Lost | ✓

Chapter 34. Fool

🎶  The Devil Within

tw:// mention of pedophilia

Published on 02.09.2022

| AUTHOR'S POV |

Jane Austen said, "if I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more."

If Inaaya had to give a similar simplified and amateur version of this quote, it would be, "if I understood it more, I might be able to explain about it a little"; which didn't make enough sense just like everything else.

It had been a day since Ayansh had left for LA. They had talked for a few minutes after he landed and he informed her about how he wouldn't be able to talk to her at all the next days since he would be occupied and she said that it's alright, it wasn't as if they weren't familiar with it. They had gone days without talking and just sending a text here and there to each other when they were in the same city if one or both of them had commitments to fulfill, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, studies to be done.

But the eerie, incomprehensible feeling was persistent. It never subsided. It kept nagging at her like a gray cloud looming over while you tiptoe carefully so that you don't get caught up in its rain. She didn't understand it. Honestly, didn't even want to. She just wanted to get rid of it like an annoying piece of chewing gum sticking to the sole of your shoe.

And when she got a call from Rahul wanting to meet her for something important, the feeling intensified. She wanted to ask Ayansh if he knew what it was but realised his phone would've been switched off the entire day. She let Rahul know she'll meet him in the evening at the address mentioned by him. She had got study leave so didn't have college the week before exams.

Rahul and Inaaya had exchanged numbers when they coincidentally ended up in the same restaurant around the same time. He was warm and friendly towards her and when she talked about Ayansh, he gave a lucid reaction that kinda made her previous opinions and indifference she felt for him as an elder brother dissipate. He even offered to help her whenever she needed and she felt maybe she judged him too early. They talked for a brief amount of time but he felt genuine to her and that made her happy for Ayansh.

Perhaps she was too naive or too deep in love to notice the layer of shrewdness tucked safely beneath the mask of nobility.

Inaaya stood outside the restaurant that apparently was owned by the Mehra's. Taking a deep breath, she walked in when the door opened. She gave a polite nod to the doorman when one of the waiters made their way towards her. Recognition flickered in his eyes as he smiled at her kindly and asked her to follow him. She looked around her as she walked through rooms, the crowd and music fading behind. She pulled her hair that was secured with the help of a clutch over her right shoulder and tugged at her sleeves, an old habit that she often did when she wore a full sleeved top.

The waiter led her to an empty hall, knocking the door and then opening it where at a distance Rahul sat in an olive green shirt and faded jeans, looking up from his phone at her. Rahul gave the waiter a curt nod and dismissed him with a movement of his two fingers. The waiter bowed and gave a last smile to Inaaya as a gesture of hospitality and left the hall, closing the door behind him. An ominous feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she took a step forward.

Rahul stood up. "Finally, you're here." He smiled brightly but it felt more mocking than inviting to her or maybe she was just being paranoid at this point she felt.

Inaaya forced a small smile on her face. "Thanks." She muttered when he pulled the chair for her and asked her to settle in. He took the chair opposite her, across the table.