed. Why not? she thought but before she could ask him, he spoke.

"I want you to rest today.... Whatever it is, we'll discuss tomorrow. You took good rest, that's fine. But, I also want you to eat properly.", he said. 

"I'm fine.... Dad", Riya protested.

"If you do as I say, tomorrow, I'll tell you everything. But you need to promise me to be a good girl", he warned like she was still a small kid. Although in his eyes, she was still a little kid, and it was impossible for him to see her any differently. 

"Fine", she grudgingly accepted. But she knew internally that she wasn't in a good mental position to know anything more right now, so it was better to listen to her father.  She sighed reflecting upon her current situation, which definitely needed improvement. 

Her father left saying, "Tomorrow, then!", leaving things hanging.