Nandini kept the washed and dried breakfast vessels on their fixed spots on the platform, wiped it clean, and then returned to the living room to find her grandfather shuffling very slowly towards the door. There was something odd about the way he was dragging his steps.

“Grandpa, wait!” she instructed, and Bhoothnath turned to look at her quizzically.

“What’s wrong with your foot? Why are you walking like that?” she asked worriedly, walking up to him.

“My left leg is aching more than usual, and I’m feeling very tired,” her grandfather admitted.

Troubled, Nandini felt his forehead with the back of her hand. Thankfully, the skin was cool. But it would be best if he didn’t undergo the strain of standing for hours, as he would have been forced to if he went to discharge his duties as the priest.

“Come back inside. I don’t want you to go to the temple today,” she said firmly, catching his arm and guiding him back to his room.

“But Sarojini opened the temple and the maid has cleaned it. The devotees may already be coming in and there is no one there at the moment to manage the sanctum,” Bhoothanth said feebly.

Her mother wasn’t at home, as the parents of the children were coming to the school to meet her and know about their offspring’s behaviour and performance.

“I don’t want to hear anything,” she said resolutely. “You are not stepping out of the house today. I’ll close the temple and tell any of the regular devotees that it is not going to be opened. I’m sure the news will spread fast enough,” she assured him as they entered the room.

Bhoothnath sat down on the bed and smiled at her. “No, no, there is no need for the temple to be closed. Just inform Sankatmochan. He’ll do all the necessary rituals for today.”

“Mochi bhaiya!” she exclaimed, astonished at the idea of a man as playful as Sankatmochan being involved in something so spiritually profound.

“Mochi….that’s a good name for him,” Bhoothnath laughed.

“But how does he know -”

“He told me he has been a priest in many temples, and I’ve seen for myself that he is experienced in all the rituals. He had told me almost immediately after arriving here that he would like to assist me. I hadn’t been very keen because you know….the temple has always been taken care of by our family members. But one day in between when I was feeling weak, I asked him for help and saw that he was truly accomplished. I told your mother not to tell you about it because I knew you’d worry needlessly about my health,” Bhoothnath said shamefacedly.

“You’re getting tricky at this age, grandpa?” she laughed. “Okay, now go to sleep. I’ll go and talk to Mochi bhaiya.”

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

Prakash fiddled with Nandini’s dupatta as they walked towards the temple with Sankatmochan. Her grandfather had insisted on Prakash assisting Sankatmochan, and though the lad hadn’t been keen, he had agreed when Nandini had promised to let him play for an extra 30 minutes in the evening.

“Mochi bhaiya, I really appreciate what you -”

“You are not going to stop calling me bhaiya?” Sankatmochan interrupted forlornly.

Nandini chuckled and shook her head firmly.  “No! You just have to get used to it.”

“But I call you bhaiya too! You’ve never asked me to stop,” Prakash asked Sankatmochan, very puzzled.

“There is a chasm of difference between hearing it from you and from Nandini. But you will only understand my pain after a few years,” Sankatmochan replied with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” her brother asked.

“Prakash, why don’t you go ahead and tell the devotees that the priest is coming?” Nandini said quickly, and uneasily pondered the wisdom of her grandfather’s decision to let Prakash spend time with a confirmed flirt like Sankatmochan.

“You don’t have to worry, Nandini. Once I step into any temple’s sacred precincts, I am the most pious of men,” Sankatmochan assured her compassionately, gauging her fear from her expression. “If it were otherwise, Prithvi would never have told me to offer my assistance to -”

“Prithvi asked you to help grandpa?” she asked, astounded and deeply touched by the act. It was such a sweet thing to do….

“He doesn’t ask….he only commands,” Sankatmochan laughed, and Nandini grinned amusedly at this testimony to her beloved’s arrogance. “He said Bhoothnathji was under too much strain and I should do everything I can to alleviate the physical stress on your grandfather. But please don’t let him know that you are aware of this, or I will suffer the consequences,” he said sadly.

“Don’t worry, bhaiya. I wont tell him anything. Errrr….is he at home?” she asked timidly, reminded out of nowhere that he had spoken once again about leaving the town and returning to the city. They hadn’t discussed it again that evening, mainly because she herself had been loathe to talk about it. The warm and peaceful moments in his arms were too precious and she had been incapable of raising the depressing topic in that lovely place and time….but she would have to do it soon….

“No, he went out early in the morning,” Sankatmochan said, and his smug smile heightened her embarrassment.

“But there’s no college today.”

“Even on days when there is no college, he doesn’t like being confined to the house for any long period of time. He goes off by himself, sometimes on his bike…sometimes walking…He’s become a lot more peaceful after coming here, but the restiveness has not left him completely. But then he was always like that…. filled with a restless energy that won’t let him be still.”

“Oh, I’ve seen that side of him,” she remembered resentfully, “He had been hurt very badly, but he just wouldn’t stay in the hospital. And even after he returned home, he wasn’t willing to rest.”

“I would have been shocked had you told me otherwise. It has been his trait since childhood. No matter how ill or how injured he’d be…..it was impossible to convince him to stay in the hospital or rest at home. And add to that his insomnia,” he sighed.

“He finds it difficult to sleep?” Nandini asked anxiously. He had not been able to get adequate sleep even when he was at Vrindavan, but she’d assumed it was because of the discomfort caused by the injuries.

Sankatmochan nodded sorrowfully. “He’s never been able to enjoy uninterrupted sleep. Often I’ve woken up in the middle of night to see him reading in the living room. Sometimes, he spends hours on the terrace. When he was very small, he would make everyone laugh by pointing out bizarre shapes amongst the stars and coming up with funny stories for them,” he said affectionately.

Nandini smiled at the thought of a chubby, adorable little boy making up stories about the creatures in the sky.

“You’ve known Prithvi for very long, haven’t you?” she asked, as they entered the temple.

“More than 10 years now.”

“How did you meet him?” she asked curiously, voicing the question that had come to her mind on several occasions when she’d seen them fight. They were just such different people….

“That is a wonderful story, and I’ll tell it to you soon, but not today. Because it is a story that must be told at leisure, and also, stories….always choose the time when they must be told,” he said with a mysterious smile.

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

Nandini hurried towards Vrindavan. She was on her way back from Aarti’s house, where she and her mother had been since afternoon after having served lunch to her grandfather and Prakash.  Prakash had left with them to go to his friend’s house that was next to the Chawla’s home.

Sarojini had would stay behind for some more time, but she’d asked Nandini to return home to take care of Bhoothnathji.

When she reached the gate, the slightly ajar door gave her pause. She quickly bolted the gate, hurried into the house, and then towards her grandfather’s room, and staggered into immobility.

Prithvi was sitting on a chair opposite the bed on which her grandfather was sitting, and there was a small round table in between them. A chess game lay abandoned on one side. But what shocked her was that both were holding playing cards. Something that had been forbidden in her house as long as she could remember.

“Grandpa!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

Startled, Prithvi and Bhoothnath looked at the door.

“Grandpa, how could you play cards in this house,” she asked severely, not looking at Prithvi. As always, she was nervous to look at him in the presence of her grandfather and mother. It was an irrational fear, but she couldn’t push away the thought that something in her face would give her secret away to the wise old eyes that had seen her grow up.

“Calm down. We were just playing cards - not plotting to take over the world,” Prithvi said derisively.

Having no other choice, she darted a cool glance at him. “Grandpa has never allowed anyone in the house to play cards.”

By this time, Bhoothnath had managed to recover his senses, and before Prithvi responded, he threw the cards up into the air and pointed accusingly at his partner in crime.

“It’s his fault, Nandini. He forced me to play!” he shrieked.

“I what??!” Prithvi snarled, “You’re the one who insisted on cards!”

Nandini looked from one to the other in confusion for a moment, but then realised that her grandfather had guilt written all over his red face, and her disapproving eyes brought the truth tumbling out.

“This boy kept cheating me when we were playing chess. I am certain that he moves pawns when I’m not watching. Otherwise it is impossible he defeats me in every game. That’s why I had to choose cards and he was just teaching me the games when you came,” Bhoothnath changed track earnestly.

“I do not cheat, and don’t need to either. I could defeat you blindfolded in chess,” Prithvi dismissed irritably.

“Hmph! You have been taking advantage of my poor eyesight to win the games,” Bhoothnath insisted.

“Your eyesight seemed fine while trying to move the pieces when you thought I wasn’t looking,” Prithvi said contemptuously.

“Stop fighting, both of you!” Nandini said heatedly. “However it may have begun, I don’t want you to play this anymore.”

“What are you screeching about? It’s just a game,” Prithvi said irately.

“He’s right, Nandini. It’s only a harmless pastime,” Bhoothnath said eagerly, and his volte-face earned him a frown from Prithvi.

Nandini stared at him in aggravation. “But you’ve always said that it is the start of the gambling habit in most people.”

“Actually, that was something your grandmother and father believed,” her grandfather said miserably. “I had always wanted to learn to play, but your grandmother never let me, and then, after she left for the heavenly abode, your father barred me from it because he too was against it.”

“And now your granddaughter is stopping you. Have you ever wondered what it is like to have a spine?” Prithvi mused interestedly.

Aghast, Nandini couldn’t stop the fury from spilling over. “How dare you talk to him like that, Prithvi?” she said furiously, large black eyes blazing on her gorgeous face.

“But he is right!” Bhoothnath acknowledged in dawning horror. “I have lived in fear of my family all my life.”

Feeling appalled at the turn the discussion had taken, she quickly walked up to the old man, and sitting down next to him, put a comforting hand on his frail shoulder. “Grandpa, that’s not true,” she said earnestly. “You just cared so much about them that you didn’t go against their wishes.”

“That sounds like a nicer explanation,” her grandfather confessed, “But still, I cannot ignore the fact that I have not been able to fulfil my lifelong wish because of my family.”

“Can’t imagine how you’ve lived so long amidst a family of dictators,” Prithvi inserted thoughtfully.

“We’re not a family of dictators!” Nandini said angrily. Then she turned to her grandfather and weakly said, “If you like it so much….you can play.”

“But if your mother finds out, she’ll also be upset,” Bhoothnath said sadly.

“I’ll talk to her, don’t worry about it,” Nandini said in a small voice.

“You will? You are the most dutiful granddaughter I could have hoped for,” Bhoothnath said with genuine love, and hugged her with one arm.

“Anyone got tissues? I think I’m about to cry,” Prithvi rolled his eyes. Nandini glowered at him, and he grinned back. She had been worried if it was dangerous to let Prakash spend time with Sankatmochan. But it was apparently equally dangerous to let her grandfather spend time with this devil incarnate.

“Grandpa, shall I get tea for you? And some snacks?” she asked, ignoring Prithvi.

Bhoothnath nodded happily, and then enquiringly said, “Why aren’t you asking Prithvi as well?”

“No manners at all,” Prithvi muttered.

“Maybe you could teach me how to behave with people since your manners are impeccable,” she said sweetly, standing up, and then stormed away in a huff.

Bhoothnath laughed loudly, and Prithvi scowled at him.

“Maybe you could find someone else to play cards and chess with,” Prithvi said abrasively.

That put an end to the laughter and Bhoothnath sat suitably browbeaten. Then something twinkled in his eyes.

“I didn’t forget much of the lines you’d taught me in case anyone saw us playing cards. What do you think….how did I do?” he whispered enthusiastically.

“The film industry lost out on a great talent,” Prithvi remarked in admiration.

“And a brilliant script writer too,” Bhoothnath chortled, patting him on the shoulder, and Prithvi grinned at him.

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

Nandini was returning towards the room with the laden tray, and her grandfather’s proud bragging reached her ears.

“I once played the role of Hanuman in the Ram Leela during Dusshera!”

When had the topic strayed to this, she wondered curiously.

“The selection committee chose the perfect candidate,” Prithvi commented.

Frustrated at his constant wheedling, she was about to quicken her steps, when her grandfather, who had thankfully mistaken the words for praise, continued his pompous boasting, and his next words made her freeze on the spot.

“Theatrical talent runs in our family. Do you know Nandini was chosen for the leading role in some college drama? But she didn’t take it up,” Bhoothnath sighed, “because it would interfere with her tuitions and exams.”

Nandini cringed. She had stammered out the reason to her family when they had questioned her about the drama, and had been grateful when they had accepted it rationally, though with some disappointment. But now that her grandfather had told Prithvi about it, she had the strongest feeling that she was going to be fried.

“She was chosen, and she backed out?” The edge in Prithvi’s abrupt question confirmed her intuition.

It was better she hand over the tea and snacks and run away into the sanctuary of her room. And to think that, just some time ago, she had been yearning to see him again to confirm that he had not been serious about his desire to go back to the city. Life sure knew how to play jokes….

Breathing deeply for some courage, she hurried towards the room, and not daring to meet Prithvi’s suddenly sharp gaze on her enchantingly pink face, she kept the tray near her grandfather. Pausing only for a second to smile at his keen appraisal of the eatables, she turned to flee.

She had just neared the staircase when the doorbell rang. She walked to the door and opened it to see one of Aarti’s uncles who had come from another town to attend the wedding.

“Nandini, is your grandfather here?” he asked without any preamble.

“Yes, I’ll call him. Please come in, uncle,”

“No, there isn’t time for that. I just need to ask him something. Could he come outside for a minute?”

“I’ll call him right away,” she said and hastened to the room, and the two men looked at her from the cards in their hands.

Carefully avoiding Prithvi’s ominous gaze, she mumbled, “Grandpa, Aarti didi’s uncle is waiting outside to meet you. He’s in a hurry and wants to talk to you about something for a minute.”

Bhoothnath immediately kept the cards aside and assuring Prithvi that he would return immediately, he made his way outside. Nandini followed him closely, grateful for the cover. When her grandfather had stepped out of the door to the courtyard, she turned to follow her escape plan through, but then stilled.

Prithvi was standing in front of her with his arms crossed, and there was stark disapproval all over his brilliant, mesmeric features as they surveyed her coldly.

“Why did you back out of the play?” he demanded.

She gulped in nervousness, not least because her grandfather could return any moment. In some way, she didn’t think Prithvi gave a damn about that. He would have questioned her the same way regardless of who was in the room.

 “I hadn’t taken it up. I’d just told Daya I’d think about it,” she said hastily.

“And you thought about it and decided that you’re a coward,” he concluded grimly.

“I’m not a coward! I just wanted someone better to play the role,” she said, flushing.

“Excellent excuse to cover up your lack of nerve,” he said with a sneer. “You could write a survival guide for gutless people.”

The words cut into her with savage viciousness. And the white rage that splintered through her nerves eliminated all the other concerns in her head.

“For your kind information, I’m still the understudy,” she hissed. “And if I end up having to play the role, I’m sure Suvek will help me prepare well.”

Prithvi stiffened at the name, and suddenly, there was something formidable in the perfection of his features. “Did you just say Suvek?” he asked icily.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you that? He’s the hero of this play,” she informed cheerfully, though boiling on the inside. “So we’ll be together all the time during rehearsals.”

In the second of chilled silence, Prithvi’s face turned crimson with rage. “I don’t want you to be part of the drama, not even as the understudy,” he said with dangerous calm.

“You’ll just have to change your mind. Because I’ve decided that I don’t want to be a coward.”

“Nandini, I don’t want you to go ahead with this,” he said roughly.

“Prithvi, I will do as I please. Try and stop me,” she answered pleasantly.

 His eyes flashed coldly. 'Don't challenge me,' he grimly warned.

The threat only made her flare up even more. “I’m not worried. Suvek will take good care of me,” she said staunchly.

“Who is Suvek, Nandini?”

Both of them jumped slightly at the intrusion into their battle. Bhoothnath had just heard the last part of the conversation and was looking at Nandini inquisitively.

“He - he is one of the best students of our college, grandpa,” she said squeakily. “Very sweet and helpful! He’s the lead of the play in which I’m the understudy.”

“Yeah, he really is a great guy. All those rumours about his depraved nature are just nonsense,” Prithvi said seriously.

“What? There are such rumours about him?” Bhoothnath asked, horrified.

“Don’t listen to him, grandpa. There is nothing like that,” Nandini said indignantly. “You can ask any of the students or faculty. They all have high opinions about him.”

“That’s right. All the girls in college avoid the poor fellow for no fault of his,” Prithvi said kind-heartedly, making Nandini feel unusually close to violence.

“Nandini, I don’t want you to be around a boy like that,” Bhoothnath said agitatedly.

“But grandpa, since I’m the understudy, I’ll have to be there for the rehearsals too. And there will be so many other students in the hall at that time!” she pleaded.

Bhoothnath remained silent for some moments, mulling over the wisdom of letting a corrupt boy hover near his grandchild, while two pairs of eyes – both hopeful for very different reasons – studied him. But he looked at the keenness on Nandini’s sweetly innocent face and found himself succumbing.

“As long as there as many people around, it is okay,” her grandfather conceded reluctantly, and she almost heard her adversary growl in anger.

She grinned at Prithvi triumphantly. He gave her a cold, lethal smile that clearly said that this wasn’t the end of it in any way.

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

Nandini scooped up some curry with a small piece of chappati and held it out to the plump boy sitting on the table.

“One more bite,” she coaxed Tarun, her smallest tuition student who was a recent addition. It was the weekend, but as the school exams were approaching in a few weeks, she had kept classes for the older students. Tarun’s overachieving mother, however, had been adamant that her son be the top ranker right from the beginning. And so she had sent the boy for tuition on a day when other children his age were simply playing and having fun. Nandini had heard his tummy growling when the other students were leaving, and held him back after all had left to coerce him to have a meal.

“That is the last one I’ll eat!” Tarun said stubbornly.

Nandini hid her smile as she fed Tarun from the plate. He had been insisting from the start that every next mouthful would be the last one he ate, but she had managed to feed him 2 rotis and was working towards finishing the last one.

Looking at her, Mridula exchanged smiling glances with Sarojini and Bhoothnath.

“Nandini is such a dear girl. Otherwise, the young ladies I see these days are a nightmare!” Mridula shuddered. “Speaking of which, did you hear about Ketki’s daughter?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything as yet. Is everything okay with them?” Sarojini asked anxiously, looking at Bhoothnath in puzzlement.

"Nandini, you know Ketki's daughter don't you?" Mridula asked loudly.

Nandini spun with the plate in hand to see all three adults peering at her.  "Ketki aunty's daughter....Sharanya? I know her, but not too well," she said. Before she could say anything else, her attention was diverted by her student who was trying to jump down the table to escape. She cut short the tot's flight to freedom and began cajoling him into having the final piece of chappati on the plate.

"I'm glad that you were not close to a girl like that. The shameless girl had an affair with an older boy from her college."

Nandini froze in the middle of gathering up the remaining curry with the last bit of roti.

"But she is just Nandini's age!" Bhoothnath said in horror.

"That's not the worst of it. She tried to run away from home as they don't belong to the same social strata - The boy is from a backward caste," Mridula confided. "The families managed to catch hold of the two before they could board the train. And would you believe what Sharanya said? She said that she is in 'love' with the boy and will only return home if her parents agree to conduct her marriage with him."

"How terrible for her parents!" Sarojini exclaimed sympathetically.

"Didi, let me go out and play, pleaaseee!!" Tarun wailed, and Nandini suddenly realised that she had been standing motionless with the plate in hand.

"After you eat this too," she said in an automatic response. She held out the food and the child leaned forward and happily took the last bite. Keeping the plate aside, she quietly helped him get down with one hand.

"I'll help you wash up and then you can go out," she whispered, wanting to leave the room without hearing any more of their conversation.

"They somehow forced her to return home and now have forbidden her from even stepping outside the house. But what's the use of doing all that now? The harm is done and their reputation is ruined," Mridula said with a terrible sort of relish.

"My heart goes out to them. In a society like ours, the disgrace caused by the girl will linger for a long while," Bhoothnath said sadly.

Halfway to the kitchen, Nandini stopped and looked at her grandfather in distress. She was feeling sicker with every word....

Why wouldn't they stop discussing this....

And to compound her distress, she couldn’t believe they were talking about Sharanya, who had been in her class in school. A shy, quiet girl who had been an average student, but no more modern or brash than she herself was. How had the timid Sharanya changed so much so as to run away from home with the boy she loved….It was just unimaginable….

Tarun tugged at her arm to draw attention. She smiled at him and quickly helped him wash at the basin, and then swiftly walked him to the outside, where Prakash and the other boys were playing cricket. After instructing Prakash to let Tarun play for some time along with them until his father’s car arrived to pick him up, she returned reluctantly to the house, hoping that the depressing discussion was over.

But what she heard as she entered inside only made her heart sink further.

“The girl should have thought of it before “Falling in Love,”” Mridula uttered the words like an abuse. “But then it was Ketki’s fault too for sending her daughter to that low grade college. Though what could she also do? That girl was never any good in studies. Now she’ll have to complete her education through correspondence. And I think they should get her married as soon as possible.”

“Get her married? But aunty, she’s just 18,” Nandini said quietly, stunned into abandoning plans to go upstairs. Sarojini had also started to protest against the archaic mindset, but something on her daughter’s face stopped her. It was the same expression she used to see on Siddharth’s face when he would talk about something close to his heart….

“That’s old enough for a girl,” Mridula said glibly.

“But she may not get the chance to study further or work if-”

“Girls don’t need to do either,” 

Nandini knew her mother and grandfather were looking from her to Mridula aunty in apprehension, but she couldn’t keep quiet in face of such reprehensible attitude.

“Whether they’ll need it or not, girls should have the ability to earn their livelihood,” she countered evenly. “And that’s only possible if they have completed their education.”

Mridula looked slightly taken aback and didn’t say anything instantly, but then she suddenly laughed. “You talk just like your father sometimes. Sarojini, you are lucky to have a daughter like her. She will only make you proud, and will never do anything that disgraces the name of this family.”

Nandini felt the blood drain from her face. What if someday, due to some horrific twist of fate, her relationship with Prithvi came out in the open. How would her family react. She knew they would never resort to anything like locking her up in the house, and they would never even contemplate getting her married off. But what if they asked her to give up the relationship….to forget Prithvi….

What would she do? How would she be able to convince them that it would be easier for her to stop breathing....

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

Nandini woke up with a start.  She sat up in bed sharply, her mind in a jumble of disoriented thoughts. The fan wasn’t moving and the room was stifling, which explained the beads of sweat on her forehead. She sleepily pulled up the neckline of the loose, long sleeved kurta that she’d worn to bed.

She had fallen to sleep with difficulty, and then had been rewarded with a number of utterly ridiculous dreams. Surely it was early morning by now…

But one look at the window outside squashed that hope. There was none of the expectancy of dawn in the pitch darkness outside. It was still the middle of the night. So she could now look forward to more agonised attempts to sleep peacefully, she thought dryly. She stretched a lazy hand out of bed and picked up the small timepiece on the table. It was 12:30 AM, which meant she had been asleep for just around an hour.  

Mochi had said Prithvi often spent hours on the terrace at night. So she had ventured cautiously to the terrace an hour after dinner to check if he was there, but it had been empty. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say or hear, but only that she needed to see him to regain some peace of mind. She would have to wait until tomorrow to see him, and even then, it was possible that she wouldn’t be able to talk with everyone around. But she would have to find a way...

Because his repeated talks of leaving were killing her, and the horrifying conversation she had heard in the evening had traumatised her further. She knew she had waded into an abyss that could cost her family very badly. But she couldn’t….and didn’t want….to find a way back. Far from warning her against going ahead with the forbidden relationship, the talk in the afternoon had actually made her want to see him more badly than ever before. Because the few minutes when her mind had cruelly created a scenario when she’d have to forget him had shaken her completely.

She looked outside again. There wasn’t much breeze coming into her room, as her room faced Ayodhya, unlike her mother’s room which faced the woods. But it would be nice and cool on the terrace. She could sleep comfortably there and return to her room at sunrise, as she had been doing on hot summer nights ever since childhood.

Having decided, she took the keys from the drawer of her table, then knelt on the floor, and drew the straw mat from under the bed. She kept her pillow and bedsheet in the middle and wrapped the mat around it, and quietly opened the door and walked quietly towards the stairway to the terrace.

Nandini opened the locked door, and stepped gladly into the pleasantly cool breeze that was wafting across the place. The moon was in its waning phase, and the stars were casting paltry light. She admired the beautiful sky for a moment, and then, turned and locked the door again so it wouldn’t bang continuously during the night and wake up her family.

“What are you doing here at this time?”

The sharp question turned her pale with shock and she twisted around in amazement. Was she dreaming about this because meeting him was all she’d  thought about in the past few hours. But no…it really was him….

Prithvi was standing on Ayodhya’s terrace….there was no mistaking that imposing frame even in the almost complete darkness. She couldn’t see his face, but could make out an easy chair a few feet behind him. So he had been sitting all alone here and had apparently been disturbed by her arrival.

“The electricity is gone. It was very hot in the room so I came upstairs for some fresh air,” Nandini mumbled somehow, “I do that all the time in summer,” she added as explanation, feeling awkward.

He didn’t say anything, and she instinctively knew that he was thinking if there could be anything unsafe about her spending time alone on the terrace at this hour of the night. Then apparently convinced that there wasn’t anything dangerous about the proposition, he nodded. She saw him waver briefly, and then he moved forwards to come towards her, and her heart leapt delightedly within her chest.

But then he stopped all of a sudden with strange uncertainty. And to her consternation, he quietly said, “Okay, good night.”  He turned and began striding towards the door.

He was actually going, Nandini realised in shocked dismay.

Without realising it, she dropped the bundle in her hand and keys. And took quick steps to reach him before he left, causing him to stop and look at her again in surprise.

“Can you stay for some time?” she asked in desperation.

“You WANT me to stay?” he frowned. “Are you ill or something? You usually run a mile to save your honour if I so much as look at you in the dark.”

“I don’t run if you - Don’t exaggerate!” she said angrily, blushing. “I shouldn’t have asked at all. You can go ahead…..I’ll be fine by myself.”

Subduing the urge to return to her room in annoyance, she turned away from him to return to her side of the terrace. But then she changed her mind and walked towards the cushioned armchair he had just abandoned and sat down. Prithvi looked at the unfolding scene in bemusement as she snuggled backwards into the softly-padded back and sat with her arms crossed stiffly.

For the longest minute ever, there was no sound and then she heard the door being closed slowly, causing her heart to clench painfully. She speedily stood up and whirled around in desolation, and felt powerful relief on seeing him turning away from the door.

Then she realized he was studying her with slightly furrowed brows and the relief evaporated….and the silence acquired a highly tensed quality. Of course….it would have seemed odd to him that she had hoped for him to stay, when she was usually the one who was panicky and reluctant about meeting at a late hour.

“What’s going on?” he demanded grimly.

It was a natural question. There wasn’t anything surprising or harsh about it.

So there was absolutely no reason that her throat should constrict, making it difficult for her to breathe.

“Nothing….I-I told you…you can go,” she said haltingly.

“I will, but only after you tell me what this is about,”

Struggling not to break down, she forced the words out of her aching throat. “I didn’t have any reason to ask you to….I just wanted to….”

She stopped and closed her eyes tightly in pain, and pressed the back of a fair hand to her trembling lips to battle the strange emotion choking her.

The agonising sight removed the already faint traces of skepticism in his eyes, until there was only intense distress in their depths. He strode towards her quickly, but halted abruptly when he was some feet away and gazed at her with extraordinary torment on his striking features.

“Nandini….what’s the matter? What’s wrong?” he muttered urgently.

She opened eyes full of an anguish that she didn’t really understand herself and slowly let her hand fall from her beautiful face, unable to hold back the tears anymore. He was standing at touching distance, and the utter confusion and angst on his handsome face were evident even in the partial moonlight. Looking strangely unsure, he stretched out a hand silently.

And in a stunning instant, she understood the reasons for the curious hesitation she had sensed in him from the start. And she loved him more than ever before, as she recognized his acknowledgment and acceptance of any moral boundaries in her mind….bearing in mind the time of night, and the awkward nature and isolation of the place they were standing in.

As she put a trembling hand into his, some of the tension in him dissolved and he drew her closer very gently. She willingly sought refuge in the tenderness of his embrace. Instead of feeling weaker in face of his hard strength, she felt as though some of his extraordinary vitality was being transferred to her own body.

“Do you really want to return to the city?” she whispered brokenly against a broad shoulder when she felt more in control of herself.

“You’re upset about that? But I was only teasing,” he asked in shock, and the relief in his voice made her want to hug him tighter and hit him at the same time. Joy and fury….it was funny how the mix of disparate emotions had become a permanent part of her life since he had walked into it.

Nandini pulled away from the hug with the strength given by rage and looked at him in bitter pain. “Why do you keep tormenting me with that! When you know there is nothing that terrifies me as much as the thought that you’ll….how can you be so cruel sometimes,” she said despairingly.

“Maybe I just keep hoping that you’ll have more faith in me,” he said with unexpected ferocity.

“What are talking about? I have full faith in you,” she denied stormily.

“You don’t. You have more faith in strangers you see on the road than in me,” he said harshly.

“That’s not true…I trust you more than anything else in this world,” she said helplessly.  How could she convince him….

She bowed her head in tearful misery, unable to explain that it wasn’t lack of faith but only desperate love that had turned her so vulnerable and irrational.

Neither spoke or moved for a minute. Then Prithvi slowly began walking up to her. He halted right in front of her, grasped her exquisite face in his warm hands and tilted it upwards firmly so that she was forced into meeting his gaze.

“I’m sorry I said all that nonsense about wanting to move away,” he said softly, and tenderly wiped away a solitary tear from her incredibly beautiful face.

Nandini swallowed hard to get rid of the painful lump in her throat. “If you have to - if you have to stay away for two months, it’s okay. I understand. But please....don’t ever talk about moving away permanently,” she implored softly.

“I won’t,” he promised gently, and after a moment, uncomfortably added, “I wasn’t serious about the two months part too. I’ll be back in a few days.”

“You’ll be home that soon?” she asked in joyful disbelief, suddenly bursting with delight….all pain forgotten.

He nodded guiltily, and his expression told her he was waiting for another flare-up.

But she was too happy to care. He could be forgiven anything....as long as she knew he was going to return to her soon.

Laughing, she impulsively reached out and curled her arms tightly around his neck. Astonishment, and then pleasure flashed on his handsome features and his arms closed snugly around her.  In absolute silence, they revelled in the passionate closeness for the longest time.

Then he tentatively queried, “Are you feeling very happy now?”

She looked up at him lovingly and nodded.

“Happy enough to give up the idea of being the understudy for that rotten play?” he asked enthusiastically.

So it was still troubling him, she thought amusedly.

She grinned and shook her head firmly in rebellion. “You should have thought about it before ragging me like that,” she said kindly, while patting his fair cheek with affectionate sympathy. “Is that what is keeping you awake?” she teased.

“My life isn’t as pathetic as yours to stay awake about such stupid things,” he said dismissively, though she heard the anger in his voice at her adamant decision.

 “Since it’s that stupid, it should be very apt for me,” she said cheerfully, undaunted by his withering opinion.

“I’ll make you regret the decision,” he assured her with a hard smile, and as if as a precursor to the threat, his fingers moved sinuously on her silky hair, definitely seeking to unravel the knot.

“Don’t, Prithvi….It’s too hot to leave it open,” she protested. But she had barely finished the sentence before her hair was loosened and the lush tresses tumbled down her waist. As the long, silken strands tickled his arm, he sighed inaudibly.

“Why did you do that?” she asked crossly.

“I’m hoping to get bitten again,” he murmured.

“Oh you really are so cute,” she smiled adoringly and quickly tugged at his cheek, mischievously aware of just how much he hated being at the receiving end of such words and gestures.

“I’ll bite you myself if you do that again,” he said grimly. “Now return to your room and go to sleep.”

“But it’s too hot inside,” she protested. “That’s why I came to sleep here.”

“The electricity has come back.” He signalled at the street lights that were burning again on the empty grounds below.

“Alright, I’ll go….but you too should go back inside,” she said firmly.

If she hadn’t chanced upon him, he’d probably have still been sitting awake in the chair. And she wasn’t going to return to her room wondering if he was still sitting by himself in the loneliness of the night.

She waited for his customary refusal to listen to anyone, but to her great surprise, he only paused momentarily before nodding in consent.

Then his arms finally loosened, and she also drew her arms shyly from around his neck. And with a heartbreaking carefulness that suggested that the other person was made of glass, the boy and the girl broke apart slowly….

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