Reshimbandh~Silken Threads

21. Deception

Rawte Mansion,

Morning,

Ten days since the accident. Arjun had recovered from the injuries, although medications and physiotherapy was ongoing. In these days, Neha had been constantly on the lookout, giving instructions, medications and treating him like a child. As much as Arjun hated the baby-ing, he did enjoy the attention and pampering.

In these days he also noticed her behaviour patterns and noted them more closely. Not that he doubted her but there were certain things she was clearly hiding from him.

Nothing wrong with having privacy, he respected it but a few things just didn't fit in. The other day when Sameer came to warn him, he had defended Neha, knowing well that she had been home all this while. But she could've easily sneaked out, especially when he was asleep, the painkillers doubled as sedatives.

Arjun, there are things Neha knows and we need to know them too, at least for her safety. She's messing with big names and I'm concerned for her. Sameer's words played in his mind.

Arjun came in Neha's room, her laptop on the table. INTERPOL Database screen was open along with a 'Drive H: AXR can be safely removed' dialog box on the screen. He took out the chip and closed the dialog box, moving away from the table.

She was talking to someone over the phone, lines of worries etched on her face. "Bhaiya, come down for breakfast and shut my lappy too."

"Sure." Arjun shuts her laptop. "Neha, any problem?"

"No, just Vikram things. He's upset that I haven't been giving him enough attention." She rolled her eyes.

"You should. Just for the sake of clarity, are you two just dating or you're in a relationship?"

"Vik has commitment issues, so it's not a relationship yet."

"He seemed pretty sorted, to me. What's the problem?"

"Nothing. Previous experiences. He wants to take it slow, that's all."

"I hope it's not too slow that you lose interest."

"I won't. It's been a while since I've really wanted to be with someone. He checks one too many boxes on my list."

"He was your therapist, right? How did he agree to dating?"

"I took a break from therapy a few months before coming to India. I asked him two weeks before coming here and he agreed."

"That's good. You should continue paying attention to him instead of being busy taking care of me when it wasn't even needed."

"Not needed? You missed taking meds when dada and I wasn't around. You don't understand how important you are to us, to me. Always putting yourself in danger for no reason." She pouted.

"We're self reflecting now? Good. You need to stop doing that." He chided, playfully.

"Who cares about me, bhaiya? Do you? You haven't called me dollie in ten days!"

Arjun frowned, "that's because you asked me not to."

"When?"

"You were drunk. We need to talk about your habits, too."

"Is that why you've been calling me bachha? I'm a grown ass woman, please!"

Arjun pinched her cheeks. "You're my teeny tiny baby. Stop fussing." She scrunched her nose. "Fine, I'll call you Bittu."

Her eyes teared up, she put her arms around Arjun. "Bhau used to call me..." Her words trailed off. It's been a while, I haven't been able to contact Bhau. Hope he's safe.