A Series of Most Fortunate EventsPt11 p115,Note121 - Page 69

When will you update this one ?

Have I forgotten to bookmark this? :S

When will you update this?

Soon, hopefully, because I've finally sorted out the thing that has holding me up in the story :) Sorry for the wait!

Originally posted by: -doe-eyes-

Soon, hopefully, because I've finally sorted out the thing that has holding me up in the story :) Sorry for the wait!

Beautiful! Beautifully written!! This is one story I will always want to reread...Great job! ⭐️ Looking forward to the next update!

just read this. if only some of these things really had happened! ! please finish it off when you can.

A Series of Fortunate Events Timeline

The story so far...

(Please scroll down for Part 10)

Convinced that he has finally succeeded in killing Anjali, Shyam leaves a message for Khushi on the guest-room mirror, asking her to meet him on the terrace. Meanwhile, unknown to him, Anjali, largely unharmed, has returned home, and to an anxious and emotionally shaken Arnav imparts the advice to always confess what is in his heart, because one never knew about tomorrow. Arnav feels Khushi's presence about him and determines to follow her advice.

Payal in the meantime finds her way to the terrace, thinking Akash must be waiting for her on the terrace and had left her a romantic message, since it is Valentine's day. However she soon discovers that it was Shyam who had written the message and meant it for Khushi. Shyam realises he had forgotten to write Khushi's name on the message, and tries to wriggle his way out of the situation, but Payal corners him. Sensing he is caught, Shyam threatens Khushi with public humiliation if Payal tries to expose him, because the Raizadas are far likelier to believe him than the Guptas.

NK stumbles upon the terrace then, and informs them that Anjali has had an accident but returned home safe and sound. Shyam, realising his plans have been ruined again, leaves to keep his act of a doting husband intact. NK meanwhile tells Payal that he has heard the whole conversation, and recorded it on his camcorder. He promises Payal that he will not let Shyam harm her or her sister.

Elsewhere, Khushi is frantically waiting for her sister to return, having sent NK to look for her on the terrace. She chooses to look about the rest of the house, already frazzled from Arnav's previous statement that he wanted to talk to her. She winds up at the poolside, where Arnav sees her from his room. Just as she is about to leave, she finds Laxmi ruining some garlands left by the sliding door and tries to stop her. This gives Arnav enough time to come out and corner her.

Khushi tries to escape, but Arnav catches hold of her wrist, stopping her. His phone rings as it had on Diwali, and Khushi thinks she can escape, but Arnav tells Aman to call back later ' he is busy. Keeping Khushi cornered, he playfully asks her why she is always running away from him, repeating that he is not going to eat her. With memories of Diwali and heartbreak fresh in her mind, Khushi attempts to flee.

Around this time, it is revealed that Anjali's pregnancy test had come out negative. Deciding not to brood over something that never happened, Anjali vows to engage herself into the wedding activities. It soon transpires that the Pandit is caught in traffic and muhurat is drawing closer. Coincidentally, these events end up giving Arnav more time to follow Di's advice.

Khushi, in an attempt to break out of her predicament, asks Arnav what he had wanted to tell her. Arnav quietly inquires why she was so angry and worried on the day of the mehendi ' why she was calling him so desperately, why she cared so much. In return, she asks him why he had chased the ambulance the night before, why he had shouted at her in the middle of the street when he thought she'd been hurt. With painful memories of nearly losing her roused, Arnav realises just how desperately he needs her, but with their past between them, does not know how to drive away the fear he can see in her. Just as she tries to leave again, fate plays into his hands again as the lights go off, and Khushi freezes in place. In turns out that Hari Prakash had forgotten to refuel the generator and the power had gone off. Khushi pleads with Arnav to let her go ' he reiterates that that is no longer an option, and kisses her.

NK takes advantage of the distraction of darkness and selects Akash and Nani to confide about Shyam, as Payal had made him promise that he reveal the truth, even if that meant the Raizadas would break off the rishta. Akash determines to support his wife when he has relied so heavily on others up till now. Nani also concludes that while she is not happy with the Guptas hiding this from them, she can very well understand why they did so. They all wonder how they are going to reveal this to Anjali, and how they will stop Shyam before he does anything else.

The lights come back on, and Khushi, desperate not to have her heart broken, asks Arnav what it all means. Arnav recognises her need for a commitment, given all the times he has told her he does not care for her before, and finally confesses that he is in love with her. Overjoyed, Khushi reciprocates. Shyam spies on the whole incident and fumes with rage. Almost unhinged with jealousy and failure, he vows to remove Arnav from his path, unaware that he too is being spied on.

The Pandit has arrived and wedding rituals are about to start when Anjali and Nani spot a flustered Khushi racing down the stairs, followed by a thoroughly pleased looking Arnav. They both conclude that Arnav must have confessed, especially after he runs into Hari Prakash and confuses the man by not getting angry after hearing about the generator. Payal comes down to the mandap and Akash rises to take her hand, conveying that he is with her, while NK repeats his promise to his Bhabi. As the phere commence, Anjali and Nani instigate Arnav on purpose, trying to match-make Khushi with a made-up suitor and NK. Provoked, Arnav disappears and returns just as the pheres end, giving Anjali the bangles left by their mother and saying they should give them to Khushi. With the implication that Arnav is serious enough about Khushi to marry her, Nani is relieved that Arnav will now protect Khushi against Shyam.

The wedding rituals end and Khushi observes her sister from the sidelines, when Arnav sneaks up on her and starts flirting with her, practically right in the public eye. As she escapes him, NK, who has noticed Shyam's eye on Khushi, approaches her to ask her for a dance. Arnav intervenes and says Khushi will not be joining NK ' as she will be dancing with him.

Khushi is mortified by his declaration and heatedly asks why he made such a declaration. Seething with jealousy, Arnav lashes back, asking why she had no problem dancing with NK but she objects to dancing with him. Noticing the hurt that comes over him, Khushi quickly assures him that she was not going to dance with NK ' she thought everyone was going to dance as they had at the dhaba. Arnav calms down, and is stricken by guilt when Khushi reminds him that they were both victims of broken engagements, and she did not want people to taunt their families, or ruin Payal's wedding again.

Once more, Arnav asks Khushi to dance, and this time Khushi gives in to the moment and relents. They dance to 'Dil Ibadat' as Arnav reconciles with his own feelings. With all the odds stacked against him, and so many people in the way of his affections for Khushi, he decides he does not regret his spur-of-the-moment decision to marry Khushi, as it is the only way he can secure her to himself when there are so many factors which could drive her away from him. As the song ends, he voices his demand to her, taking her by surprise.

Meanwhile, Shyam's situation becomes even more precarious when he finds out about Arnav's plans to marry Khushi, and hears from Buaji that Shashi Gupta is regaining his ability to speak. With the walls closing in, Shyam is getting closer to mental instability, but refuses to give up. He decides that if he attacks Shashi Gupta first, the Guptas would be too occupied in grief to get Khushi married, which would give him time to deal with Arnav and Anjali as well, and the only witness of his murder attempt would be dead too.

Arnav whisks Khushi to the poolside and repeats his proposal, and Khushi hesitates, telling him that everything is happening too fast, and that she does not want him to rush such a decision because he thinks she's worried about what people will think. Arnav dispels these notions, reminding her how well he knows her, and that he was not trying to rush her into marriage ' he just wanted her and the rest of the world to know she was taken.

Anjali receives a phone-call from the family doctor, who tells her that Shyam had called him inquiring about a drug used for heart-patients, which was only available by prescription because a slight overdose could over-stimulate the heart and cause cardiac arrest. This puzzled the doctor because he had never prescribed such medicine to any of the Raizadas and no one was a heart patient in their family. Anjali, dumbfounded by these revelations, realises that though she had prayed for everyone during her pilgrimage, she had not prayed for herself or her husband.

Abh aage...

I know. I'm a horrible, horrible, terrible person. I'm so sorry! I'll be completely honest - life has been hectic, yes, and this story also came up with this plothole, I guess you can call it, which I couldn't cross for aaages. I thought I'd finally been able to get over it...until I wrote this chapter, and now I've the feeling I messed up big time and I just want to cry. Gah.

Part 11 is being written now...it was supposed to be part of this chapter, but it decided to get to too long just to spite me...this story hates me, I think :s Ok, enough self-pity...here we go.

*Part 10*

*A tale of when the right things happen at the right time*

***

"They played at hearts as other children might play at ball; only it was really their two hearts that they flung to and fro, they had to be very, very handy to catch them, each time, without hurting them." The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Lereux

***

Arnav was no stranger to feeling protective.

In fact, that was one trait about himself he would readily admit to. Yes, he was protective. Jealously so, regarding anything he held dear to himself. He understood that. Everyone else understood that. It was more instinct than desire, more need than want, a sentiment that ran primal and pure, all at once.

But this had to be the first time someone was trying to deny him that.

'Excuse me?' he grit out between clamped teeth, glowering down with some consternation at the pair of defiant brown-gold eyes frowning at him. It was evident from frigidness of his tone alone that he did not need her to repeat herself - that he was challenging her to dare say it again.

But of course, if he had expected Khushi to back down, it would have meant he just did not know her as well as he thought.

With a stubborn upward tilt of her chin, Khushi reiterated with the same words that had brought them to their present predicament; to be precise, standing practically nose-to-nose in the front hall of Shantivan, having a glaring contest with at least a dozen curious onlookers for an audience.

'I said, I can manage on my own! I know where their hotel is, and after I drop them there, I can go straight home, and Amma and Buaji will join me right after they've dropped Chaacha-Chaachi and their kids off at their relative's house!'

There was a fever burning beneath his skin, slowly eroding at his patience and what was left of his sense of decorum, and if Arnav did not know better, he would have called it anger. It felt just as volatile, and just as flammable, as though he were a leaking cylinder of gas and it would take no more than a spark to demolish everything around him to cinders.

But Arnav could tell that this was not anger branching off blistered fingers through his being as he sank his teeth into the inside of his mouth, and thrust both fists into his pocket, trying to keep the tension in until he felt he might snap. Arnav was accustomed to anger -it singed like the heart of a furnace, explosive and hot and toasting sense and sensibilities to a crisp if they came too close.

This - emotion, this feeling, this burning that gripped him now was different. As though these unstable flames only served to cloak something that sat much deeper in his being - omething that was defenceless and fragile and terrified of being exposed.

Clicking his teeth together in irritation, Arnav tried a different tactic.

'It's very close to midnight,' he argued steadily, 'You might not find a taxi so easily at this time, and an auto-rickshaw won't be enough to carry all of you -'

'I have the number of the driver-bhaiyya who brought us here earlier,' Khushi interposed staidly, ignorant to how he stiffened at her interruption, at how his eyes glinted dangerously at her as she pushed on, 'And besides, if you drop us off, not only will you have to drive to the hotel, but then to Laxmi Nagar and all the way back to Shantivan - and it's so late already -'

'Exactly.' He hadn't intended it to come out so aggressively, but it did, like the snap of metal on metal, and Khushi winced slightly, looking up at him in alarm. 'It is very late already.'

The clock was pushing time past midnight by now, he knew that - and that factor knitted his entire being with tension so palpable it set his teeth on edge. He was not used to being denied. He was not used to being refused his urge to protect.

It made him anxious.

There. That was what this feeling was.

Anxiety. Apprehension. Maybe even paranoia.

The rigidity in his muscles made it difficult, but Arnav managed a step backwards, gazing back through lowered lids at Khushi with a coolness he did not feel.

'When I get home and how is my business,' he told her curtly, so calmly it was as menacing as it would be had he been yelling at her, 'You can go find your relatives and bring them to the driveway while I fetch my car-keys.'

He did not pause to give Khushi a chance to rebel, whipping around on his heel and marching with almost violent strides towards the stairs. An incensed harrumph and something that sounded suspiciously like 'Laad Governor' reached him from behind, but he did not falter - instead, his gait hastened; knowing how headstrong Khushi could be, he wouldn't put it past her to sneak out before he could return. It wasn't as though Khushi lacked experience in running away.

He would not have that.

But as he took the steps two and three at a time though, some of his bluster dwindled, and he could sense beneath it the deflating knowledge that he was not handling this situation properly. He barely had a clue what the proper way was - but squabbling with her in front of a handful of witnesses he did not recall noting the faces of could hardly be it.

Especially when, not all that long ago, the two of them had spent some of the best moments of his life together by that poolside.

And yet what else was he supposed to do? How else was he supposed to react? The idea of Khushi navigating through the streets of Delhi at the witching hour, alone, riding a taxi home, alone, waiting in Laxmi Nagar for the rest of her family, alone...his self-possession, his poise, they all splintered like twigs being snapped, one by one by one, their remains littering into his stomach, weighing down disagreeably and poking at his conscience, a constant reminder of his misgiving and worry.

Why couldn't she see that? Why couldn't she see how risky it was for her to be going off like that, on her own?

Her aunts and one of her uncles will be with her, a reasonable little voice pointed out to him. Arnav refused to be convinced.

Only for the first leg of the trip, he grumbled back, now at his room, flicking on lamps as he felt about inside a drawer for his keys, what about after that? She'd be completely alone with some taxi driver she's only known for one day...

The thought bumped into him like a physical push, and Arnav snatched at the object he'd been looking for before breaking into a jog, hoping that Khushi had not already left - and grimly promising her all manner of retribution if she had.

And such was his rush that he almost collided with someone else ambling around the corner leading to the stairs, all but knocking them off their feet.

'Di! Are you OK?'

His hands had shot out of their own accord and clutched his sister's upper arms firmly, steadying her as he eyed her urgently, another pulse of anxiety banging inside his ribcage.

'I'm fine, I'm fine...didn't see you coming,' she gasped; she did not appear hurt, just a little winded. She released another huff of air, laying a hand on her chest as though to ease her elevated breathing as she lifted her head to frown at him, 'And where are you off to in such a rush?'

The question brought back the pressing matters he had only temporarily ceased to prioritise.

So great was his urgency that Arnav did not notice that as the breathless shock slipped off Di's face, shadows of something more perturbed and troubled tucked into the lines of her features.

'I'm going to drop Khushi and some of her family off,' he explained hurriedly, already inching towards the stairs as he explained, mentally planning how he would give chase if Khushi really had been naive enough to leave and think he would let her, 'Sorry, Di...I really have to run before that crazy girl walks out on her own at this time of night -'

'Chote, wait!'

If it was anyone but his Di, he would have turned a deaf ear and pushed onwards, but even then it was with a decided degree of reluctance that he paused, cementing his foot firmly into the ground to keep it from tapping and giving away his impatience.

But it appeared that his expression and body language had already betrayed him, for Di took one look at him before she burst out laughing.

'Chote!' she sing-songed, and Arnav studied the teasing grin curling his sister's lips warily. Di hobbled over to him with uneven but composed steps, the gleeful twinkle in her eye hard to miss from a mile away, 'Impatient to return to our lady-love, are we?'

He did not have time for this. 'Di,' he exhaled, fixing her with a warning look.

It had the opposite effect. She started laughing again.

'Sorry, baba, sorry!' she chortled, her shoulders still jerking with suppressed mirth as she took in the humourless expression sure to have settled over his face, 'All I'm saying is, there is no need to panic so much - my future sister-in-law is waiting in the front hall...though now I understand why she's looking so sulky.'

***

It amused her immensely to see her little brother dither between reacting to her barely-discreet teasing over the newest addition to their family, and the fact that said newest addition to the family was still lingering for him despite her obvious unwillingness to.

In the end, it was the latter that won out. The shift was subtle, hardly even there, but Anjali had trained herself to be an aficionado at reading Chote, and since she already knew what she was looking out for, it was that much easier to catch, be it in the slight dip in the set of his shoulders, or the softening of the severe contours of his face.

Relief. Gladness. Joy.

The contentment at seeing him like this, her tough, cold, lonely Chote, on the brink of something as incredible and profound as love and matrimony - she was awash with it, floating in its calming waters, and so complete was the feeling that for the moment it dissipated some of her own troubled confusion.

'I shouldn't keep them waiting longer though,' Chote was saying, absently twirling the car-keys in his hands; she noted with a smile that the urgency in his bearing and voice had both watered down. And then, as though he had sensed his momentary transparency and felt obliged to cover it, he added wryly, 'There's no telling with that girl.'

There was no sting to the statement, none of the disdain or contempt he was wont to reserve for her before, and Anjali's heart bobbed like a buoy.

'Well, she wouldn't leave if you convinced her properly,' Anjali reasoned, and then, recalling the distinctively peevish Khushiji pacing the hall, asked suspiciously, 'Did you?'

The answer was in the split moment of awkwardness that stole through Chote's eyes as he tried to shrug off her question. Anjali narrowed her stare at him, tsking behind her teeth.

'Don't tell me you fought with her,' she chided, hands on hips and eyebrow arched in inquiry, 'No wonder she's looking so put out.'

Bristling at the accusation, Chote retorted flatly, 'Oh come on, Di, not you too. If she was sensible she'd understand it was much safer for me to drive her home instead of braving the streets on her own...she might get away with these things in Lucknow but Delhi is a completely different -'

Anjali held up a hand, palm outwards, looking both sage and exasperated. 'Chote,' she shook her head at him slightly, which earned her a scowl and a frown, 'I'm not saying you're wrong. And neither, if she understood your reasons, would she.'

Chote opened his mouth to make a heated rejoinder, but Anjali continued, anticipating his argument, 'Look at it from her point of view...this is the same girl who used to come to work to Shantivan on her own, and leave on her own too. There have been so many times she has had to leave late in the evening, all by herself...from her standpoint, she probably thinks she can manage fine on her own and she'd only be inconveniencing you by letting you tag along.'

'She's never had to leave this late,' Chote was adamant in not backing down, she could see that; she inwardly sighed at her brother's intractability, 'And it's not an inconvenience when I'm the one who offered to drive her home in the first place -'

'Did you tell her that?' Anjali cut him short, not unkindly. The short pause before he snapped his jaw shut supplied her the answer. Once again, Anjali found herself shaking her head, a faint smile upon her lips. 'Khushiji is a...well, an independent girl, Chote. You have to understand that. She's been the breadwinner of her family since arriving in Delhi and you should know better than anyone that that kind of responsibility breeds this...this sense of - self-dependence...if you were in her place, you would probably be doing the same thing.'

This time, Anjali could tell that her words had made a dent in his armour - his brow was still furrowed, but his stare was not as focused as before, as though his thoughts had dragged him elsewhere. Relieved that she had gotten him to listen, Anjali tried to phrase what she wanted to say next carefully - no one knew better than herself how quick Chote was to retreat into his shell when faced off with any situation suspended by emotions he did not know how to tackle. She had witnessed to her own pleasant disbelief the slackening of some of his reservations; but that did not change that there was still a long way to go.

She only hoped that, given time, Khushi would help him overcome the rest of his inhibitions too.

'There is nothing wrong,' she gingerly remarked, averting her gaze and examining the needle-work of her pallu in an attempt to spare him some discomfort, 'to want to protect someone for your own sake, Chote.' She could feel the brunt of his gaze on her now, but she did not look up at him, 'In fact, I think that's why we feel protective - we feel the need to keep safe someone important to us, because we don't know how we will deal with it if something happens to them, even if no such thing might happen at all...'

She stopped, considering how best to word the rest of her advice, without putting Chote on the defensive and having him do the exact opposite.

'It's ... a lot to take in actually,' she hoped there was no doubt as to what she was referring to by 'it', 'So much that we get totally involved in our own feelings and it's often...difficult...to consider anyone else's. But - that's important too...understanding one another, learning one another. It's too soon but...all I'm saying is...go slowly and...have patience. There will come a time when neither of you have to bother explaining yourselves...in fact, I'd say you're already halfway there...' More than halfway, she thought to herself, recalling Chote and Khushiji dancing, or that bangle incident where he'd offered her prasad, or how Khushi could persuade Chote to do things even she couldn't achieve, 'Just...when you can't understand what she's thinking...try and put yourself in her place.'

There was a long interlude after that, a flutter of anxiety teasing behind her ribcage, and Anjali wondered distraughtly whether she had overstepped the limit and pushed further than he was ready for.

And then he spoke two words to her, and as she glanced up, round-eyed, she knew instinctively that he had understood, would remember, and it was like a cooling salve to her worries.

'Thanks, Di.'

It was only after she had watched Chote briskly trot away, gracing her with a small nod before he disappeared down the stairs, that all the riddles that had been needling like a bed of barbs at her pierced back into the present.

'Shyamji, where are you?'

'Rani Sahiba, some important business has turned up - I'm attending to it -'

'Wait, are you not at home?'

'Rani Sahiba, let me take care of this and I will call you back -'

'What's going -'

'Nothing to worry about. We'll talk when I return.'

And he'd cut off the call.

Intuition was supposedly a woman's gift - and her intuition told her something was dreadfully wrong.

But she did not know what, she did not know why, she did not know how...who could she confide in, when she didn't even know what she was afraid of? Everyone looked so happy, so content...even Chote, lost in his own world...she didn't have the heart to burden them with fears that might well be unfounded, that might well have some perfectly logical explanation which eluded her.

But where could he be?

***

"All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages.

-Hamlet, William Shakespeare

***

Anjali did not know that there was someone else prowling the now-empty corridors of Shantivan with the same thought revolving like an unpleasant tune stuck in his head.

Nerves and misgiving crackled like dried leaves being crunched underfoot as NK cast another perfunctory scan through the fifth room he had come across, trying to ignore the jolting drop of his heart on finding it empty.

He had made a mistake.

The worst kind of mistake - the kind one knew they had committed, but could not imagine the consequences of.

And that absence of fact was more frightening than the presence of it, because one never knew how to prepare when they didn't know what they're up against.

NK cursed under his breath, but it sounded more panicky than vitriolic or bitter. How could he have let it happen? How did it happen at all? He had been so diligent, so conscientious - even through the throngs and throngs of people skittering throughout Shantivan he had not, for even a moment, taken his eye off Shyam Manohar Jha. He had tailed him around as surreptitiously as he could while mingling with guests, and followed his movements with his eyes when that had proved difficult to achieve, and never once had he let him out of his sight.

Except for the scant few seconds, amounting only to a minute at most, when he had been compelled to let off his watch-duty.

And the snake had disappeared.

NK had parted from Nani and Di to choose a fitting enough track for Nannav's much-hyped dance with Khushiji, but that had not meant he'd been any the less alert. Though he had been out of earshot of the conversation Nani, Di, his Maasi and Shyam had been huddled over, he had not missed, even from afar, the stricken look on the man's face as he had furtively removed himself from the circle upon Buaji's arrival, and like a man possessed stumbled through the crowd, long before the lights had diminished and he had yet to hit the 'play' button for the music.

Something had happened, he could tell even then, as he had woven through the crowds after him, gauging that his target was headed for his bedroom and taking a detour so he had ended up at the poolside, crouched by the window with the perfect vantage point for peeking inside. He had seen panic scarred into the other man's expression, seen his clumsy attempts to skedaddle...someone had to have mentioned something during that discussion back in the hallway to have sent him scampering like a dog with its tail between his legs.

And as he had spied on the other man, grateful for the brightness of the poolside casting enough light into the bedroom for him to see by, NK had been gripped by a dread more powerful than any he had felt since uncovering the true face of Shyam Manohar Jha.

The one word that had popped into his head in that moment had been deranged.

In the half-relieved darkness of the bedroom, enswathed in part shadows, Shyam had looked almost demonic as he had stalked towards his closet, ripped it open and began rummaging inside it, and NK had felt his heart frost over into a lump of hard ice, extending its chilly fingers down his spine and up his veins. He'd already been wary of the man, already known that he lacked the guiding standards of a conscience...but in that moment, NK's sixth sense had spoken louder than his logic and his judgement of character and he knew without having to be told that this man was capable of anything.

And the ambiguity of the anything was so terrifying, so foreboding, that he had had half a mind to lunge through the window, pin the man down and bound and gag him before he had the chance to put whatever malevolence he'd planned into practice.

And he would have done so, if he hadn't heard the beats of footfalls nearing the poolside, from the direction of Nannav's room.

It was pure reflex and nothing else that had sent him scuttling as fast he could towards the stairs, hurrying up just in time to glimpse down and find Nannav guide Khushiji through the glass doors.

He wondered now whether running for cover had been a mistake.

He hadn't lingered up there; he had raced the roundabout way to his destination and skidded before the door in question in just a measly few seconds, confident of his course, setting his jaw as he barrelled into the bedroom he'd been hiding outside - only to find no one there.

He'd reasoned that Shyam had fled for the same reason he had - fear of discovery. Fear of the questions he'd be asked, the answers he'd have to give. He'd reasoned that he could not possibly have gotten far. He'd reasoned that he'd corner him, lure him away and then decide how best to restrain him.

But he had not been able to find him anywhere since.

It had been easy enough to spot him before, but that was only because he had been watching him constantly, keeping him at the edge of his vision at all times. But now, with the fluctuating lights, the dancing bodies, a sea of people to survey...

It was only now, as the house began to empty, that NK's doubts took bolder steps toward reality.

He was nowhere to be found, and NK did not know whether to reproach himself for wasting so much time looking for him when he might have caught him outside, or for not anticipating that he'd try to leave the premises in the first place.

Did he run away? Did he suspect we know something? Did he think that, now that she's married, Payal Bhabi will tell the truth about him?

So many questions, but not a single answer.

And that was what made Shyam so dangerous.

There was no telling what was going on in his head.

He turned a corner, pegging the last of his hope on the first door he had checked. If he wasn't back in his bedroom, then it was confirmed news that he was nowhere in this house - and high time Shyam's double-dealing was revealed and the police set on his heels before he could do more damage. Akash and Bhabi had both been sent off to their honeymoon, guests were milling out of the house...it was now or never.

A door creaked nearby, and NK's heart skipped a few beats before climbing to a hectic crescendo that matched the thumps of his footsteps, and he all but threw himself into the corridor -

-to be met by a rather bewildered Di.

'NK Bhai?' Di squeaked in alarm, 'You too? Why is everyone running around like this today?'

Shyam ran away?!

Dread mobilised its troops within him at her words, and NK's voice was missing its accent when he spoke, so terse was his tenor, 'Everyone? Who else is running around?'

'Chote,' Di replied with a fleeting twitch of the lips, as though she'd been about to grin, 'He dashed out a while ago to help drop Khushiji's aunts to their hotel and then drop her home too.'

'Oh.' It sounded lame and awkward, and a part of NK struggled to come up with some witty riposte, some cheeky joke about what a Casanova their Nannav had turned out to be - but he couldn't work himself up to it. It was tough enough to contend with the feelings preoccupying him now, caught somewhere between relief that Nannav had gotten Khushiji out of the way, Shyam or no, and the apprehension for what was inevitable.

It was time Di knew. Time she found out. But first...

'What about Buaji and Khushiji's parents?'

'Mamaji will be driving them to Laxmi Nagar after stopping to drop some of the guests off,' Di was looking openly dubious, as though she had noticed something was off with him. NK briefly considered re-donning his facade of nonchalance, but then decided against it. There was no more time for that. Things had come to a head, and with Khushiji and her family members out of Shyam's reach... 'NK Bhai, is there...is there something wrong?'

Heaving a breath, he went for the kill. 'Actually, Di...I was looking for Sh- for Jeejaji. Do you know where he is?'

It was then that he became aware of the pinched, unsettled look of perplexity Di had evidently been trying to smooth out, and his sixth sense began tolling its warning bells again.

'No...' she answered slowly, almost to herself as her troubled eyes stared unseeingly at the door she'd just emerged out of, 'I've been...I've been looking for him too but I can't find him...I - I called him, earlier, but he cut off saying something important had come up, and I haven't seen him since. He didn't even turn up at the bidaai...'

She'd trailed off, and the invading army of dread had conquered him completely by now. There was no doubt about it - Shyam had left Shantivan. In the scant time it had taken him to run from the poolside to his bedroom, he'd managed to escape and weasel out - and what with all the people who'd been present in the house then, with the dimmed lighting and the assortment of noise, it was small wonder NK hadn't been able to catch him.

But the real question was - WHY had he left?

Did he realise the gig was up? Did he realise he was running a risk staying back? Or was it just a coincidence?

Wrapped up in his personal puzzles, it took him a while to realise that Di had fallen silent too.

And a thought burst out at him like a jack-in-the-box.

'Di...when was the last time you saw Jeejaji?'

Di started a little, as though she'd forgotten for a moment that he was there. It struck him as unusual - that, among other things he was only just becoming aware of. 'Um...I think, just before the dancing started...'

'Yeah, I saw you guys,' NK prompted, trying to sound conversational, trying not to put her on her guard - first and foremost, he needed answers, needed to know where he might be and what he might be doing - needed to stop him. 'What were you talking about?'

Di was staring at him a bit vaguely, a bit as if she was yet to catch up to what he had asked of her, and NK was certain beyond doubt now - there was something bothering her, something serious. Di would have raised a great hue and cry over her missing husband, if nothing else would have whined and groused about his absence and appealed to anyone she could to help bring him back...and now it appeared that he was not the only one who'd noticed Shyam was nowhere to be found.

But then why hadn't she said anything?

Unless...unless she knows something already...

NK scrutinised her carefully. Could it be...? No...I'm probably reading too much into this...her husband is not here, of course she'd be worried...

It seemed to take her a bit of effort to recall what he had been asking her about. 'Um...we were just discussing Khushiji's rishta with Chote...and then Buaji came over and we were worried because we wanted it to be a surprise...and we were just talking about how today was such a good day for our families, with Akash getting married and even Shashiji showing signs of improvement and-' She broke off rather abruptly, blinking up at him, nonplussed, '-wait...you said you were looking for him...why - ?'

'Di,' The weight of gravity in that single syllable sounded so odd to him, like the boom of thunder warning of the storm a few miles away. It captured Di's attention at once and her gaze darted up to him, startled. NK took a deep breath, before bluntly confiding, 'There is something I'm going to show you...something you're going to find hard to believe. But just...trust me.'

He reached into the folds of his sherwani, and pulled out his camcorder.

The time for stalling was over, and he prayed to the Goddess Di believed in so ardently that he was not too late.

Things might look a little dark - but remember the name of the story! Nothing happens here without a reason :)

I am sooo sorry for keeping you guys waiting...and now I'm hoping against hope the wait was worth it :s Please leave a comment, telling me what you thought? Feedback is always welcome! And thank you so much for your overwhelming support and encouragement!

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