Mariam jerked away and slapped Divya hard & said, - "What the hell is this behaviour? What are you doing? Is this how you pay someone for their help?" in a disappointed tone.

Feeling ashamed and guilty instantly Divya tried her best to calm herself down. It was her fault, she shouldn't have kissed Mariam without her consent or at least confessing to her first, but wait didn't Mariam also reciprocate her kiss, or was that her imagination?

She doesn't have much time for thinking, She saw Mariam already walking back to her car, Shit! shit! What have she done? Mariam was here helping her and instead of being grateful she ruined whatever little chemistry they were growing, she has to solve it all- Divya thought and ran towards Mariam.

Catching up to her Divya stopped her pulling her hand and said I am really sorry, I was out of my mind at that moment, Can you please forgive me? I shouldn't have done it without your concent. And no that's not how I treat people for helping me. Please forgive me this one time, I won't do the same mistake again.

Mariam was hurt and confused but still thought to forgive Divya as she knew Divya was in a very bad mood a few moments ago, she didn't wanna throw her back to that.

She let Divya drive her back to her home, the ride was silent as none of them said anything. Before getting out of the car Mariam asked Divya, " tell me one thing, why would you kiss me?

Divya with a proud face - Because I felt like it. I don't have time to explain more. As its already 8 and I have to go to the party.

Mariams mood instantly changed from shocked to anger to worry and she asked Divya, " Can you really handle it??"

Divya - Yes I can, because after today I know I am not alone.

Mariam smiled at that forgetting her previous anger.

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Mariams Pov:

As she was washing her face she looked at her lips and remembered how soft Divya's lips were and how heavenly she felt at that moment, without her knowing, she touched her lips with the tip of her index finger while looking at the mirror.

After a minute or two she came back to reality and started thinking what is she doing? She is not into girls, she has never been and she can never be, it's strictly prohibited and a huge sin in her religion, she isn't even allowed to date a guy let alone a girl.

She was anxious and afraid of these strange feelings growing and this inner turmoil, she knew she had to limit her interactions with Divya. As she somewhere feels like she has also started liking Divya.

Divya's Pov:

This was the first time she didn't feel bad going to the party, she actually enjoyed the party, and every now and then she blushed remembering the kiss, this was the best night and no one could ruin it. After coming home she thought she would confess to Mariam soon. And slept with a happy face.

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The days after that night weren't as good as Divya thought, Mariam started ignoring her at the office and didn't even talk to her or reply to her texts or calls. Divya started to grow more anxious with the fear of losing Mariam each passing day, she even said sorry for her actions million times in her texts but Mariam didn't reply to even one.

It was Friday evening, Divya thought she would talk to Mariam today by hook or by crook. She left office earlier, and waited for Mariam at the office gate.

Once she saw Mariam she grabbed her right hand and pulled her towards her car. Mariam was resisting her but Divya wasn't in a mood to hear anything today. And making her seated in the car Divya started driving at a high speed.

Mariam stared telling her to lower her speed. But Divya didn't listen to her and took Mariam near a cliff and stopped the car.

Mariam - What are you doing? What had gotten into you? You were going to kill us or what??

Divya - What am I doing?? Really? Are you asking me that? You are not talking to me at the office, not even looking in my direction, or receiving any of my texts, or calls, what do you suppose me to do?

Mariam was silent and not looking at Divya's direction.

Divya - Look at me, you can't avoid me anymore. See Mariam I did a mistake but I am really sorry for that, I said it thousand times that I won't repeat the mistake again. Give me a chance at least. I am dying without talking to you.

Mariam said in a disgusted tone, " because you kissed me, why would you kiss me huh, isn't kissing your boyfriend Sanjeet enough for you??"

Divya was hurt hearing all this still she didn't want to lose Mariam thus paused and Said taking a deep breath, " I did it because I like you, I like you so much since the day I met you, You have messed my head, I have met so many people in my life but trust me I have never been this much attracted to anyone else as you, you don't know how much I tried to avoid you or avoid this feeling but day by day its getting stronger & out of my control, What I did that day was just a small demonstration of my inner turmoil, I don't know what happened to me at that moment that I lost my control over me, but trust me whenever I see you this is the first thing is wanna do, I just want you close to me, its not like I want your physical touch, even your soul being close to me is enough for me. Passing this one week without talking to you have been killing me from inside, as if I am on some deserted Island with no water to drink or food to eat, and the only hope keeping me alive is once I get out of this Island I will be able to see you.

Mariam was flabbergasted with the confession but still hold her ground and said " What are you saying? We both are girls, how can you like me? " in a demeaning tone.

Divya's heart was getting deep wounds from Mariam's tone, still she tried to make Mariam understand her feelings saying - "liking someone has nothing to do with gender, its the soul we fall for, No one cares for me the way you care for me and on our little interactions I felt you also feel the same for me, Don't you?, haven't you felt the spark between us Mariam?? "

Mariam said- there may be some misunderstanding, I do like you, but as my friend only, I have never seen you as anything other than a friend, and I am not like you"

Listening to this Divya felt like her world shattered in front of her eyes. All this time she has mistaken Mariam's friendship as her love, what was she thinking? The hurt was clearly visible in Divya's face. Mariam felt bad for being the reason of Divya's pain, but she had nothing to do.

Divya was silent for a minute after hearing that and then said, aah its ok, just because I like you doesn't means you have to like me back as well with a fake smile. And added, at least we can be friends like we used to be right?

Mariam hesitantly replied - Yes, we can be. (Knowing if she said no it will totally break Divya, that was clearly visible how fragile Divya had become in this one week, by the way she was being fully unguarded in front of her)

Hearing this Divya said, "Thank god. I can finally take a breath of relief now, lets go back it's getting too late".

After dropping Mariam at her house Divya sped away to her apartment, reaching there she closed the door and went to the room equipped with workout tools and started throwing punches on the punching bag to release her anger.

She was angry with herself. How the hell she had mistaken, Mariam is straight and what was she thinking all this time, was it all made up by her mind only? How can she make such a big mistake.

After a few more punches she collapsed on the ground holding her face, tears she tried to prevent so hard was flowing now recklessly. And she started crying out loud, why does it always happen to her? Why does nobody loves her? Love? Nobody even likes her, in case of other people she isn't even bothered but Mariam not liking her back is hurting like hell. Divya hugged her knees and continued crying thinking she isn't lovable until she lost her consciousness.

Even Mariam was a crying mess that night, she never wanted to hurt Divya, but today she had hurt her intentionally, that was too much to bear, she was also sobbing all night untill she had fallen asleep.

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As we know by newtons 3rd law, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction ", so was happening after that night. Both of them tried to act normal, but they were not, none of them were at peace, one from hurting and another being hurt. They were talking to each other but their hearts seemed to drift apart. The way their stars collided seemed to uncollide on their own, or maybe it was the preparation of a bigger collision who knows..

Divya started to spend more time in work and the rest in Sanjeet's cabin as he was her only friend. And here Mariam was getting jealous watching Divya being close to Sanjeet.

She occasionally watched them chatting and laughing together, and one day she even saw them hugging, now it was time for Mariam's heart to to get wounded, she thought, "was it all a lie? A few days ago Divya said she can't live without me, then how is she living now? With the help of Sanjeet? , how could she do that?"

Then again she can't ask Divya as she said she is not interested in Divya, so whatever she does Mariam has no right to question now. Thus being sad from far is all she could do.

Divya being Divya never stopped helping Mariam whenever she needed, but after that day she never tried to get close to Mariam, as she didn't want Mariam to be disgusted by her, the look and tone of disgust is still new in her memory which she tries to forget but can't.

Days passed like this, from outside Divya looked strong but her inside was broken beyond repair.

Mariam was also no better, though they talked frequently on work and stuff but she is also missing the deep bond they had grown which is lost and she is afraid they are never going to get back.