44. Fake Pregnancies and Priests

There are things you don't know about my life, about my family. If you did, you wouldn't even . . . spit in our direction.

* * *

"The only guy I've ever slept in the same room with has been you, Ashar," I said in the same tone. He blinked back at me not expecting my words. "My silence doesn't mean you can cross your limits and say the first thing that comes to your mind!"

I fought back the urge to strike him across the face for what he had insinuated. How dare he assume anything based on the sonogram photo?!

He was quiet for a moment a I saw a wave of regret cross his features before it got lost into the air. What kind of a girl did he thought he married? Did he get that vibe from me that I slept around with whomever?

"Listen, I shouldn't have said that," he said when he noticed my somber mood. "I got caught off guard."

I crossed my arms, looking anywhere but at him. That didn't justify the question he had asked me.

"Hold on. This is why you asked about my jacket." Realization dawned on his face as he ignored me. "That's why you didn't leave Jhanvi's side at the hospital. You knew. The food poisoning wasn't the reason she was feeling sick."

I tiredly explained to him the whole story and timeline of Jhanvi's pregnancy. Everything that I knew, at least. He had figured most of it out already. If we wanted to continue this charade, he needed to know the truth.

"Jhanvi doesn't want Sunny to know," I informed him. "She didn't want the baby, but she's been getting very protective of him now. I think she's afraid Sunny will fight for the baby's custody."

Ashar almost laughed.

He looked at the photo clenched in his hand and then back at me.

"I assure you my brother will do no such thing," he said. His face matched the bitterness in his tone. "He takes after my father when it comes to kids and responsibility."

"What do you mean?" I wanted him to tell me to find a way to bring Sunny and Jhanvi closer.

"All I'm saying is she's right," Ashar said. His face went blank. "My brother doesn't deserve to know. Neither should she tell him until she wants to. He will make the kid's life hell."

There was something Ashar wasn't telling me. He wouldn't eye contact and he tapped his foot as if thinking something.

How could he outright declare his own brother didn't deserve to know he was having a child?!

"He is the father," I tried again. "We ought to stop their divorce so my nephew can have both parents in his life. Do you want to see the kid hate his father the way you hate yours?"

I knew I had hit a nerve when he stepped closer to me. It wasn't threatening but more of a helpless gesture. As if he holding back.

"You don't know anything about my father or my brother," he said in a dangerously low voice.

I knew it wasn't the time to argue with Ashar. There was too much bad blood and hard feelings between these three men. Maybe Ashar single-handedly raising his sisters made him this way. I wondered why Sunny was so divided from Aara and Rosie. The malice seemed to be solely between the brothers.

I raised my hands in defeat.

"What do we do now?" I asked changing the topic. "Everyone thinks I'm pregnant. I look too young for that."

"I knew a girl who was pregnant at seventeen," he replied. "You're still twenty one and fake pregnant."

He stepped closer and reached to unbolt the lock to head back inside. But I blocked his way. I could smell the faint cologne of his that made me want to draw closer to him.

"I want to bring Sunny and Jhanvi closer," I told him.

"Good luck." His hand was unbolting the lock.

"You're going to help me," I said, placing my hand on his to stop him.

"For the sake of the child, I won't."

"You can't have hatred towards each other forever." I gripped his hand with both of mine. "Ashar, it was because of you I came on better terms with Jhanvi. Try with Sunny."

He tried to free his hand but I held it tightly.

"Anmol," he said in a defeated tone, "there are things you don't know about my life, about my family. If you did, you wouldn't even . . . spit in our direction."

His words took me by surprise. I didn't know what more pieces of the puzzle I was missing. But the conviction in his eyes told me he wanted me to stay out of his family matters.

He gently took his hand out of my hold and unlocked the door.

We retreated to our room where Jhanvi awaited with a plate of oranges. She was peeling and eating, sitting on my bed. The entire room smelled like a citrusy car air freshener.

"Your mother-in-law told me to feed you fruit," Jhanvi said barely glancing at us. "I was craving these oranges. Oh, by the way, Ashar, thanks for going along. I owe you one."

She tossed an orange at him which he caught just in time.

"Both of you could've told me beforehand," said Ashar. He pulled out the sonogram photo from his pocket. "And you hid this in my jacket!"

"I should've never let Annie keep it." Jhanvi shook her head at me in disappointment.

"I forgot I put it in his jacket," I said. "But look how cute the baby is. He's going to be my favorite nephew, and I'm going to name him."

"Why'd you name my child?" Jhanvi asked.

"If you want me to be pregnant, then I get to name him," I said grabbing the photo out of Ashar's hands. "His name is going to be—"

My phone rang distracting me out of my thoughts. I frowned when I saw the caller ID. Excusing myself, I stepped a few feet away from the duo to answer.

For some reason, I didn't want to ignore my friends especially not Roshan after what he did for Aara.

"Hi, Roshan," I said. Jhanvi and Ashar were discussing something behind me, so I was sure they weren't eavesdropping.

"Annie! I've been trying to reach you for the last three days!" He sounded offended.

"Sorry, I'm out of the country and my network is horrible here," I informed him. "Is everything okay?"

"You abandoned all of us since you got married," he complained. "Myra and Tara said you haven't talked to them in weeks. And you're out of the country?!"

Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut.

"Right," I said. "Please don't tell anyone. I want a quiet vacation."

"Are you still feeling down?" His voice dropped. "Are you missing my lion, my Ravi uncle?"

"Yes," I lied.

Roshan always called my father a lion because he said my father ruled our nation with the stretch of his business empire. He even shadowed papa twice to learn more about business before Roshan began pursuing a career in film with me.

"You should've taken us with you," he said. "We would've partied and enjoyed together. Your spirits would be up."

"Maybe next time," I said. "Was there anything important you wanted to discuss?"

"I wanted to talk about your sister-in-law's drugs issue," he said. "I dug around and found the culprit. He was a stranger who some of the students had hired as a fake waiter to supply them the drugs."

"No way!" I said outraged.

"The police is looking for the guy," he informed. "Apparently, the dude went underground. I'll call you again if I get any info. But I was talking to a few drug dealers who might know of his whereabouts."

"How do you know where to go?" I asked in a low voice.

"I have my sources," he said with a laugh.

"Don't get in trouble, Ro."

"Don't worry about me, Annie," he replied sweetly. "I'm just doing my duty. I know how hurt you were seeing that girl in the hospital. I want to see you happy."

"Thanks," I said feeling calmer. "And I'm really sorry I abandoned the film and left you in the hands of that wretched director."

He laughed and said, "Don't worry. Yesterday, I put hair removal cream on his legs when he was taking a nap. He threw a fit and called for pack up early. His leg hair's all gone. No one found out it was me!"

I chortled at the karma the director went through. The director deserved worse for the way he treated people on set. He wouldn't mess with Roshan or Myra for the amount of money their parents invested in the film.

For a moment, I thought about myself and the way I treated certain people. They wouldn't mess with me because of my parents reach.

Cecily totally deserves every bit of it!

As far as I knew, I wasn't a cruel director making her AD run around getting KitKats!

"Good work," I told him. "Listen, I gotta go now."

"Sure, no problem," Roshan replied. "I'll call you again when I get more information."

"Thanks, Ro!"

We bid each other goodbye and hung up.

When I turned to join my companions again, they were both waiting for me. Ashar stood quietly with the photo in his hands.

"Was that Roshan?" Jhanvi asked me curiously.

"Yeah," I said, grabbing an orange slice from her hand.

"What did he want?" she asked.

I looked at Ashar and then back at her. It wouldn't be wise to bring up Aara's drug overdose issue without having the culprit in the hands of the police.

"Nothing much," I said coolly. "He was checking up on me and telling me about what's going on set. As you know, I walked out of his sister's debut film."

Jhanvi nodded, but she eyed Ashar before quickly turning back to me. I had no idea why she was acting strange.

"You and Roshan went to film school together, right?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. "Wait, I remember we did a modeling shoot with him in Paris for a product. He's cute!"

I scowled. "Do you want me to set you up with him?"

Ashar, who had been silent the entire time, broke into a laugh. Jhanvi grinned through clenched teeth as if trying to signal something. I was not following along. Thankfully, Ashar's Baba called his name and Ashar left us to go downstairs.

I took a seat next to Jhanvi on the bed and earned a slap to the side of my head.

"Ouch!" I complained.

"'You want me to set you up with him?'" she mocked. "What the hell, Annie? I was trying to make Ashar jealous of Roshan!"

"What jealousy?" I asked still baffled. "He's not interested in me." Then, I had to release Hayat's story to her. She gasped hearing that Ashar was stull very much in love with his ex.

"Hard to believe with the way his eyes and ears were in your direction while he conversed with me."

"I'm prettier than you, so can't blame him."

"Hey!" She threw an orange at me as I laughed.

We ate through the plate of oranges, conspiring how we will proceed about my "fake" pregnancy. Jhanvi thought I'd make it till our return home. I had no idea how it'd turn out.

We chit-chatted for a bit before Sunny came in asking us to come downstairs.

"Baba and his wife wants to go to a priest to get blessings for the baby," Sunny announced. I noted he never called his stepmother anything but his father's wife—just like Ashar. "Congratulations, by the way."

"You too," I said, getting up.

"Huh?" he asked confused.

"You're gonna be an uncle," Jhanvi responded immediately, rescuing herself. I wasn't pleased by the fact she wanted to keep it a secret from Sunny. "You're still Ashar's brother even if we're getting divorced."

Sunny's silence at her words made me wonder about his feelings. He studied my cousin's face as if wanting to say something but couldn't. Jhanvi grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room pushing me past her husband.

My cousin and I met our in laws downstairs. Ashar's stepmother gave us dupattas (long scarves) to wear on top of our layers. The guys complained against going out, but the parents weren't to be moved from their stance.

I wondered what Gurdwara they were bringing us to that it was so important for us to go. Even Ashar and Sunny were a bit curious when we drove past the Golden Temple.

We stopped outside of a grey . . . house? It seemed like someone had built two rooms behind an ancient sacred fig tree. They hadn't even bothered to paint the shaggy rundown place. As the leaves had fallen out, the tree looked ominous with its branches reaching out to touch the "house."

I clung close to Ashar eyeing two stray dogs watching us from a distance.

There was a man sitting cross legged on the ground beneath the try. He had dry brittle hair flopping around in the windy evening. He was dressed in a black kurta pajama which was ironed out. Four people sat across from him listening to whatever he preached.

It was anything but a religious place.

I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy the blessings.

* * *

A/N

I know update is late. I wrote the chapter last week but it was too long. I finally chopped it off for the next chapter. Sorry for the delay. I have been spending more time on reading books.

How is life?

Have you ever gone to priests other than in Temples, Gurdwaras etc?
My dad used to go a lot and then two weeks later he'd complain the priest was a fraud.

Are y'all working? School? College?

My love life is pretty much jag soona soona lage lol. What about you?

Thanks for all the votes and comments!!! They keep pushing me to post more regularly and update knowing that someone is waiting to read more.

—K-K-Kiran