Chapter 58: A Dark and Terrible Beauty – Part 6
He knew where she was in the room the whole time; his attention was like a lighthouse beacon, following her around even when his eyes were elsewhere. So, it was only natural that he should know the exact moment when she saw Shashank and walked over to talk to him. He had to admit, he was somewhat perplexed by her behavior with Shashank. She didn't seem in the least angry, hurt, or even petulant. In fact, she just looked like a woman catching up with her best friend after a long time. At least that's what it had looked like until the moment when she stumbled onto Shashank and then did not make any attempt to step back. He stood by the wet bar in Dhruv's living room and nursed the same drink that he has had in his hand for the past half hour as he watched her. She remained in Shashank's arms and they stayed that way, just staring at each other.
"They look pretty cozy, don't they?" He heard Thalia beside him and sighed internally as he prepared for the energy that would require to put her off today. The woman really was persistent and did not seem to understand his best intimation of disinterest.
"Hello Thalia" he said, giving her a brief nod of acknowledgment.
"You don't like me very much, do you Shiv?" He heard her ask and turned to her in surprise. Okay, so maybe she had read more than just disinterest in his behavior towards her.
"I don't know you enough to dislike you, Thalia. But I have to warn you, it's pretty difficult for me to dislike anyone. You would have to try really hard to do that." He said with a chuckle, wanting to smooth over any hurt feelings.
She gave him a small smile after a moment and it made him look at her curiously; for once, her smile was entirely devoid of any of her usual seductiveness.
"I wish we had met under different circumstances, Shiv. Maybe even a different lifetime." She said cryptically then and just as he turned to her in confusion, she leaned up and kissed him, catching him by surprise. But what baffled him even more was the fact that in the few moments when her lips were pressed against his, he could feel her hands shaking as they clutched his arms in a death grip. It was the only reason that he didn't push her away. This was a woman who was not kissing him because she wanted to...
She let go quickly enough, but of course the damage was already irreparable.
When he looked away from Thalia, he saw the startled faces of many of his friends; he scanned the small group of people around him, looking for Gauri. When he finally found her, he saw that she was staring directly at him, her jaw clenched. Shashank was standing right beside her.
Suddenly, he felt like there was not enough air in the room and before crowded space closed in on him, he walked out.
***
When the car pulled in through the gate, Raju wondered what he should do. He didn't want to wake up Ms. Thalia; he knew how rarely she slept. Just as he pulled up in front of the main door of the house, he found Shashank's car parked just ahead and found his lanky form outside, leaning against the car-door. Raju was relieved; if anyone would know what to do when it came to Thalia, it would be Shashank.
***
Shashank walked over just as Raju kakka got out of the driver's seat.
"She is sleeping in the back. She slept the whole way through. I didn't want to wake her." Shashank nodded and leaned inside the car to pull Thalia out. Once he straightened with her in his arms, he waited as she fidgeted and settled in, laying her head on his shoulder. Then, he followed Raju kakka into the house, pausing by the main door as Raju kakka unlocked the door. In that brief moment, he looked at the bundle in his arms; she snuggled in deeper and he could see the goosebumps dotting her arms. Her short skirt was stretchy enough that it covered everything that needed to be covered, but it left most of her legs exposed and now he could see that her shoes – those ridiculously high heeled shoes that had made her trip and almost fall before this long and fateful night had started – were missing. Her feet were red and he could see that the back of her ankles were tender and the skin there was mottled an angry red. Why women insisted of such torture devices, he could never figure out.
Raju kakka finally got the door open and walked into the wide foyer and then into the living room. Shashank followed him in and paused to relieve Raju kakka of this unexpected late-night duty.
"I will take her to her room. You go back to sleep, Raju kakka."
Raju kakka nodded and walked to his room in the back.
Shashank climbed up the stairs to the second floor and carried Thalia through the long hallway with its many sheer, shimmery curtains. He reached her room finally and looked around as he walked in, noticing that it wasn't all that different from what it had looked like the last time he was here. And that had been some time ago. The room had eight long window panels covering half its perimeter, each of which were covered with long sheer curtains in the middle and heavier drapes on either side. Two of the windows in the middle had the drapes pulled away and the moonlight was pouring in. The light was enough to show him around the room and he could see the wide bed at the opposite end of the room. But rather than take her there, he took her to the daybed by window panel that had the moonlight streaming in; it was the same window through which he used to climb in when he was young. She snuggled in and he went to the bed to grab the bigger blanket for her.
Just as he finished tucking her in, he heard her mumble something in her sleep that made him lean closer to listen.
"Papa…" she repeated. It was something that she no longer called her father; it has been "Dad' or "Father" – when she was really pissed – for a very long time.
He closed his eyes for a moment. She really was the loneliest creature he had ever met… Maybe it was pity that kept him coming back to her time after time after time. Even after she did the most unimaginable things… but nothing she had ever done in the past rivaled what she had done earlier tonight… He had been so angry with her that he had come here with every intention of telling her that he was all done with her. That he wouldn't come back anymore to fix her mess or pick up the pieces that she left behind each time she wrecked something… That he wouldn't even come back when she was left with nowhere to turn other than to him…
Well, they had all been great intentions…. He had more compassion in him than he thought possible.
Just as he was about to straighten up, he heard her mumble another name that made him pause.
"Shaan…"
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wow...that was fantastic..............superbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
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