This chapter will be in multiple parts. The title is because Malli is the Tamil word for Jasmine. Hope you like it.
Ch 34, Part 1- Malli: Crushing a flower
"I can't believe you're not going to let me design your wedding dress!" stormed Freddy.
"It's not going to be a dress, it's going to be a saree. A traditional silk saree, woven in Kanjeevaram. Mrs.Murthy showed it to me yesterday, its gorgeous," smiled Khushi.
"And what about me? What about my plans? I have feelings too, you know," said Freddy feeling quite put out.
"Oh Freddy! I am sorry. But listen. We want to have a cocktail party the night before the wedding. Would you please design my dress for that?" she asked, pleadingly.
"Is there a theme to this party?" asked Freddy frowning.
"Err.No. Should there be?" asked Khushi.
"Well, it's upto you. You could have a theme. Just pick a classy one. Not something like 70's night." Said Freddy.
"Tell you what Freddy. Why don't you pick a theme. And we can plan around that," said Khushi, hoping this would placate him.
"Hmmm. OK. I guess I could do that," said Freddy. Khushi leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "OK, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon for lunch then?" she asked. They were having having a barbeque in their backyard tomorrow. The weather had been very nice lately and they wanted to enjoy it, so they'd converted their Saturday dinner ritual into a day party.
"I'll be there," said Freddy. "And Minnie. Don't think I don't know what you did there!"
"Me. What did I do?" she widened her eyes, a look of mischief sparkling in them.
"You know what you did. You sweet talked me out of being miffed with you about the wedding and gave me the consolation prize of a cocktail dress instead."
"But you still love me," she blew him a kiss.
"But I still love you," he said softly to himself as he watched her leave. Freddy bent his mind to coming up with a kickass cocktail party theme.
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Malli rang the bell at Khushi's home. She looked behind her fearfully. Ever since the day at the park, she was afraid he'd find out where she worked. She was constantly looking over her shoulder. It was unnerving. She hated it. Arnav opened the door to her. She walked in quickly, brushing past him.
"And good morning to you too!" he muttered, shaking his head. He'd gotten used to her odd behavior. But he didn't like it. He thought she was a spoilt brat. The only thing that gave him pause was her gentle behavior with the children. With them, she was wonderful. She played with them for hours. She was patient when Nita got cranky. She was endlessly inventive and came up with new ways to keep them amused every day. Even Nigel, who'd been quite jealous initially, had warmed to her once he saw how much Nita and Sheila enjoyed her company.
Malli went upstairs to see how the kids were doing. Arnav walked back to the little room they'd converted to his study. He worked there most of the day now. Malli brought Nita downstairs and asked Arnav to watch her for 20 minutes while she dropped Sheila at school. "She doesn't feel like an outing today," she said, in response to Arnav's raised eyebrows, for Nita usually went with her in her stroller. She loved the morning walk.
"Is she feeling Ok? She loves that walk," said Arnav.
"She's fine. She's just busy playing with her new doll. She doesn't want to put it down for a minute." Said Malli, smiling at Nita's newfound love for dollies.
"OK. I'll watch her. Or, I can go drop Sheila, if you prefer," he asked.
"No, that's quite alright. I'm sure you'll be expecting some important phone call or the other," said Malli.
"Well, you are right. Alright then, off with you. And take the keys," he said. Sheila came down spiffily dressed in her checkered uniform pinafore. Malli put her lunch into her bag, and they set off hand in hand. The school was a 10 minute walk away. She dropped Sheila outside her classroom and smiled as the little girl threw her arms around her neck and hugged her goodbye. There was a reason she loved children. They never judged. They only loved, unconditionally. She was walking back, enjoying the warm sunshine, when she felt a hand on hers. She looked up. It was him. He pulled her into an alley.
"How long did you think you could hide from me? I've been following you. I know where you work now," he said softly.
"What do you want?" she asked, trying to pull her hand away from his grasp.
"For starters, some money. And then, you," he leered.
"I don't have any money," she said.
"Promise?" he asked smiling unpleasantly.
"Look, I really don't have any money," she pulled away from him finally.
"Somehow, I don't believe you. I think I'd prefer to check for myself," he said, thrusting his hands into her jacket pockets. He fished out a tiny purse. "I knew you were lying. Silly bitch," he bit out. She jumped towards him, to try and prise it out of his hand. He held it out of her reach easily. She threw herself at him, and bit the hand that he held the purse in. He dropped it crying out sharply as he did. She bent down to pick it up, and he lunged for her. He threw down on the floor of the alley, sat down on her. Holding her legs down, and hit her. He slapped her hard, across her cheek once, twice. She cried out in pain, but didn't stop fighting. She tried to hit him best as she could, with her legs imprisoned. He fended her off easily, as if it was a boring game. And then, when he got sick of toying with her, he punched her hard. She fell back on the floor, whimpering. He got up, thrust the few notes in her purse into his pocket. He threw the empty purse back at her and left. "I'll see you soon honey!" he called as he left.
She picked herself up slowly after he left. She felt some wetness on her lip. She raised a finger to it and drew blood. Her head throbbed quite viciously with the impact of his blow. And she was quite sure her face wasn't a pretty sight. She tried to stand up, but felt so dizzy that she had sit back down. She sat there, on the floor of the dirty alley, with trash cans lining the walls and a lone stray cat rummaging for food, the only other living creature there. She felt extremely lonely. The tears that fell from her eyes weren't those of pain. They were those of desperation. She didn't know what to do. After about a half hour she was able to get up and walk without her head lurching too violently, provided she walked slowly. It took her 25 minutes to accomplish the 10 minute walk back to Khushi's home. She'd barely fitted the key in the door, when it was thrown open.
"Where the hell have you been?" asked Arnav, opening the door quickly. He'd been watching out for her the last 30 minutes. She threw her hair back and looked up at him. "What happened to you?" he asked, quickly drawing her in. She could barely walk, and almost collapsed n his arms. He took her in to the living room and sat her down on the sofa. He gave her a glass of water and watched her drink it thirstily. He took out the first aid kit in the kitchen and brought it out to her. "Let me fix you up a little. Then I'll call the doctor," he said, his tone concerned.
"No. No doctor. Thanks. I can do it myself," she said, reaching for the antiseptic and cotton. She cleaned herself up quickly, refusing all assistance. When she was done, Arnav spoke.
"What happened Malli?" he asked kindly.
"I fell."
"And gave yourself a black eye and a cut lip?" he said skeptically.
"I tripped over a stone and hit my eye on it. I must've cut my lip on a sharp pebble." She said.
"I guess you also ripped your skirt on the jagged edge of the stone, huh?" he asked, pointing to a tear in the hem of her skirt.
"I guess so," she said quietly.
"Malli, what happened?"
"I told you. I fell," she said.
"You're lying!"
"You're being paranoid."
"Look. I can't let you go home alone. Not in this condition. Is there someone I can call?" asked Arnav, changing tactics.
"No. No there's no one. I mean, they'll all be at work now. And listen. I'm fine. Just a little bruised is all. I'll be fine," said Malli. "Besides. I don't want to go home. Not until I finish work for the day anyway."
"Like you are in any condition to work. Go and lie down. I'll bring you some food and an aspirin."
"I feel fine. If you'd give me 5 minutes I could see to Nita."
"Are you going upstairs to lie down or do I have to carry you?" he asked sternly.
"I'm going," she said sullenly. She walked up slowly, wincing with pain. She lay down in Sheila's bed. He brought her a sandwich and the promised aspirin 5 minutes later. She wolfed down the food and took the aspirin quietly. She was sound asleep a few minutes later. When she awoke, it was almost 3 in the afternoon. She'd been asleep for over 2 hours. Her head still hurt, but no longer throbbed. She touched her lip, and felt it was swollen. She took a look at herself in the mirror. She looked frightful. She had a black eye, and a split lip. Her hair was askance, and her clothes were torn. She looked like exactly what she was, she thought wryly. A street urchin. She walked down quickly and retrieved her handbag. She went into the restroom and set about repairing her face best as she could. She managed to cover up the black eye fairly decently with a thick layer of foundation. If someone looked closely, they could tell, of course. But from a distance, she just looked like a pale ghost. Unfortunately the cut lip was irrepairable. And it hurt to even touch it, so she left it as it was. She ran a comb through her hair, and tidied her clothes a little. Feeling a little more confident she walked into the living room. Arnav was working on his laptop and Nita was fast asleep on the couch next to him.
"You're up." He looked at her.
"Obviously."
"Sit down Malli. How do you feel?"
"I'm fine."
"I still think I should run you into the emergency room, just to be on the safe side."
"No, please, don't," she couldn't disguise the note of fear in her tone.
Arnav was perceptive enough to realize she was scared out of her mind. He decided to leave it alone for now. "OK. Want some tea?" he asked.
"Umm'OK," she said.
"Sit right here. I'll be back in 5 minutes. A cup of tea is the panacea for all ills, you know," he said, trying to be friendly.
"Thanks," she said briefly. He brought out the tea and found her sitting with her eyes closed, head leaning back on the couch. She looked tired, he thought. Even through the 8 layers of make up, she looked exhausted. He set the tea cup down and she opened her eyes. "I wasn't sleeping. Just resting my eyes," she said quickly. He merely nodded in response. She drank the tea slowly. Her cut lip made swallowing the hot tea rather painful.
"I'll go fetch Sheila from school. You stay here and watch Nita," he said firmly. She didn't bother arguing. She was glad to stay indoors for now. As he walked to the school, he pondered her situation. She was lying. That much was certain. When she hadn't returned after dropping Sheila for more than half an hour, he'd panicked. He called the school where they'd assured him that Sheila was there and had been dropped off on time. He'd assumed she was out for a smoke and would return soon. When another half hour had passed he'd begun to get really worried. So far she'd proven to be nothing but responsible, and he was loth to think she'd just upped and left. He couldn't leave the house to look for her, because Nita was home with him. And the dratted girl didn't have a cell phone. He decided to give her one. For his peace of mind. This parenting business was tricky, he decided. One was constantly on edge about one's children. And when one's fianc had a thing for strays, one got saddled with Emo teenagers for baby sitters. "What's a guy to do?" he pondered.
Malli asked if she could leave right after Arnav got home with Sheila. He couldn't say No. But he did put her in a cab and gave her money for cab fare. Before she left she asked if he would not mention the matter to Khushi. "I don't want to worry her. It was a small thing. I'm sure it won't happen again," she said, her voice very soft. It went sorely against the grain, but he agreed. He felt sorry for the poor waif. He nodded a yes silently, and was rewarded with a look of unbridled relief. He watched her drive away in the cab and sat down to think hard. He needed to figure out what her problem was. She disturbed him, with her ghastly, pale looks, and her sullen attitude. Her little 'accident' today was no accident. He was sure. And she would never tell him. She didn't trust him. That also he knew. "What to do now?" he wondered.
Malli let the cab go 2 streets from Khushi's home and then got out. He'd given her a lot of money. And since the jerk had taken whatever was in her purse, she could use the extra money. She would take the next bus that came her way to her Station. She didn't notice a pair of curious eyes staring at her as she stood at the bus stop, waiting.
Tell me your thoughts people. I can't wait to write more of this Malli story. I'm enjoying writing it, perverse as that sounds. Anyways, do tell me what you think of it. 😊
Cheers!
Vidhya
Edited by madmaxine - 13 years ago
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