Pretend It Never Happened (Short Story)

 

Title: Pretend It Never Happened


The Past
It was the night before graduation.
The campus was lit with fairy lights, laughter echoing through the air. Amid celebration, two people hid their chaos behind fake smiles.

Aditi and Aditya — batchmates, rivals in class, friends in denial. A single bottle of wine. A rooftop. A truth neither had dared to speak aloud.

That night, everything blurred — the stars, the silence, the space between them.

And the next morning… he was gone.

No note. No explanation.

Just a message on her phone.

“Let’s pretend it never happened.”

The Present
Five years later, Aditi walks into Rajvansh Corp for her new role in Corporate Strategy.

Her heart nearly stops when she hears the name:
Aditya Rajvansh — CEO.

She braces herself… but when she enters his office, he looks up from his laptop and says, coolly:

“Welcome to the team, Ms. Mehra. Hope you enjoy working here.”

No flicker of recognition.
No emotion.
Not even a crack in his carefully constructed mask.

Fine. If he wanted to pretend, she could too.

The Business Trip
A week later, the two are assigned to a week-long investor summit in Goa. Just the two of them.

Late nights, tight deadlines, seaside views—
And the one room between them in the overbooked resort.

“I’ll take the couch,” he offers flatly.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not here for round two,” she shoots back.

But neither of them sleeps much.

Memories creep in, uninvited.
A brush of hands over a conference file.
Lingering stares during dinner.
Unspoken apologies in the moonlight.

The Confrontation
One night, after a long client dinner, they walk along the shore.

“Why are you still pretending?” she asks quietly.

He stops.

“Because if I remember it… I’ll never forget it. And I’ll never forgive myself.”

“You left me with silence, Aditya.”
“I left because I felt something. And I wasn’t ready to feel it.”
“And now?”
“Now I feel it every time I see you.”

The wind hushes. The sea listens. The night waits.

The Ending
The next morning, she wakes to find a coffee on her nightstand and a handwritten note:

“Let’s stop pretending. When we return… let’s begin again.”
— A.

She closes her eyes.

Maybe this time…
They won’t pretend.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unspoken Sparks - Chapter 6 (Last Episode)

  Chapter 6: The Confession & The New Beginning The tension in Raychand Industries had reached its limit. Rumors swirled. Whispers about Aditya and Aditi grew louder. Some speculated. Some envied. But Aditi stayed focused, as always—poised, distant, dedicated. Except now, her heart wasn't as quiet as her face. And neither was Aditya’s. He saw her in everything. In every decision. Every plan. Every moment of silence. Her absence made the air feel heavier. Her presence? Like calm fire. He had denied it for weeks. But now… he couldn’t anymore. That Friday Evening – Office Rooftop Aditi had just wrapped up late-night reporting. The office was nearly empty, and the city lights sparkled in the distance. She stepped out to the rooftop for a breath of air. What she didn’t expect… was him. Aditya stood there, sleeves rolled up, no phone in hand—for once. Just… waiting. He turned as she approached. “You’re still here?” she asked. “I was waiting for you,” he said softly....
Read more

🖤 The Monster Inside Me 🖤 - Chapter 5 (Second Last) [“He thought he was a monster—until she looked into his darkness and chose to stay.”]

  Chapter 5: The Monster’s Voice Silence. That’s what Aditi chose after walking out of Aditya’s penthouse. Not the dramatic kind. The real kind — the kind that hurts more than any scream could. No calls. No messages. No replies. Nothing. And Aditya… he let her go. Not because he didn’t want her. But because he wasn’t sure he deserved her. It had been four days. Four long, echoing, manuscript-free days. Aditya sat in his study, the room heavy with memories and ghosts that had grown louder since Aditi left. Her absence was not quiet — it thundered in every corner she used to sit, in every coffee cup that remained untouched. So he did what he had always done with pain. He wrote. But this time, it wasn’t a book. It was a letter. A manuscript with no chapters, no structure, no edits. Just a title: “The Girl Who Dared to Touch the Monster” 📓 Excerpts from the letter: “I never told you, Aditi, but your voice made the screaming inside me quieter.” “You didn’t...
Read more

🖤 The Monster Inside Me 🖤 - Chapter 6 (Last) [“He thought he was a monster—until she looked into his darkness and chose to stay.”]

  Chapter 6: Our Monsters Can Coexist Final Chapter Healing isn’t a sunrise. It’s a dim lightbulb that flickers. A hallway that echoes with memories. A slow dance with shadows that sometimes lead, sometimes follow. But when Aditi and Aditya began again — this time, it wasn’t about fixing each other. It was about accepting that maybe... they were never broken to begin with. Just bruised . And still beautiful. 🌅 One Month Later: Aditi moved into Aditya’s penthouse — not because she needed a place, but because he needed her in his. It wasn’t romance that brought her there. It was presence . Some mornings were silent — both typing, heads down, coffee cups clinking now and then. Other days were stormy — Aditya still woke up drenched in nightmares, still sat at the piano with eyes closed, fingers trembling. But now, when he broke... She was there to hold him. Not to fix. Just to hold. 🛋️ Their Therapist Asked Once: “How do you define your relationship?” Aditi...
Read more