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It wasn’t rocket science. All you had to do was find a nice person, someone with the same values as you, and spend the rest of your lives making each other happy. And yet, Aryan had managed to screw up this simple plan by falling head over heels in love with his sister’s best friend when he was twelve years old.
He knew that she wasn’t ever going to love him back. Why would she? And yet, he couldn’t seem to exorcise the little demon, despite all the gorgeous women he had dated until now. Jessie had taken possession of his heart, and just like when she was a little girl fighting over toys with Nivy, she held on and refused to let go.
Munshi Ji came into the maze, with a minion carrying a tea tray, and Aryan’s stomach growled, reminding him that lunch had been a few Marie biscuits and a cup of tea. A woman had delivered pre-term triplets, and he had spent most of the day trying to stabilise the newborns. He had lost track of time, and if the NICU nurse hadn’t brought him a cup of tea, he wouldn’t even have had that.
He smiled gratefully at Munshi Ji, as he wolfed down the grilled cheese sandwiches and mirchi pakoras, two things that he could happily eat all day, every day if he could get away with it. As the spicy pakoras warmed his insides and dispelled the misery and stress of the day, Aryan wondered how Jessie had known exactly what to order for him. He couldn’t remember ever having mentioned his favourite food.
Zombie snuck into the maze, looking very apologetic, and crawled over to Aryan. He put his head on Aryan’s knee and looked at the food on his plate hopefully.
“Have you no shame, Zombie?”
Zombie wagged his tail and uttered a low woof, acknowledging the fact.
“You’ve been a very bad boy,” scolded Aryan.
The incorrigible dog covered his eyes with his paws, and then peeked over them, to see if Aryan was really mad at him.
Aryan sighed and threw him a piece of cheese.
“Just don’t be mean to Arshia again, okay?”
Zombie woofed his assent and licked his chops, staring at the rest of Aryan’s sandwich hungrily. He looked ready to agree to any terms, as long as someone gave him a cheese sandwich.
Aryan wished it was as easy to convince Jessie to stop fighting with Arshia.
Speaking of the devil, she stomped into the maze as Munshi Ji was clearing the tea tray away. She glared at the remains of Aryan’s snack.
“Looks like you were having a feast, while I was trying to thaw my frozen body in Rani Ma’s shower. How convenient,” she sneered.
Aryan wondered how someone could be so clueless. She knew that he had been working his ass off all day, and yet, she grudged him a few moments of comfort. Did she have no compassion? Maybe it was time to end the relationship before Arshia got more invested in it, he decided.
Some of his thoughts might have shown on his face, for she immediately looked contrite.
“I’m sorry, Aryan. I was being a bitch. I know you’ve had a rough day. Will the triplets make it?”
“It was touch and go, for a while, Arshia, but if we get through the next seventy-two hours safely, I think they will be fine,” he replied stiffly.
He gave Zombie one last reassuring pat and stood up.
Arshia gave the dog a nervous glance, and when he ignored her in favour of licking his balls, she went over to Aryan and wound her arm through his.
“You must be exhausted. Time to head home, I guess,” she said softly, with a smile.
Aryan sighed. How the hell could he break up with the darned woman when she was trying to make amends?
He knew he was being an utter coward, but he was too exhausted to deal with the tears and accusations. So he plastered a polite smile on his face and led her to the driveway, trying his best to push her away politely when she tried to snuggle against his side.
He was relieved when the valet brought his car around, and he could set her away firmly and walk over to the driver’s side. He had never been so thankful to have the gearshift between them, he decided.
Arshia was trying to imitate a boa constrictor for some reason, and even though she couldn’t get her arms around his neck while he was in the driver’s seat, Aryan still felt as if she was trying to choke the living joy out of him, as she tried to stroke his arm with a finger.
Their relationship hadn’t progressed to the physical yet, even though Aryan was aware that Arshia was ready to go there. He didn’t know what held him back. It wasn’t as if he was a virgin. He’d had relationships before. But something told him that if he got in deep with Arshia, she would latch on to him and never let go.
So he shook her finger off as nicely as he could and started the car.
Just then, his eyes fell on a puke-yellow Lamborghini parked in a corner of the courtyard. Aryan snarled under his breath as he recognised the car belonging to Deependra Dogra, Crown Prince of Tejpur. What the hell was he doing in Devgarh, wondered Aryan.
If the royal rat was nosing around Jessie, he would… he would… Aryan sighed defeatedly, as he realised that even if Deep had come to the palace to meet Jessie, there was nothing he could do about it.
