The Two Fates [Published On Amazon kindle]

Chapter 8

Laksh sat on the leather chair, going through the usual documents but his mind still dwelling on his wife. She wasn't anything at all he had expected .

She was different from Riya, he thought which he didn't anticipate. It was better if she was; it would have been easier to hate her, despise her. But she wasn't, and he couldn't bring himself to loathe her.

He leaned back in his chair, sighing. It had been a week since the incident and things were nearly normal between them. Well nearly! He thought, they weren't talking but just acknowledging each other. He kept a safe distance from her, trying not to get too close; so did she.

And things were bad between her and her mother, he'd heard their conversation and eavesdropped accidentally. He felt a pang of pity for her; she was emotionally blackmailed, he had deduced from the way she was screaming angrily.

And then there was that incident which he couldn't forget even if she did. Why had she collapsed on him like that?he thought, feeling intrigued.
There was no such episodes after that, but he was curious about her. Could there have been some trauma that led her to it? He wondered.

The long ringtone from his phone interrupted the wavering thoughts. It was his sister, he saw. "Hey where are you?" she squealed as soon as he picked.

"In the office, are you alright?"he asked. "Yeah, we're good, we're in the Phoenix mall right now".

"Who are we?" He asked, somehow knowing already. "Anya of course, I took her shopping since we were bored" Lekha said in an excited tone "are you coming here?"

"Nah" chided Laksh, "I've better job to do than waste time with you".

"Come on, it'll be fun. For old times sake? Anya wants to watch a movie anyway" Lekha squealed again. "I can't Likhi!" he said, sensing something odd.

"Please Lucky!" she was pleading. "Don't call me that!" he snapped playfully, knowing that she deliberately used his nickname just to annoy him "fine, which movie?"

""Yasss!We'll decide once you come here!" Lekha screamed "just meet us near Inox okay?"

He was going to regret this, he thought feeling stupid. But he needed to spend some time away from work since few days had kept him real busy. He called his assistant and cancelled his ongoing appointments for the evening and decided to go home and change.

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Being with Lekha was like having a long lost sister, Anya thought feeling delighted to be in her company. Lekha was simple, easy going and friendly. Something which Anya never found in her only cousin.

She never hung out with Riya, the latter always complaining that she was a killjoy who didn't know how to have fun and would go out with her friends, leaving Anya alone. But she wouldn't mind as long as it meant she wasn't politely insulted by Riya.

But Lekha was different; she never once made her feel inferior. Infact she was everything her cousin wasn't and this delighted Anya extremely.

Lekha tagged her along to the boutique where they tried different outfits and laughing at themselves. "Wow!" Exclaimed Lekha as Anya came out wearing a peacock blue kurti with intricate stone work "you look beautiful!"

"It's not that good" Anya said, checking out the price. Never in the twenty three years of her life had she bought such an expensive dress. She didn't have enough money in her savings; everything she earned would naturally go to pay up the huge loan they'd taken for her father's surgery and subsequent treatment.

"We're buying this!" Lekha said excitedly as Anya came back changing "it suits you".

"No that's okay, we came here for you" Anya said politely. Lekha seemed to have understood her dilemma "I'll pay don't worry" she said before Anya could speak "besides, this is my brother's credit card" she said, flashing a dark brown card "he gave it to me on my last birthday, said I can spend it whenever I can!"