Page 310 - The World's Best Boyfriend

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A couple of weeks had passed since Dhruv had heard Aranya and Raghuvir

grunting over the phone and it still played in crystal-clear sounds in his ears.
That day Dhruv lay on the floor, his phone a few feet away, moaning with a
hangover. Last night, like many nights before, he had had a little too much to
drink. His head felt like it would implode. Being an alcoholic is tough in the

mornings, he had realized that by now. He wondered how Dad did it day after
day, year after year.

Every morning, like this one, he would promise himself to not drink again but
as evening approached the pain would become too much and he would
inevitably reach for the bottle. There was only so much time you could spend at
the gym.

The emptiness of the hostel had started to get to him. The vacant walls were
like a projector screen with a movie playing on it, one where Aranya and

Raghuvir fucked each other like rabbits.
There were times, more often when he was drunk, when he gave in to the
temptation. He would call Ritika and ask her to come over. She would say yes.
But the next morning he would call her and ask her to stay put. This continued

till she was irritated and tired of being played around with. Dhruv was now far
gone. She knew that.

Dhruv’s phone rang. It must be Sanchit again to ask if he was alive. He
crawled towards the phone. It stopped ringing by the time he reached it.
Still on the floor, he opened the last few mails from Aranya and read them

again.

From: aranyagupta@gmail.com
To: royDhruv@gmail.com
Subject: Oops.

Hi Dhruv,
Hope you’re having a great morning. I know I am.