Dawn

Chapter 22 - Tryst (18+)

Warning: this chapter has mature scenes upcoming. Please proceed with discretion.

Bekhayali Mein Bhi Tera Hi Khayaal Aaye

Kyun Bichadna Hai Zaroori, Yeh Sawaal Aaye

Thoda Sa Main Khafa Ho Gaya Apne Aap Se

Thoda Sa Tujhpe Bhi Bewajah Hi Malaal Aaye

Tryst

[noun]

a clandestine meeting

The house looked beautiful, she decided.

Imlie had always enjoyed decorating the small home she'd grown up in for the religious festivals that they celebrated each season. With the little means that they had, these decorations usually meant trying to forage for flowers in the forest, picking up different coloured leaves and stringing them together to form garlands with which to decorate the doors and windows of the house.

Those were the memories she kept close to her heart. The little moments of joy she'd managed to find in a childhood that didn't leave much time to make merry. That was then, and this is now, she thought, standing at the base of the stairs watching a small army of people hustling about, hanging sheer floor to ceiling draperies, dusting the chandeliers and twisting satin ribbons along both banisters of the massive staircase which opened into the main floor.

The event planner was moving about like a general, barking orders for tables to be moved, for lights to be changed, for the flowers to be arranged this way and that.

She wouldn't like my organic garland, Imlie thought impishly, looking around for someone to share the theory with. She sighed, knowing that the person who she wanted to make smile with a comment like that had been absent for the last few days.

She remembered the look in his eyes, insistent, pleading to know what had gone wrong for her to run away from the intimate moment they had just shared. She absentmindedly touched her lips, feeling the ghost of that kiss in the rain still lingering somewhere. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

She'd been astounded to find Amma and Dadda at Rathore mansion that night, waiting for her to come home. She had been delighted to see Dadda for the first time since her accident, ready to angrily take him to task for waiting nearly three months to come see her. She had changed into her night clothes, huddling on the couch in Amma's room as she waited for Dadda to answer her.

She'd seen the uneasy looks they had shared with each other realizing only then that there was story behind his absence. Upon her insistence, Amma had finally revealed that Dadda had been falsely accused of an attempted murder. That they'd been trying to get him released for a while.

"What?" she'd practically shrieked. "You told me he was away on a 'business trip' Amma," she accused, her fingers curling in air quotes to convey her annoyance.

"Aur ka kahe tohka gudiya? You had just woken up from a coma. We didn't want to worry you."

"But..."

"Ab poori baat tohka bataye ya..."

Imlie shut up at that, gesturing for Satyakaam to continue. Satyakaam had been told about Imlie's amnesia and the ensuing misunderstandings. Meethi and him had decided that they could tell her the truth about his release. It would be one less thing to hide and Satyakaam had never been very good at lying to Imlie.