Prithvi carelessly tossed the phone to the person standing to his right. As Inder made an awkward, futile jump to catch it and then picked up the phone from the grass with a grimace, Prithvi indifferently gave him instructions for the schedule for the rest of the day and the next couple of days.

"We'll see if you're actually going to do all that work," Inder said disparagingly. "These days you appear more interested in gallivanting around town than completing the work the queen wants you to do," he said with disapproval before ambling away superciliously.

Prithvi continued to sit for a few minutes so he could get a handle on his temper before getting up, or it was very possible that he would catch up with the ****** and break his spine.

And yet, as much as he hated to admit it, there was a grain of truth in what the vermin had said.

For the past five years, he had handled the business with the same dedication and zeal that he accorded to every task he took up, closing out all his emotions towards it. He'd never let his work be affected by the memories of how his mother had thrust the responsibility upon him, or the fact that it was a business empire created by Rajyavardhan, whom he still despised – or by the knowledge that he was being forced to handle work that would usually have been dealt with by multiple teams spread across the globe.

But he was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain that impersonal attitude towards the business. Old memories and emotions were resurfacing frequently, and a deep anger was building up, which didn't bode well for anyone, particularly the queen mother.

After a few more minutes of troubled contemplations, Prithvi got up and walked unhurriedly towards the main entrance of the house.

Hopefully, Nandini would be in Rajeshwari's room right now. Or at least in some place where he wouldn't come across her. He was beginning to get tired of the constant stream of turmoil and confusions that she triggered in him each time.

He could now hear dim murmurs from the living room. As he approached the door, the voices became more audible, and he realised Rajeshwari and Grishma were speaking, and if Rajeshwari was here, Nandini would be around too.

With his steps quickening unconsciously, he entered the house and then paused a couple of feet from the wide doorway to the left that opened to the living room. Inside, Nandini was sitting between the two girls, who were fully absorbed in a conversation.

Barely a minute ago, he had hoped to avoid running into her. And now he was so pleased and relieved at seeing her again that it seemed as if he had half expected her to vanish somehow from the house... and his life.

Then his expression sharpened as multiple impressions struck him simultaneously in a matter of seconds.

Rajeshwari was trying to speak with Nandini, but Grishma was interjecting with questions of her own and not letting Nandini respond.

Nandini, however, didn't seem to be irritated by it at all. In fact, she didn't really seem aware of what was happening.

With a polite smile on her face and tapping her toes discreetly, she was doing her best to seem involved in the conversation even though her mind was clearly far away, looking very much like a child whose parent had forced her to sit between grown-ups and appear interested in boring chitchat.

Then his attention was unexpectedly drawn to the threads of silver around her ankles. He hadn't noticed until now that she was wearing those things. He hadn't heard their infernal noise, and that wouldn't have missed his attention, given the power it had once held over his emotions. He had heard it in Shamli on that morning when she had worn it to irk him, but not after that...

What was the point of wearing those dumb things without the bells, he thought sullenly.

Then infuriated with his thoughts, he brought his mind back to the living room, and realised Grishma's interruptions were continuing.

Now annoyed for a different reason, without moving ahead to enter the room, he brusquely asked, "Mind letting Nandini speak, Grimes?"

Nandini glanced at him finally, and he was startled by the outright fury on her stunning features.

She'd been upset while leaving with Sumer Singh, but not like this, Prithvi thought warily. He wasn't sure what terrible wrong he had done since that point, but he was confident that if he burst into flames now, she would run over to him with a can of gasoline. Had Grishma or Rajeshwari unknowingly said something about him, he wondered in bewilderment.

Rajeshwari looked delightedly at her brother and then walked to him with happy giggles. "Prithvi! I told you today morning I wanted to go to Shamli and you didn't say a word about meeting Nandini yesterday."

"That's how surprises work, Rai," he grinned while his mind tried to decipher the mystery of Nandini's anger.

Rajeshwari chuckled while hugging him. "Thank you so much for this lovely surprise!" and then she began to gleefully describe the scene when she'd seen Nandini in the living room.

Hurt and baffled, Grishma stared at Prithvi. She'd been taken aback by his voice, and then the small hint of sharpness in his words and tone had cut her to the quick. He had rarely spoken to her like that before, and even then, his tone had usually been mild. And it was more disturbing that he had spoken to her like this for another girl. But in spite of feeling wounded, she recognised awkwardly that he had a point. She had not been letting Nandini speak at all.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Grishma mumbled self-consciously, and then looked at Nandini ruefully. "I'm sorry if I was being rude, Nandini," Grishma apologised. "I swear I'm not this curious and obnoxious usually."

"You were not rude at all. It was sweet of you to be so interested," Nandini told her lightly, hoping the agonized rage that had flared up even higher was not visible in her expression. Grimes...a pet name. He'd used it so casually.

"See, Nandini is not mad at me. So, you can't be too," Grishma told Prithvi flippantly, striving to keep her wounded feelings aside, and then hurried to him. "I took a video of the moment Rajeshwari saw her, so you could see her reaction," she said eagerly, hoping to smooth over the situation.

Nandini's heart twisted unbearably as she watched Grishma walk to Prithvi and practically plaster herself to him while showing him the video on her phone.

With a flicker of impatience on his face, Prithvi moved back slightly with an unspoken reserve to put some distance between him and Grishma while watching the video, and murmured, "Thanks for recording it."

He didn't have any photos or videos of Nandini, and even if he wanted one - which he didn't, he thought mulishly – he wouldn't want this one. She was unmistakably struggling to seem cheerful in it...

Nandini slumped back in her seat with a wobbly breath, as the excruciating tension eased out of her. She'd seen his reaction and movement, and while she still didn't know if there was anyone in his life, she knew for sure now that it was not Grishma. And she would gladly accept this respite even if it was temporary.

And then she realised Prithvi was looking at her with a confused expression while Rajeshwari and Grishma were replaying the video on the latter's phone.

Alarmed, Nandini hastily turned her face away. She had not cared to hide her anger some moments ago, and now she had forgotten to conceal her emotions. He would know something was going on.

Prithvi frowned slightly. She had clearly been hopping mad at him a moment ago, but that wasn't the case anymore. She now looked relieved, and he had no idea about the reason behind either of those moods. This was a rehash of what had happened in the market, he thought irritably.

Then he thought closely about the moments that had elapsed between her murderous and softened looks, and an interesting doubt arose slowly in his mind...

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

Feeling too antsy and nervous, Nandini got up and walked towards the other end of the room from where she would not be visible to him and the others, and then pretended to be admiring the metallic showpieces that were placed between two armchairs and the colourful painting of a garden on the tall wooden partition that segregated this room from the rest of the ground floor.

She'd expected to feel shattering grief when faced with the possibility of Prithvi having...found someone else. But the extreme level of primitive rage, which had turned all her maturity and rational thinking to dust, had come out of nowhere and left her completely dazed. If she had not seen him shirk from Grishma with that look, she would have daydreaming about driving a bunch of knives into his heart right now.

She was still feeling shaky because of the searing mix of emotions, but in one tiny moment, its intensity had reduced so starkly that she could imagine being able to smile genuinely again.

She heard her phone ring, and absentmindedly hastened to take it out of her bag. She answered it on seeing it was Vrinda's call.

"Hey, where are you? Is everything okay?" Vrinda asked concernedly.

"Yes, everything's fine. Why?" Nandini asked quickly.

"You've not replied to the messages I sent about the guy I spoke to in the morning," Vrinda complained. "I waited for an hour and then I got worried. So, I thought I'll call you and check. You're sure you're fine? You don't sound very good."

"I'm fine. Everything is okay," Nandini lied. "Sorry, it's just been very busy here."

"Why are you talking like you're in a classroom or something?" Vrinda asked suspiciously.

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

"Can I ask Nandini if she'll stay with us for the rest of the week?" Rajeshwari asked Prithvi eagerly, interrupting his contemplation.

Grishma tried not to feel uneasy at the request. Nandini seemed to be really sweet, but some troubling things were playing on her mind, and she needed some clarity and space before knowing how she felt about Nandini staying with them. It had hurt when Prithvi had moved away while she was trying to show him the video, but at least she was used to him doing that sort of thing. But it was bothering her intensely that Prithvi had spoken harshly to her, and her instincts said she was missing something about the whole situation.

"That won't be possible, Rai," Prithvi said mildly. "She's staying with the Garewals and they have their own vacation plans. So, don't ask her to do anything of that sort and put her in a spot, okay?"

He usually tried his best to fulfil Rajeshwari's wishes, but he had no option this time. It was bad enough for his peace that Nandini was living close to Taravan. He absolutely couldn't let her stay in the same house. And especially now...if he was right about what had troubled her, and if she ever felt compelled to ask him anything about it, the discussion would not go well for her, which meant it would ultimately wreck his mood too. And considering that she had vaulted off the couch right now to hide from him, it wasn't very difficult to guess what her feelings would be about Rajeshwari's idea.

Grishma felt such strong relief that she had to hide a smile. It was sad that he was turning down Rajeshwari's request, which was something he hardly ever did. But if he had any interest in Nandini, he wouldn't have refused the idea outright.

"Oh...okay," Rajeshwari said sadly, and then she looked down at her outfit of a white shirt and grey pants. "I should change my outfit if we're having guests for lunch. Grishma, will you help me choose a dress?"

"Sure, I would be happy to help," Grishma smiled.

Rajeshwari thanked Grishma, and then looked at Prithvi a little uncertainly. "I don't want Nandini to be alone while we're upstairs."

"Disha can stay with her in the meantime," Prithvi said briefly, starting to walk away. "I need to get back to work now. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay, will do," Grishma answered promptly before Rajeshwari could respond.

Her mood had improved considerably. Her concerns about Nandini were stupid. Prithvi obviously didn't have any interest in her. He must have been in a bad mood when he'd walked into the house. That must be why he had snapped at her. And now she could also talk to Rajeshwari in private and get some information about the mysteries surrounding Nandini...

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

"I'm at someone's house," Nandini said uncomfortably.

"Oh you're visiting someone there? Why didn't you tell me that before, you silly girl?" Vrinda scolded. "I'm cutting the call now."

"I'll call you back soon," Nandini promised, and cut the call just as Rajeshwari and Grishma entered the room.

"Nandini, I would like to change for lunch since Mr and Mrs Garewal are coming," Rajeshwari said timidly. "I'm taking Grishma with me to help me dress up. I'll ask Disha to sit with you until we're back."

"There's no need for that, I'll be fine by myself," Nandini said quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I actually need to make a call, so it's fine," Nandini assured.

"Okay," Rajeshwari nodded seriously. "We'll be back soon."

"Yes, we'll be troubling you with our company in no time," Grishma said with a bright smile.

Nandini smiled back weakly. "Don't worry about me, please take your time."

She pretended to be looking through her phone as Rajeshwari and Grishma went up the stairs and then vanished from view. Then she slowly walked to the doorway of the living room and gazed around apprehensively.

She hadn't paid any attention to the layout of the floor when she had visited the washroom. But she noticed now that this room was in one corner of the sprawling floor. She could a stairway on the opposite side of the floor, also leading to the first floor. And there were passageways and doors to the left and straight ahead.

Where had Prithvi gone? She could sense he was somewhere in the vicinity...but where?

It was really good for her peace, of course, that he wasn't in this room. She had no idea how she would respond if he questioned her about her strange behaviour, since even his proximity put her on edge. So...yes, it was good for her. But the picture of his face when Sumer Singh had informed him about his travel plans being cancelled wouldn't leave her head. He'd been angry at having to stay back today, she recalled desolately. Maybe she wouldn't see him again during the day.

Then she turned and walked to one of the large windows in the living room, and looked out at the pleasing greenery. She could call Vrinda later, but she was direly in need of the comfort she always felt while conversing with her closest friends.

She had kept things hidden from them for too long now, Nandini reflected with overwhelming guilt. But she was done with all the secrecy, and would tell them everything soon. However, she couldn't talk to them about Prithvi on the phone. She needed to do it face to face.

For now, she would talk about the place and the weather and listen to Vrinda's latest bride-groom related adventures. And once she went back to Shamli, she would tell them everything – almost everything – that had happened since she'd met Rajeshwari that fateful afternoon...

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

Anuj walked down the steps dully. He had slept off again after going back to his room post talking to Grishma and Yamini, and had seen crazy dreams of being tied up with barbed wire and strung up upside down a red-eyed tree by a highly frightening version of Prithvi.

He had woken up in a cold sweat, and had not felt courageous enough to go back to sleep and see more such dreams. He had brushed his teeth, combed his hair, changed into a track suit, and decided to go for a short run outside.

He was heading to the main door when he saw a female staff member walking out of the living room. He changed direction and walked towards the room, hoping to find any of his friends, especially Prithvi. It would reassure him a little and soothe the nerves that were still jangled because of the nightmare.

He entered the room and froze.

A girl was sitting on the couch. She was busy with a call, and was smilingly listening and nodding and smiling.

He had seen a lot of lovely faces but it was rare to find one that looked this...bewitching. The traditional look would usually have been a dampener for him. But in this case, it just...worked. He stared at her with a highly impressed air and silently mouthed wow.

Anuj unthinkingly walked ahead, and the girl looked at him suddenly.

He was struck anew by the immaculate beauty of her features. The eyes especially were unbelievably gorgeous. And then he realized those eyes were regarding him with an irritated question, and there was a frown on that creamy forehead.

"Yes?" Nandini asked coldly, instinctively responding the way she did in her office when any of the obnoxious males approached her for a "friendly" talk.

Almost immediately, he understood who the girl was. It was the female about whom Yamini had warned him.

The nightmare he had seen flashed before him again in gruesome detail, along with Prithvi's lethal avatar in it.

Eyes wide with terror, Anuj turned and ran back the same way he had arrived.

Perplexed, Nandini got up swiftly and walked to the doorway to see the young man fleeing up the stairway on the other side. Who was that? Was it one of Prithvi's friends? And was he mentally unhinged?

She looked at her phone. She had cut Vrinda's call again to deal with the weird man, and didn't want to call up a second time in case they were interrupted once more.

One of the doors at the other end of the house opened and Prithvi walked out, holding some papers in his hand.

Nandini felt immensely grateful and relieved to see him. The odd incident had disconcerted her, and the mere sight of him instantly gave her a sense of calmness and safety.

Prithvi looked at her in surprise, and then, with his forehead crinkling, he strode towards her swiftly.

He'd struggled to sit peacefully in the office for the past few minutes. Then without any conscious thought regarding where he was going or why, he had picked up some of the papers from the table and left the room. And then he'd seen her standing there all alone with a troubled look...

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Prithvi asked concernedly as he neared her.

Nandini hesitated before speaking. She didn't want to get anyone in trouble, but maybe Prithvi could give her an explanation for the man's strange behaviour.

"I'm fine. Just a little confused. A young man in a track suit walked into the room and saw me, and then he looked really scared, and ran out," she told him uncertainty.

Following an instinct, she had cut out the portion wherein the fellow had stared at her blankly, and the anger she saw on Prithvi's face now confirmed that she'd been right to do so. Apart from the strong inner knowing that all women possessed, numerous rotten experiences had given her impeccable instincts about men. And as weird as the man's actions had been, she'd not felt frightened at any point.

"I see," Prithvi said grimly. So, apparently, Anuj was destined to die at his hands...

"Is that one of your friends?" Nandini asked him tentatively.

Prithvi didn't answer the question, and instead, he abruptly asked her, "Is that all he did? He didn't say or do anything else?"

Nandini shook her head rapidly. "Nothing at all. Does he have any...problems?" she asked doubtfully.

"With sanity and common sense? Yes, he does have major issues in that regard," Prithvi said coldly, and then he looked around with a scowl. "Where's Disha? I'd asked for her to stay with you."

"I told Rajeshwari that wasn't necessary," she muttered.

Prithvi looked at her irately, then walked around her and stalked into the room.

He lounged down on the couch, the ankle of his right leg resting on top of the left knee, and placed some of the papers next to him, and began going through the others.

"You don't need to sit here for me," Nandini said awkwardly.

"Thanks for clarifying that," he said shortly, without looking at her.

She flushed, and then walked to the farthest end of the L-shaped couch and sat down.

"Why don't you go up to the ground floor and sit there?" Prithvi asked stonily while seemingly scanning the content of the pages in his hand. "So there's no room for suspicion that we're having a sizzling hot affair."

A mortified hue of red splashed on Nandini's skin. She got up in a huff and sat at a midway point, almost expecting another sarcastic jab. But he didn't speak again, and appeared engrossed in his work, which was beneficial for her, since he wasn't asking her about what had happened earlier.

She just had to be quiet for some more time, and then Rajeshwari and Grishma would be back. And then she could take her mind off the whirling bunch of thoughts and impulses and questions that were springing out of her heart. Some of the questions she couldn't dare ask him. The others weren't that dangerous, she attempted to persuade herself...it wouldn't do any harm to try to get at least some of the answers she needed.

"Prithvi, did you - did you want to go on that work trip?" she asked in a nervous rush.

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

Anuj didn't stop until he reached Yamini's room and pounded on the door. "Yams, open the door!" he said in panic.

The door was opened by an alarmed Yamini. "What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.

"Prithvi is going to kill me," he moaned while walking to her room and falling face first onto the bed.

"Why? What did you do?" Yamini asked hurriedly.

"That girl, Nandini...she's here," he said in a muffled voice.

"Oh my god, did you flirt with her?" Yamini asked in horror.

"Not yet, but I'm going to have to," he groaned.

"What? What the **** does that mean?" Yamini scowled at him.

Anuj sat up on the bed and looked at Yamini accusingly. "This is your fault. You should have prepared me better."

"Prepared you for what?" she asked him impatiently.

"For how incredible she looks," he said fervently. "But also...there's something fiery about her. Like one of those cute little red chillies that look so good but will burn your insides if you try them," he said interestedly.

Yamini rolled her eyes. "Stop exaggerating, will you. She has a pretty face. That's all."

Anuj looked at her with a smirk. "Spoken like a typical woman. Jealous cats, all of you."

Yamini looked at him furiously. "You know what...I really hope you flirt with her and Prithvi catches you doing it."

The smugness vanished from Anuj's face. "I'm sorry, Yams! Don't let him kill me please," he begged.

Yamini slapped her forehead. "Anuj, all you need to do is avoid flirting with her," she said exasperatedly. "It's not that hard. Just behave as decently as you can, keep your mouth shut and don't go anywhere close to her. And if you can't do that, stay in your room until she's here. I'll make an excuse for you."

Anuj looked at her doubtfully. It would be a crime to let go of an opportunity to flirt with such an exquisite creature. But Yamini was right about this.

He unwillingly said, "Okay, I think I'll just stay in my room."

"Good, now get out of my room," Yamini ordered. After he had gone, she walked to the dressing up and continued to do her make-up while stressing out inwardly.

She was more worried than she was letting on. Though she hadn't seen Prithvi lose his temper in a major way, she had seen his tough reactions every time there had been any kind of eve-teasing or harassment of women in the vicinity. He had never once let such an incident pass without interfering, and his build and intimidating attitude had been enough to send all creeps scurrying. If the guy couldn't tolerate seeing unknown women being harassed, how badly would he react if Anuj tried to flirt with Nandini, a girl who was closely associated with the Garewals - and more seriously, a girl whom he - possibly – liked...

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

Prithvi looked at her confusedly. "What?"

Nandini shuffled closer towards him without realising it, and wringing her fingers, she uneasily murmured, "You seemed angry when Sumer uncle told you that you don't need to go, and then you seemed to be a little...stressed. Did you really want to leave?"

"I did. And I didn't," he shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked him uncertainly.

For a moment, he regarded her with a belligerence in his black eyes, and then he mockingly explained, "It means I've recently been finding it difficult to differentiate between the things I want to do and don't want to do. And my mood, intentions, thoughts and plans tend to change every second these days. And I have a feeling that's the case with you too. Now do you really want to discuss this further?" he asked ironically.

The biting mockery in the words, which were crammed with meaning, stung her cheeks, and she looked away quickly. He had brought out all of her own chaos into the light with his response. She wanted to scuttle to a corner and try to bury herself in the space between the sofa cushions.

But she needed to ask him one more thing before wrapping up this talk or she would regret missing this opportunity later. Fiercely battling embarrassment and nervousness, she forced herself to meet his gaze again and warily said, "You haven't told me why you were worried."

A faint surprise showed on Prithvi's features even as he wondered amusedly if she knew she was moving closer to him with each question. He had assumed his reply would put an end to the conversation from her end. He had not expected her to come back with another question. The unexpected resilience pleased him to an extraordinary extent, but this was a difficult topic that he couldn't discuss with her.

However, instead of narrating any of the hundred excuses that came to his mind, he heard himself casually saying, "The reason will not interest you much, so let it be."

"No, I want to know," Nandini said intently, looking at him searchingly.

"It's about my mother's mental health. Still interested?" he asked sardonically, a glimmer of subdued anger and bitterness in his eyes.

She held his gaze without the slightest hesitation or reservation.

"If there is something about her wellbeing that is worrying you, I want to know and help in whatever way I can," she said quietly.

Prithvi wanted to be angered by the answer and say something that would hurt her enough to stop her from making these meaningless and false statements...

But he could only look at her in silence, seeing the pure truth in the immensely tender and luminous emotions in her eyes, and remembering how strange and incredible it had felt long ago when he'd first experienced this awareness that there was someone who could feel his pain and worries and desperately wanted to take them from him....someone in whose presence he could finally put down the heavy burdens that he kept hidden from everyone else....someone who had seemed to love and accept him as he was...and with whom he could share everything without being judged or rejected...

A mechanical ding cut into the moment.

Intensely grateful for the disturbance, Prithvi turned his clouded eyes to the doorway. Then rising to his feet, he muttered, "I think thakur is on his way to meet you."

Nandini stood up quickly with a rising anxiety. She would be meeting Uday Singh in a few moments. She had been told that he was looking forward to meeting her...but was that really true?

Prithvi glanced at her soberly, and her heart contracted with a sharp pang. The old and powerful apparition of Aadyabhoomi loomed over them briefly. Then with an immense effort, he managed to dispel it by giving her a faint but adorable and reassuring smile.

The softness of the gesture touched her heart and also ousted her anxiety briefly.

Prithvi turned and strode out of the room and then paused on seeing Uday Singh and an attendant walking towards him.

Holding a walking stick, Uday Singh smiled warmly at Prithvi as he hurried ahead as quickly as he could, followed closely by his attendant.

His eyesight was the one thing that had not really been affected by age, and he could see the shadow of old memories on Prithvi's face. He could understand how emotionally difficult each meeting could be for both of the youngsters, especially today, with Sumer Singh and himself around them. But he wasn't going to add to the gloom. He was going to try his best to send it packing.

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