Chapter 14
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Chapter 28- Getting Over It
"Oye, kitni baar bolu? Get off of each other!" Niharika shouted.
"Nihu, one last rematch." Ishaan said, holding Vedant in a headlock. He held his arms down by stepping on them.
"Bhai! Let go of my boyfriend right now!" She yelled.
Ishaan let go. Vedant pounced on him and his knee twisted around Ishaan's neck awkwardly. "Hey! Break it up, boys!" She broke them apart, standing between them.
"Who won?" She asked, amused.
"Uh…" Ishaan started.
"Da**." Vedant scratched his head.
"We lost count." Ishaan laughed and high-fived Vedant. They chuckled together like long-lost friends reunited after ages.
"Dude, let's go out for pizza." Ishaan said.
"Cool." Vedant said, grabbing his coat. Ishaan grabbed his keys and Vedant followed him out. The door slammed shut. Niharika stood wide-eyed; she waited for three minutes before the door opened again. Vedant walked in. "I am so sorry." He put a coat on her, "C'mon." She sat in the car, confused and amazed as the two guys in the front seats talked about…everything and anything they could think of.
"Guys…?" Niharika started.
"Yeah?" They both answered at once.
"Never mind." Niharika brushed the thought off. They ate pizza and Niharika ate in silence.
"Nihu!" Ishaan snapped her out of it.
"What?"
"Why are you so quiet?" Vedant asked.
"Because you guys are freaking me out." She said, chewing on the rubbery crust.
"How?" Vedant asked, flicking off an olive from his slice.
"You're all buddy-buddy…it's weird." She shuddered.
"You didn't like it when we hated each other and now we're friends and you find it weird." Ishaan asked. Niharika nodded.
"Your sister is psycho." Vedant said.
"Your girlfriend is psycho." Ishaan laughed.
"I'm not psycho. I want to go home." She grumbled.
"She's whiny." Vedant complained. Ishaan nodded sympathetically.
"Okay, you guys gotta stop that." Niharika said.
"What?" Ishaan asked, taking a slice of pizza off of Niharika's plate. She shot him an angry glance.
"Stop collaborating to find things wrong with me!" Niharika shouted, the whole parlor stared at her. She smiled sarcastically and rolled her eyes, "Show's over guys." Everyone returned to their respective businesses in moments.
"She's so weird." Vedant rolled his eyes. Ishaan nodded again. The two laughed at the mockery. Niharika smiled again, holding up the car keys.
"You two Buddies can find your own way home." She rolled her eyes and drove home.
Upon returning home, Niharika dropped to sleep on the couch only to wake on hearing a woman's voice. It was speakerphone, Suhani talking to Ishaan? What the heck?
"Bhai, what's going on?" She asked groggily.
"Suhani called, she wanted to talk to you." Ishaan replied.
"And YOU talked to her?" She asked, scratching her head. He nodded.
"She was worried, but wouldn't tell me what's wrong. We talked for a while." He mumbled, pretending to do something else.
"A while? Try two and a half hours." Vedant laughed, Ishaan shot him an angry glance. Niharika sat, still lost.
"You and Hani talked?" She asked unbelieving, Ishaan shrugged. "So? Your boyfriend was out that whole time with his long lost lover." He laughed.
"Dude, she's my friend." Vedant glared at him. "I ran into her at the pizza place after you left. We hung out for a while…" His voice trailed off into a mumble.
Niharika raised an eyebrow and was about to ask a question before a tall, brown-eyed girl came out of her room in her bath robe, drenched in water.
"Vedu, where are your towels, yaar?" She asked, flipping her hair, forcing water onto Niharika's angry face.
"They're in my room." Vedant gulped.
"Behind the bed? Cuz there's like nothing back there." She laughed. She turned to Niharika, "Oh hi, you must be Vedant's friend. I'm…"
"Ana. My friend, Ana." Vedant interrupted. "Anyways, the towels are in the closet in my room." She smiled happily, "Okay. I'll look for them." She walked away.
"Who the he** was that?!" Niharika shouted.
"Ana." Ishaan said amused.
"Shut up, no one asked you. Suhani lover." She glared at him, he glared back. Niharika moved her glare back to Vedant.
"Like he said, Ana." Vedant said simply.
"And since when am I your friend?" Niharika asked, throwing her hands in the air dramatically.
"You are my friend, a type of friend…girlfriend?" Vedant asked, smirking. Niharika bit back a smile.
"You cannot smile your way out of everything! Why was she taking a shower in my house?!" Niharika shouted again.
"Whoa lady, this is MY house." Ishaan argued. Niharika glared again.
"I cook, I clean, I pay…this is MY house." Ishaan quickly shut up.
"Niharika, I've known Ana my whole life. Like seriously, we've known each other since we were 1…"
Niharika rolled her eyes. "And she's in college here. I haven't talked to her in months. When I found her in the pizza parlor, I was so excited I brought her here."
"She's taking a shower here." Niharika said, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, a bubble bath. But there's a good reason. I spilled V8 Fusion all over her. I didn't want her to smell like tomato juice so I told her she could." He smiled pulling her into a hug.
"Hands off her now." Ishaan said, glaring at Vedant. Vedant let go, instantly. Ana came out again.
"How do I look?" She said. She was wearing Vedant's jeans and a wife-beater. It was sickening how good she looked in his clothes.
"Sexy. You look better in my clothes." Vedant laughed. Niharika glared. Ishaan couldn't any more angry glances. He knew his sister, if she wasn't pleased quick, she would kill someone and he didn't want that someone to be him.
Quickly he said, "I don't think we've all had a proper introduction. I'm Ishaan, Niharika's brother. This is my sister, Niharika, Vedant's girlfriend."
Happily, Ana stuck her hand out to shake Niharika's hand. "Vedu has always had very good taste." Niharika smiled appreciatively. "I know, hence, I'm here." Ana laughed in agreement.
She shook Ishaan's hand, and he avoided eye contact. Her hair brushed against his hand. He pulled his hand back. "I'm tired," He said, sighing fakely. "I'm going to take a nap." He headed toward the room. Niharika followed him.
"Bhai…" She teased.
"Kya hai?" He said irritated.
She smiled mischievously, "You like her."
"I like Suhani." He said, firmly looking at her.
"Bhai, Hani's WAY out of your league. Ask HER out." She pointed out to Ana.
"So she'll be off your boyfriend. You think I'm dumb?" Niharika nodded.
"Niharika ki bachi." He said, about to smack her, Ana walked in. She stared down most of the time.
"Um, Vedant wanted to know…um….uff, I forgot." She said, cursing herself, trying not to look at Ishaan.
Niharika smiled. "Guys, I'm gonna go ask Vedant what he wanted, you guys talk." The two looked at her wide-eyed.
"What? No." Ishaan cursed Niharika under his breath. She waved and walked out to Vedant.
"Hey you mad?" He asked, holding her waist from behind, kissing behind her ear.
"No, this is hilarious." Niharika said, laughing. Turning around, she put her arms around his neck.
"How so?" He asked, interested. Niharika raised an eyebrow and gestured to the room. She winked and laughed.
"I'm confused."
"Ana and Ishaan." She said laughing. Vedant joined the laughter.
"She said he was cute." Vedant added. Niharika chuckled.
"It's cute how shy they are around each other." Vedant nodded in agreement. He got a questioning look on his face, "We were never like that, were we?"
"No way, we went running then we kissed then you followed me here, you scared the crap outa me."
"Cuz I wouldn't stop kissing you?" He asked amused. Niharika nodded. He pecked her on the lips, "Can you blame me?" She giggled as red took over her cheeks.
"Oh…my…god." He said, taken aback. Stepping away from her, he gasped.
"What?" She asked, concerned.
"You blushed."
"I don't blush." She said, defensively. He grinned, "Really?"
"Vedant, don't you dare…." She stepped backwards, "come near me…" She stepped farther, he walked toward her grinning evilly. "Vedant." She turned and ran, Vedant chasing her all throughout the house. They ran everywhere, except the room which both knew was occupied. Niharika carried herself quicker and more gracefully than Vedant, so naturally she won…or was the first to give up. After a good half an hour of chasing, Niharika finally collapsed onto the floor laughing. Vedant fell atop her, also chuckling.
"Vedant…" She said, laughing. He moved his gaze to her. She was still comfortable. "Okay Mr. Romantic, let's check on those people of ours. We don't know what they're doing."
"Knowing Ana, probably not much." Vedant stated.
"Knowing Ishaan, probably more than we want to know…" Niharika said, half disgusted.
"Our little Ishaan, a player?" Vedant said amused.
"More than you'll ever know. Don't go by his little innocent disguise. He's the devil himself." Niharika said, cleaning up the mess in the living room.
"Hmmm, interesting character this brother of yours. I think we can become great friends." Vedant laughed.
"I wish I could say the same bout Ana." Niharika said, throwing a coat over Vedant's head. He pulled the coat off his head, "You gotta admit, she does look da** hot in my clothes." Niharika smiled sarcastically, "Of course she does. I'm sure you'll look great in hers
too."
"A little touchy, are we?" Vedant asked. Niharika rolled her eyes. She walked to the room to a find a very awkward Ishaan and Ana sitting there.
"I can't believe you…" She said quietly.
"I can't believe you!" Ishaan exclaimed. He looked mad, what had happened in an hour that the two who didn't even know each other were mad at each other?
"I can't believe you…" Ana said near tears. Ishaan sighed, putting his arm around her.
"I didn't mean to yell at you but that was a long, long time ago."
"So? I'm still really sorry about it, it was my fault." She said, crying.
"No, it wasn't…." He put his arm around her. He kissed the side of her face. He kissed her? What was her fault? Niharika realized whatever they were talking about was not her business, and seeing all the amounts of counseling she had been through she knew it was something Ana needed to sort herself.
"Hey listen." Ishaan said, holding onto her comfortably. "I don't want you talking about death anymore. Your too damn smart, too strong, too brave for it."
"Brave." Ana laughed sarcastically.
"Shut up, Ana. You ARE brave. You…are amazing." He said, rubbing her shoulder.
"You're great at what you do." Ana smiled.
"Whatever Ana, I don't care about what I do. THAT has got to stop…" He pointed to a sweatband on her wrist. Oh god, Niharika thought. The thought made her sick. She was sick to her stomach.
Why, she thought to herself. Her life was always surrounded by death, by suicide, by people like this. Everyone goes through difficult times, why did people choose to deal with it in this manner? She held her head, she was literally feeling sick. The image of her dead mother flashed through her head. Why was it that she couldn't remember her face but she could remember her dead body so vividly? She could remember her slitting her wrist in such detail, she remembered the mark it left on that dead, unmoving body that was her mother. She remembered the black-blue marks it left on that cold, white body. How it had been so cleverly covered with the white shroud at her last rites.
How could Ishaan deal with such people? Because he hadn't seen their mom the way she had. Broken, crying, killing herself. Niharika felt tears. Tears? Is that what they were? She didn't remember how to cry.
Slowly, she walked back and fell to the sofa. Vedant raised an eyebrow at her when she began sobbing loud and hard. Vedant was terrible at consoling people that cried, he always had been, especially in the cases where he didn't know the reason of the person's tears. He sat there, and rubbed her back. Quietly he managed to say, "What's wrong?"
"Ana…her…her arm…" Niharika said, not sure exactly how to phrase what was wrong. She wasn't exactly sure why she was crying.
"Oh. You don't know who she is, do you?" Vedant asked. Niharika looked up and shook her head.
"Ana Raichand. Her older sister was…"
"Urvashi Raichand?" Niharika managed breathlessly, he nodded. Urvashi Raichand, older daughter of the elite Raichand family. A disappointment to society, she was a drunk. Charged with drunk driving, she was currently serving jail time for manslaughter and second degree murder. She had run over a few children who slept on the footpath. It was amusing almost how the poor aren't ever seen by the upper class. Here was another example.
"But why does she….I don't understand." She cried.
"She thinks she could've…stopped her sister that night. There was a reason she left to go home alone, drunk. It's their personal matter."
"Ana thinks its her fault?" He nodded. "But its not." Niharika stated. She thought of the sweatband. "And the…the…" She couldn't manage to say the word without the day of the funeral passing through her mind. She sobbed harder.
"That. She doesn't know how to deal with stress."
"I'm sure she doesn't…" Niharika said. "I don't get it Vedant, why do people do that?"
"Because not everyone can handle things like you do. Not many are as strong as you." Strong? Niharika mused, ignorant was more the word. The way she handled things was pushing them aside and pretending they never happened. Confrontation was minimal in her case.
"I'm not strong. I don't understand why can't people just…" There was a long pause. "Get over it?" It sounded so cruel, like she was downsizing every problem in the world, but even she hadn't gotten "over it."
"Moving on isn't that simple," Vedant said, sounding distant. "I know."
"What?" Niharika asked. Vedant looked like a sad deer caught in the headlights; he hadn't expected Niharika to ask for an explanation to his words. She had caught him off guard.
"My mom." he said, simply. "She acts like my dad will come home any day now. Even though it's been like…8 years now?" Vedant stared down, almost laughing. "He's moved on, she hasn't…she should though, right?" He looked up at her. He had caught her off guard now.
"Moving on isn't that simple." She echoed back to him. He nodded.
"Stuff like this really bothers you?" Vedant asked, trying to comprehend why she was crying.
"Yeah…" She said, trying to stop the massive flow of tears.
"Um…because of your mom?" Vedant stared down again, he asked in almost a whisper. She nodded.
"She killed herself in our kitchen…" She started. "I still don't know why. She was a free spirit Bhai says. She couldn't be limited into four walls. That's what we did though. It was in our kitchen," She cried. She started laughing then in tears, "And then dad remodeled the whole house, thinking I wouldn't notice. He thought changing just the kitchen would be too obvious. It sucks." She cried again. "Maa spent so much time decorating the house just the way she wanted. And Dad changed it all."
"It's foreign now, isn't it?" Vedant asked.
"I guess. But for the longest time, my dad wouldn't let me into the kitchen alone…I think he thought that I was going to follow in her footsteps or something. Eventually, I took over the house and he stopped
caring."
"Following in her footsteps," Vedant chuckled. "It's a good thing we don't follow in our parents footsteps."
"Yeah." She agrees.
"I'd be walking out on every relationship that means anything to me."
"I'd be dead." Niharika stated, wide-eyed.
"Niharika." Ishaan stood behind her. How long had he stood there?
"Bhai. Since when have you been…?"
"I've listened long enough to know that I agree with you two. Papa doesn't really have footsteps to follow in…" He started, wiping Niharika's tears.
"You'd grow up to be a man that cares about no one and nothing." She said.
"Or I could be that." Ishaan laughed. She started crying again, she hugged her brother and cried.
"Hey…kya hua?"
"Bhai…you remember when Maa…?"
"Died?" He said, quite simply.
"Yeah. You remember how?"
"She cut herself…" Ishaan said gently. Wondering if she heard, he looked to Niharika.
"In the kitchen, she was standing right above the sink. With the meat knife….straight up her arm, " She motioned from her wrist up. It was well-known, that was the quickest way. Messy, but quick. Everyone knew if you followed the vein, you bled out quicker. She sobbed hard, like a child after a shot.
"Oh beta, you were there, weren't you?" Ishaan asked, when she cried on him. She nodded, years and years later she would hopefully get all the tears out.
"You were a kid, beta. There's nothing you could have done to change it."
"I know, but she's gone." Niharika cried. "I don't remember her…" She said eyes bloodshot.
"Neither do I, but we still love her. We can't change that."
"I know….Ishaan, how do you deal with people like that?" She said, glancing to the room where she knew
Ana sat.
"Well, she thinks those people died because of her. This is her weird way of saying sorry. People express how they feel differently…"
"I know, you sound like Dr. Hedge." She said, rolling her eyes.
"She couldn't be THAT bad."
"You're right, out of the fifteen shrinks I went through, she was the only one that gave a da**."
"Fifteen shrinks?" Vedant asked, wide-eyed. Niharika shot him and angry glance and he quickly shut up. Niharika was insecure about all the counseling her father made her attempt, but it mostly consisted of her sitting in a room with a shrink, arm crossed refusing to say anything. The introduction speech went something like this, "Hi. I'm Niharika. If you want to get paid at the end of the hour, sit and don't talk to me. Understood?"
The first fourteen usually had one session and then advised her father to take her to someone hardier. Finally, he found Dr. Neha Hedge who had managed to talk to Niharika enough to prepare a report on her. It was sad really, her father needed a report to tell him what she could have told him had he simply asked. She was stubborn; she took after him in that matter. She was reckless and intuitive. She wasn't the type to listen to others, unless she cared about them deep enough.
"I want to talk to Ana." Niharika said firmly.
"No Niharika…" Ishaan and Vedant started before they realized Niharika was already in the room.
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"Oye, kitni baar bolu? Get off of each other!" Niharika shouted.
"Nihu, one last rematch." Ishaan said, holding Vedant in a headlock. He held his arms down by stepping on them.
"Bhai! Let go of my boyfriend right now!" She yelled.
Ishaan let go. Vedant pounced on him and his knee twisted around Ishaan's neck awkwardly. "Hey! Break it up, boys!" She broke them apart, standing between them.
"Who won?" She asked, amused.
"Uh…" Ishaan started.
"Da**." Vedant scratched his head.
"We lost count." Ishaan laughed and high-fived Vedant. They chuckled together like long-lost friends reunited after ages.
"Dude, let's go out for pizza." Ishaan said.
"Cool." Vedant said, grabbing his coat. Ishaan grabbed his keys and Vedant followed him out. The door slammed shut. Niharika stood wide-eyed; she waited for three minutes before the door opened again. Vedant walked in. "I am so sorry." He put a coat on her, "C'mon." She sat in the car, confused and amazed as the two guys in the front seats talked about…everything and anything they could think of.
"Guys…?" Niharika started.
"Yeah?" They both answered at once.
"Never mind." Niharika brushed the thought off. They ate pizza and Niharika ate in silence.
"Nihu!" Ishaan snapped her out of it.
"What?"
"Why are you so quiet?" Vedant asked.
"Because you guys are freaking me out." She said, chewing on the rubbery crust.
"How?" Vedant asked, flicking off an olive from his slice.
"You're all buddy-buddy…it's weird." She shuddered.
"You didn't like it when we hated each other and now we're friends and you find it weird." Ishaan asked. Niharika nodded.
"Your sister is psycho." Vedant said.
"Your girlfriend is psycho." Ishaan laughed.
"I'm not psycho. I want to go home." She grumbled.
"She's whiny." Vedant complained. Ishaan nodded sympathetically.
"Okay, you guys gotta stop that." Niharika said.
"What?" Ishaan asked, taking a slice of pizza off of Niharika's plate. She shot him an angry glance.
"Stop collaborating to find things wrong with me!" Niharika shouted, the whole parlor stared at her. She smiled sarcastically and rolled her eyes, "Show's over guys." Everyone returned to their respective businesses in moments.
"She's so weird." Vedant rolled his eyes. Ishaan nodded again. The two laughed at the mockery. Niharika smiled again, holding up the car keys.
"You two Buddies can find your own way home." She rolled her eyes and drove home.
Upon returning home, Niharika dropped to sleep on the couch only to wake on hearing a woman's voice. It was speakerphone, Suhani talking to Ishaan? What the heck?
"Bhai, what's going on?" She asked groggily.
"Suhani called, she wanted to talk to you." Ishaan replied.
"And YOU talked to her?" She asked, scratching her head. He nodded.
"She was worried, but wouldn't tell me what's wrong. We talked for a while." He mumbled, pretending to do something else.
"A while? Try two and a half hours." Vedant laughed, Ishaan shot him an angry glance. Niharika sat, still lost.
"You and Hani talked?" She asked unbelieving, Ishaan shrugged. "So? Your boyfriend was out that whole time with his long lost lover." He laughed.
"Dude, she's my friend." Vedant glared at him. "I ran into her at the pizza place after you left. We hung out for a while…" His voice trailed off into a mumble.
Niharika raised an eyebrow and was about to ask a question before a tall, brown-eyed girl came out of her room in her bath robe, drenched in water.
"Vedu, where are your towels, yaar?" She asked, flipping her hair, forcing water onto Niharika's angry face.
"They're in my room." Vedant gulped.
"Behind the bed? Cuz there's like nothing back there." She laughed. She turned to Niharika, "Oh hi, you must be Vedant's friend. I'm…"
"Ana. My friend, Ana." Vedant interrupted. "Anyways, the towels are in the closet in my room." She smiled happily, "Okay. I'll look for them." She walked away.
"Who the he** was that?!" Niharika shouted.
"Ana." Ishaan said amused.
"Shut up, no one asked you. Suhani lover." She glared at him, he glared back. Niharika moved her glare back to Vedant.
"Like he said, Ana." Vedant said simply.
"And since when am I your friend?" Niharika asked, throwing her hands in the air dramatically.
"You are my friend, a type of friend…girlfriend?" Vedant asked, smirking. Niharika bit back a smile.
"You cannot smile your way out of everything! Why was she taking a shower in my house?!" Niharika shouted again.
"Whoa lady, this is MY house." Ishaan argued. Niharika glared again.
"I cook, I clean, I pay…this is MY house." Ishaan quickly shut up.
"Niharika, I've known Ana my whole life. Like seriously, we've known each other since we were 1…"
Niharika rolled her eyes. "And she's in college here. I haven't talked to her in months. When I found her in the pizza parlor, I was so excited I brought her here."
"She's taking a shower here." Niharika said, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, a bubble bath. But there's a good reason. I spilled V8 Fusion all over her. I didn't want her to smell like tomato juice so I told her she could." He smiled pulling her into a hug.
"Hands off her now." Ishaan said, glaring at Vedant. Vedant let go, instantly. Ana came out again.
"How do I look?" She said. She was wearing Vedant's jeans and a wife-beater. It was sickening how good she looked in his clothes.
"Sexy. You look better in my clothes." Vedant laughed. Niharika glared. Ishaan couldn't any more angry glances. He knew his sister, if she wasn't pleased quick, she would kill someone and he didn't want that someone to be him.
Quickly he said, "I don't think we've all had a proper introduction. I'm Ishaan, Niharika's brother. This is my sister, Niharika, Vedant's girlfriend."
Happily, Ana stuck her hand out to shake Niharika's hand. "Vedu has always had very good taste." Niharika smiled appreciatively. "I know, hence, I'm here." Ana laughed in agreement.
She shook Ishaan's hand, and he avoided eye contact. Her hair brushed against his hand. He pulled his hand back. "I'm tired," He said, sighing fakely. "I'm going to take a nap." He headed toward the room. Niharika followed him.
"Bhai…" She teased.
"Kya hai?" He said irritated.
She smiled mischievously, "You like her."
"I like Suhani." He said, firmly looking at her.
"Bhai, Hani's WAY out of your league. Ask HER out." She pointed out to Ana.
"So she'll be off your boyfriend. You think I'm dumb?" Niharika nodded.
"Niharika ki bachi." He said, about to smack her, Ana walked in. She stared down most of the time.
"Um, Vedant wanted to know…um….uff, I forgot." She said, cursing herself, trying not to look at Ishaan.
Niharika smiled. "Guys, I'm gonna go ask Vedant what he wanted, you guys talk." The two looked at her wide-eyed.
"What? No." Ishaan cursed Niharika under his breath. She waved and walked out to Vedant.
"Hey you mad?" He asked, holding her waist from behind, kissing behind her ear.
"No, this is hilarious." Niharika said, laughing. Turning around, she put her arms around his neck.
"How so?" He asked, interested. Niharika raised an eyebrow and gestured to the room. She winked and laughed.
"I'm confused."
"Ana and Ishaan." She said laughing. Vedant joined the laughter.
"She said he was cute." Vedant added. Niharika chuckled.
"It's cute how shy they are around each other." Vedant nodded in agreement. He got a questioning look on his face, "We were never like that, were we?"
"No way, we went running then we kissed then you followed me here, you scared the crap outa me."
"Cuz I wouldn't stop kissing you?" He asked amused. Niharika nodded. He pecked her on the lips, "Can you blame me?" She giggled as red took over her cheeks.
"Oh…my…god." He said, taken aback. Stepping away from her, he gasped.
"What?" She asked, concerned.
"You blushed."
"I don't blush." She said, defensively. He grinned, "Really?"
"Vedant, don't you dare…." She stepped backwards, "come near me…" She stepped farther, he walked toward her grinning evilly. "Vedant." She turned and ran, Vedant chasing her all throughout the house. They ran everywhere, except the room which both knew was occupied. Niharika carried herself quicker and more gracefully than Vedant, so naturally she won…or was the first to give up. After a good half an hour of chasing, Niharika finally collapsed onto the floor laughing. Vedant fell atop her, also chuckling.
"Vedant…" She said, laughing. He moved his gaze to her. She was still comfortable. "Okay Mr. Romantic, let's check on those people of ours. We don't know what they're doing."
"Knowing Ana, probably not much." Vedant stated.
"Knowing Ishaan, probably more than we want to know…" Niharika said, half disgusted.
"Our little Ishaan, a player?" Vedant said amused.
"More than you'll ever know. Don't go by his little innocent disguise. He's the devil himself." Niharika said, cleaning up the mess in the living room.
"Hmmm, interesting character this brother of yours. I think we can become great friends." Vedant laughed.
"I wish I could say the same bout Ana." Niharika said, throwing a coat over Vedant's head. He pulled the coat off his head, "You gotta admit, she does look da** hot in my clothes." Niharika smiled sarcastically, "Of course she does. I'm sure you'll look great in hers
too."
"A little touchy, are we?" Vedant asked. Niharika rolled her eyes. She walked to the room to a find a very awkward Ishaan and Ana sitting there.
"I can't believe you…" She said quietly.
"I can't believe you!" Ishaan exclaimed. He looked mad, what had happened in an hour that the two who didn't even know each other were mad at each other?
"I can't believe you…" Ana said near tears. Ishaan sighed, putting his arm around her.
"I didn't mean to yell at you but that was a long, long time ago."
"So? I'm still really sorry about it, it was my fault." She said, crying.
"No, it wasn't…." He put his arm around her. He kissed the side of her face. He kissed her? What was her fault? Niharika realized whatever they were talking about was not her business, and seeing all the amounts of counseling she had been through she knew it was something Ana needed to sort herself.
"Hey listen." Ishaan said, holding onto her comfortably. "I don't want you talking about death anymore. Your too damn smart, too strong, too brave for it."
"Brave." Ana laughed sarcastically.
"Shut up, Ana. You ARE brave. You…are amazing." He said, rubbing her shoulder.
"You're great at what you do." Ana smiled.
"Whatever Ana, I don't care about what I do. THAT has got to stop…" He pointed to a sweatband on her wrist. Oh god, Niharika thought. The thought made her sick. She was sick to her stomach.
Why, she thought to herself. Her life was always surrounded by death, by suicide, by people like this. Everyone goes through difficult times, why did people choose to deal with it in this manner? She held her head, she was literally feeling sick. The image of her dead mother flashed through her head. Why was it that she couldn't remember her face but she could remember her dead body so vividly? She could remember her slitting her wrist in such detail, she remembered the mark it left on that dead, unmoving body that was her mother. She remembered the black-blue marks it left on that cold, white body. How it had been so cleverly covered with the white shroud at her last rites.
How could Ishaan deal with such people? Because he hadn't seen their mom the way she had. Broken, crying, killing herself. Niharika felt tears. Tears? Is that what they were? She didn't remember how to cry.
Slowly, she walked back and fell to the sofa. Vedant raised an eyebrow at her when she began sobbing loud and hard. Vedant was terrible at consoling people that cried, he always had been, especially in the cases where he didn't know the reason of the person's tears. He sat there, and rubbed her back. Quietly he managed to say, "What's wrong?"
"Ana…her…her arm…" Niharika said, not sure exactly how to phrase what was wrong. She wasn't exactly sure why she was crying.
"Oh. You don't know who she is, do you?" Vedant asked. Niharika looked up and shook her head.
"Ana Raichand. Her older sister was…"
"Urvashi Raichand?" Niharika managed breathlessly, he nodded. Urvashi Raichand, older daughter of the elite Raichand family. A disappointment to society, she was a drunk. Charged with drunk driving, she was currently serving jail time for manslaughter and second degree murder. She had run over a few children who slept on the footpath. It was amusing almost how the poor aren't ever seen by the upper class. Here was another example.
"But why does she….I don't understand." She cried.
"She thinks she could've…stopped her sister that night. There was a reason she left to go home alone, drunk. It's their personal matter."
"Ana thinks its her fault?" He nodded. "But its not." Niharika stated. She thought of the sweatband. "And the…the…" She couldn't manage to say the word without the day of the funeral passing through her mind. She sobbed harder.
"That. She doesn't know how to deal with stress."
"I'm sure she doesn't…" Niharika said. "I don't get it Vedant, why do people do that?"
"Because not everyone can handle things like you do. Not many are as strong as you." Strong? Niharika mused, ignorant was more the word. The way she handled things was pushing them aside and pretending they never happened. Confrontation was minimal in her case.
"I'm not strong. I don't understand why can't people just…" There was a long pause. "Get over it?" It sounded so cruel, like she was downsizing every problem in the world, but even she hadn't gotten "over it."
"Moving on isn't that simple," Vedant said, sounding distant. "I know."
"What?" Niharika asked. Vedant looked like a sad deer caught in the headlights; he hadn't expected Niharika to ask for an explanation to his words. She had caught him off guard.
"My mom." he said, simply. "She acts like my dad will come home any day now. Even though it's been like…8 years now?" Vedant stared down, almost laughing. "He's moved on, she hasn't…she should though, right?" He looked up at her. He had caught her off guard now.
"Moving on isn't that simple." She echoed back to him. He nodded.
"Stuff like this really bothers you?" Vedant asked, trying to comprehend why she was crying.
"Yeah…" She said, trying to stop the massive flow of tears.
"Um…because of your mom?" Vedant stared down again, he asked in almost a whisper. She nodded.
"She killed herself in our kitchen…" She started. "I still don't know why. She was a free spirit Bhai says. She couldn't be limited into four walls. That's what we did though. It was in our kitchen," She cried. She started laughing then in tears, "And then dad remodeled the whole house, thinking I wouldn't notice. He thought changing just the kitchen would be too obvious. It sucks." She cried again. "Maa spent so much time decorating the house just the way she wanted. And Dad changed it all."
"It's foreign now, isn't it?" Vedant asked.
"I guess. But for the longest time, my dad wouldn't let me into the kitchen alone…I think he thought that I was going to follow in her footsteps or something. Eventually, I took over the house and he stopped
caring."
"Following in her footsteps," Vedant chuckled. "It's a good thing we don't follow in our parents footsteps."
"Yeah." She agrees.
"I'd be walking out on every relationship that means anything to me."
"I'd be dead." Niharika stated, wide-eyed.
"Niharika." Ishaan stood behind her. How long had he stood there?
"Bhai. Since when have you been…?"
"I've listened long enough to know that I agree with you two. Papa doesn't really have footsteps to follow in…" He started, wiping Niharika's tears.
"You'd grow up to be a man that cares about no one and nothing." She said.
"Or I could be that." Ishaan laughed. She started crying again, she hugged her brother and cried.
"Hey…kya hua?"
"Bhai…you remember when Maa…?"
"Died?" He said, quite simply.
"Yeah. You remember how?"
"She cut herself…" Ishaan said gently. Wondering if she heard, he looked to Niharika.
"In the kitchen, she was standing right above the sink. With the meat knife….straight up her arm, " She motioned from her wrist up. It was well-known, that was the quickest way. Messy, but quick. Everyone knew if you followed the vein, you bled out quicker. She sobbed hard, like a child after a shot.
"Oh beta, you were there, weren't you?" Ishaan asked, when she cried on him. She nodded, years and years later she would hopefully get all the tears out.
"You were a kid, beta. There's nothing you could have done to change it."
"I know, but she's gone." Niharika cried. "I don't remember her…" She said eyes bloodshot.
"Neither do I, but we still love her. We can't change that."
"I know….Ishaan, how do you deal with people like that?" She said, glancing to the room where she knew
Ana sat.
"Well, she thinks those people died because of her. This is her weird way of saying sorry. People express how they feel differently…"
"I know, you sound like Dr. Hedge." She said, rolling her eyes.
"She couldn't be THAT bad."
"You're right, out of the fifteen shrinks I went through, she was the only one that gave a da**."
"Fifteen shrinks?" Vedant asked, wide-eyed. Niharika shot him and angry glance and he quickly shut up. Niharika was insecure about all the counseling her father made her attempt, but it mostly consisted of her sitting in a room with a shrink, arm crossed refusing to say anything. The introduction speech went something like this, "Hi. I'm Niharika. If you want to get paid at the end of the hour, sit and don't talk to me. Understood?"
The first fourteen usually had one session and then advised her father to take her to someone hardier. Finally, he found Dr. Neha Hedge who had managed to talk to Niharika enough to prepare a report on her. It was sad really, her father needed a report to tell him what she could have told him had he simply asked. She was stubborn; she took after him in that matter. She was reckless and intuitive. She wasn't the type to listen to others, unless she cared about them deep enough.
"I want to talk to Ana." Niharika said firmly.
"No Niharika…" Ishaan and Vedant started before they realized Niharika was already in the room.
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