OS: Ultimatum

Moniya climbed the stairs, aware of the stares eyeing her every step. She had barely escaped this incident unscathed and knew for a fact that they would keep a watch on her to ensure that it would not happen again. She would have to be careful for the future.

She entered the room she shared with Jainandini, shutting the door behind her. Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialled Akash's number, glancing at the closed door every so often.

"Moniya?" Akash answered on the fifth ring.

"Akash," she breathed, relieved.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, his voice strained. He worried what Moniya would have faced when she returned to the Raj Mahal.

"Haan, Akash. Everything is fine," Moniya said. Akash let out an audible sigh of relief.

"They don't suspect you, do they?"

Moniya took a seat on the bed that she shared with her younger sister, leaning against the headrest as she thought of how to answer his question. She knew that her family members were suspicious of her sudden disappearance at the mall, and were wary of the explanation that she had given. What had saved her was that she had returned home.

"Pata nahin, Akash," she finally responded. "I've barely escaped."

"Matlab?"

Moniya sighed. "Jainandini came back to the Raj Mahal and told everyone that I was missing and they couldn't find me in the mall anywhere. My phone was also unreachable. They were about to go on a search party when I entered. I don't know how I managed to come up with a story so quick, Akash."

"They believed you?" he inquired.

"For the most part, yes."

"You're not in trouble?"

"No, Akash. But I know that's what Jainandini intended to do. This was her plan. I knew something was up her sleeve when she started to behave nicely with me. I never should have trusted her."

"Moniya '"

The sound of slow applause gained her attention, distracting her from whatever Akash was saying at the moment. She turned towards the door, shocked to see Udayveer leaning against the door jamb.

"Udayveer?"

"Udayveer?" Akash asked over the line.

"Akash, main tumse baad mein baat karti hoon," she told him, and without waiting for a reply, she cut the call.

"Wah, princess, kya acting karti ho," Udayveer said as he sauntered in to the room. Without asking for permission, he took a seat beside her on the bed, too close for her comfort.

"Kya matlab?" she asked, getting up from her seat.

Udayveer stared up at her, smirking. "I didn't know you could act so well. I thought you were genuine when you told us your story of being in the mall the entire time."

Moniya rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Udayveer stood up. He stared down at her. "Come on princess. Why are you lying to me? There's no use, I heard your whole conversation."

"You were eavesdropping!" she exclaimed, feeling violated that he heard something that was between her and Akash.

"It's a good thing that I did!" He answered back, his eyes blazing with uncontrolled anger. "Do you have any idea how worried Dadi Sahib and Komal Aunty were? Do you have any inclination what they were going through?" Before she could respond to any of his questions, he continued. "Of course you wouldn't," he answered his own question. He began walking around her, like a predator would around his prey once he had them trapped. "All you think about are your chawl friends." He forcefully grabbed her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She struggled to free herself from his hold, but his grip was like a vice, never loosening. "Manyata, your family thought they lost you again! You have to realize that they are your family, and whatever happens to you, it affects them as well. Stop living in the past!" he shouted.

She finally managed to loosen his hold on her arms and pushed him away from her. He had never spoken to her in such a tone. Even when he was upset with her, and he was trying to explain things to her he never spoke in such high volume. Finally gathering her voice, she said, "I'm not living in the past!"

"Then why do you keep going back to it?" he asked, calmly this time. "Manyata, why can't you see that your present and your future are right here? Waiting?"

She faced away from him. His smouldering gaze spoke volumes, showing the depth of the worry that he had felt when he heard of her disappearance for the umpteenth time.

Udayveer sighed when she refused to respond to any of his questions. She was so infuriating! So stubborn. She refused to see what was right in front of her, and was hell bent on imagining things that were never there.

"You're not going to tell Mataji, are you?"

Udayveer smirked. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't."

"Please, Udayveer, don't tell her," she pleaded. "I really didn't mean to worry them. It wasn't my intention."

"Okay, say I don't tell Dadi Sahib, what will I get out of it?"

Moniya's eyes narrowed, suspicious of the glint that flashed in his onyx eyes. "Matlab?"

"Matlab meri honewali biwi," he began, walking towards her, very much like a predator. Moniya moved back instinctively, only to come to a stop when she bumped into a wall. "You will have to do whatever I ask you to do."

"No!" was her automatic response.

He backed away from her, shrugging. "Your decision. I'll go tell Dadi Sahib the truth."

Moniya struggled to come up with the right words to stop him. She didn't want Mataji to find out the truth, but she also didn't want to be Udayveer's slave, at his mercy.

Udayveer was just about to exit the room, when she called out, "Theek hai! I accept your condition!"

He turned around, a triumphant smile playing on his lips. "Good."

"Can you tell me what I have to do?" she inquired.

He shook his head. "You'll find out tomorrow. If I tell you now, how do I know you won't back out? Otherwise I would have to tell Dadi Sahib the truth..."

"I won't," she vowed, although she wished to say otherwise. She dreaded whatever he had planned.

"Glad you see things my way, haan nahin toh." He winked at her flabbergasted expression and left the room.