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“Grandpa said that he would also like to have a slice of pizza but without any veggies. Only plain cheese, just like me.” Mili bounces back through the door, her doll dangling from her hands.
“Cool, let me place the order, Princess.” Ranveer pulls out his phone and starts typing in the order.
“Your doll is very cool,” I say as we make ourselves comfortable on the bed.
“I love her. Dad got her for me,” she informs me with a big smile.
“Do you take care of your dolls?” I ask, caressing her head.
“I always take care of my dolls,” she assures me. “I even make sure to change their diapers on time when they are smelly and gross,” she says as she scrunches up her nose adorably.
“I must say you are a good mommy.” I ruffle her hair and smile at her as Ranveer comes to sit next to us on the bed.
“That I am,” she shrugs her shoulders proudly, mimicking a confident adult.
I look at Ranveer who is grinning at her.
“So, are you going to stay in this room?” she asks as her eyes roam around the room.
“Yup,” I answer with a smile of my own.
“I am sharing a room with Daddy. He reads bedtime stories for me at night. But I know all his stories by heart now, and it’s kind of boring. Can you please read for me instead?” she requests, keeping her eyes on me.
I nod my head. “I love stories and will be happy to read them for you.”
“Can you sleep with me in our room?” she asks next.
I freeze. I know at that moment that I am in a soup, wondering what the heck is happening here. How am I getting more and more stuck in the swamp? I gaze at Ranveer, whose lips are pressed tightly together. Jerk.
I then look at Mili. “Hmm, why don’t you stay with me here in this room?”
She blinks at me and then turns to Ranveer. “Can I, Daddy?”
“You can.” His smile broadens, revealing his perfect white teeth, like he already knew that I would come up with something like this. I need to get away from him and his mind games. “Okay, I will go and ask the house help to shift her stuff here.” He winks at me and then rises from the bed.
He then gives Mili a sweet smile who just waves with a grin. Damn, if she was aware of what I am fantasising about her Dad! My cheeks flush at the thought and I put all my effort to shun the wild thoughts.
Chapter 17
Ranveer
It’s been a couple of days since I have come to Grandpa’s house and have been staying with him. I always loved it here and now even more with Alisha here. This place has never failed to give me solace and comfort, filling my heart with joy through and through. Also, I love Grandpa to the core, and it’s no hardship for me to be with him. In fact, being around Grandpa has given me a new ray of hope that Alisha and I can find our way back to one another. Every day, he makes sure to come up with something new that leaves Alisha no choice but to spend a few minutes of the day in my company. I am completely aware of what he is up to. He even went to the extent of asking Alisha and me to drive down to one of his friends’ houses which was an hour away to pick a signed copy of a novel, the one which I am sure he had no interest in reading. Grandpa is making a supreme effort to make sure that Alisha and I get back together. Though initially, I was not happy with the idea of him lying to Alisha, Grandpa proved me wrong. Somewhere, his chicanery seems to be working. Now, Alisha doesn’t avoid me like the plague. I make a mental note to thank him and make sure that I gift him his favourite bottle of whiskey.
A swish of wind makes the trees sway and the leaves rustle, pulling me back to the present. A smile is playing on my lips as Alisha and I stroll along the street. Though a busy road during the daytime, it is now all still and quiet with only a couple of people walking, including the two of us. The serenity and the moonlit beauty of the night is ethereal accompanied by the natural music created by the amalgamation of sounds of light traffic, insects, and the murmurs of the handful of people was refreshing enough.
After having dinner, Grandpa and Mili insisted on having an ice cream. Alisha did suggest placing the order online but Grandpa was emphatic that he prefers the ice-cream of the parlour down the road, and insisted that Alisha and I should get it. When Alisha went inside the kitchen to instruct the cook about the next day’s preparation, Grandpa even called the ice cream parlour and bribed them to refuse to take any online order for this address, asking them to bluff that their system was down due to which, they won’t be able to accept online orders. He disconnected the call just in time as Alisha stepped into the room the next minute. Being a seasoned masquerader, Grandpa composed himself in a nano-second, his expressions giving away nothing in front of Alisha. When he saw Alisha glancing at me and then proceeding towards the door, he gave me a triumphant look. I had to bite the insides of my cheeks to control my laughter at his audaciousness.
“Grandpa can really be worse than Mili at times. God, it’s like I am handling two kids,” I grumble, jamming my hands into my jean’s pockets.
Grinning, Alisha agrees, “Yeah, that’s true. But at his age, retaining a childish heart is a matter of pride.” Her grin turns into a sigh as she continues, “Now that I am an adult myself, I so long to go back to my childhood when things were way simpler and all you had to do was sleep, play, and eat.”
With a nod, I look up at the lamp post. “What do you miss most about your childhood?”
She blows out a breath and looks into oblivion as she utters, “Where do I begin? The main thing I miss the most about being a child is the simplicity of it. There were no burdens of responsibility, and I could truly be myself. I had no worries. To tell you the truth, I miss pretty much everything about my childhood—the pampering I received from Mom and Dad and the fact that I could pretty much get whatever I wanted. Also, I miss the way Mom would read stories to me when I was a child. She would tell them so much better than I ever will be able to. But when she would pull a mythology book, I would create a fuss. I would find them boring, but Mom would insist that I know my roots. Though I heard it for years, honestly, I listened to it half-heartedly,” she says dreamily. But the next moment, the light in her eyes dims and she continues with a sigh. “But sadly, things have become so much more complicated ever since I’ve grown up. I so wish I could go back in time and be a child again.”
Glancing back over to Alisha, I notice her rub her hands over her arms while she stares absently at the road ahead.
“I get what you are saying.”
