Disguised Darling|✓

Episode 20

Mishti gets stopped by Vivek on the way to her room.

It’s eleven at night, she has already completed her duties and is off to her bed when she sees him, Samrat’s ever-loving valet, standing in front of her room, hands folded across his chest and gaze stuck on his shoes. 

Mishti clears her throat to alert him of her presence, not sure how to address him when they haven’t had even one civil conversation to date.

The man in question looks up at her startled, then clearing his own throat he says, “H-Hello.”

It comes naturally to her, Mishti, the way she gapes, too speechless to reply.

Vivek rolls his eyes at that before dropping the nice demeanour that he couldn’t even keep up for even a second.

“I just want to talk to you, alright?”

Mishti narrows her eyes. “Well, too bad that I don’t want to talk to you.” She says haughtily, trying to go inside her room. 

The man groans. 

“Stop being difficult. I’ll not take much of your time. Please.” He says, his hand in the air, an inch away from her elbow. Mishti isn’t quite able to avoid that ‘please’.

“Fine. You have five minutes.” 

Vivek heaves out a relieved sigh, nodding, and takes a seat on the staircase leading up to Samrat’s room.

He clears his throat once again making Mishti narrow her eyes at him suspiciously.

“I – I heard you while you were talking to sir.” He says in a voice that doesn’t seem to belong to him. 

“Ok…” Mishti trails off, frowning, unsure what to reply.

“About – About your orphanage days,” Vivek states, hesitantly looking her in the eyes and heaves a relieved sigh when he sees Mishti only nodding. 

“I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t but when I heard the word orphanage, I couldn’t help myself.” He says, blowing out air through his mouth. 

“Ok, well I don’t mind if that’s what this is about. We all get curious at some point in time, so I understand, even if it’s you.” Mishti says sassily before turning to go to her room.

“I have spent years being associated with an orphanage,” Vivek says then and Mishti stops in her tracks.

“I didn’t grow up in it, my parents are still alive but – but I have someone to remember by from there.” He explains further making Mishti heave a sigh of relief for him because even though he isn’t her best of friends, she still wouldn’t want him to not have parents. She wouldn’t want that for anyone. Though the melancholy in his voice is still very much evident, something that makes her turn towards him.

 “I had no idea.” She says, looking down at her hands before finding the courage to look him in the eyes. 

Vivek gives her a sad smile, shaking his head. “Of course, you didn’t. We haven’t even talked properly before this.” He says, and she huffs, before sitting down beside him.

“We haven’t because you didn’t want to. You always think that I’ll somehow take your beloved Samrat sir away from you when I have absolutely no intention of doing that.”

“You don’t?” Vivek asks her genuinely, a childlike innocence in his voice.

Mishti sighs. “No, why would I? I work for him just like you do. And I know that you’ve been working with him for years and years and that you guys must have a good bond, but trust me, I don’t have any intentions of putting that into jeopardy.”