Chapter 48

2 years ago

varshaoforange

@varshaoforange

—Thursday, February 10, 2022, 8:30AM—

“Kya hamen unhen jagaana chaahie?” Arpita whispered to her mother. (Should we wake them up?)

Narmada smiled, “I don’t want to. They look so sweet right now, and you know that Aru never sleeps enough. Let’s let them sleep, na?”

Arpita sighed, “Haan, dono bahut pyaare lag rahe hain, lekin yeh dono ko kaam pe phi jaana hai. And if we don’t wake this UNB up before he’s late, he’ll complain about it all morning. I’m not dealing with his whining.” (Yes, the two of them look very cute, but these two also have to go to work.)

“Amma mujhe paanch aur minute sone do, please.” Imlie muttered in her sleep (Amma, let me sleep for five more minutes, please.)

Aryan muttered, “Main teri Amma nahin hun, Jungli.” (I’m not your mother, jungli.)

Narmada sighed, “Aru neend mein bhi Imlie ke baare mein soch raha hain.” (Aru is thinking about Imlie in his sleep too.)

But her appreciation of Aryan’s sleep-muttering were lost on Arpita, who burst out laughing, waking up Aryan.

“What are you two doing in my room?” He asked, still half asleep. Then he realized he wasn’t in his room but in the family room, then he looked to his left and realized he hadn’t fallen asleep alone, nor had he remembered to take Imlie to her own room. He smacked his head, and then checked his phone, “What time is it?”

Arpita smiled, “Yes, you two are running late for work, but you’re not escaping me and Maa that easily, first tell us what happened here last night? Did you tell her?”

Aryan shushed her, “Didi, please. She’ll hear.” Aryan looked over at Imlie, “Actually, I forgot, World War III could break out in Delhi and Imlie wouldn’t wake up. I’m going to get ready for work, wake her up, will you?”

Arpita pulled him back, “No, no, no. You wake her up, pyaar se.” (With love.)

Narmada bit back a laugh at her son’s sudden awkwardness, “Arpi’s right, Aru. You’re the reason she was awake so late, you wake her. Bye.”

Aryan shouted at the two of them as they left the room, “What nonsense? She’s not a kid!”

Imlie turned around in her sleep and muttered, “Amma please, close the door, I can hear the cows yelling.”

Aryan looked at her, “What? I’m not a cow? Get up.”

Imlie didn’t budge.

Aryan groaned, then he pulled the blanket off of her, “Imlie, we have to go to work, get up.”

Imlie curled into a ball, “Why are you here ABP, you don’t live in Pagdandia? There’s no AC here.”

Aryan pulled Imlie in a sitting position by her shoulders and shouted, “Up!”

Imlie’s eyes opened, and then she jumped back, “What the hell?!”

Aryan let go of her, she fell back onto the sofa, “Get up, jungli. We have to go to work.”

Imlie rubbed her eyes, “I slept here?”

Aryan, “No, you slept in space, you’ve just landed after making orbit. Shut up and get ready for work.”

Imlie wasn’t completely awake yet, “Where did you sleep?”

Aryan hesitated, then he lied, “In my own bed, where else?”

Imlie nodded, “Phir theek hai.” (Then that’s okay.) But she noticed Aryan’s ears redden and she doubted he’d told her the truth.

Imlie ran to the car and stumbled inside, Aryan had been honking the horn for the past three minutes.

“Doesn’t your head hurt from pressing the horn that much?” Imlie asked.

Aryan deadpanned, “It sounds better than your nonsense.”

Imlie made a face at him, “Calm down Akkad Bagga, we’re not going to be late.”

Aryan pressed on the accelerator, “I have more than work to do today. Also, your favor is due.”

Imlie stared at him, confused.

Aryan responded without taking his eyes off the road, “Staring at me isn’t going to change anything. Tomorrow, be ready to leave 4, your work has to be done by then.”

Imlie started to protest, “But, I have two interviews I still haven’t written up, and even though my exams just ended, I need to go home and prepare for a project that’s coming up, and…and…” Imlie trailed off, trying to come up with a third thing she had to finish tomorrow.

Aryan smirked, “If you say ‘teesri baat udhaar rahi” I swear—”

“Like you have a copyright on the phrase!” Imlie shot back.

Aryan remained calm, “I don’t but that’s a good idea, I’ll look into it.”

Imlie shook her head, crossing her arms, “I said no. Nahin. Nahin. Nahin! Tomorrow is my birthday, I refuse to do work on my birthday.”

Aryan pushed his tongue against his cheek, he was fighting a scream of frustration and a snort of laughter at the same time, and it was incredibly difficult. Sometimes this girl managed to provide the most amazing insights into something brand new to her, and other times she was dumber than a pile of bricks.

Aryan looked at her finally, seizing the opportunity for some fun, “You’re going to the office tomorrow, though. Isn’t that work? Also, how old are you turning?”

Imlie looked at him, insulted that he didn’t know, “You’re the one that’s memorized my birthday according to Arpita, shouldn’t you remember?”

Aryan groaned, “Mere seede se sawaal ko seede se jawaab de sakthi ho, ya nahin?” (Can you give me a straight answer to my straightforward question, or no?)

Imlie shot back, “Twenty.”

Aryan nodded, still fighting the smile, “So you should be over this birthday nonsense. You legally were an adult two years ago, so by now you should have grown up. You’ll get your precious halwa tomorrow, buy some new clothes, and boom, birthday celebrated. What more do you want?”

Imlie sighed, “Yes Akkad Bagga, that’s EVERY THING I am going to do tomorrow. I don’t want or need anything except halwa and a relaxing day. And a long conversation with Amma. Also Dadda if he has time. But I definitely am not going to spend it working with you.”

Aryan sucked in his breath dramatically, looking at Imlie, “Bummer, you promised me a favor. I’m collecting.”

Imlie stared at him open mouthed, “You’re going to take away the one day out of the year where I get to hear the every story about my childhood and what a great daughter I was from my Amma and Dadda, and you’re going to smile while you do it?”

Aryan frowned, “I’m not taking anything away, though. You promised me a favor. Also, stop overdoing it, your Amma and Dadda only give you compliments. I’ve heard them talk to you, remember?”

Imlie replied petulantly, though it didn’t help her point, “Yea but you haven’t met my Dadda in person.”

Aryan raised an eyebrow at her, then shook his head, “Jungli kahin ki.”

Imlie pondered this and then realized perhaps this was a way to get out of whatever favor Aryan wanted from her, “You know, my Dadda is a pretty scary guy. I mean, you’ve heard about his activism, the methods he uses, right?”

Aryan started to sweat a little, he of course knew all about Satyakam. In fact, right now, he was cursing himself for falling in love with someone who had someone who wasn’t afraid to wield a gun as a father figure. He said, trying to keep his voice even, “Yes, what’s your point?”

Imlie grinned, mischievously, “My point is…that I haven’t talked to him in a while. He would be very interested to learn what I’m doing on my birthday. I think I should call him.”

Aryan realized what Imlie was doing, but he wasn’t about to fall for it, “Listen, if you want to go against your word, which you gave to me, who you consider your friend, fine. But I doubt your Sita Maiya or even your Amma will find that particularly nice.”

Imlie grumbled, “Touché.”

—Thursday, February 10, 2022, 4:00PM—

Imlie stood up from her seat, still going over the edits in her hand she’d gotten from her editor. She ran straight into someone, “Sorry, I wasn’t—” It was Shiv.

Shiv shoved his hands in his pocket, taking a step back, “Ah, no problem. You seem busy. I just…well I finished my work, and I just had to come and see how you were doing. After yesterday—”

Imlie interrupted him, “I’m fine. It’s not like Rupi Didi said anything new. I heard it from my mother when I left that house the first time, I’ve heard it from basically everyone.” She wanted to to add ‘except Aryan,’ but she didn’t. She realized that Aryan had been the only one who’d consistently stood with her through the divorce, through everything leading up to it, and everything after. He’d been going through his own pain, but he’d never stopped standing up for her and what she wanted. He was angry, sure, through a lot of it. He’d misunderstood her sadness and grief as regret, but he still realized he couldn’t stop her from crying or grieving.

Shiv stammered, still looking at the floor, “I also wanted to say, that it’s kind of my fault Mr. Tripathi’s leaving.”

Imlie looked at him, confused, “What do you mean?”

Shiv started, “Well I—”

Aryan interrupted the two of them, Imlie hadn’t even noticed he’d been here, “Imlie, Shiv found a job for Aditya, but it was me who suggested to him to call his editor friend in Mumbai. I figured it would be hard for Aditya to get a job in Delhi, even though the lawsuit ended up being nothing more than a retraction, it’s a small industry, everyone knows everyone here.”

Imlie looked at him, curiously, then she smiled, “It’s funny that you think you can tell me you did it out of concern for Aditya, and his career prospects, and I’ll believe you. What’s insulting though, is that you think I care. We’re in the office, so I’ll stop myself from yelling,” her voice had indeed dropped a few dozen decibels to prevent anyone from hearing, “but don’t try to lie to me again. I won’t hold back next time.”

She walked away, leaving Shiv and Aryan alone. She was seething, she needed a break. From the office, from anything to do with Aditya, and from Aryan. She made her way downstairs to the lobby, and called her editor. He was out of the office for some conference, and Imlie didn’t want to leave just in case he had more work for her.

“No, Imlie, you got the edits I sent over right? If you’re done with those, you can head out. It’s fine with me,” he said over the phone. He sounded like he was in a hurry, so Imlie decided to hang up quickly.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Imlie hung up the call and went to the main road to find an auto. She didn’t want to go home, because she knew Kaki Maa and Arpita Didi would be able to figure out she was still in a bad mood, and she still hadn’t told them what had happened last night. But, she didn’t really have anywhere else to go.

Shiv stood there, confused and worried, staring at the spot Imlie had been standing in. Aryan snapped him out of it, “I’m sure you’re a very busy person, so I’m assuming now is the time for you to leave?” Aryan phrased it like a question, but it sounded more like an order.

Shiv looked up at Aryan, a fury he hadn’t felt in a long time bubbling up inside him. “This is all your fault. I shouldn’t have even suggested getting Aditya a new job.”

Aryan smiled coldly, stepping closer to Shiv, “Why, exactly, are you regretting that decision?”

Shiv glared back at him, “Are you kidding me? Did you see her face, did you hear what Aditya’s sister told her last night? It just bounced back on her. She feels responsible. I can’t believe I didn’t think about what she’d go through…” Shiv trailed off at Aryan’s expression, which had shifted from a cold smile to pure rage.

Aryan gritted his teeth, “Imlie, will be fine. I will see to that. She isn’t as weak as you’re making her out to be. So don’t.”

Shiv shot back, “Don’t what? Don’t be concerned for her? Who are you to tell me not to be worried about her? I—”

Aryan was exhausted with this man’s antics, “You what? You love her?” He started to laugh softly, “You know, you’re rehashing an incredibly boring plot from some of the worst movies. At least come up with something interesting. You don’t even know her, you just met her.”

Shiv glared back, “And you do? She was moping around yesterday because of something you said, and you’re telling me you know her? You can’t go two seconds without saying something to mess with her head, because you’re so in denial over yourself, and you think you’ll be able to keep her happy? How are you any different than Aditya? Yes, I’ve only just met her, but I—”

Aryan grabbed Shiv’s collar with one hand, “Mere paas tumhara yeh bakwas pyaar ka izhaar sunne mein vaqt nahin hai. Isse pelle ki mein tumhe dakke maar ke bahaar nikaaloon, mere office se bahaar niko. Aur kal, koi bhi tamasha mat banana, kyonki tum zaroor pachhtaoge. Samjhe?” (I don’t have time to listen to your rubbish expression of love. Before I push you out of here, get out of my office. And tomorrow, don’t create a scene, because you will definitely regret it. Understood?)

Aryan pushed Shiv and turned back to his office.

When the auto pulled up to the street in front of the house, she readied herself for their questions. Walking inside she found Arpita Didi, Sundar, and Kaki Maa, happily chatting about something. Arpita noticed Imlie first, “Imlie, come here, and help us decide, I want pink but Sundar and Maa are dead set on red.”

Imlie walked over to them, she saw they were looking at a few dozen vases full of flowers, “What are the flowers for?”

Arpita stammered but Kaki Maa interjected, “We’re redecorating a few things, that’s all.”

Imlie smiled at them, they smelled amazing, “I have to side with Kaki Maa and Bandar on this one, red is better. But you should consider jasmine flowers, I don’t know how to decorate the inside of a house with them, but you could plant them in the garden outside. They smell even better than roses to me.”

Sundar rolled his eyes, “Sundar.”

Imlie laughed, “I said that, Jatinder.”

Arpita smiled knowingly at Narmada and Sundar, the two of them understood immediately. Narmada already tried to remember the phone number of the florists she’d used for the last big party she’d held. Arpita looked back at Imlie, noticing her slightly frustrated face, “Imlie, is something wrong? Also, why didn’t you come back with Aryan?”

Imlie decided lying was the best option for the moment, “Nothing, I’d just finished with work, and I wanted to go study. That’s it.”

Arpita furrowed her brows, “Really? Aryan didn’t say anything mean again did he?”

Imlie looked up at Didi, “What do you mean again? Did he tell you what happened before?” Then she stopped talking, he wouldn’t have, then he’d have to tell Didi about his drinking in Arvind’s study, and the almost kiss. No, he wouldn’t have done that.

Arpita looked even more concerned, “What do you mean before?”

Imlie shook her head, “Nothing, nothing at all. I’m going to go study. Lots of work to do. Have fun decorating.”

She made her way to her room and closed the door behind her, climbing into the bed without changing first. It felt like her head could burst at any moment, there were so many questions. Why had he kissed her, or tried to kiss her, even if it was a mistake, Imlie wondered. If he was so frustrated by his so called mistake, then why did he try to make her feel better last night? If it was such a big mistake, why did he want to spend even more time with her? And why, for God’s sake, did he have to bring her into the mess every time he did something to Aditya? How many times did she have to say she had no interest? It didn’t matter to her if he’d asked Aditya to leave or if he’d just found the job for him. Why should she care? Sometimes she felt like Aryan kept bringing Aditya into the scene, not because he hated Aditya so much, but because he just wanted to keep testing her. As if he wanted to see if she’d break down crying again like she had right after the divorce, or right after Malini and Aditya’s second wedding. She threw a pillow against the wall, and cursed Aryan. Every emotion or feeling she had wasn’t something he could experiment with, he wasn’t some sort of scientist. What was wrong with him?

—Thursday, February 10, 2022, 9:00PM—

Aryan caught Imlie’s arm after dinner and pulled her into his room. Maa and Didi had already gone to sleep, and he couldn’t let Imlie continue with this cold shoulder act, it was driving him crazy.

She pulled her arm out of his grasp and turned to leave. He blocked her path with his arm and stepped closer to her, backing her up against the wall of his room. She glared at him.

“What?!” Imlie shot at him, “Tumhara problem kya hai?” (What is your problem?)

Aryan had been frustrated, but Imlie’s indignation and anger was more cute than scary, he split into a wry smile, “Nothing, I just remembered your threat from this afternoon, ‘I won’t hold back next time,’ and it made me laugh.”

Imlie glared at him, “Kya mainne tumse koi chutakula sunaaya ki tum has rahe ho?” (Did I tell you a joke, that you’re laughing.)

Aryan cleared his throat, but his smile didn’t seem to want to disappear, “No, not a joke, but I was curious, if I did lie again?” He stepped closer to her, enthralled by that flowery scent again, “Tum kya hi kar paogi?” (What could you actually do?)

Imlie didn’t drop her gaze, Aryan’s smile was infuriating her but at the same time his closeness was discombobulating, “Main…main…main—” (I…I…I—)

Aryan raised his eyebrows, “Aage to bolo, main sun raha hoon.” (Please go ahead, I’m listening.)

Imlie raised a finger, “Listen to me, ABP, I’m not in the mood for whatever this is, so please, let me go.”

Aryan didn’t budge. Imlie tried to duck under his arm, but he was too fast, he dropped it lower to stop her, and stepped closer. She looked at him again, “Tera dimag theek to hai? Kya tum paagal ho gae ho?” (Is your head fine? Have you gone crazy?)

Aryan blurted out, “Haan.” Then he recovered, “I mean…listen to me for a second. What I did…regarding Aditya, I just wanted to apologize—”

Imlie pushed the confusion and nervousness she felt because of Aryan’s closeness out of her mind, she was angry again, “Why? Why would you apologize to me?”

Aryan looked shocked, and for the first time a little afraid of Imlie, “Because, well I assumed—”

Imlie interrupted him again, “Well you know what they say in English, about people who assume things. What? Did you think I was going to come to you crying, saying, ‘Please stop Aditya from leaving, please, please ABP,’ kya main tumhen bevakoof dikhti hoon?” (Do I look stupid to you.)

Aryan didn’t have a clear response, “No, you don’t, but—”

Imlie shot back, “What but? I just don’t understand what your problem is. Why do you keep bringing in Aditya and his problems into my life? Tumhe kab samajh aayega ki main us ki baare mein baat nahin karna chaahti hun? Main uske baare mein sochna chhod diya. Why are you obsessed with him? Kya, tumhe sach mein usse pyaar ho gaya, phir kyun usse sheher se bahaar bhej raho ho?” (When will you understand that I don’t want to talk about hum? I have stopped thinking about him…What, are you really in love with him, then why are you sending him outside of the city?)

Aryan clapped his hand over her mouth, “Can you please shut up, for one second?”

Imlie glared at him, and pulled his hand off her mouth, “No. Aaj tum bataa hi do. Kya problem hai? You don’t like Aditya, you hate him because of his horrible reporting, because you think he doesn’t deserve anything, blah blah blah. Tum mujhe isamen kyon kheench rahe ho? Do you see a price tag on me? Am I some sort of object that Aditya Kumar Tripathi is going to take away? Listen to me very carefully. Main pehle bhai ke chukki hun, mere zindagi par ek hi insaan ka haq hai, meri Amma. Bas.” (Today you say it. What’s the problem?…Why are you pulling me into it?…I have said this before, only one person has a right over my life, my mother. That’s it.)

Aryan stepped back, fighting a smile, thinking, ‘ek din kisee aur ka bhee haq hoga.’

Imlie turned to leave, Aryan pulled her back by her arm, “One second, meri baat ab tak puri nahin hui.” (I haven’t finished talking yet.)

Imlie turned back, looking at his hand around her wrist, but this time she didn’t pull her hand away, at least not immediately. His tone had changed, it wasn’t demanding; Imlie sensed a nervousness in his voice. “Ab kya?” (Now what?)

Aryan let go of her hand and walked over to his desk, he came back with a couple of books in his hand. Imlie looked curiously at them, trying to read the titles.

Aryan held them in one hand and scratched the back of his head, then he shoved them towards her, “Here.”

Imlie took them, “What? Why are you giving them to me?” She looked down at the books, they were very old but still mostly pristine copies of two of her favorite Austen novels, Pride and Prejudice and Emma. A smile split across her face, “Austen? Where did you get these? How did you know I liked them?”

Aryan fidgeted with his hands, “I heard you talking about her, Jane Austen, at one point with Didi, so I found these in the study and decided…well tomorrow is your birthday. So.”

Imlie looked at him, “If these are Arvind’s or your father’s—”

Aryan stopped her, “I already asked Maa and Didi, okay, they’re fine with it. Yes, Papa bought them when he wanted to read them with Arpita once, but he never did, I don’t think. In fact, I haven’t read them either, are they really that good?”

Imlie dropped her jaw, “You’ve never read them! Not any Austen book? What the hell were you doing in school?”

Aryan crossed his arms, “I studied business, okay? We didn’t have to read romance novels in our business classes.”

Imlie lifted her chin, “No wonder…” she muttered.

“No wonder what?” Aryan asked.

Imlie smiled mocking him, “No wonder you know nothing about women. Also these aren’t just romance novels, and even if they were, romance is a perfectly good genre of literature. When you read romance you get to learn about and think about what makes people happy, why they fall in love, and how they express that…” she trailed off, her face reddening. Then she looked at him, “Sit down, I’m reading this to you, at least the first couple chapters. I can’t let this go one much longer.” She pushed him towards his bed and made him sit down.

Aryan was taken aback and then looked at her, amused, “You’re…going to read to me? What, am I child?”

Imlie didn’t answer him, she just put a pillow against the headboard of his bed and sat down crosslegged, opening the copy of Pride and Prejudice to the first chapter, “Just…shut up, and listen.”

Aryan pressed his tongue against his cheek, fighting a smile, and leaned back against the headboard as well.

Imlie started, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife…”

Aryan watched as she read the first chapter, then the second, and then the fourth and fifth chapters. He loved the way she decided to change her voice whenever a male character was speaking. He smiled whenever she struggled to pronounce a word initially, and the little smile she had when she finally got it. He didn’t know when he’d dozed off, but he felt like he could have spent his whole life sitting next to her, listening to her voice, letting that smell of the mysterious flower wash over him.

—Thursday, February 10, 2022, 11:55PM—

Imlie woke him up, pushing his arm, “ABP, you’re missing the best part, Darcy just insulted Elizabeth’s looks and she’s furious.”

Aryan opened his eyes, initially confused over why Imlie was in his bed. He rubbed his eyes, sitting up properly, then his gaze fell on the clock on the bedside table. It was almost her birthday.

Imlie looked at him, “How did you manage to graduate with an MBA if you can’t stay awake—”

Aryan interrupted her, he had to stop her from leaving before midnight, “I’m shocked too…that I fell asleep, your voice is so grating.”

Imlie shoved him, “Shut up. You know what, I don’t care if you’re tired, I’m going to keep reading.”

Aryan leaned against the headboard again, “Jo hokum mere aaka.” (Whatever you say, your majesty.)

Imlie smiled, and continued. Aryan kept his eyes on the clock.

He watched as the clock blinked, 11:59:58 and pulled the book down away from Imlie’s face. She grumbled, “Don’t stop me, it’s getting so good.”

He smiled, “Happy Birthday, Imlie.”

She looked at him, deep into those big brown eyes, noticing the way his forehead crinkled a little when he smiled, “Th—thank you.” She then looked at the clock, and realized the ridiculousness of her being in his room, in his bed, so late.

She got up off the bed, clutching the book in her arms, “I didn’t even realize the time, thank you…again. For the birthday wish, and the book.” She pointed at the book, as if Aryan would have forgotten it was there.

She turned to leave, Aryan called her, “Imlie.”

She turned slowly, “Y..yes?”

Aryan smiled, enjoying her nervousness again, “Take the other book too,” he stood up, taking the copy of Emma and handing it to her. She took it, feeling a jolt of electricity when his finger traced over hers.

“Right, the other book…” Imlie said, softly, “Night.”

Aryan smiled, how he wished he could stop her from leaving. He wished he had some reason, any reason, so she’d never have to leave this room, leave his side, but he knew he didn’t have any way to stop her, at least not tonight.

Imlie’s feet didn’t seem to be listening to her brain, they wouldn’t move, she just kept staring, like she was bewitched, at Aryan and his smile. She snapped out of it and turned away. Aryan called out after her as she made her way out of his room, “Night, Imlie.”

She only gave herself permission to smile after she’d closed the door to her own room. Looking down at the books, she laughed a little, the image of Aryan sleeping, his arms still crossed and stiff as if he were in a meeting. Then she felt herself get hot remembering the way he smelled, standing close to her; the way his lips looked when he’d said ‘Happy Birthday, Imlie’; the way his eyes, his gaze, even his slightest touch made her feel naked but completely safe at the same time. She tried and failed numerous times to push those thoughts out of her head, and only after a couple restless hours, was she able to fall asleep.