Frisson
He had to clear his throat for them to stop, her high pitched giggles and squeaks and his provoking laughter.
She sat up in utter shock, and then pushed him off and stood up, her hair and clothes in disarray
Akash had to leave so she could adjust her clothing
Inder stayed…
Akash reappeared, and bolted the front door properly first
“Umm.. hello” he said without making eye contact with Naina
“Mr Mathur” Inder greeted with surprising composure extending a hand
Akashe joined his in a namaste
“Inder Dhamija” he identified
“Ah… Oh!”
Naina was not to be seen
“Hmm”
“Umm.. I am sorry” Inder said hesitantly
“Hmm” Akash was too jittery to say anything
He hadn’t even had his chai
“I am beyond sorry… I don’t know what else to say” Inder stood near his feet politely
“Uh.. hmm” Akash pulled his shirt collar closer not knowing what to say
“I have no excuse Sir” he pleaded
Akash suspected he was raised in the UK from the accent
He was beefy and heavy set, with neatly combed hair andfashionable clothes
“I would ask you to leave but we have to talk”
“I understand” Inder had his arms folded across his chest
“Let me call naina” he urged
“Umm..” Inder didn’t know how to react
“she has to be here right? You didn’t come on your own”
“Umm.. no sir”
“You thought I was not at home?”
“Umm..”
“Did you know I was home?”
“No sir… absolutely not”
“Nainaaa… beta bahar aao” he called out politely
She did not
He went to get her after waiting for 10 minutes
Anu was calling, his phone was on the bed
“Uthe ki nahi… jet lag mujhe hai kitna sotey ho aap” was hertext
He could not tease her back, every pore was on fire
He licked the power button to set it in sleep mode andwalked to Naina’s room
“Naina, please come out”
Naina opened, her face puffy and sobbing
“bahar chalo beta”
“Is he here?” she hiccupped
“Hmm”
“papa please ask him to go”
“Nahi beta”
It was the longest 30 minutes of Akash’s life he was toldNaina thought he was not home, and as originally set to get a ride from Vivekato work, but later texted him when he mentioned he was in the vicinity with hiscousin
He had then asked his cousin to drive him over here
“Just to say hello”
Akash could not make eye contact when he heard that
“The front door was open beta”
He was in suppressed rage
“I am sorry” Naina sobbed uncontrollably
“Aap rona band karo, can you please make tea for us?” hebegged
“Yeah… yes Papa” she thought it was all over, she was offthe hook and so she ran in
“Came back with chai 20 minutes later
Akash just read the paper in the meanwhile
“thanks” Inder ack politely and drank as if he enjoyed it
“I am not sure what your opinion is of us, but this isunacceptable”
“Umm.. Unc… Uncle?”
“Mr Mathur is fine” he nodded
“Mr Mathur Naina and I have known each other for a while weare not strangers”
“Define while”
“3 weeks” he said ashamed
“Ah”
“Umm.. OK” Akash sat back in his chair after finishing hischai, as if it was a cue for Inder to leave
That irritated Naina a lot
“thank you for the chai Naina” he raised his cup
Naina nodded with a smile
“Thank you sir… again… I am sorry”
“Umm”
“Can we talk sir ? later?”
“I don’t think so” Akash said firmly and stood up
Inder left, Akash left to take a shower
Naina paced the living room fearfully, texting Viveka
“What the holy f---” Viveka texted all caps
“Please mujhe bacha le”
“NO WAY” “NO F----- WAY” “Girl”
Naina called her sobbing
“Chahti kya hai yaar tu mujhse” Viveka accused
“Please Veev”
Ma is hopping mad at me, she told me “I am still wonderingif I shud let u apply to Kharagpur, you have shown severe lack of judgement”Viveka read the text in her mother’s voice
“Pleeez that’s nothing… MA loves you”
“No she doesn’t no she doesn’t… she brought every damn thingfrom my past to yell at me
“ Your stuff pales in comparison”
“I KNOW THAT… I CANNOT help u”
“Pleez” Naina cried more
“You know how much Dad hates when we speak for each otherjaan? He will slaughter me”
“Nahi Veev” Naina was gasping for breath
“CALM down yaar” “rona band kar, Ma ko pata hai?”
“I might as well jump off the balcony”
Viveka gave her a sound drubbing
Then became very afraid
By then Akash was outof the shower
Naina sat on her bed staring out the balcony door
“Breakfast kiya?” he demanded
She shook her head
“Chalo aa jao” he ordered
They ate quietly
“Kaun hai yeh ladka?”
“Dad I AM SO FREAKING SORRY… Dad please forgive me”
“Beta aap 3 din, aur 3… matlab aap vacation karke aaye ho uskesaath” Akash scoffed
“I am SO SORRY I LOVE HIM DAD”
He was more shocked now
He was not ready at all to hear that
”I REALLY DO” she claimed passionately
He raised a hand to stop her from making any more cringeinducing admissions
“Umm.. fine.. enough… bas” he said softly
“Dad I WILL NEVER bring you shame” she made him cringeanyway
“Dad I promise…. He is an amazing guy, he took really goodcare of me” she promised
If the modd were different he would record it and they wouldall laugh over it over dinner
Beta I need to clear my mind… and do some work… 2 baj gayehain I was supposed to go to work, who to hua nahi”
“Dad is it OK if his … I mean.. if his family… DAD ITS ALLLEGIT”
“Umm.. no… main kisi se nahi milonga”he said firmly finishing up his poha
Anubha had returned early due to jet lag
Things at Mathur home went from bad to worse that night. Theparents worried what the heck was going on with Naina’s brain why no dressing down was penetrating
Viveka was quiet, she knew even breathing out loud wouldnuke her chances of going to Kharagpur
The twins were frozen stiff, not budging from their room
They didn’t know what had happened in the morning
Anu had told Akash not to reveal everything out in the open
So as to not give the teens any ideas of what they could dowhen parents were not home
Anubha made Naina sit on her bed, the couple feared shewould do something “stupid”
In fact they were paralyzed in fear so much they decided notto leave Naina alone
They had no way to tell if Naina was faking her remorse orgenuinely felt it
She was so dramatic anyway
“Diya Karuna ko mall jaana tha, bachiyon ne meri shaqal nahidekhi 10 din se, here I am stirring the same pot over and over again” she wassuper angry at Naina
Viveka was working in her room quietly
“Veev suno” Anu hollered
“Jee Ma, Papa apni wallet Bua keg har chhod aaye, pleaseDiya Karuna kisi ko le jao and bring it back, aaj koi driver bhi nahi hai batarahin hain”
“Umm.. Ma I am I have an appointment online with my Financial Econ Prof to go over a paper I am writing on Ideas for the 21st Century” Viveka spoke like a nerd
“That’s great… but Papa needs his wallet, I don’t want him driving too much at night since he bumped his left eye earlier in the afternoon on the clothesline in the balcony”
“Umm.. Ma I can give him a ride tomorrow to work”
“Vivekaaa”
“I can go” Naina got up studiously
“KOI zaroorat nahi, tum bas jao khana banao, koi nahi khana chahta Bua ke leftovers”
“I will eat” Naina offered
“Oh please” Anubha could not take the kissing up
But if she knew who her daughter was going to encounter at Shrivastavs she would not have sent her there
Viveka went reluctantly, it was only 6 PM still light out so she refused to bring an escort with her
Viveka with her hair tied in her signature top knot with a pencil stuck in it, her hair still damp from the post college shower, wearing a fiery red printed khadi kurti with white pencil pants, and a pair of glasses with red frame, she wore that morning to match with her blouse
She walked through the gate, after parking her car outside, Bua’s guards took a good 20 minutes to open both gates ceremonially. She was trying to text the faculty that had kindly agreed to look at her paper.
Getting to publish was like pulling teeth, painful and bloody but her mother wanted to be difficult.
Rightfully so
The miserable wretch of a sister was not letting their parents forget Jaipur
Gawd!!
She just snuck in thru the side human gate…preoccupied and walked right into Raanav Parashar
In fact the impact was so fierce she sent him flying sideways, he staggered and held on to the open swinging gate
“Wowww” he held her wrist as she fell back on him, in khakhi cargo shorts and a carelessly tucked in graphic tee
“Sorry” she mumbled bending down to pick up her pencil
“Didi humne kaha saamne dekho” the guard chuckled
She looked up at him in daze
“Hurrying?” he ridiculed
“Sorry… I have to pick something up”
“A wealthy sucker I am going to guess” he insinuated
“No actually… just my Dad’s wallet”
“Hoping they filled it?” he tilted his head sideways to indicate Bua
“That would be awesome if they did” she laughed beginning to walk the Prof had texted “Send it to me Ms Mathur, I will look at it”
“Sir please I want to walk you thru”
“I don’t know if I have the time, send it first”
“Sure” she texted sadly
“Did you help your sister plan the clandestine visit this morning?” he asked WALKING TOWARD the house with her!!!!
“Nope” she said texting on her phone
“I am sending Inder back just so you know” he said gleefully
“Oh?” she paused and looked up at him
He looked into the big brown confused eyes
“Yeah you guys have to plot a whole ‘nother conquest” he flashed a perfect toothy smile
“Most likely..” she nodded looking up at him “Its always a Buyer’smarket for Naina” she grinned reminded of how gorgeous her sister was.
She realized she had stopped too, she turned and began walking as he turned and began walking toward the gate again
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
