Song of the chapter is Start Of Time by Gabrielle Aplin

-30-
-Kartik Malhotra-
-Present-

____________

Malhotra Mansion
1 December, 2019
4:00 pm

Her laugh ricocheted through the screen.

I watched as she laughed and then proceeded to tilt her head to the side. I watched as my father, Harshad Malhotra, laid beside her, saying words he knew he didn't mean. He muttered a string of curses under his breath as he looked at his watch and got up from the bed. The woman sighed, and held his hand.

" Why do you have to leave so soon?" She drawled, tilting her head.

His gaze flickered towards her. A glisten of desire gleamed in his eyes, coveted by his desire of staying a little longer.

" You know I can't." He said, his voice masking his disappointment.

" But Harsh, come on. We have so much fun together. Don't act like you don't wanna stay longer." The woman uttered.

" Mahi," he drawled.

" Harsh." She hummed in response.

He ran his hands through his hair . The woman did the same. A laugh threatened to escape from his lips. He intertwined their fingers together and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

" I can't stay, you know that." He mumbled, his muscles tensing.
" I've already risked enough by staying with you all night."

The woman clutched the orange blanket that rested on her thighs, "Right, I'm sorry for being such a nuisance for you." She whispered mockingly.

He tilted his head as his hands grazed her neck. " Baby, you know that's not true. "

She pouted and looked away, "Go, Harsh. They must be waiting for you."

He chuckled softly and tenderly caressed her hair, " Mahi... I promise that the next time that we meet.... things would be different."

She smiled slightly and rested her face on his palm, " Say you love me, Harsh."

Oh what a pretty little fool she was-

"  I love you, Mahi."  He confessed.

" I know." She laughed.

He placed a kiss on her cheek and grabbed his coat from the coat hanger kept at the other end of the bed. " We'll meet soon, okay?"

" Promise?"

" Promise." He whispered, a grin growing on his face.

He exited the room. A moment of silence passed before the woman jumped off the bed and came near the camera. She looked straight into it, her eyes reflecting a panicked look. For a second, she almost looked sad.

And then the screen cut to black.

_______________________

I shut the laptop. My hands were trembling and I couldn't stop them. I could feel Siya breathing heavily beside me. I couldn't look at her. I felt guilty and ashamed of something I didn't do.

" Kartik..." She whispered after a long pause. I screwed my eyes shut into the space between my eyebrows. I was losing it. I was feeling everything and nothing all at once.

I felt her arms wrap around me, her warmth seeping through the coldest fibres of my body. I let go of my control over my body and succumbed to her arms. My tears wetted the fabric of her pink cardigan, but she didn't care.

We stayed this way for a while before I reluctantly shrugged her off. She looked at me as her hands squeezed mine. " You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

But I needed to talk about it. I had to. The more we made a big deal about this, the harder it would get to stay stable.

" My father is cheating on my mom." As I uttered it, the lid on the jar was opened that I was struggling to comprehend.

Siya looked at me sympathetically, " Do you know who that woman was?"

I nodded in denial.

" I just don't understand one thing. Why and how did Alishka have footage of this?" I asked.

" Well, " Siya drawled, comprehending whether she should continue or not, " the woman switched off the camera at the end of the footage. Which means that she knew that it was recording the whole time. Maybe.... it's a possibility that Alishka might have... compelled her to do so-"

" So she could blackmail our father and get what she wanted. Like always." I finished. Siya looked at me nervously.

I groaned in frustration. Why was my family so fucked up?

" We need to find that woman." Siya said confidently. " She could have some information about your father or-"

" Yeah...but how? We just know that her name's Mahi. Nothing else." I said.

" Yeah but your father must have some information about her."

" I don't think my father will ever confess to this. He's a coward. And I can't just go ahead and ask him about her." I said disaprovingly.

" Yeah...but a little sleuthing around might get us some information." Siya suggested.

" I don't know Siya...."

" Kartik, " she said cautiously,
" we don't have to do anything if you don't want to. And perhaps... you should tell your mother about this."

I looked at her as realisation hit me. " My mother....oh god..." I groaned in frustration, " No.... I can't tell her. It would break her. She loves my father way too much. And... I don't think she would be able to take it after all that happened to Alishka."

Siya sighed smilingly, " Okay, that's your call. But.... I do think she deserves to know."

I nodded slightly, " Maybe... I'll tell her once all this over. Once everything's back to normal."

She nodded.

" In the meantime, we need to track this woman. I'll look around my father's logbooks to see if I can find anything." I said.

" Okay." She nodded.

Just as she said that, there was a distinct sound of the front door opening.

" Fuck." I hissed. In one slow second, I did multiple things at once. With one hand , I hid the laptop in one of the drawers. With the other, I grabbed Siya's arm before lunging into Alishka's closet.

Our breaths were coming fast as I heard footsteps below the stairs. My mother was home. I forgot that she usually came home in the afternoon on Fridays to have a light meal.

" My mom's home." I whispered, looking away. If I looked directly at her , our noses would touch. There wasn't much room between the designer labels.

Siya was awfully quiet. I feared that I might've scared her. My hands grazed hers accidentally.
" Siya , are you okay?" I whispered.

" Mm." She hummed slightly, her voice quivering. I could feel her shivering.

I held her hand. " Siya, it's okay. It's just a matter of time, she'll leave soon."

" Mm." She hummed again, this time her voice was slightly more confident.

I could hear her downstairs, humming to herself and the opening and closing of the refrigerator door.

" Dear god, did she really have to come home now?" I let out a frustrated groan.

I could hear Siya breathing heavily. God I hope she doesn't have claustrophobia.

" Siya...do you have claustrophobia?"

"Mm."

" Shit."

I shifted my weight slightly, managing to move closer to her.

" It's okay. I'm here okay? Don't worry." I reassured. She breathed a heavy sigh.

" Just keep on talking to me okay?" I said and asked, " Do you like bunnies or squirrels?"

" Wha-at?"

" Bunnies or squirrels?" I asked again, hoping to calm her down.

" Squi.... Squirrels I guess." She answered softly.

" Okay, nice choice. Friends or Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashma?" I asked, almost chuckling.

I heard her chuckle slightly.
" I can't choose between the two."

" Come on, pick one." I urged.

" Uh....um...Tarak Mehta." She answered after a short pause.

" Really? I thought you'd choose Friends." I said with amusement.

" Yeah.... I do love Friends. But nothing can beat Daya Bhabhi." She said and chuckled softly. I did too.

In that moment, I felt different. For that one moment, I was laughing like I was 8 again. I was happy genuinely. I had been so adapted to faking a smile for so long, that when I genuinely did smile, it felt euphoric.

The sound of her soft chuckle died down soon and it was back to her breathing heavily. I couldn't think of anything to distract her. I couldn't think at all. We were standing inches away from each other. The smell of her cinnamon scent gushed my senses. My heart was pumping hard from the all the rush.

Her heart was also beating as fast as mine. God why did I have to choose the closet? Why couldn't I have thought of something else? Anything else?

" Do you think she's gone?" Siya whispered slightly after another long pause.

" Huh?"

" Your mom. I think.... she's gone." She murmured softly.

" Yeah,....yeah.... I think so too."

But none of us made any movement to get out of the closet. She was so close and my heart was still beating with the euphoria of today. I felt impulsive. I felt thankful for her, and I felt an attraction that I had always been so quick to deny. In that moment, I felt a whole wave of appreciation for Siya Natekar.

But even so, it still surprised me when my uncontrollable fingers braced through her hair. Then the next thing I felt were her lips hard against mine.