Tewari & Sons, 23, Chandni Chowk

Chapter 18: The Tell-Tale Heart

"NK Bhaii, you are unusually quiet today," Arjoon said, as he looked up from his laptop for a bit.

They were at his home in Vasant Kunj. He was as always running behind on a writing deadline and was trying to get the column out of the way. The column this week was on his favourite subject - the state of the INP, specifically the challenges the party was facing post the election debacle. He had interviewed a cross-section of people for this story, including his former to-be-sister-in-law Payal. He knew that Payal's perspective was integral to the story, but he was unsure after what had gone down between her and Arnav if she would humour him with a few soundbites. He had tentatively called her to fix an appointment and she had sounded cheerful and agreed immediately for an interview. The interview went well, Payal had the rare mix of candour and yet exhibit enough diplomacy that a politician demanded. She looked well, happy almost. She asked him about Thumpa and he about her father's health. They even managed to joke about Arnav and Anjali and the Raizada gene. When he returned home after the interview, he found Arnav and Anjali home. Anjali immediately demanded that she be told every detail about his meeting with Payal. Arnav did not look upset or anything close to that, but he did excuse himself right then and left. He understood it. Payal might have wanted the relationship to end as much as Arnav had, but still it was Arnav who had broken it off. And therefore the guilt was all his and the power was all with Payal. He had only sympathy for Arnav as a result. He knew that his brother-in-law was mostly a stand up guy, who might have made a few mistakes, but was also excessively hard on himself. And so it was not surprising that he had taken the Payal fiasco as his cross to bear as well. He wished that Arnav could forgive himself, this instance at least.

"Nothing like that. Just thinking of.. stuff," NK finally said. NK had arrived home a few hours ago, he had some work to finish as well. There was some maintenance work going on at Raizada Designs, so they were working out of home. Arnav and Poonam Raizada had gone to Ahmedabad for a day on some work. So NK decided to work out of his house. Anjali had gone to a friend's house to spend the day with her, she had taken Thumpa along, so the house was way too quiet for his liking. Which is why he had welcomed the idea of his chatty brother-in-law coming home, but he too seemed altogether too pensive. Clearly something was afoot.

"What kind of stuff," he prodded, getting up and getting a couple of beers for them. He handed over one to NK.

"Beer? It is already time to start drinking? It is barely two in the afternoon," NK said incredulously.

"Who are you? And what have you done with NK Bhaii?" he said, placing the beer next to NK and walking back to his makeshift workstation, a duvet on the floor.

"I know, right? You know how everyone is terrified of Chachi, but honestly the most scary woman in this family is Anjali Di, I would never welcome her wrath," NK said, pretending like he was shivering.

He had laughed at this. NK was not completely off the mark here. His wife was a force to reckon with. She was of course a perfectly nice and friendly sort of person, but there was a streak of obsession that she had, which sometimes made her stubborn and not the easiest to wish away. The obsessiveness was a Raizada trait, he had concluded over the last couple of years.

"True that. But I am sure she will forgive one beer in such warm weather," he said as he tried to reassure NK.

"Hmm. Fine," NK said and almost reluctantly opened the beer can.

"NK, can you tell me what is going on? I am beginning to worry now? Are you alright?" he asked, this time actually closing his laptop.

"I am fine.. I mean you will probably think I am obsessing.. but.. never mind," NK rambled on, not particularly coherently.