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Reena entered the room just as Aadhya had finished hanging up the last of her snapshots on the white wall. Once done, the younger girl takes a few steps back to admire her work. "How does it look?" Aadhya asks, shooting a side-eyed look at her sister.
With her hands folded neatly below her chest, Reena observes each and every one of them with a critical eye. "It's beautiful," she says finally, earning a dazzling smile from the other in response. The rapport between them had grown perilously casual. Half the time, Aadhya forgets the girl is not really her sister or a friend and that there will come a time when she has to leave the world and everyone in it behind. And when she does recall, she would slam the door on it before any gloomy thoughts could take form and tries her best to not get attached.
But it's harder said and done.
"I know, right!" Aadhya says, her face glowing with satisfaction. She spun around suddenly, her eyes widening by a fraction as if she remembered something important. "Oh, I forgot. I have got something for you!" Aadhya sprints to the connected en-suite as soon as she says it, returning a few seconds later with a large package under her arm, tied with a length of green ribbon. She held it out to Reena. "This is for you," she tells the older girl. "Go on then, open it," Aadhya demands, looking positively eager to see her reaction.
Seating on Aadhya's bed, Reena tore through the wrapper and saw a picture that was taken by Aadhya. The two sisters were sitting in the drawing-room, talking about something she can't quite remember now. But whatever it was, Reena looked happy in the picture. The older girl remembered Aadhya taking out her vintage camera and clicking a photo suddenly, but she never thought to check how it was.
"I love it," Reena smiled, moving to fix her gaze on the doe-eyed girl, bright as sunshine after a rain.
"I thought so too," Aadhya preens, pleased to hear the compliment. "That's why I had it made personally. I think the frame would look beautiful against your ink blue walls."
At that, Reena's eyes go suspiciously still. "What?" Aadhya leans back defensively when she catches the look. Squinting her dark eyes, Reena demands to know, with an apprehensive and teasing edge to her tone, "What did you want?"
"What do you mean? I don't want anything," alarm and confusion tinged Aadhya's voice.
But it did nothing to dispel Reena's skepticism. "Really? So all this flattery and gifts were nothing to do with that arrogant and self-centered jerk you've been meeting behind everyone's backs then."
"Reena!" Aadhya heard the whine in her voice as she plopped beside her sister, nudging her with her shoulders hardly, almost childlike. "How many times do I have to tell you... I really don't have any feelings for Rocky. It's just a huge misunderstanding."
"So you are telling me people casually go through your bedroom window at midnight - is that it?" She probes flatly. There was no judgment or disappointment in her tone like it had the first-week Aadhya came here. Just plain old observation.
At the revelation, Aadhya's eyes go wide and stricken, her features utterly still, as if she'd just received news of someone's death or was dying herself. "You saw that," she gasps in disbelief. "But that was like a week ago - how come you never brought it up?" And then she was shaking her head as if to clear it of cobwebs, her tone turning defiant.
"No, that's not the point. The point is, it's not what it looks like, okay? Rocky is just being delusional. He doesn't look it, but that guy is probably hit on his head more times than he can count," Aadhya tries her hardest to convince her otherwise. "That's why he thinks he's in love with me, but he's not. He's really really not. He said he would be out of the town for a couple of days, and he had just come to see me-"
Reena rolls her eyes and cuts the rambling girl mid-sentence. "Of course, I know that," she says softly, trying to soothe her sister's rising hysteria. And Aadhya does calm down. "But Aadhya, you know this won't be possible, right?" Her tone was just as soft, but now it held severe concern. "And it's not that I want to oppose you or anything. But once Father finds out about it, there's no way Rocky will come out of this alive. I just-" she sighs, her expression turning forlorn. "I don't wish for my little sister to be heartbroken about something that's going to be inevitable."
Aadhya looked over at her as if she were about to say something before lapsing back into an uncharacteristic silence. She probably decided there's no point to lie now, Reena thinks. Lies rarely served their intended purpose when it came to her sister anyway. Intending to not prod her any further, Reena chooses a much lighter topic of discussion.
"What are your plans for the day?" Reena asks instead. Even though confused at the abrupt change, she notes that Aadhya looked a little grateful for the deviation. She's back to being the lively one again.
"I don't really have anything planned, really," Aadhya shrugs, putting on her thinking face. "I think I have already roamed half of the Bangalore streets at this point. So, I thought I would just take a book on the balcony and read something."
Reena makes an expression at that. "Boring," she says, chuckling when Aadhya shoves her shoulders in mock offense. "I can think of a much better option," Reena proposes proudly, getting from the bed with the framed photo in her hand. "Get ready in your best dress. We are gonna go out tonight."
"Where?"
"Rock n' Roll," The name of her Father's pub rolls out of her mouth calmly. Reena believes that's exactly what Aadhya needs at that moment. A couple of drinks to drown out all her troubles over the detestable guy who is bound to break her heart by dying in her Father's hands.
"But-"
Reena didn't give Aadhya the chance to say no. "No buts. We are going out. And we are drinking until we can no longer remember our names, much less a guys you don't even know for a solid month. It will be rivetingly therapeutic. Trust me."
"I don't think that's how therapy works," Aadhya blinks, uncertainty seeping into her tone. "It doesn't sound healthy either."
All she received in return was a wicked smile. "It is if I say it is." Who know, maybe if Aadhya saw a much handsome guy there, she might even realise what she'd felt for Rocky was nothing but a passing fancy. Feeling accomplished, Reena struts out of the room. And she doesn't say this lightly, but the dark-eyed girl is pretty sure this is the best plan she'd ever had.
