Dark Secrets

4

Yuvansh felt that there was a strong possibility that Shreshtha may have looked at his phone when the call came in. He excused himself and again exited the tent, this time with his phone. He called nobody and pretended he was talking to someone he called 'papa'. Shreshtha didn't have to strain to eavesdrop on his side of the conversation because of the relative quiet around them, and Yuvansh guffawing and talking quite loudly. She was somewhat surprised to hear the candidness with which Yuvansh chatted on the phone. A minute or so later he was back inside the tent.

"This friend of mine is certifiably stone bonkers!" he said, wryly.

"What friend?"

"His name is Captain Dr Krishna Mathur, but everyone in our group calls him 'papa'."

"Why 'papa'?"

"Because," Yuvansh said , pretending to hide a smile," he was the first one from our group to become a dad, at the age of twenty-six." Yuvansh himself was impressed with his amazing skill at fabricating stories at the drop of a hat.

Yuvansh leaned close to her and whispered, "Come, let me drop you home."

She cupped his face in her long slender fingers and kissed his lips lingeringly. Yuvansh closed his eyes and prayed for the moment to end soon.

"As much as I want to, it's okay if we don't make love. Your love is enough for me to survive this and everything else," she said.

Yuvansh opened his eyes and tenderly kissed her forehead. Soon it was time to leave. Together, they quickly took down the tent and rolled it into a neat bolster along with the guy ropes, tent pegs and tool-kit; they took care to extinguish the campfire, ensuring that no stray embers were left lying around; they tidied up their camp site putting all their garbage into a large bin bag which they loaded along with all their belongings into the Land Rover. Yuvansh then dropped off a very sleepy Shreshtha at her home, before driving away.

Shreshtha was fairly certain by now that Yuvansh was hiding something. There was that time when Sanam had asked her whether she knew exactly where Yuvansh was and her lame reply to her bestie was that she trusted him implicitly. And she did. But what he had said to her tonight didn't make any sense. One can't claim to love someone and then avoid physical intimacy. Why wasn't he keen to explore the sexual side of their relationship? From what she knew, read and heard about single men, sex was not something that they would or could refuse, especially if it were offered on a platter. Sanam had said the same- that guys generally approached girls with the intention of having sex but cloak it in the grab of love. Yuvansh was quite the contrary. Shreshtha was sure that all the passionate lovemaking described in her diary wad initiated by her- even though her narrative pegged him as the dominant partner. He seemed to be progressively growing even more passive, sexually. She wondered whether she should be bothered by this facet of their relationship because, as far as his care and concern for her went, she had no complaints at all.

Yuvansh stayed in Tosh for the remainder of the weekend , telling her he was at a friend's place nearby but always putting up by a tent alone near the Srivastava house. He left for Lucknow when she boarded the bus to Udaipur.

But she didn't go to Udaipur. From New Delhi she hopped on a bus to Ajmer although she told Yuvansh that she was back in her hostel. As soon as she reached Ajmer, she headed  straight for Yuvansh's house. She had saved his message with the address.

All through her journey, she prayed that her suspicions would prove to be baseless and that 'papa' was indeed the friend that Yuvansh claimed he was and not who she thought he was. Arriving at the house, her first shock was to see that the lights in the house were on. Yuvansh had clearly told her that nobody lived here. From outside the gate, she could hear the television booming inside, Amitabh Bachchan's voice was clearly discernible as the KBC soundtrack swelled in the background to a crescendo. Standing there, she realized that she didn't have any plan of action. She dithered by the gate, furtively peeping in and wondering whether she should or shouldn't go in.

"Are you here to see someone?" Shreshtha heard a woman's voice behind her. She whipped around, startled, a guilty look on her face and nodded. 

"Hi, yes, I was just wondering whether this was the right address, " Shreshtha showed the lady her cell phone- she had to do something so the woman wouldn't think that she was a potential burglar casing the joint.

"Yes, this is it," the woman replied.

"Great! Thanks!" Shreshtha turned to leave but when the woman reached over, unlatched the gate of Yuvansh"s house and stepped into the garden, Shrestha decided to make further enquiries.

"I'm sorry, but do you live here ?" Shreshtha asked.

"No. I don't."

"Who does?"

The woman studied her for a moment, surveyed the overnight duffel bag and the jeans-and tee-shirt-clad figure, and asked, "Whom do you want exactly?"

"Is this Yuvansh Thakur's place?"

"It is. And who are you?"

"I want to meet his parents. My name is Shreshtha Srivastava ."

As soon as she uttered those words, the entire demeanor of the woman transformed. A deep frown appeared on her face as if she had heard something absurd.

"Shreshtha Srivastava from Phagwara?" the woman asked .

"No, I'm from Tosh, Himachal Pradesh."

"And how do you know Yuvansh?" the woman asked.

"Are how do you know Yuvansh?" the woman asked.

"Are you his relative?" Shreshtha countered.

"Kind of. My name is Kishori."

"Okay."

"You didn't tell me how you know Yuvansh."

Shreshtha didn't know whether it would be wise to spell out her relationship with Yuvansh to a complete stranger.

"He's a friend," she said evasively.

Kishori could tell that the girl wasn't telling the truth.

"D'you want to come inside?" she asked, holding open the gate invitingly.

"Are his parents alive?" Shreshtha asked.

"Of course, they are," she laughed, "and they're right inside. Is Yuvansh all right?"

"Yes, yes. I've come on a sightseeing visit to Ajmer. He asked me to drop by and check if they were all right."

"So why don't you come inside and do that?"

"It's very late now. Perhaps tomorrow," Shreshtha walked away briskly. On her way back, she realized that it had been a huge mistake to visit Ajmer. It would have been better if she hadn't discovered that Yuvansh's parents were alive and well but at the same time, she was surprised that he could lie to her so easily. But why lie about such a thing? Why on earth would he claim they were dead?

Kishori stood at the gate, baffled, trying to get her head around what just happened. She immediately scrolled through the contact list on her cell phone and telephoned Yuvansh. He was a little surprised to see Dimpy's name flash on his phone.