Prithvi... [Vol 1] (Ongoing) (Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2019)

Chapter 6

Nandini rang the doorbell of her house and managed to smile convincingly at her mother when she opened the door.  She had just stepped inside when her mother said happily, "We were waiting for you to come home. Rajeshji's friends have arrived. They came just a few minutes after you left for college."

To Nandini's good fortune, her mother did not wait for her to respond and turned to go back to the kitchen, continuing to talk, and so she missed the tiny shadow that flitted across her daughter's face at her words.

They had come in the morning itself....if only she had known, Nandini thought despondently. She usually called up her mother before leaving from college but had forgotten to do so today.  She sighed and followed her mother.

There was a little round table in the kitchen, with two chairs. Nandini sat down on one chair and kept her bag on the other.

"They are really nice and decent people. We couldn't have found better tenants than Sumer Singhji and Prithvi," her mother was saying cheerfully, adding tea powder and sugar to the water boiling on the gas. "They had breakfast here, but Sumer Singhji insisted on having lunch in Ayodhya, even though we tried so hard to convince them to stay. So, I prepared food for them and took it to them. But we made them promise that they will have dinner here with all of us for today at least. Nandini, give me those cups from that shelf, we can't serve them tea in our ordinary cups."

Nandini got up from her seat, reached to the shelf her mother was pointing to and cautiously took down two of the best and most expensive cups they had in the house. Her mother poured steaming tea into the cups, placed them onto a tray and held it out to Nandini.

"Here, go and give this to them.  I've made some pakodas. I'll come with you with a plate of those and I can introduce you to them."

"Go there? Right now?" Nandini asked weakly. Prithvi had lambasted her less than an hour ago and his words were still ringing in her ears.

Her mother carefully replaced the tray carrying the cups back onto the platform and asked concernedly, "Nandini, what's wrong?"

"I had lost my anklet and I went to check in Ayodhya before coming home. I didn't know they had arrived and I just walked inside to look for it," Nandini said shamefaced.

"Oh dear," Sarojini muttered, sensing in some way that what had followed had not been very pleasant.

"I apologized to them," Nandini said hurriedly. "But to going there again...so soon...."

Her mother smiled at her worried expression. "I'll go and give them the tea and the pakodas. Don't feel upset about what happened. I am sure you'll become friends with them tonight when they come for dinner." Even though Sarojini had said 'them', Nandini knew her mother was somehow aware of whom exactly she did not want to face so soon.

"Here, have some tea. It solves all problems, doesn't it?" her mother asked with twinkling eyes, knowing it was one of Nandini's favourite ideas.

Nandini grinned and took the cup. But she felt guilty as Sarojini adjusted the plate of pakodas also on the tray with the tea cups. Her mother has just picked up the tray again when her grandfather appeared at the door, magically lured by some appetizing aromas.

"Did I smell something good?" he asked enthusiastically, and then saw Nandini, who was walking back to the table to sit down while smiling at his excitement.

"When did you come from college Nandini? Did your mother tell you? The tenants have arrived," he beamed.

Just then Prakash came running into the kitchen, with a cricket bat in hand. The smell from the kitchen had been delicious enough to force him to make a stop there before joining his friends for a match on the ground near the house.