Titaliya

Chapter 27

Veda expected the house to feel light and free once Arnav was gone. Instead, it felt empty. She missed coming home and seeing him on her bean bag. She missed making a cup of coffee along with her own cup of tea.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Arnav started going back to work, and when she paid attention she could hear his door opening and closing late at night. Strangely, it was only after knowing he was home that she could fall asleep.

Aditi hired a private detective full-time to follow Shyam and make sure he wasn't a threat to Veda. But every small red car set her on edge. Every man with long hair and a creepy smile reminded her of her stalker. So much that before she was aware of it, she had become a recluse. Her everyday routine became intolerably repetitive. She went to college, came back home, studied, took lessons from her tutors, and fell asleep after hearing Arnav's front door close.

Friday evening, she packed her bags and started to head out. Her grandmother's surprise was waiting for her, and Veda knew that anything Sharda Bharadwaj planned would not be small.

She closed the door with her trolley in tow and locked the door.

"Where are you going?"

She startled and almost dropped her wallet. She turned around to see Arnav, in all his casual wear finery. Bangalore wasn't as cold as Delhi, and it was a balmy day, but he still stuck to his pastel sweater vests.

"I'm going home," she answered. "But I don't have to answer your questions."

He looked around. "I thought this was your home."

She ignored his calls for her to come back and stepped into the elevator. As the doors were about to close he stepped in.

"Di wants to go to dinner with you," he said.

She had managed to mostly avoid Anjali the entire week. Anjali had been busy the entire week seeing the tourists spots and shopping in the city. In the rare moments when their paths coincided, she'd given excuses and fled.

"I don't want to."

Arnav let out a huff of air. He didn't understand why Veda disliked Anjali so much. It was like Veda was allergic to his sister. Anjali tried and tried, but this new version of his Khushi refused to warm up to her.

"Why are you behaving like this?"

The elevator was only half-way to the parking area.

"Behaving like what?" she asked.

"Like she's done something to you. Like it pains you to be in her presence," he elaborated. "She's trying hard to be your friend. And you disregard her entirely."

It was true. Anjali tried at everything she did. She tried to be a good sister, a good wife, and now she was trying to be a good friend. Veda didn't know about being a good sister, but Shyam didn't want a wife and she didn't want a friend.

"I have enough friends," she answered. She didn't. She tried to make friends at college, but they were mostly superficial acquaintances, and it didn't take her long to discern who was genuine and who just wanted to be friends with Sharda Bharadwaj's granddaughter. As Khushi, she never had such an eye for people. As Veda, it was always on. Other than Asha and the girls Asha had introduced her to, she didn't have friends at all. Payal was on another continent. She couldn't even identify with her schoolmates from Lucknow anymore. Their worlds were so much smaller than hers. Her world of glamor and wealth scared them in its enormity, and she was too worldly to fit into their small domestic lives in her old city.