Titaliya

Chapter 9

He looked sick. Skinnier, almost unkempt, and completely lost. Veda wondered if he'd been taking his diabetic medication, or at least having his meals on time. She gripped the bottle of wine harder and wished her mind would work faster. She blinked and he was in front of her, his hands gripping her arms and asking her questions her alcohol-addled mind was too slow to process.

"Khushi, where the hell were you?"

The interrogation went on while her head pounded and no one else around them stopped him.

Her arms were starting to hurt. Her mind was filled with golden-colored wine, but her muscles knew what to do. The judo lessons Nani paid for finally kicked in. She dropped the bottle, and stomped on Arnav's foot. In the second he let go of her arms, she turned around, rammed her elbow into his stomach. He was hunched over, and she took that opportunity to turn around, grab ahold of his shirt, and judo throw him to the ground.

By the time everything was over the wine was starting to clear from her head. Her kinetic memory was a powerful thing. It had reacted without thinking. Veda knelt next to him. This wasn't like her coach who was trained to absorb the shock of the fall. Arnav was on the floor coughing and holding his back. She couldn't ignore the little feeling of pride and satisfaction at the back of her mind. Thankfully he didn't fall onto the broken glass pieces of the wine bottle.

"Veda!" her Nani shouted, seeing the mess on the kitchen floor. "Who is this?"

Her headache disappeared. The hazy fog of alcohol dissipated like smoke from her mind. Her Nani nodded towards the television, and Veda knew what to do. Watching Fifty First Dates the day before had been a good idea.

"I don't know, Nani. He just came up to me and held my arms really, really hard. My judo kicked in," she said. She turned towards Arnav. "Sorry. I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't go around attacking girls like that."

"You don't know who I am?" Arnav asked.

Payal and Akash looked at Veda. Nothing made sense, until she winked at them.

"Jeeji, was he someone I knew from before the accident?" Veda asked innocently. She winked again, just to make sure they got her point.

Akash floundered at the unexpected question. There was never an accident. Had Veda been in an accident? Before he could ask, Payal held onto his hand. She was witness and accomplice to dozens of her sister's plans throughout their childhood. She knew Veda's dramatic filmy ideas and exactly where her sister was going.

"Yes, Khushi. This is Arnavji, Akash's brother."

"Oh, you're Jeejaji's brother. Enchanté," Veda said, holding out her hand. "Sorry we had to meet like this."

"Khushi?"

"Oh no. I'm Vedanshi," she said. "Vedanshi Bharadwaj. Apparently people used to call me that? I can't really think of myself as Khushi. It sounds so rustic."

Arnav balked at the girl in front of him. The girl with the pink in her hair. He'd seen her at the Hermes store. She stood in front of him confidently and extending her hand. He hesitantly took her hand and got up.

"Akashji, take Arnavji to the upstairs guest bedroom. I'll bring up some medicine and an ice pad," Payal said.

Akash led the limping Arnav out of the room. Payal knew there were two downstairs guest rooms that would've worked perfectly well, but she couldn't have him within earshot.

"You've come up with another one of your hare-brained schemes, isn't it?" She asked Veda.

"No, Jeeji. This is a masterplan. It was Nani's idea. You remember we saw that movie Fifty First Dates yesterday?"