The next day passed in a haze for Piya, as she fought to keep her mind focused in one place during class. She'd told Arjun that she was busy for the next week with no guilt at all. It was Abhay who was in her thoughts.
Normally, she had no problems concentrating, but after the events of the previous day, it was proving tricky.
But then, her good mood ended abruptly when college got over.
She was coming to Abhay's car when she saw him with his friends, talking.
As she came closer, she heard his voice. "-we take Piya with us?"
This was met with silence. "Abhay, you don't mean our Chemistry teacher, do you?"
"She's my cousin, you know," Abhay sounded irritated. "She hardly ever goes out, no wonder she's lonely. It would be good for her."
Good for her.
Her heart seemed to drop on the ground, making no sound as it shattered.
"Yes, yes, very true," said Misha. "But Abhay, she's a teacher. I know you don't mind, but are we really going to be comfortable around her?"
"I don't mind," Sumit was saying. "I mean, she could be a normal person too, like us.I know she's a teacher and all...maybe we could be on good behaviour for a night, wouldn't matter that much...but is it honestly necessary, dude?."
"Hook her up with someone if she's so lonely," T said, in a slightly whiny tone. "Come on, Abhay -"
Her hand took his arm with an easy familiarity.
"Fine," said Abhay, now sounding annoyed, "but-"
Wind rushed out of her chest and in her ears. A ringing sound was all she could hear.
She whirled around and turned back, walking rapidly away from the scene.
She found Radhika a minute later. "Hey!" said Radhika. "You're still here?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. Can you drop me off today?"
She frowned. "Sure. What happened?"
Piya said nothing.
"Is it Arjun?"
She looked up. "No, of course not. It's nothing - I'm just exhausted."
Radhika looked her up and down. "Sure. Get in."
As soon as the car started, her phone rang.
"Where in blazes are you?" Abhay all but yelled into her ear.
"I'm coming home with Radhika," she replied, and vaguely wondered why she was so calm.
There was a pause. The bang of a car door being shut. "You're coming home with- are you bloody crazy?"
Yep, he was yelling now. Funny how she didn't feel like yelling right now.
"No, do you think so?" She asked, her tone perfectly cordial. She even threw a smile at Radhika.
Abhay swore.
"Fine!"
"Fine."
She cut the call. "Can we stop by in a cafe or something, Radhika? I'm feeling a little peckish."
"Sure. I know just the place."
She stopped them at a quaint-looking place, which had pretty hedges around the outside and an air conditioned inside, with lots of smiling staff.
"Two banana-chocolate shakes," Radhika ordered.
"Um... Radhika, I've never had that."
"You'll like it," said Radhika decisively. "Hmm...how about two slices of vanilla cheesecake to go with it? You'll like it," she added firmly to Piya, when she opened her mouth to protest.
Radhika was right, Piya thought, twenty minutes later, as she slurped through the decidedly delicious shake, and then ate her cheesecake in small bites, to make it last longer.
"Hmm...what else should you have?" asked Radhika, when they were done.
"Doughnuts?" said Piya timidly. "I've always wanted them."
"I'm full," said Radhika. "But I'll sit and watch you eat."
She grinned at Piya, who smiled back.
And she sat steadfastly as Piya ate her way through two chocolate doughnuts, a vanilla muffin, a strawberry swiss roll and blackcurrant icecream.
Darkness had fallen, and Piya was loath to leave the place.
"We should go now," said Radhika, watching her through narrowed eyes. "Any more and you'll have a bad stomach upset. I never knew you were outright ravenous when you said you were peckish!"
"Sorry," she said meekly, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
Radhika rose, giving her an awkward hug. "Don't apologise. I'm glad you came to me."
She insisted on paying ("You can take me treating some day and pay then") and then they were stepping out into the evening.
Piya stilled as the hair on the back of her neck rose. She whirled around.
Abhay was standing there, looking directly at her, his mouth a cruel slash on his face.
She blinked.
He was gone from where she had seen him.
"What? What happened?" said Radhika, peering in her direction.
She shrugged. "Nothing. I saw a cat."
She followed Radhika to her car, not noticing the black car parked on the other side of the road.
Piya was silent in the car, head against the glass window. Radhika glanced at her and away again. Asking questions was not the time right now.
"Radhika?" said Piya after a while.
"Hmm?"
"Why are you... I mean, why did you... Why did you decide to be friends with me?"
Radhika looked at her in confusion. "What kind of a question is that?"
She shrugged.
"Well," said Radhika. "I thought you were unlikely to care what people thought, and so you'd not mind the kind of person I am. You know - weird."
"You're not weird," said Piya. "And what do you mean about not caring?" Radhika shrugged. "You don't realise it, I suppose -but you act as though you don't give a fig about what anyone thinks about you, what opinion they hold of you."
Piya looked at her. "Do I?" She said quietly. "How odd."
Hook her up with someone if she's so lonely.
It would be good for her.
Is it honestly necessary?
And just like that, she was having trouble breathing, again. "Hey."
Radhika's hand took her shoulder. "You know I'm not saying that as a complaint, right? It's a good thing. It's a part of you. Don't feel bad about it."
Piya twisted her lips into something that should resemble a smile.
"Thanks," she said, when Radhika braked near the house. "For...being my friend."
Radhika didn't smile back. "Take care, Piya. And you can always talk to me."
She's lonely.
"Sure, I will," said Piya.
She waved as Radhika drove off... Then realized that she wasn't alone. Abhay stood not ten feet away from her, his posture rigid, jaw clenched.
She turned away from and walked with slow, deliberate steps to her room.
Once there, she locked the door, deposited her bag and the books she was carrying on her desk.
And then she sank to the floor, both hands pressed over her mouth as she leaned against the side of the bed, her body shaking with the anguish that she would not let him hear.
She swiped at her eyes with her sleeve, and still they did not stop, those hot, burning tears that ran down her cheek and plopped onto her lap.
He would hear, she thought. He would hear her if she screamed now, as her heart cried out for her to do.
She'd fooled herself, she thought after several long moments, taking great rattling breaths.
She was mixing up the past with the present, forgetting that Abhay was now in own world, with friends who were like him. He was no longer the lonely, friendless Mutant in her world... And she had forgotten that, had let herself think that his care meant that he might... He might actually consider her special.
But wait. Why had he taken her into the woods that day? Held her hand?
He'd bewitched her to him, and now...and now he was letting his friends put her down, he was making her an object to be pitied, not wanted, or needed.
She wanted to hate him. She ought to hate him. But she couldn't.
Her tears finally stopped.
She rose to her feet and went to the bathroom, splashing her face with water, obliterating all traces of her weakness from her face.
She wiped her face dry and stared at herself in the mirror.
Then she went back to her room and called up Arjun.
"Hi," she said, when he answered. "Listen - do you want to go catch a movie tomorrow? Evening ish?"
"Wha- yeah, of course," said Arjun. "You mean, you want to?"
"I'm asking, aren't I?" she said waspishly.
"Right." He sounded a little awed. "Sure. I'd really like that. I'll get the tickets, shall I?"
"Great. That sounds great, Arjun," she said. "Uh- should we invite Radhika?"
"Radhika?" said Arjun. "Sure, why not. Let me just talk to her, confirm if she's available, yeah?"
"Great," she said. "Let me know, all right?"
She cut the call and threw the phone on the bed, suddenly furious with herself.
This was wrong, she thought. I shouldn't be doing this.
No. She was not wrong. She hadn't given any false hope to anyone. She would make it clear to Arjun that she wasn't interested in him, not that way.
******************************
Arjun put the phone down, hardly believing it. Piya - of all people- had chosen to call him up and ask him to watch a movie with her. Granted, it probably wasn't a date she meant. Not with that invite to Radhika. But surely- surely, it was a sign of something, wasn't it?
He dialled her number and relayed the invite to her.
"Really?" Radhika sounded more shocked than he felt. "Wow, that's...that's great. Sure. I'll be there. Nice!"
He cut the call, feeling slightly disappointed that Radhika had agreed...
And then winced as the sudden, loud music blasting through the house.
He left his room, hurrying towards Parth's, fingers in his ears.
"What's going on?" He tried to make his tone as threatening as possible, but the teen rolled his eyes before turning down the volume.
"Arjun. Don't even try it," said Parth, grinning. "You wouldn't scare a mouse."
Arjun scowled. "Have you done your homework?"
"I finished that an hour ago," said Parth. "I was calling you, you didn't hear me, so I thought I'd use a different method. It works, at least."
He shrugged.
Arjun's irritation left him. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"No problem," Parth said. "So, you want to watch Die Hard or not?"
He could have hugged the boy.
"Sure," he said. "I'll get the chips."
*******************************
Radhika sat at her worktable, looking unseeingly down.She had been sewing sequins onto a skirt, but now needle, thread, and sequins lay forgotten.
Piya - who had actually been close to breaking down - had suddenly decided to go for a movie? Why?
She ran over Piya's actions in her head. Radhika had never seen her eat like that before. Piya had a healthy appetite, but even so, she had never eaten like this.
Binge eating, she thought. That was the proper term. But why was Piya binge eating anyway?
She hadn't gone out with Arjun yesterday, told him she was busy - an unequivocal brush off - so why was she making plans now?
She went over the day. Piya had been unusually bright and cheerful - till at the end, when she'd asked her to take her home.
But Piya always went with Abhay.
So what had changed?
She took a sip of the cooling tea in front of her.
A spat with Abhay? It seemed a logical conclusion. But that hardly explained the binge eating.
Actually, if she thought about it, Radhika didn't quite know what to make of Abhay. Or the queer relationship he had with Piya.
Sometimes they were formal, almost tense in their interactions. At other times Radhika had seen Piya glow like a lightbulb and talk animatedly with him. Was that normal cousin behaviour?
Oh, stuff it, she told herself. How would she know? It wasn't like she had a family, was it now? Maybe this was what real siblings did, and not the giddying love or undying hatred they showed in television soaps or movie.
Except... Books couldn't be that wrong. Nowhere had she read of binge eating after a fight with a sibling - by all accounts, sibling fights were common.
She got up and paced the room. Perhaps she was looking at it from the wrong angle.
Piya had hardly grown up with Abhay, right? So how would they form the bond that siblings shared?
They would be friends, then, she thought.
Except friends didn't blow hot and cold. But that would explain the binge eating. She'd done it once, in her teens when her best friend had shifted cities.
And once a year or so ago, for a boy she had really liked, who'd dumped her after she'd refused to be intimate with him.
Wait - that was the wrong context again. Piya and Abhay weren't that either.
So...where did that leave her? Back where it had started.
Now she had to decide whether to go out with Arjun and Piya, and take the chance to ask her questions, or let them be alone in the chance that they might appreciate getting to know each other.
Radhika sighed.
********************************
Faye :
Mark stared down at the new Mutant who was supposed to be his Ekaraya. An old Faye word which meant "dependent upon."
From time to time, the older Mutants were assigned newly made Mutants to give them the knowledge of Faye, and also, Mark suspected to keep it ingrained in them that it was useless to escape. An Ekaraya and the Mutant in charge of it would stay together until the education was deemed complete. The Ekaraya was bound to obey whatever was asked of it.
He had been assigned Abhay, a long time ago. And while, in the beginning, he'd been downright scared in his company, he'd understood still waters ran deep with Abhay when they'd had to quell a riot in Faye that had erupted when King Quercus had decided to increase taxes one year.
Abhay had almost consistently shielded Mark from the mob, even as they both knew he was unlikely to suffer lasting damage.
Another time, when Queen Alizia had sentenced a vampire to death for trying to force himself on Princess Piyashree, and the whole kingdom had been in uproar. The Strategists had recommended Mark to carry out the execution.
He'd been terrified, so terrified, and yet he could say nothing. He didn't want to kill. He'd never wanted to kill. And to kill- to execute someone, no matter how serious the offense...
And Abhay had reported the Strategists that Mark was recovering from an injury caused by handling silver chains, and was therefore unsuitable. He'd volunteered himself.
And Mark had watched, along with the rest of them, when Abhay had walked up to where the vampire was chained, sunk his fangs into his shoulder, and beheaded the vampire in one clean move.
No one made a sound as the vampire's head fell onto the marbled floor, and Mark watched Abhay calmly wipe blood off his face, his expression set in stone, as he took his position again.
When Mark had tried to apologize for inadvertently forcing Abhay to do it, he'd brushed it off. "I didn't really do it for you," he'd said. "I did it for myself."
But Mark had seen the slight flinch he'd made when blood had sprayed from the vampire's neck and spattered his face.
And now Abhay was dead, gone forever... Aiza was out of action, too. He was now truly alone.
***********************************
Dehradun :
Blind, pure terror.
Abhay could count on one finger the number of times he'd felt it in his life.
And he'd felt that again, when he'd been searching the entire college for Piya before remembering that she had carried her phone. His entire being had churned, in fear that she might already be -
And then she'd answered the phone, and the terror had been replaced by fury. How could she? How dare she?
Deciding to go home with Radhika, out of the blue, without so much as a goodbye, forget letting him know that she wanted to go with someone else!
He'd followed them to a cafe, where she'd spent a considerable and wholly unnecessary amount of time eating. Since when did Piya eat so much? Was she deliberately leading him on?
And then, at the house, he'd stood there, waiting. Waiting for her to turn to him, to say something, to give him an explanation, because didn't she bloody well owe him that much?
Evidently not. She swept past him and up to her room, and he heard the click of her door locking.
White hot fury clouding his brain, he went after her, intending to force her to open her door to her - except he suddenly found his way blocked by Haseena, who caught his arm.
"What did you do to her?" Her voice was sharp enough to cut glass. "Me?" said Abhay furiously. "You're asking me what I did? Do you know what she did?"
Haseena raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I am asking you, Abhay. You see, I have never seen you this out of control."
The words were spoken coolly, yet they hit him with the force of a battering ram.
He blanched as he realized she was telling the truth. He was out of control. He hadn't lost it for... When had he lost it?
Oh, yes. When Piya had lost her senses briefly after retriving her memories.
He looked up at Haseena, who was watching him. "Our rooms, please," she said, walking away, as he stared after her.
************************************
Faye :
The royal chambers were uneasy, reflecting the mood of the king and queen.
Queen Alizia paced the room. "Why did you not listen to me, Quercus? I told you. I had repeatedly told you not to give in to Piyashree's demands! If you had never fixed her betrothal with Hasding-"
"She swore that she loved him," her mate protested. "She deserved some happiness, he was a good man-"
"And I swore that she did not!" The Queen's voice was raised. "I am her mother! I knew better what she considered love! Always, Quercus, always you let her do as she pleases! Last time, we lost a part of her, and this time... This time we lost her. I told you not to allow her to deposit her memories, and you still overruled me!"
"We have not lost her," said the king, shaking his head. "You told me she was alive. You said-"
"She is lost to us," Queen Alizia whispered, her voice catching. "She may never return."
The king hurried to catch her as she swayed slightly. She rested her head against his chest and gave a small sniff.
"I only wished to keep her happy, Alizia," he said. "I know better than anyone how badly I have failed her. I only wished to...to have all she desired. I know I have mistakes, Alizia, but can you blame me? I loved her too."
His mate and queen said nothing, but her hand on his robes tightened.
*********************************
Dehradun
"You said that it would not interfere with your duty," said Chand coldly. "You vowed to keep your feelings in control. You were going to hit her, were you not?"
Haseena glared daggers at him.
"No!" said Abhay. "No- I wouldn't have - "
"Are you sure?" said Haseena, her voice like ice. "You were hurtling after her ; she had locked her door against her. Are you quite sure you would not hurt her?"
Abhay shook his head, the very idea revolting. "Yes. I would not - I would never lay a hand on her."
"But you would cut her with words," Haseena cut in. "You would. Don't try to deny it."
"I was worried," said Abhay, desperately trying not to yell. "She just left with a friend - I had no idea -"
"She is not your prisoner!" Chand snarled. "She is not required to report her activities to you! Remember who she is, Abhay. She is your Princess, above all else!"
Abhay flinched.
"I remember," he said dully. "I was merely worried because I expected her to go with me, as usual. When she did not, I feared she had been taken by them."
"She slipped away with a friend and you did not notice?" said Haseena silkily. "Are you sure the blame does not lie on you being otherwise distracted?"
A thorny vise began to creep around his chest. He had been distracted. Trying to get them to take Piya with his friends, instead of watching where she was.
Haseena and Chand looked at each other.
Then Chand spoke. "Go to her now. And get her out of her room. Who knows what she might be doing there."
Abhay inclined his head.
Just as he was leaving, he heard Haseena's voice.
"We do not harbour hatred or animosity for you, Abhay. But even you agree, I am sure, that this was a lesson long needed for you?"
He said nothing as he left.
And yet, even as he berated himself for getting complacent, something inside him wanted to yell at Piya. For making him feel like this. After all these years.
For making him hope, for making him believe he could be more, and then pulling the rug out from under his feet.
He knocked on the door. "Piya?"
No reply.
He knocked again. "Piya, will you please answer?"
No reply again.
He banged the door. "Piya! Open the door now!"
There was still no answer.
"Piya, so help me, I'll break down the door if you don't-"
The door flew open. Piya's eyes shot daggers at him.
"Yes? What do you want?" She asked, furiously.
He edged into the room before she could slam the door on him.
"I need to talk to you."
"Well, I don't want to talk to you," she shot back haughtily. "So you can leave till I feel like talking to you."
He stared at her. "What's wrong with you?"
Piya's hands clenched. "What's wrong with me?" She hissed. "It's my fault, is it?"
Something was seriously wrong. This wasn't about the phone call - something had seriously gone wrong. But what?
He strove for a reasonable tone. "Why are you angry with me?"
"Angry with you? I'm not angry with you."
With violent movements, she pulled a chair and sat, turning her back to him.
He immediately walked over to stand in front of her.
"Piya, will you please tell me what the matter is-"
"Why do you care?" She snarled. "Go hang out with your friends, do your assignments, do your thing!"
"You're my best friend, damn you-"
The slap came out of nowhere. He had not expected it, which was why she had blindsided him with that strike.
They stared at each other in shock. Piya was shaking as she stared at her hand, then curled into a fist.
Trembling, she pointed it at him.
"Don't you dare call me that again. I'm not your friend. I never was. A pity case - that's all I ever was to you!"
She took several steps back, almost tripping over the chair behind her.
Abhay reached out instinctively, but she held up a hand. "Don't touch me! You - you-"
"A pity case?" He whispered.
And then, the fury he had suppressed suddenly came rushing up to the surface.
"A pity case?" He yelled. "Are you out of your goddamn bloody mind? A pity case! You insane, idiotic-"
"Don't raise your voice at me!" She screamed back.
"Oh, yeah, what are you going to do, slap me?" He yelled back. "You seriously believe- you were my best friend, Piya, damn you! My only friend! You think- are you that stupid?"
"Don't call me stupid!" She shouted, angry tears forming. "You're the one who treats me like one! You know what, just leave! Why haven't you gone for that stupid movie with your friends yet? Thought I'd be all alone, poor little princess with no friends, did you? What's that, if not a freaking pity case?"
"It's called sticking up for someone you care about, you idiot!" He yelled back. "I didn't go because I didn't want to go without you! I made them postpone the whole plan so I could ask you to come - and then you took off like a lunatic, without a word! If you think my behaviour made you feel like a pity case, what do you think yours made me feel! Like a... You made me feel like a goddamn Mutant!"
Piya went very still. "You were going to ask me to come with your group?"
"No, I was lying just now," he retorted.
"That's not possible," said Piya, though she had gone pale. "You- you said that I was lonely. That going out would be good for me. I heard you."
Abhay felt as though she had slapped him again. "Wha...when did you hear that?"
She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Your girlfriend didn't want me around," she said. "She said- she said - she told you to hook me up with someone- I heard you say Fine. I heard you."
She pointed a shaking finger at Abhay. "Don't deny it. I saw you. I heard you."
He stared at her, pieces suddenly clicking into place in his head.
"You...you were there," he mumbled. "Did you hear everything? "
"I heard enough."
Piya wrapped her arms around herself.
"Of course," he said aloud to himself. "That's when you left with her. That's why you were angry... You thought I was going to go with my friends, and..."
"You said I was-"
"I know what I said," said Abhay, suddenly weary. "And I'm sorry. S***, Piya, I had no idea. I know how it must have sounded - but what could I say? That you're not really my cousin, but the oldest friend I've got? That I would rather watch your stupid shows on the home television than watch a movie with them? Tell me, Piya. Should I have told them that?"
Piya stared at him, as though finally understanding what he was trying to say. It made him irritated. Now she chose to go silent?
"I couldn't tell them that could I?"He snapped at last, when she remained quiet. "Maybe you should have considered this when you decided you wanted to be a teacher, and went ahead without even informing me, so I could do something!"
His temper began to rise again at the foolishness of it all, the unfairness.
You think it's not awkward for a teacher to go around with her students? You think it's not awkward for me to ask my friends? All you think about is yourself, Piya!"
"That's not true!" She said. "I only became a teacher because I wanted to-"
"You wanted a position of control and respect," Abhay cut in. "You wanted to be better than the others. You wanted the power you had when you were princess. You didn't want to be a commoner. Isn't that the reason, Piya?"
Piya stared at him, in blank horror.
Something told Abhay that he'd just committed a grave offense, but his temper hadn't abated yet, and it refused to listen.
"I see," said Piya at last in a colourless voice. "That's a really high opinion of me. I won't bother you again. Please, don't think I want to go out with you and your friends. I wouldn't want to be seen with commoners, after all."
Her lips twisted in a sardonic smile, and Abhay realised what he'd said in the head of the moment.
"Piya, I-"
She walked to the door and held it open for him "Please leave."
"I didn't mean-"
"Leave," she said, in an imperious tone. "This is my room. Please leave, now."
"Piya-"
"Get out," she hissed, the mask of coldness cracking. "I don't care what you have to say. Get out!"
She glared at him, and Abhay suddenly felt a tsunami of shame rise inside him.
"I'm sorry."
"I am, too," she snapped. "I'm sorry for a lot of things. Doesn't change anything. Leave."
His stomach felt like lead.
In the end, Piya won. He left her room, hating himself more that ever.
It was over, he thought. He'd seen the look of finality in Piya's eyes. It was over before it had even begun.
A/N : Cookie for anyone who knows where the chapter title comes from. 🤣
Real Estate
