42

                                    

                                          
It was 1am, and Katrina, Alia and Jacqueline were still awake, talking in their suite's living room, as Katrina stood up and walked towards the balcony - overlooking the backyard of the hotel - when she saw a figure sitting by the pool.
"Adi is here, I'm gonna go talk to him." Katrina turned back to the girls, as she recognized the person outside.
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea.." Jacqueline trailed off, worried about both her brother and best friend.
"But I have to talk to him, we can't just ignore this as if nothing ever happened and then later on, start avoiding one another." Katrina reasoned.
"She's right, Jacques." Alia nodded, "They have to talk things through, and the sooner it is, the better. If they decide to stay friends, good. If not, and one of them doesn't wanna talk to the other anymore, they should talk and hear what each one of them has to say."
"Yeah, you're right, I guess." Jacqueline agreed with Alia before getting up to stand in front of Katrina, "But remember, Kat. I'm with you no matter what. I mean, yeah, Adi's my brother. I'm not gonna forget about him or anything. But you've been my best friend for years, and I won't be upset with your or stop talking to you just because of this."
"Thanks, Jacques." Katrina smiled sadly at her before pulling her into a hug.
"Good luck!" Alia gave her a thumbs up as she pulled away from Jacqueline and started walking out.
"Thanks Alu." Katrina sent her a flying kiss before she was out of the room and the suite, making her way to the elevator, down to the ground floor, and outside through the back doors towards the pool where Aditya was sitting on one of the chairs.
"Can we talk?" Katrina spoke up after a few seconds.
Aditya - recognizing the voice - scooted a little bit to the side - without saying anything - motioning for her to take a seat next to him.
"Can you... uh.. explain to me how this happened?" Katrina started talking, nervous about the whole situation.
A few minutes passed, none of them uttering a word, to the point that Katrina thought that he wasn't going to answer her question.
"I'm gonna tell you everything, but please don't interrupt me until I finish.." Aditya pleaded and Katrina nodded motioning for him to go on, which he did as he turned to look the other way, "Anyway, 2 years ago, give or take, everything started. We've known each other for more than 13 years and we were so so close, you and I. I started feelings things I'd never felt before. My heart would go crazy whenever I saw you. If you were around, the smile would never leave my face. And if I was in a bad mood, I'd cheer up the moment I lay eyes on you. I thought it was just a stupid crush and that I'd forget about it before I even knew it. But then I started thinking about you non-stop and I'd see your face whenever I closed my eyes.. I thought a lot about it and I was about to go crazy, so I just went and talked to Sid. Not like I had anyone else to talk to, Varun wasn't even in India around that time. So Sid told me that it was love after he heard the whole story. I kinda knew it deep down, even before I talked to him, but I just didn't want to accept because I was scared. Not just because of the fact that I'd never been in love before, but also because I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to risk our friendship and I never planned on telling you. However, though, I guess I risked it after all."
"But what I don't get is, you've never showed us that you were serious about someone or that you wanted a real relationship. You'd always be with a different girl every week." Katrina voiced her thoughts.
"Yeah, I know, everyone thinks that I'm done kind of a womanizer. I think I did most of it because I wanted you to be jealous, it's stupid I know. And you've never really felt anything because you only consider me a friend." Aditya chuckled humorlessly.
"Listen, Adi. I really love you so much, and our friendship is way more important to me than anything else in this world. I've known you for years whereas I've known Ranbir just for a couple months. You've always been one of my best friends and I don't want to lose you or out friendship over a relationship that hasn't even lasted for a whole 2 weeks. I care about you more than I do about Ranbir, that's for sure. And if you, for any reason, don't want me to be with him or if you don't like him and you don't see him good for me, I would break up with him. Really, I would. I just don't want to lose you." Katrina placed a hand on Aditya's shoulder, looking at him.
"I'm really flattered that you care about me that much and that you're willing to take my opinion in consideration when it comes to your relationship with him, but I would never steal away your happiness just for the sake of mine. I can't make you do that, knowing that you'd be sad, just so that I can live happily. There's no need for you to break up with him, don't lose your boyfriend because of me." Aditya turned to look at her, a sad small smile on his face.
"But I don't want to lose my best friend either.." Katrina trailed off, her eyebrows furrowed.
"You won't lose me, I assure you. I'll always be there for you if you need me, and I'll always have your back. If anything bothers you, don't ever hesitate to come tell me about it." Aditya placed his hand on top of hers, "Just keep in mind that I love you so much and that I'll never forget about you." He leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead before standing up and walking away, not glancing back once.
... To be continued