Chapter 47

44. Smoke and Mirrors

‘You invited her, Bhabhi?!’ Maanvi joined Rimjhim and Ragini who had been discussing Tejas a few moments ago. ‘You invited Ahilya? How could you?’

Put in a spot, Rimjhim fidgeted uneasily. ‘She was voted as the Secretary of the Pal Foundation. If I had not invited her, she would have taken it as a slight, Maanvi. Then, I have to work with her for next two years. I had no option.’

‘It is true Maanvi Di,’ Ragini spoke up for her sister in law. ‘Even though Ahilya lacks pedigree, she has money and over the years have acquired positions. We cannot ostracize her for her choice of lifestyle.’

‘I do not care what she does. I just want him away from my gullible husband.’

Neither Rimjhim nor Ragini corrected her on her assessment of her own husband. 

‘You know Bhabhi how sentimental he is. He has a poet’s soul. These women are always taking advantage of him.’

Rimjhim and Ragini nodded in response. 

‘He is very different from all of us. Has a delicate nature. He likes to discuss ideas, plays, poems. He has such a different way of looking at the world. I don’t get him sometimes. I am not enough and so his innocent, passionate self looks elsewhere to discuss and women...and men,’ she added for her own benefit, ‘out there take advantage of him.’

‘It is a cruel world,’ Ragini said for a lack of better response.

‘Only last month a young woman, he was texting her as a research for his new novel and she went on to dinners and spent his money lavishly, and once they had some altercation, she invited him to an isolated place, she accused him of having predatory thoughts, of taking advantage of her. He told me all about it. I asked him to use me as a research sample. But you know, in intellect, I am no match to his.’

‘Why do you think so, Maanvi? You are one bright and witty woman.’ Rimjhim encouraged.

‘I am not. I am not like you all.’ Her gaze move around the room and landed on her nemesis. ‘Bhabhii, is that Vaibhav Bhaiya, Ahilya is talking to. Be alert, okay?’

XxxxX

‘Your bindi is tilted. May I?’

It was? But she had checked herself in a small mirror at the entrance gate itself before entering the house.

Before she could say anything, he had already leaned into her, fixing the small adhesive stone. Then his fingers gently removed the few blowing tendrils off her face. 

She thought she heard him murmur something like ‘Perfect’ before had stepped back.

He was focusing on her with an unnerving immediacy - as if everything else had faded and only she existed - putting her stomach in a delicious roil. 

She took in the trees and its fiery branches, the various bushes and shrubberies blazing in different colours. The waterfall in the middle of the lawn that had been dry last time, the showers from it danced in various colours.

The atmosphere around them crackled with warmth just as her own nerves did with his gaze that lingered on her skin.

 ‘I have something to show you,’ he said.

‘What?’ She glanced back at him. He was wearing a dark - at first she thought it was black in colour but under the light it looked like it was dark blue - silk kurta over a white shalwar. And Kolhapri chappals.

The dark of his top highlighted his skin color. The evening shadow of stubble gave him a mature air. 

Then there was that carefully donned couldn’t care less attitude about own’s looks - a pretension that added to his desirability.

‘You will have to wait for it.’

‘It is a surprise?’

‘Kind of.’

‘You seem to be very different today.’ She commented. They walked across the lawn slowly. 

‘Different as in?‘

‘I don’t know. More playful?’ Outright flirtatious, she wanted to say.

‘I am not being playful. I am very sincere. I have…’ He was going to speak more but to her disappointment, he received a call. 

‘I will be there, yes.’ Keeping away his phone, he turned towards her and said, ‘I will have to leave. But wait around here for me, will you?’

She nodded wordlessly. She didn’t want him to leave. She was liking this Nishit. His attentions.

He turned and strode off, his subtle cologne lingering in the air.

XxxX

The preparations were appreciable.The foyer had been decorated with imported flowers in pink and white. Outside at the gate, there was a security force to regulate the flow of vehicles and guests and maintain general law and order. The whirrs and clicks of cameras was abundant at the doors as the journalists had not been allowed in. 

Guests were elegantly dressed. She could see brilliant dresses and long tailing sarees around. Men either in tuxedos or keeping the spirit of the occasion in traditional ethnic wear.

The guy standing a few feet away from her was an exception. A loose grey Kurta over his bony figure paired with jeans and loafers. Hair and beard both unkempt.

She must have been staring for he looked at her, his eyes boring into her. She looked away immediately. Then looked back again, stealthily. She didn’t know why but she found him an interesting character study. To pass time, she wondered about his profession. He looked like those NGO workers. Raanjhanaa movie’s Abhay Deol types but with a less impressive face and body or he must one of those righteous journalists working in newspapers that had self important names like Jansatta or Rashtriya Sangram. 

This time when he caught her, he elevated his left eyebrow and she flushed red in embarrassment.

The waiter who was going about offering drinks and snacks bypassed Kirti and she couldn’t help but feel if it was a slight. Or why would he offer to everyone in her vicinity and leave out her and...that grey Kurta guy. In that she felt a moment of camaraderie with that guy who seemed quite unbothered. 

As it is, she needed all her courage to stand in this sea of unfamiliar faces and wait, when in the hearts of hearts she felt out of place here; insults like this gave an unwelcome feeling. Could even the waiter tell the difference between her and the people here?

Well even if she was, he had the duty to serve her and everyone else without any personal bias.

‘Here,’ she stopped the waiter when he returned with another set of delicacies. ‘You forgot me the last time.’ She added. 

‘Sorry Ma’am.’ Perhaps he was just being absent minded. Perhaps there was nothing to do with bias and class and clothes. Perhaps her jagged feathers were too easily ruffled.

‘You missed him too,’ she pointed to the Kurta guy. 

When the guy was proffered a foreign dish, he shook his head in denial. The waiter told him something and he looked in the direction of Kirti.

She smiled uncertainly. 

He accepted it, then walking towards her said, ‘Hardiik, with a double i’

Kirti nodded and remained quite wondering in her foolish emotional oneness, she had invited a stranger’s attentions. What if he was a creep or thought that she was passing advances at him?

He continued to wait. For an acknowledgement?

‘Nice name?’ She said, regretting her impulsive action every second.

‘What is yours?’ He asked.

‘Mine. My name?’

He nodded patiently.

‘My name is...Ur...Urmi.’

‘Urmii?’ He repeated, looking at her quizzically.

‘Hmm Urmi. With a single i.’

‘Cool’ 

Before she could add that she had a husband - for precautionary measures - he had moved on, dumping the starter dish in a nearby bin.

Sighing that she had escaped by a narrow margin, she tasted her dish and immediately looked for a bin. The foreign dish was not to her taste buds.

On her phone, she had received a link from Shruti. It was an appeal to retweet about releasing SSC JE results. She had a twitter account only active for nudging the government examination bodies. Tweeting and retweeting, she logged out from her account.

Then she waited for Nishit. 

In equal parts of hope and anticipation, she waited for him. 

He did come but not to her. 

She saw him mingle with guests and thought he must be busy but felt restlessness akin to deep longing in her heart. He did not even look towards her and she felt odd and lonely.

As she followed him with her eyes, someone came and slid their hand around her shoulders.

‘Hello Tejas,’ she tried moving away from him.

‘You did not tell me you were invited too?’ He asked. ‘Who invited you? Nishit?’

‘And Prasanna.’

‘A few days I am off the screen and you two become fast friends? What? Could not fight off his charm?’ His tone was acerbic and accusing.

‘How are you feeling today?’ Kirti asked, taking his outburst as one of his mood swings. 

‘Fantastic. In fact I have never felt better than before. By the way, my prophecy turned true.’

‘What prophecy?’

‘Do you see Mithila here today? No, right? Because she has been dumped. You know who’s the new item here? No points for guessing.’

Her skin freezing with helplessness, Kirti realized she had totally forgotten about Mithila when they had been flirting back there. And what did Tejas meant by new item? No, he must have misunderstood. Nishit would not...he would never…

‘Must be your misunderstanding, Tejas.’

‘Is it? Or maybe it is you who’s being bluffed. I have a small theory, Kirti. I will share it with you. But want to see something? Come,’ he pulled her inside.

The lights inside were blinding.The chandeliers, the tall candle stands all of it dazzled, reflected by the long columns of mirrors. She had never been to this interior part of the house where long winded stairs took one to secret places. Her entry had only been to the kids’ rooms in the past. 

Since then there had been a few renovations.

The hum of noises of the crowd made blood rush to her ears as she spotted the two - Sana and Nishit laughing together - and realized what Tejas had wanted to show her.

Nishit had asked her to wait. She thought he was busy with his guests. This was the guest he was busy with?!

‘Told you!’ Tejas whispered into her eyes. 

Speechless, she only stood looking at them as their chemistry leaked through smiles, nods and comments. 

For a minute, she felt Nishit's eyes pause at her, his gaze hard and belonging to that of a stranger. 

She would have stumbled back with the force, if not for Tejas whose arms went around her. ‘But you know what Kirti? I don’t care anymore. I am done with these two.’ He turned her to face himself, his arms still around her. ‘I have you. Come,’ he caught hold of her hand and took her to terrace.Standing very close to her, he prattled on but she didn’t listen to a word.

She wanted to go home, Where was her brother? 

Tejas must have noticed her disinterest and changed the topic.

‘I have something to show you. Come.’

‘I don’t want to. It’s getting late. I want to go home.’

‘Just this one thing. Come, just for me.’

He took her to a circular glass balcony. 

‘What is it?’ She did not know why he had brought her to this secluded part of the house.

‘See there,’ he turned her around and asked her to face the sky.

A few seconds later, a rocket burst in the sky lighting it with millions of tiny coloured stars. 3...2..1...people counted as fireworks filled and lighted the sky. 

The enchanting sky for a few moments erased all her hurt and pain.

She felt an arm snake around her, a hot breath brush her ears, ‘It’s magnificent, isn’t it? Remember, we had watched a Japanese movie and you’d said, it would be nice to watch fireworks like these.’

His arm feeling like a heavy serpent siting on her shoulder, she removed it off herself as politely as she could. But felt herself turned around. Tejas stood before her, his back to the open balcony. 

‘Kirti, why are you shying away from me?’ He asked, tenderly removing the tendrils of hair off her face.

She felt cornered and uncomfortable. 

‘Tejas, I need to go find my brother.’

He cut her way. ‘I am not stopping you but...have I done something wrong? Why are so flighty around me? That day also you left. Then never called. Today also…’Her eyes not meeting his, they darted all around and landed on the window of the room of other wing. Someone had been standing there and had stepped back before her eyes could land on them. The curtains still fluttered.

He had closed the distance between them and bile began to rise in her throat. Touching her cheeks, he said, ‘Only we get each other don’t we?’ She slapped his hand away. 

‘I said I want to go find my brother.’ She realised she had screamed.

Tejas stepped back stunned. Raising his two hands in the air, he raked them through his hair. ‘Fine. No need to shout.’

‘Any problem?’ Someone had stepped inside the balcony. It was the guy with a double ‘i’.

‘No problem. Mind your own business,’ Tejas spat out. ‘Why are you here?’ he said irreverently. ‘Guests aren’t allowed in this part of the house.’

‘Is it? I saw you here and thought otherwise. Or is it your house? Then focusing on the woman,‘Are you ok?’ 

She nodded her head. Then wondered if this man was following her. Filled with dread and insecurity even with her best friend of years standing next to her, she dialed her brother’s number. He wasn’t picking up her call. She dialed Prasanna next. None of them received her call.

She hadn’t seen them the entire time.

‘Tejas, did you see my brother? He was with Prasanna.’

‘Prasanna usually takes off to her room. She must be there.’

‘Where is her room? Take me to her.’ 

Hardiik who was standing at the door of the balcony gave her a wide berth. She couldn’t help but whisper a thank you as she passed him.

XxxX

As she followed Tejas to Prasanna’s quarters, began to hear physical noises and groans - one of which belonged to her brother. She looked at Tejas and he looked equally puzzled. Picking up pace, she rushed to the door from where the noise was coming and flung it open.

The sight that met her eyes had her blood drying in her veins. 

She found the two men caught in a scuffle. Nishit was bent over her brother and was smashing his fist into her brother’s face. Biplab was trying to get up the bed but his movements were sloppy and he was no match to his superior and certainly in practice counterpart.

‘NISHIT! Nishiiit!!! Leave him...leave my brother…’ She pulled at his hands, but her fingers slipped down his silky kurta. ‘Are you listening? Leave him.’ She tried pushing him off her brother but in vain. It was like he was possessed.

'Ask him what is he doing in my sister’s bedroom? When the party was going downstairs.  What was he doing eating my sister’s mouth?!’

‘Nishit, please...you are hurting him. Will you kill him?’ She tried to shake him off. Why was Tejas not doing anything? Tejas, she turned to him, who stood still shocked and it was then he got into action. 

‘Nishit? NISHIT! Leave him. What madness is this?’ He with force was able to ease off Nishit from her brother, who coughed restlessly when the heavy weight lifted off him, pleading his innocence between the coughs.

‘Stay out of my business, okay?’ Nishit had now charged himself on Tejas. ‘STAY OUT OF IT.’ 

She picked Biplab up from the bed and rearranging his hair and clothes. And was filled with hot rage when she saw the damage Nishit had done - the bruised face and busted lips.

When she turned to him, he was even attacking Tejas who was making no move to defend himself. She threw herself in between them, defending Tejas.

‘What do you think of yourself?’ She pushed his chest. ‘Who are you to dole out punishments? Huh?’ She pushed at his chest again. He moved not an inch. Only a pulse ticked in his jaw. ‘So you saw my brother kissing your sister. So what? What gives you the right to hit him?’ Another push. ‘Did he force her? Did you ask your sister?’ She was breathing heavily. ‘Where is your sister? Where?’ Her eyes darted across the room and found the girl.

‘Did my brother force you? How can you sit and cry there with your face covered while my brother gets physically abused here. You, bloody coward!’

‘Kirti,’ Nishit stepped dangerously close to her. ‘Not a word against my sister.’

‘Why? Kyun na bolun? You both are cut out of the same cloth. Manipulative, selfish both of you!!! First she flirted with and lured my brother here and when things got out of control, started crying blaming it all on my brother. Your sister is a scheming bit…’ He held her wrist in a vise grip and said through his gritted teeth, ‘Not a word against my sister. Or I wil…’ 

‘Or you will what? Physically hurt me? Then try me? You think only you have fists?’ and she fisted her hands and attacked his chest. Repeatedly. 

He caught hold of her other wrist as well and she was brought closer to his chest in one move. Nostrils flaring and chest heaving, she met his hateful gaze with an equally scorching eyes.

Tejas and her brother were on her side immediately. 

‘Leave Kirti,’ Tejas said fiercely. ‘Nishit, I said let her free. Free her hand.’

‘I won’t. What will you do?’ Freeing her one hand, the other still in his grasp, he used his free hand to keep Tejas at bay.

‘Oh my God! What are you people doing?’ Sana rushed from the door to Nishit. ‘Nishit, what’s going on?’ She took in the two men - Nishit and Tejas - in a staring down match.

‘Omg. Nishit, you are hurting a woman? Leave her, Nishit. This isn’t you. You are hurting her,’ she cooed in his ears. Her hands covering his arms. ‘There are people downstairs. Suppose this reaches uncle and aunty. God forbid, your Dadu and Nanu. Tejas,what are you doing?'

With a nauseating feeling, Kirti watched  better sense return to the two men as Sana’s voice worked like magic and in that moment she realised. That she never existed for these two men. It had all been in her head. The attraction, the friendship - all one sided.

It was a game between these three and sometimes they used her as a pawn to draw each others' attention. It had been same in the past.

‘If you don’t let my sister go, I am going to knock you dead with this vase.’ 

The vase in his hand was heavy metal and Biplab looked really serious and the flare in Nishit’s eyes told Kirti that he had taken it as a challenge.

Not wishing blood on the hands of her brother, she bit on Nishit's hands hard and freed herself.

‘Let’s go, Biplab' she pulled the vase from his hand and threw it over the bed.

‘Thank you for your grand hospitality, Nishit. I will never forget this welcome. Thank you, Tejas.’ Her voice trembled as she picked up her clutch from the ground.

‘Yes, leave. And tell your brother to never cross his line again. And ask your brother to use the straight method instead of looking shortcuts to climb the ladder.’

Kirti felt physically sick. Her entire self trembling. She wanted out of this place. She couldn’t breathe anymore of this cool rarefied air. She did not see if her brother was following her and ran down the corridor. 

‘Kirti, listen...listen…’ Tejas had followed her. He was turning her. Asking after her. Making apologies for his cousin.

‘You’re no different,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what you had in mind. But you had every intention of using you me for your benefit. I don’t know maybe you did too.’ And she turned away.

At the door she collided with someone. She did not know. Her vision was hazy.

Biplab was following her when someone called him from behind. 

‘Hello. Mister. Mister’ He turned.

‘Your beau dropped this. Ah, got into a fist fight did you? Always happens. Hahahah. Rush now, she was in a bad state.’ He accepted the clutch from the woman and rushed outside.

Hardiik who had, with a bated breath, watch all of the drama play out before his eyes murmured. ‘House of Lac, indeed.’

XxxX

The humid air outside was freeing. Kirti pulled a lungful of them and then breathed out.

‘Di…’ Biplab was next to her.

She stalled his explanation with her hand. ‘Not now.’

They hailed a taxi and once packed inside and off towards home, she let the tears flow while looking outside at the moving world. The blowing air took care of the drying.

XxxX

‘What’s wrong? Your call was so out of blue, I couldn’t help but get worried.’ Mayank launched a diatribe as soon as they stepped inside his one room rented flat. ‘What happened to Biplab? Got into a fight?’

‘Don’t ask anything, Mayank. Just bring a first aid box if you have one.’ Kirti said, coiling her hair into a tight bun.

‘The washbasin is there,’he directed.

‘Thanks,’ she replied., walking to the wash basin to wash her face. To Biplab who stood like a guilty child in a corner, she lashed out, ‘What are you doing there? Come and clean your face.’

‘No first aid to speak of.I have dettol and BoroPlus...and cotton wicks. Will it do?’

Kirti gave him a disappointed look but even this much at a Bachelor’s place, she should be grateful. Mayank shared this flat with two others, friends from his theater field.

He came back with the dettol and cotton wicks and she muttered a soft thank you as she accepted them from him.

‘Come here,’ she ordered her brother who was avoiding her eyes.

‘Tea anybody?’ Mayank had picked on the tension. ‘I will make it for you.’ He tried giving them privacy which must have been a foreign concept to the architect of the house because with the kitchen and bathroom right in the room, there was nowhere to move away.

‘Aaah Di,’ Biplab winced as she ran the dettol soaked cotton over his bruises. She felt her heart wince in response and fill with tenderness as she looked at his face. Their eyes met and he held her gaze to convince her of his innocence.

‘I did not do anything wrong, Di,’ He whispered, looking in the direction of Mayank. Finding him turned away from them, he continued, ‘ I...she initiated the kiss. I was taken by surprise at first and... then kinda... got lost in it.’ His voice was low and wavered. It was embarrassing and uncomfortable for both of them to discuss a matter that should have been a private affair between the two involved individuals. ‘Then Nishit came and misunderstood the whole situation.’

‘Now, you understand why I was against them. Now you know that social divide is not in my head. That you cannot just wish it away? Had our parents or we had the same social standing as theirs, do you think they would have had the gall to humiliate us like they did today?’ She swallowed the lump clogging her throat and held back her tears.

Biplab had no answers. He had himself been shocked and deeply hurt. He could understand where Nishit was coming from when he had hit him. But the poisonous words afterwards and the way he had behaved with Kirti had been uncalled for and in doing so Nishit had crossed a line. Prasanna’s silence had stung. 

Biplab was disappointed. Disappointed with the world and himself. In how he had been instrumental in bringing his sister shame. His motives, his upbringing - everything  had been questioned. 

He would never forget the humiliation and would neither let Prasanna forget it.

‘Stay the night here. Dadi if she sees you in this state, she will really be hurt.’

‘Mayank,’ she called out. Mayank who was trying hard to be invisible returned back, ‘Yes?’

‘Can he spend the night here?’

‘Sure!’

XxxX

‘Are you back Kirti? Where’s Biplab?’

‘He met some of his old school friends Dadi. Said he would be spending the night there.’

‘Oh. Did you eat or should I go warm up the food?’

‘Nah, I am full. Is your head hurting?’ Karuna had a cloth tied around her head. ‘Did you take any medicine?’

‘I have taken everything but nothing is helping,’ she groaned in pain. The Adhikaris had called. The boy, Kranti Adhikari, had turned down the alliance. He was looking for a girl who has graduated from premier institutes like IITs or NITs and who was presently working in MNCs. He himself was a NIT Tiruchirappalli product.

Karuna had been disturbed since then. Too preoccupied with her own humiliation and pain, she did not notice Kirti’s pale face.

‘Let me change and I will press your head.’ 

In her room, Kirti while removing her earrings, hair clips and makeup, coursing her hands down her hair, she stared at herself for long in the mirror.

Then changing into a night wear she switched off the lights and went to her grandmother.

There she found tears leaking from the eyes of her grandmother. It immediately made her alert.

‘What is wrong, Dadi? Is your head hurting too much? Let’s go to hospital.’

Karuna was inconsolable. Fat tears began flow wordlessly. Then she began to apologize. ‘I am sorry, I could not give you the life you deserved. I could not send you to a good college. Now any undeserving guy thinks he can reject you. I am sorry, child. I am sorry.’ A distraught Karuna was  scared for Kirti’s future. 

‘What has gotten into you, Dadi?’ She only got bits and pieces of their conversation and could not connect dots.

After she had put a whimpering grandma to sleep, Kirti sat in the living room for long. She had never been suffused with this intense loneliness and heartache.

XxxX

‘The party went smoothly.’ Rimjhim commented, coming out of the restroom.

‘What’s going on between Nishit and Sana?’ Her husband asked abruptly. ‘Why were they glued together all evening? That girl, what is her name...what happened to her?’

‘Which girl?’ Rimjhim walked to the dressing closet and pulled out her jewelry box, keeping away her ornaments.

‘Who has been visiting our home with Chiku. Short girl, curly hair.’ Vaibhav said, settling back into the softness of the pillows. Riimjhim switched off the lights leaving on only the dim lamp above the dressing table.

‘Mithila’

‘Yes, she was not there.’

‘And he spent the entire evening glued to Sana.’ He showed his displeasure.

‘They are childhood friends, Vaibhav,’ she waved off his concern in the air. In reality she was concerned herself. She would tell Nishit to not come between Sana and Tejas. She wondered what went on in her son’s mind. The day he had hit puberty she had stopped getting him. All these years away from home had changed him for worse. Imbued in western culture through and through he was. She was unable to wrap her mind around what she got to hear about his dating life.

‘Better they be friends only. I don’t want unnecessary drama between the boys over a girl. Which reminds me where did they all disappear? After a point of time I could not see any of them.’

‘I did not see them as well. I wanted to introduce Nishit to some of my colleagues.’ 

‘Remember the girl that used to come to our home with Tejas. I saw her as well. Was she invited?’ 

‘Who?’

‘The one who used to go to the same school as our boys. She was very good friends with Tej. Tall and shy. Always stood in a corner observing everything quietly.’

‘Kirti? Yes, Prasanna and Nishit both wanted her so I could not say no. Why are you asking?’

‘Nothing. Just saw her and was wondering if she was the same girl? What is she doing these days?’

‘Don’t know. I remember Tejas having told me she was doing some Polytechnic course after that I have no idea. Why are you asking?’

‘She had no mother and her father also had passed away so tragically. I was just wondering what became of her.’ He did not tell her that tonight the girl had collided with Vishesh, his father-in-law on her way out. They had been returning after seeing off an important guest. The girl had been very nervous and had a tear streaked face. At that time he had wondered if someone had misbehaved with her. Then with an onslaught of guests, had forgotten about her completely. The thought of it assailed his conscience. 

The thought that if a police case happens, his family and house would be embroiled in it as well was also burdening. But the entire place was under cameras, anything like that would have alerted the security.

‘Nothing grand I suppose by the looks of it.’

‘What?’ He had forgotten the thread of conversation they were following.

‘Her career did not turn out very well it seems. She still has that diffident, inferior air about her. I had hoped one day she would grow out of it.’ The first thing that the girl should do is stop trying to pretend she was one with the likes of her children. Running behind my boys would only bring her shame and heartache, Rimjhim thought as she massaged her face with an expensive lotion. 

Life spent in reducing disparities but they never seem to end... how sad...she sighed and felt a pity bubble in her heart for those who were not as privileged as her. 

Then another thought struck her.

‘Vaibhav were you again arguing with that Ahilya?’

‘Rimjhim, I do not seek her. She only came and started talking about my book. You know how it is. Once someone starts quoting and disagreeing with my views, I cannot stop myself.’

‘I wonder if she ever read your book.’

‘Oh, she has. I hate to accept it but she is well read.’

‘Maanvi said that your annoyance is just a pretense when in reality you find arguing with her stimulating. It is your attraction that you are trying to mask with these verbal sparrings.’ Rimjhim said as a matter of fact, capping the natural under eye cream tube.

‘If Maanvi were so intelligent, her own husband wouldn’t be looking elsewhere for... what did she say ‘verbal sparring’!’

‘His cheating is her fault?’

‘I am not saying that but you have to accept that she’s pea brained. Ask her to stop spending money on those Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and read some real books. Mine for example but that would be too advanced for her.’

‘Vaibhav that is unkind. She’s your sister in law. You cannot judge her for her reading choices.’

‘If I see bare torso and cleavage as novel covers and titles like Howlers in Heat, I think I can judge her as harshly as I want to.’

‘When did you come across such a novel?’

‘I was at their place and she did not realise she had left it on the ottoman. I am guessing it was a mistake or no person with a modicum of modesty would leave it out there in the open.’ 

Rimjhim chuckled. ‘You should have sampled a chapter and tried to write something like that.’

‘Yes and would dedicate it to Maanvi.’

‘And Ahilya. I am sure trashy novels like these are her inspiration.’

‘I can’t believe you even fell for Maanvi’s words. I cannot stand Ahilya for more than two minutes. She gets on my nerves.’  

‘You were so enraptured with her when I looked your way.’

‘Just like you were with Dharmesh when I looked your way. Stay away from that man, how many times have I told you.’

‘I was just being polite. He’s our son’s boss now.’

‘And I regret that severely.’ Changing the topic he said, ‘I dreamt of Babuji last night. Let’s go visit Maa tomorrow and try to convince her to move back.’’

‘Hmm. Let’s do that.’ Rimjhim was already thinking about the meetings she would have to cancel.

XxxX

His head throbbing painfully, Nishit switched off the lights and laid down on his bed. Trying to sleep, he tossed and turned restlessly in the bed. It seems Ms.Lokhande had no chill even after a party that had gone beyond one am. She was playing music and singing along at the top of her voice. And the choice of the song…

A man opened the door when Nishit pressed the bell of Lokhande’s flat. He remembered being introduced to him. Had also seen him around Kirti tonight.

‘Can you please lower the volume, I am trying to sleep.’ 

‘Will not,’ was the response. 

By then Ms.Lokhande had walked to the door as well in revealing lingerie. The man changed positions blocking Nishit’s view to her revealed parts.

‘I will if you come and share a drink with me.’ She purred, pushing the man out of her way.

‘I am already battling a hangover. You look like you could use some sleep too.’

‘Come on. Be a sport. Just one drink.’

He sighed and walked back to his apartment - to his bed -  as the song continued to play in the next house.

‘Mere naseeb mein tu hai ki nahin…

Tere naseeb mein main hoon ki nahin…’

[MEMBERSONLY]