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"Raghav?" Naina hurried over to the still form that had draped itself over the sleek black table of Lux. "Raghav? Get up."
She lifted the body to sit up. Her nose scrunched as the reek odor of hard whiskey hit her nose. She looked over at the littered glasses and empty bottles. Looking back at Raghav's sleepy form, Naina became utterly perplexed.
What the hell was going on? What catastrophe came upon him that he spent hundreds of euros on hard liquor?
Sitting beside him, Naina shook Raghav.
"Raghav, wake up."
"Hnnhh," Came the only response from her friend.
"Raghav! Come on, you have to go home now." She began searching his pockets for his keys when he started laughing.
"Home? What home?" He slurred in his dazed state. "There is no home."
"Raghav, you're drunk."
"Thank you Miss Obvious." He peered through his heavy eyelids and gave her a dopey smile. "But like I said, I have no home."
"But the Mehra Mansion..." Naina asked confused.
"Like I said, not my home." He answered drunk. "After all, I'm just a servant. A good for nothing piece of scum that the great Mr. Mehra had taken some pity upon." He laughed once more. "I have no home." He reached for the open bottle and took a large swig out of it.
Naina remained quiet. There will be no reason for her to comment on his situation due to his drunken state. If there was a fight at home he could be exaggerating whatever happened due to the amount of liquor he took in. In either case, she had no right to interfere in his familial matters. What she could do was offer him a place to take shelter until he was ready to cope with matters on his own.
"Raghav," Naina grabbed the bottle out of his hand and set it upon the table. "Let's go."
"Where?" He asked, raising his brows.
"My home. You can stay there for the night." Naina stood up and picked up his jacket that was slung over the bar chair. Grabbing him by the arm, she repeated, "Come on."
Shaking her head and sighing, she positioned his arm around her shoulder and proceeded to take him home.
Raghav woke up with a pounding headache. No, pounding was an understatement. It felt more like there about a hundred different construction workers drilling away at his head all at once. He took in a deep breath and forced his eyes to open.
From seeing the ceiling alone his body became tense. This wasn't his room. He sat up and began looking around. This definitely was not his room. White pristine arm chair with a mixture of dark blue and silver pillows, the bed sheets matching that same shade, the shelves being stacked with books and that small stuffed teddy laying beside him... yeah, this was definitely not his room.
He removed his blankets and felt around the tiled floor looking for his slippers but mentally slapped himself when he remembered yet again as to where he was. Scratching his belly, he made his way towards what he hoped will be the living room. As he did, he looked around at the walls and various other shelves to get an inkling of whose place he found himself habituating in.
To his luck, a human voice spoke to him.
"Morning sunshine." Naina's twinkling eyes greeted, her lips taking a sip out of a pristine white china.
"Morning..." Raghav trailed off, looking around as if he was expecting someone else.
"Nai-na..." She offered in a sing-song voice.
"What am I doing here?" Raghav asked inching slowly towards her.
"You were sleeping." She pulled out of the small window that was separating the kitchen from the living room. "Might I add you were extremely lucky that I found you last night. If it was anyone else you would have been robbed, beaten or," Naina checking Raghav out, added, "taken advantage of."
Raghav gulped and curled in on himself. He looked down at his white vest and red boxers and found himself to be oddly naked.
"Where are my clothes?"
"Relax handsome." Naina turning around, reached for another mug to pull out of from the cupboard. "I didn't do anything. I simply put you on the bed and left. Whatever you did in there," She looked over her shoulder with a smug smile, "I had no hand in it."
Raghav twitched in his place feeling highly embarrassed.
"Here," Naina placed a hot mug of coffee upon the shelf pertaining to the small open window. "I don't really know what to do with hangovers since I don't drink but if it helps do take it."
"It's better than nothing." Raghav murmured sitting upon the bar stool.
Before taking a sip, he let the hot steam of the coffee beans waft over his face. Keeping his eyes closed, he hummed pleasantly appreciating the peace he was able to get after the chaos from previous night. The moment the warm beverage hit his tongue, Raghav was hit by an onslaught of emotions. He felt his mind waking up, his face growing red, and his belly swirling into a heated pool.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Naina ducking her face with a blooming blush.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing."
"No, tell me."
Straightening up and putting her mug into the sink she said, "Just judging by your moans it seems like you like that coffee a lot."
"I-I wasn't moaning." Raghav stammered, feeling even more red.
"Uh-huh."
"I wasn't! Honest." Raghav exclaimed.
"That's not what your mouth was saying mere moments ago." She replied smirking.
"Whatever. I wasn't moaning." Raghav muttered before taking another sip.
"What do you want to eat?" Naina asked, her voice being muffled by her head being tucked into the fridge.
"Oh, I don't think I'll be staying for breakfast. I should go home." Raghav answered, sitting up straight.
"Huh, here I thought you didn't have a home." Naina commented, placing a loaf of bread and a bowl of eggs onto the counter.
"Why would you think that?" Raghav asked feeling slightly offended.
"Oh, simply because that's the one concept you tried drilling into my head last night." She pulled out an empty bowl and held an egg as she thought of what exactly she wanted to eat. "Fried egg, or an omelette?"
"Scrambled." Raghav suggested. "I will never say that about my family. They're everything that I have."
"Then what made you empty out almost two bottles of whiskey last night?" Naina asked cracking four eggs into a bowl.
She went back to the fridge to place the eggs away and take out a carton of milk. Raghav, taking another sip, entered the kitchen.
"Where's the whisk?" He asked placing his cup onto the open windowed shelf.
"Here." Naina offered pulling open a drawer.
While Raghav busied himself in beating the eggs, Naina took out a pan and some butter.
"You know Sanjana?"
"The one you have a crush on?" Naina asked with a teasing smile. "Yeah I know her. Well, not know know her but only through you. Yeah I know her."
"Well you consider the crush to be officially crushed." He poured a little bit of milk into the beaten eggs and whisked some more.
"Why? What happened?" Naina leaned against the counter as Raghav came with the beaten eggs and poured the mixture onto the pan.
She offered him a wooden spoon and listened to him as he narrated his tale.
"Well, she accused me of molesting her last night." He spoke as a matter of fact while Naina straightened up, her eyes widening.
"What? How dare she!"
"Well she did." Taking a deep sigh and clenched teeth, he added, "And everyone believed her."
Naina scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Just look at their audacity. Have they even met you?"
"Oh yeah. They met me and got to know me pretty well. Just take a look at these welts." Raghav remarked, turning around and showing Naina the purple-blue bruises that were raised on his back.
With raised brows, Naina carefully traced her fingers fearing her single touch could hurt him further.
"Don't cry." He requested seeing her watery eyes.
"Did you file a complaint?" She asked taking her former position with crossed arms.
"No." He scratched at the pan gathering up all the bonded eggs.
"Why not? They abused you Raghav. That's not something you should stand by regardless of how attached you are to them."
"Let it be Naina. They're family and these things happen. Don't tell me you never saw anyone get hit while you were in India. It's their way of discipline, that's all. Can you turn off the stove and bring some plates?"
"Yeah." Laying out two plates, Naina put two multi-grain pieces of bread into the toaster. "But Raghav, that mentality that you have is wrong. If you want to discipline someone then you yell at them, scold them, make them see that their way is wrong. You don't beat them."
"But Naina," He began plating the eggs onto the two plates, "You have no idea how much they have done for me. They brought me here to Austria, gave me an education, allowed me to be a part of their family, fed and clothed me."
"Yeah and now they beat you as well. Raghav, just because they did so many favors onto you doesn't mean you repay them by taking their abuse in silence." With the toasts popping out, Naina unplugged the toaster and placed the toasts onto the plate. Grabbing the salt and pepper shakers, they took their plates to the small wooden dining table.
As they dug into their breakfast, the silent air was interjected with the soft clangs of their forks hitting the plates and the slurps of their beverages. Naina looked out the open rectangular window and saw a mist beginning to form around the evergreen trees. She smiled at the cloudy expanse hiding the high cliffs at the back.
Raghav too smiled, practically feeling the chilly mist linger on his skin. He hated the snow and the strenuous activities that came with removing it, but he loved the aesthetic of the chilly weather. Cuddling up into warm blankets and thick sweaters, drinking mugs full of hot cocoa, seeing the world be consumed with fresh layers of pristine white snow. He loved it.
"How long have you been living here?" He asked Naina.
"A few weeks. I had to move out once I found out what Bhabhi was up to." She spoke softly still feeling hurt about being used by her own loved ones. If her sister-in-law had simply asked to stay back and help her out till she delivered she would have done so happily. But the fact that she was being used with the intention of having cheap labor... she simply couldn't digest it. So she did what a woman should do. She took up a job to help pay for her trip back home.
"Is your job... you know..." He trailed off feeling hesitant in the fear of offending her.
"Legal?" Naina supplied to an embarrassed Raghav. "Yeah, it is. I spoke to the Indian Embassy and they gave me a permit to work until I can go back. As for brother dearest, he's has the Austrian police to deal with."
"Ouch! Tough luck." Raghav commented with a raise of his brow.
"I'll say. Serves him right." She picked up her fork and began stabbing at the eggs. "Couldn't bother to take care of Mom and now tried to use me. He deserves to be punished for his crimes." She muttered before harshly munching on her food.
Raghav couldn't help but smile at her aggressive nature. Not that she was the type to get angry easily. But when she did it was always aimed at the right cause and backed with a passion of emotions.
"It's a really nice place though Naina. All this openness," He gestured towards the open windows and living room, "It suits you very well."
"Thanks." Naina blushed.
"Don't want to sound offensive or anything, but is the rent fine?"
She took a deep sigh before answering. "It's alright. I mean, it hasn't put me in the best of the situations but I got it pretty quick and to my liking which matters the most to me at the moment. If I'm gonna have to stay in Austria for a while longer, it might as well be in a place that give me peace and happiness you know?"
"That is true." Raghav said, spooning another forkful into his mouth. "But you feel safe na? I mean, neighborhood wise?"
Naina slowly nodded her head, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Yeah."
"Liar."
Naina peered through her lashes and smiled softly. "Guilty as charged."
"Do you have room for one more?" Raghav asked picking up his mug and taking a sip of his coffee.
"Why? You offering?" Naina retorted, leaning back in her seat.
She chuckled at his shrug and his "meh".
"Yeah, there's room for one more."
"Good."
Naina smiling, took a long sip of her drink while Raghav looked out at the accumulating mist.
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