𝐀𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐀

n i n e t e e n

❦

A A I N A S T O O D F R O Z E N. The smile she had earlier faded as she saw kaki welcome her with a sly one.

"Good morning, Aaina beta." kaki eyed her and took a step forward, her dark saree accentuating her sharp features, making her seem more domineering in the moment than Aaina remembered her being.

She gulped as her stomach took an ugly twist. This was definitely a surprise she did not expect.

"A lot of things changed in just a month, right?" She remarked, a sardonic grin on her face.

Aaina mentally cursed herself for having spent the night at Amar's place. It felt all nice and free making her own decision yesterday, but now that she came face to face with reality, her kaki, she felt the shame of disobedience crawling back to her. She felt a tinge of guilt of going against her kaki's rules, but it soon got shadowed by the recollections of Ranmal's words. His words, the expression, gave away a lot, one that hinted at the reality under the rose coloured glasses of their past. Ranmal had handed her the key to unraveling something daunting but true.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at my face? Care to explain yourself?" Kaki's voice turned stern, seeing the state of her appearance. Her neice had been out the entire night.

"I was out the night at a friend's place." Aaina replied, charged with boldness.

Kaki raised her brows and looked at Mansingh standing beside her. "Look at her courage while admitting it,"

Why would Aaina lie? She indeed was at a friend's place last night, and she didn't feel the fear of hiding it from anyone as she once did. A month had passed, and she had definitely grown out of her past self. Being away from kaki made her realise her own ground and independence she had never experienced in her life.

"Why would I lie to you, kaki?"

"Then tell me the full truth if you are so honest. Mansingh has seen you leaving Hira Ghar after evening and returning the next morning almost every day, " Kaki scoffed. "I thought you were an obedient one. I can't believe you could do something like this,"

Aaina didn't reply. She knew what was coming.

"Look at your state! Your dupatta is undone, and your hairdo is in a mess. Have you no shame?"

Aaina gave her a look. "What do you mean?"

Kaki couldn't hold back her anger. Her blood boiled, knowing her neice had broken the rules she had so clearly articulated before leaving. And somehow, her neice had thrown dirt all over it.

"Don't play innocent Aaina. Since the day I've left, who knows what you've been up to, where you go and with whom"

"Do I have to tell you everything?" Aaina blurted.

Kaki's eyes widened at her response, and she held Aaina's shoulder in rage. "Iski baatein toh dekho! Pata nahi kya karke aayi hai! Jawani ka josh chadh gaya hai isse"

Aaina stood her ground. If this had happened in the past, she would've been crying in agony and shame, but it just did not make sense to her at that moment. She had her own decisions as an individual and had stayed the night at a friend's place because it was too late to leave and nothing else. She slept and returned home in the morning. Ideally, there was no problem in that since she was an adult, she was entitled to her decisions to do what she wished. Kaki was never worried about her or looked out for her in care. She only cared about the rules.

"So many people must have seen you go out in the night and come back in the morning like this!"

And the opinion of other people.