"Please don't owe me so much. How will I repay you?"

"Maybe with a kiss?" Krishant playfully proposed. He chuckled at her wide-eyed expression. They walked out of Sarangi's apartment building, and Priyanka refused to avert her eyes from the house.

"Let's go," Krishant called.

It's for the best. Priyanka thought.

The journey to Krishant's was draped in silence, interrupted only by her silent tears, leaving her with no desire to engage in conversation. Krishant, too, offered no encouragement. She didn't think clearly when she agreed to stay with him.

But her attention was averted when the ride grew slower in the poshest area of the different city as it approached the neighbourhood of the chic houses after the plain sailing of the car - exactly two hours later.

He stopped at the large gates of the White-bricked Indo-Saracenic mansion. Priyanka gaped at the three-story enormous Manor. 'Sanghvi Estate' - she read the sign above the keypad lock. She noticed the passcode the owner beside her punched in, and the lights immediately went on, illuminating the ghosted house. Its driveway was freshly trimmed, with the garden surrounding the mansion.

Being gobsmacked, Priyanka forgot to react, and finally, they set into the house. She felt exhausted, and while Krishant was setting up a room for her, the thoughts of the earlier evening invaded her stressed mind as the couch she waited on welcomed her pending sleep.

The pace of the day had left her baffled to a degree, and the new surroundings embraced her in serene slumber.

______

The vicarious feeling of cordial comfort washed over Priyanka as she embraced the alternate Krishant, his pillow. Being a gentleman, he must have moved her to his more comfortable room than moving her into the guest room.

Ironically, the stranger against whom she built such high walls comforted her even in her sleep with his belongings. Her deep bedtime broke once the sun shone higher in the sky, and the brightness blinked in her wisdom. Her limp body started twisting from the inviting natural consciousness. But it resulted from noises that woke her and not the restful sleep she attended for hours.

Her sleepful heavy grey eyes contrast with the emerald green unfamiliar room. Priyanka could smell Krishant in the room. The pillow was left aside from her hold as the high-pitched vociferous shouting boomed through the thin walls of the house. It wasn't just one voice; the other sounded muffled but still making a point. It was sharp and deep as the altercation between the voices continued.

She noticed the window overlooking the entrance facing the peppy sun and adjusted to its luminosity for the next few minutes. Krishant probably opened the blinds recently as the sun had already brimming for the past three hours.

The tremendous emotional exhaustion from the previous night weighed soaring on her body. Her mind commanded her to move toward the glass window beside the bed as her ears perked to the source, and she staggered to the selected destination.

Priyanka sighs while rubbing her temple and watches the front of the house. She recognized the tall figure of her temporary shelter owner, Krishant Sanghvi. He loomed over a relatively shorter and timid figure of a lady. Unaware, Priyanka squinted her eyes out of incurable habit while thinking something as she looked at the lady in an attempt to recognize her.

The woman looked furious as she thrashed around in Krishant's hold, whereas Krishant looked equally angry, trying to dominate the situation along with the woman. Whatever they were disputing, nothing must accord with the woman's plan. That explained her rampage to Priyanka. She noticed the dishevelled burgundy hair of the woman, now thrashing along with her whole body, as she strove against Krishant. Priyanka unconsciously scrunches up her nose at the vigorous shaking of the woman.

Krish might need my help. She thought but stayed rooted in her place, holding the window frame for her posture support. She wanted to see more.

Sleep and exhaustion slipped away at the unsettled feeling settled within her. She thought nothing about the previous night's event, nor did she pay any attention to the fascinating house she was so tempted to explore just the night before.

Krishant's back was facing her front, but the loud slap noise halted her in her observant thoughts and ultimate assumptions about the two disputing people in front of her. The world went silent as Priyanka stopped breathing for a moment. The woman must have freed herself to cause such a harsh sound while Priyanka zoned out on them.

Krishant froze with his face swept to the side and his body heaven up and down with rapid breathing. It was unexpected for him too. Pleased and arrogantly, the woman motioned backwards to the front gate. Something obliquely displayed her lack of care in her undeserved act towards Krishant as she graciously scurries away with her expensive handbag swinging in her locked fist. A few steps away from the gate, the woman must have felt the curious gaze of the new guest on her as she stopped and turned her head to meet her eyes. They were taunting and filled with a warning against Priyanka's next step, and like a red danger sign intangibly pushed Priyanka away from danger, Priyanka surprisingly pushed herself slightly away from the window. The woman smirked before dashing away.

The shocked Krishant finally moved, hesitant for his next step. Apparent by the following gaze, he tilted his head upwards, his disordered wind-swept hair brushing past his hurt-filled eyes as he looked at the girl from his bedroom window. He paused as soon as he saw Priyanka. The rush of emotions flooded his face; hurt, sadness, disappointment, embarrassment. He did nothing to hide them as if Priyanka was already aware of every story of his life.

Krishant traced her eyes with his teary ones, looking for the same pity he had witnessed in all other eyes. Priyanka didn't know what she was reflecting for her beloved friend to sigh irritatedly at her parochial sympathy. He was used to this; there was nothing Priyanka could do. She did not hurt him.

On the other hand, Priyanka wanted to reciprocate the comfort Krishant had given her the previous night. It was starting to feel like a burden for her, as she wasn't used to receiving sympathy from others and refused to accept any charitable comfort. The previous night had been a mistake; they were still strangers with their own secrets and reasons for being there.

An eternity passed, and he stormed again but to simply imprison himself again in his ghostly-quite castle of a house.

Priyanka moves, only to collide with the dense atmosphere of the house.

Was it a mistake to come here? She wondered. Only day one, and she was already riding the roller-coaster.

Krishant walked around the kitchen with disoriented steps as if the anxiety was making him hyper. Priyanka acknowledges the overpowering intimating clouds of Krishant's capricious attitude. Krishant probably didn't expect Priyanka to witness such embarrassing commotion just a few minutes ago. But Krishant did nothing to hide his irritation as he never pretended for things to be okay in his life. His displayed vulnerability was not embarrassing him but making Priyanka aware of how different they both were. Priyanka would have feasibly run and hid in her room by now, whereas Krishant was all right by exposing his shaky self to a total stranger. Reasonably, she was not a stranger to him.

Priyanka approached the kitchen island as the fresh aroma of bacon filled her nostrils, not uttering a word and standing awkwardly. She debated whether she should go forward with her questions or merely pretend as if nothing happened.

"Do you remember her?" Krishant took the first instance. He stopped his movements to look at the vacant brown eyes of Priyanka. They would forever stir Krishant in the heat of carefulness as the fascination for them rose in his bitter core.

Priyanka remembered the image of the woman from a few minutes ago. Her tangling wind-sweeping burgundy hair her fierce blue eyes and her raging and thrashing slim body reminded Priyanka of nothing or no one. Her elegant grace is completely outspoken by her insensitive behaviour from earlier. Krishant collected his unspoken answer from Priyanka's debating face. He sighs and starts the plating before placing the breakfast on the marble counterpart.

"It's okay, Priya. I understand." Priyanka grunted at him inaudibly. Again, he did it. He sympathized with her. If she doesn't remember anyone from the past, then he should at least remind her. But so ignorant he was; instead, he was displaying his disappointment and empathy for her condition. He was mocking her condition unknowingly, unintentionally. Krishant has repeated that he understands her multitudinous times by now but never considered normalizing it or adapting to it.

"Who is she?" Priyanka asked rather.

"Just someone...." Krishant avoided meeting her eyes. Priyanka expected something else as his earlier openness bewildered her, but his bipolarity made her angry about the issue. He claims to understand her, but clearly, he doesn't.

"Did I know her?" Priyanka emphasized more on the past than the present.

"Yes." He nodded.

"How?" He stayed quiet instead, and silence killed Priyanka, "I don't understand this. I don't understand you," Priyanka began, "One time, you are okay with showing me how broke you are and your vulnerability. You promise to help me, but when I try to consolidate you and want to know more about us, then you shut me out." She paused. "Why ask me if I remember her if you do not intend to tell me?"

"I don't want you to judge me here. And I want more time with this." Krishant finally meets her eyes, but all he witnesses is disappointment. "I am trying. And it is as hard for me as it is for you."

"Who said I am judging you? You wanted me to try and give you a chance. But now you are the one pushing me away."

"Yes, I wanted us to get back together, but I forgot about the consequences that brought us here in the first place."

"What consequences?" The room fell silent. Krishant immediately realized his mistake of speaking without thinking as he internally face-palmed himself.

"Nothing." He quietly announced and moved from the sink towards his office room to hide in his cave. He was not prepared for the moment.

Priyanka was speechless at the sudden realization. Krishant did not tell her everything. The most crucial part of her past connected to him was concealed cautiously. What was he hiding? Was there really a need to hide it anyway? She was living with a complete stranger, but that fact didn't scare her. She was already into it now; stepping back now would be stupidity. She needed something to hold on to, her past few crucial months crumbled by her mocking fate, but its mere acknowledgement of existence still urges her to move forward.

Around Krishant, Priyanka certainly loses her hospitality. She did not even ask him if he was alright after getting such a harsh slap from someone close to him. Harsh words had also affected her; they made her understand the pain of being betrayed by someone close and then being blamed for ruining the relationship. Moving on wouldn't be easy and it would erode her trust in future relationships. It leads to self-doubt, and it's a tough dilemma to escape from.

Priyanka certainly chose her greedy self when she callously accused Krishant of not opening up to her, when deep down, she wanted to know more about her past with the woman from earlier, more than to know if Krishant was alright.

It was an unpleasant reality, and the war of truths had plunged Priyanka into darker battles with her own soul that she wished for no enemy.

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