Prithvi... [Volume 4]

Chapter 96

Nandini sighed and turned in the warm circle around her, burying her face in a broad chest. Prithvi's hands clamped a little harder around her. She closed her eyes to fight a sudden assault of tears.

She didn't want to leave today or ever. A part of her mind was exhorting her to promise him that she would be by his side for as long as he needed. But the words didn't get past the constriction in her throat, because the miserable truth was that she didn't even have the right to make such a promise at this juncture in their lives.

The embrace loosened. Disappointed, she looked up.

"We should get going," Prithvi said listlessly, dropping his arms.

As he spun to head back to his seat, she tried to evaluate his mood. He settled behind the steering wheel and regarded her unsmilingly. 

"Need an invitation?" 

She groaned mentally.

He was definitely furious, and not just with her. He was furious with himself for being honest with her, she recognized dismally on her way to the passenger seat.

All lines of real communication had shut down again.

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"How were your exams?"

Taken aback by the question, Nandini stared at a grim-looking Prithvi. This was the first time he had spoken after getting into the jeep for the second time. In the meantime, they had left the outskirts behind and appeared to be very near Purvanagar's centre. Though an impoverished air hung over the town, the roads were colourful and busy, and they had provided a good distraction until now.

She fidgeted, alarmed by the severity of his tone. "They were okay. I think."

"Just okay?" he frowned. "And even that's a guess?"

Nandini pretended to be fascinated by her hands to avoid telling him that she didn't remember much about those days. Exams had seemed inconsequential when her heart and mind had been breaking apart. She had sat at a desk and her fingers had moved mechanically on the answer sheets, regurgitating information that she had learnt by rote.

"Doesn't matter. It's not as though you plan to study further or work after graduation," he said derisively when she didn't reply.

Stung by the assumption, she stiffly said, "I will do my masters. And I will get a job too."

"As a maid, yes," Prithvi concurred. "Focus on cooking, cleaning, roaming with friends and chatting with the world and its neighbours till you run out of breath. Those are the skills you'll need in the real world."

"Will you please stop!" she railed angrily. "Studies are important to me. This time I couldn't concentrate because you  -"

"Don't make me an excuse," he warned.

"Why shouldn't I? All my problems begin and end with you," Nandini snapped.

"Lucky. For me, you're a problem that just doesn't end," he retaliated callously.

Angry tears filled her eyes. "You won't spare any opportunity to make me cry."

"Yeah, it's the one joy I have left in life," he said sarcastically and then roughly adjoined, "Here's a suggestion. Don't reserve logic and reason just for those times when you want to prioritize society's opinions over me. Sometimes, for your own good, use your mind and focus on what needs to be done."

Nandini rigidly wiped her cheeks dry. Then she pulled open the cabinet beneath the dashboard to draw out the phone, and displayed it prominently.

Prithvi clenched his teeth. He had forgotten her boundless capacity to irritate him. He would drop her back at the earliest. She could go back to Vishranti Nagar or Shamli or wherever she wanted and continue to live with her head in the clouds.