On flight, they sat separately. She and Dev five rows behind of Abhimanyu and Sunny. It was a quick flight, and when they landed and came out of airport, a Toyota Innova Crysta was waiting for them along with three people.

One of them came forward and greeted them with a wholesome smile.

Sunny quietly made her known their names. The one who came forward first, was a middle-aged man, while the other two were young natives. One was the driver. They came and retrieved their luggage.

"Roy Sir called me a few hours ago to inform about your arrival," Chetan said. "I have arranged everything. I hope you won't face any trouble during your stay here."

Abhimanyu said nothing in the beginning until they all settled in the Innova comfortably and the engine came alive. Abhimanyu and Chetan sat on the middle row while she, Dev and Sunny on the backseat. As soon as they left the airport area, Abhimanyu cleared his throat and said in his monotonous tone, "Chetan uncle, fix the meeting tomorrow morning. I'd have called for it tonight, but it's already late."

"Yes, I have talked to Thapa already and informed others. At what time do you want me to call them? And the place? Do you want to hold the meeting at the guesthouse?"

Abhimanyu took a moment to answer. "Yes. Call them around 7 in the morning. Would that be alright?"

She and Sunny made an eye contact. Amusement shone in his eyes. He knew his boss all too well.

Meanwhile, Chetan seemed slightly taken aback. "I mean, wouldn't that be too early for a corporate meeting?"

"Then what time do you suggest?"

"Around 10 o'clock?"

Abhimanyu said nothing. For a few minutes silence ensued inside the car until Abhimanyu himself broke it. "Chetan uncle?"

"Yes?"

"We have Dev and this pretty lady here, his nanny. Please arrange sightseeing for them."

Chetan looked behind over his shoulder and nodded with a smile. "Will be done Mr. Abhimanyu." He shifted his eyes on Abhimanyu and asked, "Wouldn't you like to go along with them?"

Abhimanyu stayed silent for a few seconds, then responded, "I haven't thought about it."

Shreya suddenly felt her ears turning hot. She had never met a person who was this much inscrutable. Sometimes his attitude picked her interest but at others, it irked her unreasonably.

Such a piece of work!

~~~

The guest house was in midst of the tea estate, surrounded by the endless tea gardens, and even further the mountains. Lush greenery and serene blues of mountains made the ambience so close to divine. In fact, nature is divine.

The house was nice, spacious and airy. In a distance, resided the small and cute village with colorful houses. The natural roads were criss-crossed all over the tea garden and connected the guest house to the village in the south and the tea factory in the west. Alongside the tea garden, many exotic flowers like orchids and rhododendron were bloomed wherever eyes roamed. At some places, in the middle of the tea bushes, tall pine trees were standing as wind breakers.

The caretaker of the guesthouse Mr. Dinu Sherpa while showing them their respective rooms, proudly said, many wild deers and other small animals like wild hares, cats, foxes, dogs and snakes were in abandonment in their estate. Since it was her first visit, he was more encouraged to tell her all the unique beauty of the Permabell tea estate and the close by village along with the precious nature.

Here, nature was pure divine. She loved the chill in the air, she loved the blue-grey mountains in the backdrop, she loved the hilly terrain along with the vast tea garden, and she absolutely loved the way the natives spoke including Dinu and his daughter, Sange. She was exactly her age. While talking to her, Shreya learned that she had a hotel management degree and had worked in Bangalore previously. But now, because of her father's reach and reputation, she got hired in the Permabell. Now she worked full time at the guesthouse.

Shreya learned the huge guesthouse had two separate divisions. The left side was reserved for personal uses, while the other side was open to public. People actually come and stay in here to spend some time in midst of this serenity.

She and Dev was given a room at the top floor, next to Abhimanyu's. Since the top floor had the two best rooms with so many windows and a joint balcony that can give a spectacular view of Kanchenjunga with its complete family. Sunny stayed at the first floor, just below theirs.

The first thing she did upon reaching her room was check her phone and had an almost heart-attack. She looked at her screen and saw fifteen missed calls from her mother, two from Naveen and one from Tiyasha. Her phone was at thirty percent charge. So, she video-called Tiyasha and let her have some time with her son. While they talked, she unpacked and put everything on their respective places. The room was well kept. Two beds were placed side by side, one double and another single. The room was spacious, had a small but cute wardrobe, which was mostly empty but with towels, extra bedsheets and comforters. There was a dressing mirror. She put the skin care products in the drawer under it. Before she chose a two-piece nightgown to change. Although, it was full sleeved, she'd need to wrap a shawl around herself, because the temperature was getting chillier.

After Dev talked to her mother, she took the phone from him.

Tiyasha said, "I hope he won't bother you much."

She smiled a little and shook her head. "I don't think I'll face that any sooner. He is a very good boy."

"That indeed he is." Tiyasha let out and airy laugh before saying, "If you feel anything that might lead to something problematic, please don't waste a single second to inform me. I'll leave everything here and take the next flight."

"Certainly. Rest assured."

They hung up and her phone ate up all the charge by then. She made a quick call to her mother and told her about safe arrival and she need not to worry. She'd be fine, and it was the last thing she could let out until her phone died. Great. Now she wouldn't have to face her mother's reprimanding session.

She put the phone aside and helped Dev to wash up and change into a clean pair of clothes before doing the same with herself. Just as she came out of the washroom, Sangme gave her the invitation for dinner.

The dining place was at the ground floor, and facing east. Sangme was just telling her that she could just get the Kanchenjunga view in the morning and if the weather permitted so, when Dinu, Abhimanyu, and Sunny came in.

Dev had already started helping himself. Abhimanyu came and sat down on the other side of Dev. He lightly stroked Dev's head while he ate before Sangme pushed a clean plate in front of him and others. The dinner was heavy and tasty. There was naan, chicken kasha, desi ghee, matar pulao, egg curry, palak paneer and gulab jamun. Abhimanyu skipped naan, chicken and egg.

Abhimanyu mostly stayed silent and concentrated on his food. Everyone else talked a lot and even Dev got so intrigued by the story Dinu shared of how a leopard entered one of the tea gardens and attacked the workers. But in the end, it got killed by a forest range officer. Dev asked to visit the place and Dinu agreed to take him there.

Abhimanyu excused himself before everyone else. Once he was gone, Sunny and herself talked some more on the mundane subjects while Dev watched some movies on his iPad.

"Abhigyan was supposed to come along," Sunny said. "I personally would've liked to get along with him. You know, he's got some good taste in music, and I love music. We've only occasionally talked, since my work doesn't permit me to do so. I'm too occupied with being Abhimanyu's PA." He let out a light chuckle.

Shreya smiled. "Yes. I also heard so. But I didn't see him for a few days, and Dona di said he has gone to some trip or something." She shrugged.

"They don't get along well. The brothers I mean," Sunny suddenly said. His voice, just above a whisper.

Shreya said nothing and averted her eyes on Dev. She didn't know whether she should acknowledge the fact or not. Cause, she had practically seen them fighting.

Sunny quickly eyed around the place. There was no one around. Everyone left for their rooms after dinner except the three of them. They were sitting in the sitting lounge in the ground floor, beside the dining place.

She adjusted her shawl when Sunny added, "Once, the matter just went out of hands. A few years ago, just after Abhimanyu took over as the CEO of the Permabell group, one day Abhigyan suddenly turned up at the office, and set everything on fire in the CEO's cabin."

A gasp left her mouth as it dropped open learning the unfortunate incident. Undoubtedly, it came as a shock.

Sunny continued, "But what's more interesting, no one saw him entering the office as it was late after work. However, Abhimanyu was present there. When Abhiraj Sir inquired him, Abhimanyu didn't say anything. He simply said he didn't know how it happened. Even the cctv footage of that day was missing mysteriously. But Abhimanyu was right there inside his cabin, when the fire broke out. He got injured too. Burnt his left arm. Just that, he's lucky enough and got away with that accident without much trouble. A month later, Abhiraj sir asked to recheck the cctv footage, and personally supervised the process. It was then when the real culprit was seen in the clips."

She didn't know how to react. Why would Gyan do that? Did he try to harm his brother intentionally? She wouldn't know until she talked to him. She'd try to call him again and see if he'd receive this time.

"Very complicated. These two." Sunny shook his head slightly.

"What happened after they caught Gyan?"

He shrugged. "He wasn't even an adult during that time. Practically, a teenager at that time. No one wanted to ruin his reputation and future. The matter died down. Only a few people know."

The more she had been trying to detangle and understand the Roys, the more complicated it was getting. She knew she was getting engaged in their lives. But she didn't seem to stop herself from getting attached. The history of this family... was fucked up. But they screamed, 'for love' at the same time.

She didn't know which of her thoughts was more insane.