||CHAPTER 37||
《¤》

"Usne sab contract ke liye kiya hai. Maanyata ko jaal mein phasaya hai- Maanyata ye samjhna nahi chahthi hai."

"Par aapko aisa kyoo lagta hai Nani?"

"Kyoo-ki Oberoi hamesha se Yatis se muqabala karte aye hai. Fir woh achanak kyoo Maanyata ke liye pagal ho jayega?"

I paused the recording which had the unknown secrets related to the wedding, watching my grandmother on her bed.

She was sleeping peacefully.

Because she didn't know what she had revealed to me.

I don't think I've ever cried because of her. But now, my tears were unstoppable.

In her drunk stupour, she had managed to get her angst against Raman Oberoi clear to me. For once, maybe, we were on the same team.

And now, I knew why my mother was doing what she was doing. There wasn't any clear way out of the mess.

I really love your mother.

Isn't that what Mr. Oberoi had said while signing the papers? What kind of world were they living in?

What kind of world was I getting myself into?

It was 3 a.m. now. In seven hours, I'd be back in Delhi, handing this recording to my father. I had to.

But, for some weird reason, I didn't want to.

Wiping my tears, I stood up from my Naani's bed, and pulled open the drawers that had her medicines. I placed a Crocin and a glass of water on her bedside table, and walked out of the room.

My room was on the first floor. I had lived in this house for seven years, and it had been my safe haven for a long time, if you didn't consider my Naani's and my mother's constant pestering.

The door was unlocked, which was unusual for a room which hadn't been opened for four months. I turned the knob, and entered the wooden laminated floors, switching on the lights just in time to spot Aryan Oberoi sitting on my desk, his legs dangling like it was a bright day and amazing weather.

I would have been shocked, but this wasn't something out of the ordinary.

"Sup' Vika Darling? Hame dekh kar khush nahi hui?"

I settled myself on my bed. "Tumhara Romeo idhar aane wala hai kya?"

He blushed. I smirked.

"You are lucky is ghar me tumhari Naani ke alawa koi nahi rehtha. Warna tumhara murder mere Romeo se hi karwata."

I presented him with a wide grin.

"He's asleep, by the way. So shut up," he informed me. "Bastard didn't come to the fuc|<ing party."

"Some one seems angry, huh?" I shrugged, nonchalantly.

A beat of silence passed, before he cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Vika."

When I frowned at him, he explained further. "Thanks, for not telling anyone."

I brought my knees up, resting my chin on them. Didn't reply. What was I supposed to say, anyway?

I was the beard of my first boyfriend. Aryan Oberoi had been gay since before we had met, and it always disappointed me that only I had been able to discover his very obvious truth. And I had kept it to myself, because his secret wasn't mine to tell.

"You should be apologising to your boyfriend, you know," I smirked. "You were two-timing us."

"It was an open relationship for us," he defended himself. "You knew what you were getting yourself into."

"More like, was dragged into."

"Shut up." He jumped off the desk. "I just wanted to thank your disgraceful, ungrateful ass."

"Well, don't. I'd feel bad for blackmailing you into giving me a sneak peek into the Oberoi's archives then. And you know me, I am ungrateful."

"Touchè," he nodded, before standing by the window. "I'll get going before you make a slave out of me again."

"See yourself out," I yawned, standing up to retrieve a blanket from the storage cupboard.

"I sneaked in one of my t-shirt and sweat pants for you, sister. Hope I never see you again."

"Your wish, my command, sir," I winked at him.

And just like that, he whirled his legs out of my windows, and walked to his house. He lived in the same locality.

I closed the windows, and shut the blinds.

Something told me that it would stay that way for a long time.

¿¤?

"I'm glad you could join us for breakfast, Arvika," said Raman Oberoi's mother, as I sat on the dining table with her and her family.

"Thanks for inviting me over actually," I smiled at her. "I'm glad that I could meet you guys without the wedding hassle before I go back."

"So, can we expect you to be back for your Diwali vacation?" My stepfather asked, as my mother buttered his toast for him.

"Yeah, you should come," his mother nodded, "Diwali mein ham hamesha ek family get-together host karte hai. Aryan ne bataya hoga. Infact, bring Arnav along, I really want to meet my second grandson."

I glanced at my mother while sipping on the banana smoothie, something she knew I hated.

"Thanks for extending the invite, I'm sure my brother will be happy to know. But I doubt we could make it- it's eleventh and all, my Dad's pretty strict about grades."

I just wanted to mess with their calm demeanour, that's all.

"Oh, we understand," Raman Oberoi said. "But you're welcome here whenever you want to. It's your house too now."

I cut through the omlette before replying. "This house? Mine? Now that is something I'd love to brag about!"

They thought I was being funny. Only my mother could understand my sarcasm.

"You can brag about many things, beta," Raman Oberoi's mother said. "Just shift to Mumbai. I'd love to have you around."

Now, that I knew was a complete, utter joke.

The breakfast passed with some light conversation, and before I knew it, my mother was dropping me off at the airport.

In the backseat of her BMW, both of us sat with a few feet between us, parked near the airport.

"I guess we will be meeting again, sometime in the future?" I joked.

She curled her lips inside before replying, "I'll be calling you daily, Arvika."

I smiled to my self, "The question is  whether I'd be picking up your call or not."

"I just want to have a normal mother-daughter conversation with you. Har baath tumhari itni kadwi kyoo hothi hai?"

"Maybe because mujhe aapse baath hi nahi karni hothi hai?"

"Dehli jaaney se pehele tho tum aisi nahi thi?"

"Kyooki shayad Delhi jaane ke baad ye sab real mein hua?" Calming down, I took a deep breath in. "I got to go now, thanks for dropping me."

"Ruko," she held my hand. "Mujhey Arnav se baath karni hai. He's not picking up my call."

I smirked. "Kyoo? Aapke favourite bacche ne aapki baath nahi suni?"

It was the emotion in her eyes that made me dial his number.

Arnav picked it up in the second ring. "Afternoon bhondu," I greeted.

"Airport pohoch gayi kya? Vansh and Bua just came back, tu bhi unke hi flight me aajaati na."

He was waiting for a reply, and my eyes were trained on my mother; she was almost hesitating now.

"Arnav," she replied. "It's me."

The pause that now followed her sentence was filled with hurt, guilt, and disappointment. It was a two way street. It always is.

"Great. Vika, I'll be picking you up from the airport. Plane me kuch stupid harkat mat karna."

It was clear that he ignored our mother. She was hurt, she was tired.

We were exhausted.

I gulped. "Arnav, she wants to talk. You don't need to reply. Just... hear her out."

"Then ask her to show us her face. I make deals in person, you never know if phone conversations are clear. And tu hai na waha, tell her you can handle the business better than me. I'm not even interested in the Oberoi's business to be honest."

I don't know if I was proud of my twin because he was able to say those words so nonchalantly, but I knew I wasn't happy myself when I left a crying Maanyata Oberoi in the car, as I got out of the car to go back to Delhi.

I did not have the heart to look back. Never had one anyway.

¿¤?

"Party?" I groaned. "I'm tired!"

"Haan, tho mai kaha bol raha hoon ki aaj hi hai. Dad ne next weekend ka plan banaya hai. I should be jealous of you, but you know na, we should be kind to the needy."

I punched him on his shoulder. "You are jealous of me. I got us one of the best deals, which I bet you couldn't have done in a million years."

We were stuck in the traftic jam, the sun was slowly setting, and we were on our way back home.

Arnav childishly mocked me, because that's what he was. An immature kid.

"So... how was the wedding? How is it that no bombs exploded there? How did you control yourself?"

Giving him a false grin, I replied, "The urge to kill someone was shunned the moment you weren't around anymore. Now that you are around, the scale is inching up."

He stuck his tongue out.

"Are you usually this annoying or is it because you missed me so much that you can't control your emotions right now?" I asked, frowning.

"I have lived without you for seven years, I don't think three days make a huge difference."

"You definitely missed me," I giggled, sensing the change in atmosphere and his demeanor.

"Shut up," he pulled my hair, receiving a punch in his face.

"By the way," I changed the topic, "I got something really amazing. Not for you, obviously. I am just giving you the privilege to see."

He gave me a curious look as I opened the zip of my backpack to retrieve a huge, transparent box.

Smirking, I turned towards him, gauging his reaction.

"An aeroplane?!"

_____

Namoshtaii!

The competition for 'being a character' is now officially over. There would be more chances in the future if you want to participate and be a character in the story, but the Competition 1 is over. Thanks to everyone who showed some enthusiasm and participated. Results will be announced on Monday, 3rd September 2018, on my message board!

Also, if you don't already know, I post sneak-peeks of the upcoming chapters on my Message Board. So follow me if you want to get an early scoop of what might be coming up, so that you get them on your Newsfeed!

Btw, quick question: what do you guys want to be when you grow up (or are if you've already passed the 'strenuous' stretch of life)? 

I just need some ideas, no not for me, but for the characters, because... something might be coming up ;P

Anyways, read, vote, comment and promote!

~emcee.