"And Hriday, are you? Are you in love with me?"

He looks at me like nobody has before. Like I'm so precious. Like I'm so precious to him.

He takes one more step forward and takes my hand in his. Bringing it to his lips, he gently kisses it.

My breath hitches in my throat as he places my palm on his chest near his heart. I can feel his heartbeat. It's fast, mirroring mine.

I see his Adam's apple bob as he gulps and looks into my eyes as if he's come down to a decision.

Here goes..

"Shravni I am-"

My phone rings.

What the-

He closes his eyes in an attempt to control the magical curse words that are threatening to slip out of his mouth.

Shit shit shit.

Mujhe kabhi phone nahi aate aur aaj ke din, vo bhi aise crucial time pe my phone decided to ring.

Ye kaisa naseeb hai mera.

"I'm sorry" I mumble, declining the call.

When he opens his mouth to speak again, my phone again starts ringing.

WHAT THE FUCK!

He takes a step back.

Nooo... Come back.

Ugh!

"Answer it" he tells me. I angrily switch off the phone.

"Mujhe kabhi phone toh aate nahi pata nahi aaj kyu-"

This time, his phone rings.

He grunts and answers it. "Yes? Who is this?" He barks into the phone and I imagine that he would've strangulated the person on the other line if he or she was in front of him.

He looks at me with some expression I can't quite decipher and takes a few steps away from me and the further he hears, the more he walks away.

What is it?

I walk towards him and I see that the colour has drained off his face and there are beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Kya hua Hriday?" I ask getting more and more worried. "Mujhe jo phone aa raha tha vohi number se tha kya aapko call?" I ask switching on my phone.

"Ermm ha vo actually it was from my office. Mera phone lag nahi raha tha so that idiot called you. But fir lag gaya mera phone. We have to go to Mumbai right now" he says typing a message to someone on his phone.

"What? Abhi? Kyu? Kya ho gaya hai aisa?"

"One of my client is arrested and I have to go there for his bail" he tells me.

"Really? Hriday kal jaa sakte hai na.. Kal toh waise bhi ja rahe hai wapas. Kisi aur ko bhejiye na please" I whine like a little kid but I can't help it.

"Shravni it's-" he rakes his hand through his hair and looks at me with an unfathomable expression.

"Actually the police are torturing him in jail. I have to.. I have to be there" he says.

I don't know what to say so I just turn around and start walking towards the stairs. Hriday rushes to me and suddenly grabs my hand from behind and pulls me into his arms, hugging me tightly. To say that I'm surprised will be an understatement.

"I'm so so sorry Shravni. I'm sorry but.. jaana padega" he says burying his face in my hair. He hugs me even more tightly but I feel a knot in my stomach.

Something is wrong.

Before I have a chance to comprehend what's happening, Hriday takes my hand and leads me to our room. He doesn't even let me pack saying that tomorrow our family will bring the luggage with them. I change into something more comfortable for the flight and wash my face clean of all the heavy make up.

And just like that, the trip is over.

I stop to take one last long look at our room. We had so much fun here. Hriday on the other hand doesn't have a moment to spare for anything. To match his long strides I almost have to run.

But I don't complain. I just follow him quietly. I mean.. I get it. He's a lawyer, he has to protect his clients. And custodial torture has become a serious issue in India.

How did he arrange everything within ten minutes is beyond me. There's a car waiting for us outside the hotel and the man that hands Hriday the keys apologises because there was no driver available. He tells him that there'll be another person waiting for us at the airport who will drive the car back here.

Thankfully Hriday doesn't do rash driving but I can see that he's very tense. The way he is gripping the steering wheels, his knuckles have turned white.

"Hriday" I whisper and put a hand on his shoulder. He glances at me briefly and focuses his eyes back on the road. "Don't worry. It will all be fine. Hum pahoch jaayenge aur fir aap situation ko sambhaal loge achhe se" I gently rub his shoulder and put my hand back in my lap.

He looks at me again and takes a deep breath. "Shravni I-" I wait for him to continue but he doesn't.

I decide to give him space for the rest of the ride. It's almost midnight when we get into the flight and neither of us has spoken even one word to each other. The comfortable silence that I had gotten used to with Hriday is no more present.

This silence is deafening. This silence is thick with tension.

Going back to Mumbai is the complete opposite of when we took our flight to Rajasthan. I remember how excited I was. Hriday was in a chirpy mood too.

I'm somewhat relieved by the fact that Hriday doesn't leave my hand. He is holding my hand since we got out of the car.

"Shravni" I jolt awake and see that everyone is ushering out of the plane. When did I fall asleep? Did we reach already?

"Come on" Hriday rubs my back as I groggily stand up. "What's the time?" I ask rubbing my eyes.

"It's past 3" he tells me. I put my head on his shoulder and walk like a zombie towards the exit. I notice that Hriday is not rushing right now. In fact he's walking a lot slower.

A car is ready for us outside the airport. The streets are less busy than usual but still not completely dead. Of course. Mumbai is the city that never sleeps.

The driver takes some other turn which is not towards our locality. "Hum kaha ja rahe hai?" I ask Hriday.

He tightens his hold on my hand.

"Hriday? What are you not telling me? Are we going to the police station?" I ask.

Before he can answer, the car comes to a stop and bile rises in my throat when I see that we are in front of a hospital.

No no no...

Hriday opens the door for me and I just look at him. "Shravni come" his voice is thick.

"Hriday" my eyes fill with tears.

He takes my hand and gently pulls me outside. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before".

"What didn't you tell me? What is happening?" I'm panicking now and my voice sounds shrill.

His eyes fill with tears. What the hell is happening? My legs start shaking and it gets hard to walk. Somehow Hriday drags me into the  elevator.

The smell alone makes me sick to my stomach. A police officer is waiting for us when we get out of the elevator. Hriday shows him his ID and he gives us two masks and we follow him.

Each step feels like a step closer to the end of me.

He enters inside a room and when I look at the name plate outside I pull my hand out of Hriday's.

The Morgue.

"Hriday" my voice breaks.

"I'm sorry Shravni. Please just-" he walks towards me to hold my hand again but I take a step back.

I wipe my tears and wearing the mask, I step inside. All the hair on my body stands as I feel a chill pass over me. I don't know whether the coldness is coming from outside or from within me.

I don't look anywhere around the dimly lit room and just keep my eyes on the police officer who stands next to a body.

Every step I take, my throat starts closing making it hard for me to breathe.

He removes the white cloth from the person's face and I dig my nails into my palm, making them bleed.

"Kya ye-"

"Yes" I answer before he can complete his sentence. "Ye meri maa hai".

***

Don't kill me. Yikes.