Chapter 8

Laksh sat on the leather chair, going through the usual documents but his mind still dwelling on his wife. She wasn't anything at all he had expected .

She was different from Riya, he thought which he didn't anticipate. It was better if she was; it would have been easier to hate her, despise her. But she wasn't, and he couldn't bring himself to loathe her.

He leaned back in his chair, sighing. It had been a week since the incident and things were nearly normal between them. Well nearly! He thought, they weren't talking but just acknowledging each other. He kept a safe distance from her, trying not to get too close; so did she.

And things were bad between her and her mother, he'd heard their conversation and eavesdropped accidentally. He felt a pang of pity for her; she was emotionally blackmailed, he had deduced from the way she was screaming angrily.

And then there was that incident which he couldn't forget even if she did. Why had she collapsed on him like that?he thought, feeling intrigued.
There was no such episodes after that, but he was curious about her. Could there have been some trauma that led her to it? He wondered.

The long ringtone from his phone interrupted the wavering thoughts. It was his sister, he saw. "Hey where are you?" she squealed as soon as he picked.

"In the office, are you alright?"he asked. "Yeah, we're good, we're in the Phoenix mall right now".

"Who are we?" He asked, somehow knowing already. "Anya of course, I took her shopping since we were bored" Lekha said in an excited tone "are you coming here?"

"Nah" chided Laksh, "I've better job to do than waste time with you".

"Come on, it'll be fun. For old times sake? Anya wants to watch a movie anyway" Lekha squealed again. "I can't Likhi!" he said, sensing something odd.

"Please Lucky!" she was pleading. "Don't call me that!" he snapped playfully, knowing that she deliberately used his nickname just to annoy him "fine, which movie?"

""Yasss!We'll decide once you come here!" Lekha screamed "just meet us near Inox okay?"

He was going to regret this, he thought feeling stupid. But he needed to spend some time away from work since few days had kept him real busy. He called his assistant and cancelled his ongoing appointments for the evening and decided to go home and change.

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Being with Lekha was like having a long lost sister, Anya thought feeling delighted to be in her company. Lekha was simple, easy going and friendly. Something which Anya never found in her only cousin.

She never hung out with Riya, the latter always complaining that she was a killjoy who didn't know how to have fun and would go out with her friends, leaving Anya alone. But she wouldn't mind as long as it meant she wasn't politely insulted by Riya.

But Lekha was different; she never once made her feel inferior. Infact she was everything her cousin wasn't and this delighted Anya extremely.

Lekha tagged her along to the boutique where they tried different outfits and laughing at themselves. "Wow!" Exclaimed Lekha as Anya came out wearing a peacock blue kurti with intricate stone work "you look beautiful!"

"It's not that good" Anya said, checking out the price. Never in the twenty three years of her life had she bought such an expensive dress. She didn't have enough money in her savings; everything she earned would naturally go to pay up the huge loan they'd taken for her father's surgery and subsequent treatment.

"We're buying this!" Lekha said excitedly as Anya came back changing "it suits you".

"No that's okay, we came here for you" Anya said politely. Lekha seemed to have understood her dilemma "I'll pay don't worry" she said before Anya could speak "besides, this is my brother's credit card" she said, flashing a dark brown card "he gave it to me on my last birthday, said I can spend it whenever I can!"

Laksh really was a dream brother any sister could pray for, thought Anya. "Come on" Lekha was persistent, "he would be happy to see you in this".

Anya doubted that; he'd already tagged as a gold digger. She could imagine the twisted smile on his face saying something like 'you really are enjoying my hard earned money'.

Well! She would give him that satisfaction, she decided "alright, let's buy it" she agreed. After doing considerable amount of shopping, Lekha called the driver and gave the bags to him to be kept in the car "you go back home, we're coming with Laksh" she told him.

"I have to make a call" she told Anya and walked to the corner. A little while later she came back with a broad smile on her face "Laksh wants to see a movie, he asked us to wait for him at Inox" she piped.

Anya looked at her puzzled "but.. are you sure? We could have gone home" she said uncertainly. "Come on! My brother's always working" Lekha said in no nonsense tone "let him have some fun".

Anya somehow found it hard to believe that he was a movie goer type. She nodded anyway, not wanting to spoil their fun.

They waited outside the multiplex, as Lekha was checking the movie availability. As Anya waited outside, watching the view outside, Lekha caught up with her "there's this new romantic movie" she squealed, "I booked the tickets online".

Anya nodded, not remembering the last time she had ever been inside the theater. It must have been probably during her pre degree training, she thought.

"Oh he's here finally!" Lekha was waving at him when Anya saw. He was walking towards them, and he looked different, she realized. He wasn't in his usual formal attire; instead he wore a full sleeved white T shirt and casual denim trousers looking much younger, Anya thought amused.

"Hi" he greeted them, his eyes meeting hers. She looked away, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Oh thank God you came!" Lekha said "Anya was getting impatient"

Anya widened her eyes in amazement but Lekha interrupted "come on let's go!" She pulled Anya's hand as they went inside.

"Why don't you get the popcorn and drinks while we wait inside?" She told her brother who looked bemused. "Er..okay" he watched the two of them and then left.

"What are you trying to do?" Anya whispered to her sister in law as they took the seats in the right corner. "What do you mean?" Lekha asked, wearing an innocent expression.

"You said I was impatient, you act as though this was my idea!" Anya frowned at her. "Oh no, it was his idea trust me" Lekha smiled at her "relax and enjoy the movie". Suddenly, she got up, "oh God! Mom's going to kill me!"she groaned.

"What's wrong?"Anya asked. "She asked me to help her with her speech thingy, I have to go!" She looked at Anya "tell Laksh I'm sorry I had to go!"

"Wait!" Anya yelled "what about me? Let me come with you" She stood up too. "No you can't! Please stay with my brother" she smiled "he might feel bad you know" and she was off.

Anya sat back, feeling perplexed. Even a fool could understand that she had set them up; she was trying to bring them close, it was clear.

"Where's Lekha?" Laksh was back. "Um..she..uh..left home" Anya said, wondering how he was going to take it. He didn't reply, he was thinking probably, trying to work it out like she did.

"We can go if you don't want to.."she said, noticing the change in his face. "No it's okay" he said, finally sitting down.

The movie was about to start, much to her pleasure, she didn't have to make a small talk with him.

As they sat watching, Anya couldn't help but doze a little. It was a bad movie, what was Lekha thinking? She thought, irritated. She could hear groaning sounds from behind and tried hard to pretend they weren't coming from the back seat where couples were eagerly making out.

The atmosphere had suddenly turned hot and she couldn't wait to get out of there. Slowly she glanced at Laksh, who had an equally bewildered expression on his face. She immediately turned her attention towards the movie.

Finally, interval was over and the lights turned on. The couples had stopped snogging, much to her delight.

Laksh leaned back in his seat "that was..pathetic!"he shook his head "how can they even select such a miserable cast?"

Anya couldn't help but laugh at that "my feelings exactly!" He looked into her face "and you wanted to see this movie!" He smirked.

"Wait a minute!"she glared at him "you were the only insisted, Lekha told me!" Laksh widened his eyes "what? I didn't...she said.." and it dawned on him "I'll kill her, she fooled us!"

Anya nodded "I'm sorry, I really didn't know..I.. " he stopped her midsentence "do you want to suffer for another hour?"he teased.

She snorted "no way!" He took her hand "then let's get the hell out of her!" They left the theatre, Anya feeling relieved.

They went to the top floor which was deserted, the view was beautiful. They stood near the open balcony, a soft breeze was swaying.

"I almost dozed off" Laksh said, looking straight ahead "why couldn't I guess my sister's mischief?" Anya smiled "even I didn't realize at first, when she left suddenly like that, I knew something was up".

He smiled warmly at her and all she could do was not to stare at him. He had the most charming smile, she thought with his cute dimples. She wished he wouldn't smile like that often, she wished he wouldn't look at her like that, she wished they'd met under different circumstances. She wished..

"You seem lost"he said, his eyes burning into hers. Don't look into his eyes Anya!a small voice inside her head screamed, because if you do, you'll melt in those..

"Nothing, I'm fine" she said, glancing away. He didn't say anything, they just stood in silence which seemed to have stretched miles between them.

"I'm sorry" he said, breaking the ice. She looked up surprised "what for?" He shrugged slightly "for calling you a gold digger, I was...prejudiced".

"Because I came from a middle class background?"she sprang back. It must have stung him but she didn't care. "No!"he said "because I...wanted to.hurt..to blame..I guess it was easy for me like that".

She didn't know what to reply to that, she couldn't think of any comebacks or sarcasm. He sounded so genuine she decided to remain silent. "For the past few days..I thought of every single moment in my mind, wondering where I had gone wrong, somewhere around our journey I must have hurt her, made her stop loving me..but I couldn't get any"he said quietly as she listened, stunned that he was finally opening up about Riya.

"I guess I just didn't deserve her" he sighed. Anya stared at him "are you mad? It's she who didn't deserve the gem of you!"she added before she could stop herself.

"Gem huh?" He chuckled "that's really refreshing to know!" She went pink with embarrassment "what I meant was..you're a nice person and she broke your heart". He nodded, not saying anything.

Anya looked at him, and thought about the unfairness of life. Riya was a fool to let go of him, she thought. And she made a fool out of me as well, she thought feeling miserable.

"Do you miss her?"she asked on impulse and felt his jaw tighten. But he composed himself "I..let's forget that" he said, forcing a smile "do you like cheeseburgers?"

She hated them, she hated anything to do with cheese. "Yeah, I love them" she giggled. "Come on, let's go to Wimpys" he took her hand.


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