Keeping Secrets

Chapter 11

Gaurav thought it might be best to speak to Ruby before speaking to Maya, Ryan or Kevin again. She seemed to be really offended that she didn't know about Nikki's boyfriend or her pregnancy. He had observed that Ruby Mukherjee did not like being left out of things.

She was still dressed in the oversized t-shirt and denim shorts from the previous day. Her petite frame looked broken and lifeless as she dragged herself into the large dining room. The floor, laid out with geometric, Moroccan patterned tiles, meant to make the room look bigger than it already was, emphasised the emptiness that weighed upon Ruby and Gaurav's presence in the room, making them look small and insignificant like the details uncovered in this case so far. Ruby's hair was pulled back in a tiny loose bun. Her bangs looked messy and kept falling back on her face despite her vehemently sweeping them aside.

"Miss. Ruby, I have called you here because it's hard for me to believe that even as such a close friend, you knew neither about Nikki's pregnancy nor her boyfriend."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking too, sir." The superficial concern in her voice made Gaurav cringe a little, but he would rather focus on his victory upon Ruby taking his bait.

"You said you all are really close. I don't see how you would not know something so basic about your friend unless she had a specific reason to hide it from you."

"Even I cannot imagine why Nikki would do that, especially after I was the only person who was by her when Ryan dumped her."

"Ryan dumped Nikki? So they did date?"

Ruby bit her lip realizing that she had already said too much.

"Actually, they never really 'dated-dated'," she made air-quotes like it was supposed to imply something more than what the word conveyed in a singular use: perhaps something official.

"When we were in the second year, they went on a trip together to Sliam, which is about 5 hours further north of Gwam." Gaurav knew about Sliam. It was the real Gwam of the country before it had, like most good things in the world, been ruined by commercialisation. The annual footfall of tourists, prices of basic amenities and crime rates had all shot up, and people who had seen the place a decade ago could swear that none of the local food joints served anything authentic anymore. The vendors were keen on attracting people from far and wide, often at the cost of compromising on the authenticity of the cuisine they claimed to excel at. Everyone was in a race to appeal to a bougie audience who could splurge more but needed everything to be mellowed down and packaged prettily. More recently, it had become a party capital, with a number of foreign bands choosing the beautiful hillstation for their concerts and becoming home to a number of popular nightclubs. For tourists seeking a quiter, more exclusive time away, the off-beat Gwam became a preferred choice for its peace and tranquillity.

"They went for a weekend but never came back for another two days. Nikki and I were very close back then, so she used to tell me everything. Something happened there, on that trip. Nobody except me knew what it was, but Ryan just stopped talking to her for a while after that trip. So, Ryan basically got really high and asked her out. That was probably the happiest day of her life. They were in love and all that. Then, I don't know what happened. It was like something snapped inside Ryan and he started telling her her he thought it wasn't a good idea, and as for Nikki, well, Nikki never thought her feelings were worth losing Ryan over. They were extremely close even before all these big feelings came up. After Nikki and Ryan came back too, she was hopelessly in love with him for a long time, but she was also chillingly good at making everything look okay. I mean, it seemed like Ryan took longer than her to be himself again."

"Did nobody else notice they were not talking, or the things that you noticed Nikki was going through?"

"Sir, Nikki and Ryan fought a lot and they often stopped talking but neither of them could last a day without each other. About Nikki's feelings, like I said we were close back then so she told me how she felt. Otherwise she kept them looking pretty solid even when he wasn't talking to her."