Playing Her Lover

Part 9 - Similarities

CW - Toxic parenting, sl*t shaming

Indu and Sameera stared blankly at the blue floors of the metro train, having just sat down in the ladies' carriage. They had left Mirzab at the platforms since he was to travel in the opposite direction. Both had small smiles on their lips, a reminder of how magical the evening was. Sameera looked at Indu, about to say something when her phone rang.  

With a panicked look on her face, she picked the call up. "Mummy, aa rahi hoon!*" She tried to mask the fear in her voice with a cheery note, but the tremble was still heard. A shrill voice was heard from Sameera's phone, at which both girls flinched.
"You think I won't get to know all the things you do, huh?"
Sameera's eyes widened.
"Haan, Sheela aunty was in Banashankari today, and guess what she saw?"
"Mumma I promise nothing was happening..." Sameera almost whispered, extremely conscious of the people around her. 
"As if I'm going to believe you! If nothing was happening, why did you not tell me that two boys were with you?! Wanted to make an ullu** out of me?!"
A/n - Sameera and her mother are conversing in Hindi. *"aa rahi hoon" means "I'm coming" and **ullu translates literally to owl, but means idiot.

"Mumma -" 
"Chup*! I'm not hearing your excuses. Do you know how embarrassing it was for me when Sheela aunty called me up and told me that you were skipping around town with two boys?! Two boys?!! You will destroy our reputation someday, and when people call me the mother of a ..."
Sameera's eyes started to well up with tears. She got up, moved to the edge seat, and a shocked and upset Indu got up with her, and shielded Sameera with her body, using her threatening glares to make other passengers avert their eyes from them. 
"Mummy... I didn't tell you, cuz I knew you'd have this reaction" Sameera said, after wiping her tears away. "Hai Ram! There you go again - talking back! If you treat your mother like this, I wonder how you'll treat your mother-in-law?! Do you know how much I've done for you?! I'm still not supposed to correct you na? Sheela aunty will come and correct you na? Let me tell you - no boy will want to marry someone who is a ..... someone like you" The venom in her mother's voice chilled the air in the carriage. 
A/n - * Chup means shut up, or silence.

Indu was dumbfounded. She heard the sound of the call being cut, and she went completely stiff. Sameera kept her head down, blinking fast to get rid of the tears without openly crying. Indu had no idea what she could do. This was new... She had never seen this side of Sameera. Sure, she and her mother had had their fair share of fights over the years, but to this extent... Sameera took a couple of deep breaths, and as if nothing had happened smiled. "Ya... I thought something like this would happen! My fault for not being careful enough." She calmly shrugged her shoulders.

Indu's mouth opened before her mind had any time to process - "Your fault?! Sam, seriously? You just had fun with all of us, how is that your fault?!"
Sam's head shot up. She had never heard Indu refer to her with her nickname before. It honestly sounded quite pleasing with her voice, which was ironic, considering what the actual person was like. Well, when it came to the topic of Raghav anyway. 
"Don't get too worked upon it, I've got this a hundred times before..." she chuckled, dismissing her thoughts. Indu's incredulous expression just became even more pronounced. She didn't see that Sameera's waterline had begun to glisten again. 

Feeling a little conscious, Indu sat down beside Sameera and looked at the other passengers, half of whom seemed to be looking at her and Sameera from the corner of their eyes. She looked down, again, not sure what she could do. She had barely considered that others might have vastly different relationships with their parents, especially not from someone as put together as Sam. After a solid minute, she realised that she was referring to Sameera as Sam. Her wheatish cheeks turned a deep pink. Internally, she slapped herself but decided not to bring the topic up, fearing embarrassment from the other girl. Thankfully their, stop had arrived, and both of them got down together. 

Indu walked confidently ahead of Sameera her steps being practised and calm, though her mind was anything but. Sameera's mother had been loud enough for half of the compartment to hear her words. She glanced behind her and did a double-take. Sameera was right behind her, going much slower, almost dragging every step. 
"Your house is in the same direction?" Indu asked, her own legs suddenly refusing to budge.
"Yup. It's like, a ten-minute walk from yours."
Indu frowned. "How do you know that?..." She asked, walking at Sameera's pace, now that she had caught up.

"I get off at the very next stop after you, bozo. It's pretty much 3 minutes from your stop."
"Really?! I didn't know we lived so close! So, we're going in the same direction then?"
Sameera looked up at the now black sky, a few straggling stars glimmering in the city sky. "Yup." She said, not taking her eyes off of the sky. She looked reluctant to go home, wishing to live out this fantasy a little bit longer - a fantasy where she was laughing, where she could see the compassionate side of Indu, and where she could silently acknowledge her gentle heartstrings. 

After a 20 minute walk (which usually would take only 10 minutes), with most of it spent in complete silence, the two came upon an impressive white gate, with yellow accents on it. Past the gate, a luxurious lawn was seen, a mower stationed at the far end. The house itself was large, with two floors, and at least 4 bedrooms or that was what Indu could deduce from the dim outside. The driveway itself was adorned with dim yellow lights leading up to the front door. 

Sameera stopped at this impressive house and looked in. "Well, this is me." She said, in a barely audible voice. Indu looked at her, eyes flowing with pity. Sameera turned her face away, hating that her sworn enemy was looking at her with pity. Indu stood there, watching Sameera's back, until she reached the door, and was let in by a maid.

Indu left immediately, fearing she would hear more screams ensuing in a few seconds. She finally resumed her fast-paced walk and reached her home in a few minutes. She rushed upstairs, and dove face-first into her bed, accidentally bumping her head on the headboard. With an audible "Ow!!", she rubbed her face and tried to rid her mind of thoughts. It had been fun. Until the end, that is. She held her head, trying to shield herself from the barrage of thoughts that arose...

She picked her phone up as a distraction. 'Might have a couple of screenshots from Tumblr...' She thought, before opening her gallery. As she was scrolling through her mostly sparse gallery, she didn't realise how far back she had gone. One second she was looking at a screenshot of an Instagram post, and the next... She was crying. She threw her phone, and it landed on the far side of the bed, on the verge of falling. On the screen, there was a photo of her, a little younger, and another girl with brown curly hair falling on her shoulders. The two girls were laughing and posing in front of a cherry blossom tree that could not be too far from where Indu now lay. Both girls' cheeks were tinted almost as pink as the blossoms behind them, no doubt because of the degree to which they would have laughed themselves silly. 

She was the one girl Indu had let bring her to tears. The one person in the world she would have done anything to keep - and the girl who slipped away. It was Kriti. And the hurt wouldn't go away. Her sniffles brought her mother to the room, who was shocked at her daughter's state. She glanced around and saw the phone, and the photo. Her eyes softened and she went up to her daughter and held her, warm hands enveloping her shoulders.

Indu burst into a fresh burst of sobs at the physical contact. 
"ALbardu putta...* She doesn't deserve that..." her mother softly cooed into her ears. 
"Sorry Amma," Indu took several gasps, trying to calm herself down, and stop the tears. 
"It's okay... It's okay. Enu agalla, nanna strong girl ige**," Indu chuckled at the sentence usually reserved only for little children.
"I'm better... I think. Thanks, Amma," Indu sniffled away the last tears. 
"Ice cream?"
"Nooo, I've had enough of that today," Indu managed to get a laugh out. Her mother laughed along with her
A/n - *'ALbardu'  means should not cry.  ** 'Enu Agalla nanna strong girl ige'  translates to nothing will happen to my strong girl

Indu flopped back into her bed and her mother immediately reprimanded her - "Oi, go freshen up, you've been out all day. Also, who's clothes are those?"
"Oh, it's Mirzab's, he lent them to me because I forgot to take my clothes," she said, casually shrugging her shoulders.
"Mirzab?" her mother asked, frowning.
"Nothing like that Amma!! I swear on Krishna!"
"Hmm. Okay - give them to me, I'll wash them and put them to dry." Her lips were still pursed, a clear line of disapproval between her brows. Indu smiled and went into the bathroom, and finally allowed the sound of the water falling into the bucket to wash her mind clean.