Chapter 14

Chapter #13

She heard the door open, the familiar voice resonating through the hall as Naomi approached, and closed her eyes in relief. Finally the wait was over. Beside her Nanhe too had stirred, the faintest glimmer of hope entering his eyes. Daadi rose and moved to intercept the pair as they entered the room. Greeting them both with a smile, she gave her excuses and pulled Naomi aside. There, the two women had a hushed conversation. Naomi looked over to where Kabir sat, and then turned her head towards the second floor. She nodded , and then dashed upstairs.

She opened the nursery door, not sure what to expect.

"Did you enjoy your outing Naomi?"

Naomi surveyed the room quickly before she answered; the closet, doors ajar, now empty, the packed suitcases... the book leaning askew against the wall opposite her friend. "Yes, actually I had a really good time. It was nice to go back to SVC; it brought back memories."

Rachna looked up from her laptop, "And how about today, did you make any new memories?"

Naomi smiled, "What exactly are you asking Rachna?"

"I just want you to be happy again."

"And one outing is going to accomplish this, Ra?"

"It could be the beginning of your happiness."

"True it could. I really did enjoy myself."

Rachna smiled and went back to whatever she was busy with on her laptop. After a while she spoke.

"So you really think we could have the website updated with the launch images in a few days for certain, Naomi?"

"Yes it can definitely be done, I can't see any issues. Obviously your input would be useful and help the process along, so if your schedule allows it, then yes we can get it done relatively quickly."

Rachna nodded, "I'll make the time. Afterwards, I wonder if you would help me scope out some studio space." She turned her computer around to Naomi, "I don't think anything too large will be required. What do you think of this space?"

"You have a perfectly good studio here at home, Ra. Why do you want take on the extra expense of maintaining another studio, not to mention the commute time?"

"I'm hoping that I will find a place close enough to the studio, so hopefully that won't be an issue either."

"Ah, so you're looking for somewhere to live as well as studio space. Okay I understand now."

Naomi reached out and took the laptop out of her friends trembling hands. She turned away to rest it down and then returned to see Rachna silently weeping.

"I don't want to be here anymore."

Naomi motioned to Aryia's packed belongings, "And Aryia is in agreement then? She is content to be separated from her family?"

"Oh she's easily replaceable. She can leave and this room could be filled the same day, I'm sure she wouldn't even be missed, KT's son can move right in."

"KT's what!"

Kabir had never doubted Naomi's friendship, but never had it been tested by such a crisis. He would be naive not to think that given the situation that it was very possible that the young woman wouldn't side with his devastated wife, and lead the charge for her to walk away. As ever Daadi insisted that Naomi would be more of a help than a hindrance; that although she had been Rachna's friend first, that she cared for both of them equally. And then there was Aryia. They all knew Naomi would walk through fire for the baby she considered her own, and would put her well-being above all things. She would, Daadi had insisted, realize that Aryia needed to be with her family. She would convince Rachna to stay.

But Daadi hadn't seen Rachna's devastation or her cold rage. When Kabir had attended the nursery to inform her that he had scheduled an appointment with their lawyer for the next morning, he had not expected to find her calmly packing their child's belongings. She had thanked him and continued with her task. That she wanted to be prepared to leave in an instant told him all he needed to know. Her forgiving him wasn't even a possibility. She had refused to engage him in further conversation other than to ask that he made sure that Naomi came to her as soon as she got in. He looked up toward the second floor praying that their "Pari" would be able to work some magic for them.

Naomi felt physically sick; she really felt like she was going to throw up. Daadi had only told her that they had fought and that Rachna was very upset and wanted to see her. She wiped at her tears, and looked over to Aryia who thankfully was sleeping through the chaos surrounding her. She knew that she had to do right by her baby, and now knowing the full extent of the problem at least she had an idea how to proceed. She took a deep breath, and held her friend's hands.

"Okay, we can't do anything about what has already happened, but tell me why Sonal is doing this? What do you think she ultimately hopes to achieve by doing this?"

Rachna snorted, "Ultimately? I wouldn't be surprised if the devious bitch isn't already planning on getting rid of me and getting her claws back into KT again. She's probably already including Aryia as part of the package deal."

"So are you purposely looking to help her along?" Naomi said indicating the suitcases. She continued before Rachna could speak, "Look I know you are hurt, that you probably think you hate him right now, but until you decide that you don't want him, that there is no other choice but leaving, why do you want to weaken your position already? This very reaction is probably what she was counting on, don't give it to her."

"I can't have that woman anywhere near my child."

"Ra, that's what lawyers are for, they're sneaky like that, go get the opinion, I'm sure there's a way to avoid that. Look you've beat her at her game before so you know how she operates. Plus she doesn't know you have a Pari in your corner now. I'm here for you guys; I meant what I said about protecting our baby. But Ra, even that won't help if you and KT don't put up a united front; you will weaken your position if you leave now."

Rachna closed her eyes and exhaled shakily. She nodded.

"Okay, can we unpack these cases now; you've put the fear of God into your husband by doing this."

She didn't respond, but proceeded in un-packing with Naomi's help. It took some time, but, finally, everything was set back to rights.

"Okay, that's better. Now Ra, these can't stay here. I don't want you 'panic packing' again, okay?"

Rachna nodded. She watched her friend zip close the cases and prepare to remove them. At the last minute she called to her. "Take that back to him, I don't want it in here."

Naomi looked at her sadly, "Come on Ra..."

"I don't want it in here."

In the still of the house, the sound of the rollaway suitcases got everyone's attention and they all turned to see Naomi pulling them while balancing the package under her arm. Daadi gasped and put her hand to her mouth, her eyes instantly filling with tears. Kabir raced up the stairs his heart protesting what he was seeing. He looked at her tear-ravaged face and when she started shaking her head, he wanted to die.

"It's not what you think; they're empty. You just need to pack them away where she won't have easy access to them for now."

Pulled into the unexpected bear hug, Naomi struggled for breath amidst KT's profuse words of thanks. Luckily he soon realized his error and released her. When he did, the package she held clattered to the floor. He looked down at it and then back to Naomi. Easily recognizable, his confusion lay in why Naomi had it. Her voice cracking she answered his unasked query, "I'm sure that she will want it again one day, but you need to pack this away as well."

He shook his head in denial, "I can't."

"It's just a book, KT. Lord Khadoos and the Princess Next Door is forever imprinted on her heart. I'm sure she will want it back soon."

Naomi watched KT walk away, his hands laden and then sat on the top stair and began crying her eyes out for her friends' plight. When she felt the arm around her, she immediately turned to lean on the sturdy shoulder, staying there until she was back in control. Rajeev helped her up and walked her to her bedroom. He raised her face and wiped away the last of her tears. She sent him a teary smile of thanks.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded and then glanced at his track jacket, "Oh God, your jacket, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it." He hesitated before continuing "Look it's more than apparent that Kabir and Rachna are facing some challenges, so I think perhaps I should leave as not to add to their burden."

Naomi shook her head, tears threatening again, "No, please don't ... you can't leave me now."

"No?"

"If nothing else you owe me six more days, so you have to stay at least for that length of time."

Rajeev nodded, cursing that her whole-hearted acceptance had come at the expense of their friends.

"You are absolutely correct in both of your assumptions, Mrs. Tripathi. The wording of the suit can be interpreted thus. There is no legal obligation provided for the mother of Mr. Tripathi's son to have any access to your daughter. However this can be countered that neither are you to have access to the minor boy either. You suggestion that the interaction of the siblings to be supervised either by their mutual parent, in this case Mr. Tripathi, or by a third party is more than acceptable. Likewise, it can be agreed that since that access request has been made of Mr. Tripathi, there is no reason why your stipulation that the access location be determined by the father, primarily at your home. Your specification that your daughter's nanny to supervise the sibling visits not overseen by their father will be detailed in the response. This will satisfy the issue of you having no interaction with the minor child. Now as it pertains to the frequency of the visits..."

Rachna interjected, "My only concern is the expectation of the visits; are the sibling visits expected to be over and above the parental visits? Ideally I would prefer them to occur concurrently, however the choice for him to see his son on an individual basis, over and above what is required, I leave entirely up to him."

Kabir closed his eyes, not knowing how they would ever get pass where they were right now. Even their lawyer had paused, the vitriolic tone of his client unknown from such an affable young woman. He cleared his throat before continuing, addressing Kabir directly, as they worked find a resolution to the disaster the young man had caused to befall his family.

[NOCOPY]

crtkelly2016-05-22 04:41:21