Nandini peeped into the vessel cooking on the gas, and inhaled the delicious fragrance happily. It was a paneer dish, which her mother was an expert at and which Nishi and Vrinda were absolutely crazy about. Breakfast had gotten over only a short while ago and usually Sarojini would start preparing lunch only by 11:30. But since her friends were coming over, her mother had begun cooking early so as to make some delicacies for them.

The house was very calm. Prakash was in his room, apparently doing his homework, but she knew it was more likely that he was reading some comics, while grandpa was in the temple.

Prithvi was fast asleep. The doctor had left half an hour ago after his check up. He had been quite concerned about Prithvi’s exhaustion and had sternly warned his unconcerned patient that if he did not take adequate rest, the cast on his leg would take weeks to come off.

Sarojini, who was already troubled by the tiredness on Prithvi’s face, was even more concerned after hearing what the doctor had to say. She had insisted that he go back to bed immediately after breakfast. And to Nandini’s surprise, Prithvi had listened to her mother quietly and had obediently done as she asked.

On her part, Nandini had managed to appear quite serene and normal in front of everyone. But truth be told, she was feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable to be around him. Despite her best efforts to forget what had happened yesterday, the memory refused to leave her alone…and she was finding it a little difficult to face him properly. She sincerely hoped the awkwardness wouldn’t last long...

The sounds of her friends’ voices broke into her thoughts, and smiling, Nandini eagerly rushed out the kitchen to find Nishi and Vrinda talking to her mother.

“Didn’t Rishabh come with you both? It has been very long since we saw him,” Sarojini smiled.

“We…errr…actually Rishabh had something important to do, so he couldn’t come with us,” Nishi said.

“Oh wow, aunty! That bouquet looks so beautiful,” Vrinda exclaimed, looking at Suvek’s gift.

 “Yes it does!" Nandini said brightly, hurrying over to them before further damage could be caused. "It was so nice of our classmates to send it.”

Vrinda looked at her in complete bewilderment. “Nice of our…”

Nandini cast both her friends a pleading look, and thankfully, Nishi caught on.

"We are so happy you liked it, Nandini" she beamed. Looking more confused than ever, Vrinda opened her mouth again and both her friends caught hold of her arms and began dragging her towards the stairs.

"We have so much to talk," Nandini said quickly as they made their way up the steps. "Let's go to my room."

"Ooooohhh! I sense a delicious secret," Vrinda whispered in delight.

Unexpectedly, Nishi turned around and ran down the steps. She walked over to the bouquet, picked it up with care and came running up again.

“Why are you bringing that with you?” Nandini asked in confusion.

“It will add spice to our interrogation,” Nishi answered with an evil grin, while Vrinda smirked.

Once inside, she closed the door and joined her friends who were sitting on the bed looking at her with great interest. The bouquet had been placed on the table.

"Sooooo...?" Vrinda demanded gleefully.

“This came yesterday,” Nandini said awkwardly.

“Who sent you these flowers?” Nishi asked excitedly.

“Not just flowers,” Vrinda admonished her. “Red roses...” she breathed blissfully, “the flowers of….”

“Please Vrinda,” Nandini begged. “Please don’t start talking about the flowers like that,” she shivered, remembering the doctor’s words and the ensuing turmoil. “You don’t know how much trouble I almost got into yesterday because of this bouquet.”

“What do you mean? What happened yesterday?”

“There was no card with it and then the doctor who had come here to change Prithvi’s bandages said -,” she stopped uncomfortably. “And grandpa got a little upset. But then ma said it must have been sent by my college friends, and so he calmed down.”

“What did the doctor say?” Vrinda enquired with a giggle.

“Nothing!” Nandini said quickly. “He was…errr…just joking.”

“So you don’t know sent the bouquet,” Nishi concluded disappointedly.

“I do….Suvek sent it,” Nandini whispered uneasily.

“What?” Nishi and Vrinda yelled simultaneously. Nandini nodded sorrowfully.

“Suvek sent it?” Vrinda trilled.

“Don’t be so loud,” Nandini beseeched. “If anyone hears you, I’ll be in trouble again.”

“But if there was no card how did you find out it had been sent by him?”

“There was a card, but it had fallen down by the gate and so no one saw it…thank god for that,” Nandini said fervently.

“It was lucky you found it yourself,” Nishi agreed.

Nandini started to say that she hadn’t seen it first but stopped herself in time.

“So we were right, weren’t we?” Nishi said victoriously. “He has a crush on you.”

“It’s not a crush, Nishi. He sent red roses….that means he is in looooovvveeeee,” Vrinda declared, hopping off the bed and doing a ball room dance around the room by herself.

“He is not!” Nandini said, aghast at the idea. “He - He was just being nice.”

Her friends exchanged plaintive looks that clearly said that they thought she was the biggest idiot on earth.

“Nandini, you are the biggest fool on earth,” Nishi said frankly, while Vrinda stopped dancing and smacked her hand to her head in frustration.

“But he can’t be,” Nandini said desperately, “he doesn’t even know me well.”

“You don’t need to know someone to fall in love,” Vrinda said with a mushy sigh.

“Just imagine….if you too fall in love with him,” Nishi sighed, “You’ll make such a lovely pair.”

“I am not going to fall in love with him,” Nandini said crossly. “He is only a friend.”

“You can’t decide with whom you’ll fall in love,” Vrinda explained wisely, “Its pure destiny; you’ll realize that some day soon, my poor innocent friend.”

************************

Nandini walked with Nishi towards the car. Three hours had sped past with loads of giggling and chattering and it was already time for her friends to leave…

But they were leaving with a very unhappy heart. They had desperately wanted Nandini to introduce them to Prithvi, but he had not ventured out of his room at all. And by the time they had come down for lunch, he had already finished eating along with Prakash and had retired to his room again.

 “What work did Rishabh have?” Nandini asked Nishi when they had reached the vehicle.

“Errrr…actually we forgot to ask him if he wanted to come,” her friend admitted shamefacedly.

“You forgot!” Nandini exclaimed.

“I know, I know…it was very bad of us….its only when aunty asked that I remembered. And he is going to kill us when he comes to know,” Nishi moaned.

“Yes he will,” Nandini said dismally. “You know he loves coming here so much.”

“I know,” Nishi sighed. “We’ll just have to placate him with something.”

“Hmmm…hey, where’s Vrinda? She was right behind us, wasn’t she?” Nandini asked confusedly.

“I think she went back inside for something.”

When Nandini and Nishi made their way back to the house, it was to see Vrinda standing mutely before a rather baffled looking boy.

“Didn’t you hear me? I asked you to move out of my way,” Prithvi frowned, apparently wondering if he should use any kind of sign language to communicate.

Vrinda gulped, and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

Nandini rushed to her entranced friend’s rescue. “These are my friends, Prithvi,” she said swiftly, walking over to them. “Nishi and Vrinda.”

Vrinda and Nishi beamed angelically, and Prithvi acknowledged the introductions with a small irate nod.

“It was nice meeting you…we- we were just leaving,” Nishi said rapidly, and grabbed hold of still grinning Vrinda and dragged her out the door.

After seeing off her friends, of whom one was thrilled to bits, Nandini came back into the living room and saw Prithvi limping towards an armchair with a heavy book in hand. Instinctively, she picked up the little stool by the side of the door and walked towards the chair herself to keep it there so that he could rest his leg on it.

“I don’t need that,” he said brusquely.

“You do,” she said firmly without looking at him, “The doctor said you shouldn’t rest your foot on the ground.”

“That man is a fool. I knew it the minute he began talking about that stupid -” he stopped abruptly and looked around the room, searching for something.

“So you finally got rid of that revolting thing,” Prithvi said with approval after running his eyes around the room, and she realized he was talking about the bouquet. “That’s a relief. Its stench was disgusting”

”I haven’t thrown it away, it’s in my room,” Nandini said indignantly.

Prithvi’s face reddened faintly. “Of course, I had forgotten,” he retorted bitingly, “it was sent by the harebrained boyfriend.”

“He is not my boyfriend!” she snapped angrily

“Like I said before, he seems stupid enough to be.”

“You don’t even know him,” Nandini said heatedly.

“If your best friend is any indication, I can guess how your boyfriend will be like. By the way, what’s wrong with your friend?” Prithvi frowned at her, “why was she acting so weirdly.”

“She was not acting weirdly,” Nandini snapped.

 “Hmmm…but then I suppose I should have expected her to be abnormal.”

“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.

“I mean, considering she’s your friend, it is perfectly understandable,” he replied in all seriousness.

Seething with anger, Nandini didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, still glaring at him, she called out to her mother. “Ma…is there an empty flower vase in the house.”

“I think there is one in the cupboard, Nandini,” her mother’s voice answered from one of the rooms. “Why do you want it?”

“I need it to keep the red roses from the bouquet, ma” she answered tartly; “I’ll keep the vase in my room. And I’ll have to keep sprinkling water to keep them fresh,” she said for added effect.

Then meeting Prithvi’s furious glare with a defiant gaze, she walked towards the cupboard, took out a plastic vase and then stormed upstairs.

*************************

“Nandini,”

Nandini, who was sitting snuggled up in bed reading a classic, looked up to see her mother at the room’s door. 

“I am going to Mrinalini aunty’s house for some time. Your grandfather is having his afternoon nap and Prithvi is also sleeping, and Prakash has been running in and out of the house for some time now, sometimes for taking his cricket bat and sometimes his football,” her mother said exasperatedly, “and he forgets to close the door when he leaves. So just mind the house till I come back.”

“Okay ma. How long will you be gone?”

“I’ll try to come back in half an hour. But Mrinalini has called some other friends also, and I think they have a long list of questions about Prithvi, Sumer Singhji and everything that happened in the past week,” Sarojini laughed, “So it may take me an hour also to return.”

After her mother had left, Nandini remained seated on the bed reading her book for a while longer. Then the sound from the ceiling fan abruptly disappeared and she looked up to see it slowing down suddenly….

The electricity had gone again…

Nandini sighed wearily. This was the second time in two days. But since it was just early evening there was enough light in the room. Hopefully, power would return before twilight….She would have to read the remainder of the book downstairs until either her mother or grandfather returned home. The bell wouldn’t work now, and she wouldn’t be able to hear the sound of anyone knocking on the door if she was in her room.

Nandini came downstairs and began to walk towards the sofa and then came to an abrupt halt. Prithvi was still sitting in the armchair next to the sofa, reclining with the book lying opened on his chest…one hand resting on the hand of the chair and the other on the back of the book….fast asleep.

She considered going back upstairs…but then, he was sleeping after all….and as usual, he looked so innocent and harmless while he was asleep…if only he was like that when he was awake too, she thought wistfully.

She moved forward cautiously until she was at an arms distance from him. She stretched out her hand to ease the book out of his clasp but then decided against it. He might wake up, and his sleep would be disturbed…and he still looked so tired, she noted anxiously...

Nandini walked back a step and soundlessly made her way around him to the sofa. She sat down on the other end of the sofa, took a cushion and kept it on her lap, and then she placed the book on it and resumed her reading. It was very peaceful, a gentle breeze was coming in through the window, and she was soon lost in the fictional world of the characters.

Some time later, she sensed some movement to her right and looked towards Prithvi. He was frowning and stirring a little restlessly in sleep…there was a sheen of perspiration on his fair forehead.

Nandini hesitated, then kept the book and cushion aside and got up and walked over to the table. Two plain wooden hand-fans lay on it. She picked one up and walked back to the sofa.

This time she sat down on the side next to Prithvi’s chair. She replaced the cushion and book on her lap, and with her left hand, began to fan him gently with the hand-fan. He stopped fidgeting and the furrowed lines on his forehead turned smooth again. Nandini smiled and returned her attention to the book, while her hand continued to move the hand-fan.

“Don’t you have anything better to do? Or is this your good deed for the day…”

Nandini jumped in her seat and turned to see Prithvi awake and looking at her mockingly. As embarrassed colour flooded her face, she hurriedly withdrew the arm that was still holding the hand-fan and averted her eyes.

“I thought you were asleep,” she said quickly and then resentfully added, “I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

”Well...it really is quite hot,” he contemplated, sitting up and keeping the book on the round table in front of him. “So if you have nothing better to do, you can continue,' he granted generously.

”That’s very kind of you,” Nandini said rigidly, “but you can fan yourself since you are awake.” And she crossly kept the fan on the table and cast aside the pillow and the book to return to the other end of the sofa, not seeing the amused grin on his face.

She had just stood up in a huff when Prakash came running in at full speed from the door with a football in hand. He rolled it under the table where it joined his bat, and then spun around to run out again.

“Wait!”

Prakash halted and turned around to face his sister impatiently.

“What is it, Di?”

“Where are you running off to again?” Nandini asked severely, “Ma said you’ve been scampering in and out of the house for some time now.”

“Brij said there is a new car parked near his house; he says it’s a latest model car and it’s gray in colour and looks fantastic,” Prakash replied, his face shining with excitement. “So we are all going to look at it. Okay I’m going now.” And he sprinted away before his sister came out with any new protest.

Lost in the thrill of seeing a magnificent car in his little town which rarely saw such vehicles, he was innocently unaware of the chilling silence he had left behind.

Nandini stood frozen, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe…the description of the car ringing in her ears….

Grey…brand new…just like the car Indrajit had….

Had he returned, she thought, feeling sick with fear…come back to finish the job he had left incomplete the last time… Nandini shuddered and crossed her arms around herself, trying to keep terror at bay.

Prithvi was injured and Sumer uncle wasn’t there either this time. She hadn’t told her family the truth about that day….and even if she did now, they would be as helpless as her.

“It’s not what you think,” a calm voice said.

Startled, Nandini swung around and looked at Prithvi. He was reclining again peacefully, with his hands crossed behind his head….the absolute fearlessness in his eyes in stark contrast to the terrified anxiety in hers

So he knew what she had been thinking….and why she was suddenly looking frightened to death.

“I was….I was just thinking if -,” she started to say hesitantly in a small voice.

“It’s not him, it’s not Indrajit,”

She wanted to believe him…to believe that Indrajit had not come back for revenge. But her hands and feet had already turned cold with the fear of his return….What if it was him and what if he had come with more henchmen… Who could she call upon for help?

“What if it is him? What will we do?” Nandini asked worriedly, abandoning all pretense, and feeling terribly desperate and scared all of a sudden.

“He won’t be back so soon,” Prithvi said dismissively. “He had a few head injuries, and he is not going to recover anytime in the near future.”

“He tried to kill you with his car when you were walking away,” she persisted, “so he must not be that hurt.”

“That was not him. He wouldn’t do something like that. Even though he is a sore loser, he does have some bit of honour. That must have been the brain of that moron who calls himself Indrajit’s servant,” Prithvi snorted.

“How can you be so sure? How do you know him at all…” she asked helplessly, finally voicing the question that had been troubling her for long. What was the connection between him and those dangerous men…why had they tried to kill him…and why was Prithvi so convinced about the honour of a man who had tried everything in his power to take his life….

Prithvi looked away and didn’t answer, but Nandini did not speak again….she was regretting the impulse that had made her ask that…she had no right to ask him anything about his private life… She would not raise the question again...

“It was wrong of me to ask you that, I’m sorry,” Nandini said earnestly, breaking the silence.

She walked towards the sofa and lifted the book off the cushion. “I’m going upstairs,” she said uncertainly. “If you need anything, just call and -.”

“Indrajit is my brother,”

Immobilized by shock, Nandini stared at him mutely….but his gaze was fixed straight ahead….

And then, feeling that her legs were becoming slightly unsteady, she sank tremulously onto the sofa. “Indrajit is.…your brother?” she asked weakly.

“Half-brother,” he corrected unperturbedly.

“Half-brother,” Nandini repeated faintly, feeling more shaken by the minute. “You mean….he is -”

“The son from my father’s first marriage,” Prithvi completed her sentence with supreme indifference, studying the floor now.

Innumerable moments of bleak silence followed….

Then with a soft sigh, Nandini stood up and made her way around his chair towards the staircase. Prithvi looked up with a quizzical frown as she walked past, but she didn’t meet his eyes.

When she came down, she was holding the vase with roses. Prithvi was reclining in the chair again, and she felt his gaze as she opened the door, stepped into the courtyard.

Nandini walked over to the two cane chairs in the yard and kept the vase on one of the chairs. She touched the roses gently and whispered, “I’m sorry but you’ll have to stay here. Please don’t be angry with me…or with him…he’s just…”

She hesitated….what was he….apart from being totally unpredictable? Every time she started to think she was beginning to know him better, something would happen….and all her thoughts would go for a toss….

She wondered forlornly if she was ever going to understand him....

*************************