Circle of Trust

Chapter 35

Naina felt torn. A part of her knew she did the right thing by obeying her mother-in-law's rather strong insistence. Then why couldn't the other part see the wisdom in her choice. She could have refused and insisted she traveled with her husband and Ria. It would have been petulant of her, but that didn't usually bother her when she decided on something.

She hadn't. To be honest, she had been a bit shaken at her mother-in-law's refusal to back down from her stubborn stance against her son.

Thirty minutes into the drive, sitting beside her and looking out of the window, she still felt out of sorts.

Occasionally, her eyes met Shiv's concerned ones in the rear view mirror as he drove the car at a devilish speed.

"Slow down, Shiv. No need to hurry," her mother-in-law's words made her sigh out loud.

Both pair of eyes was on her as soon as the audible sigh left her. Her mother-in-law placed her hand over hers on her lap and gently squeezed. Momentarily taken aback at the older woman's kind reassurance, she titled her head and looked at her.

Her mother-in-law gave a slight nod and smiled, squeezing her hand again. She dragged in a long breath, and Naina immediately was on alert.

"She was more at our home than hers," she said abruptly, and Naina looked at her confused. "I taught her how to cook. Burnt a few fingers learning, but she took to it naturally."

It took a moment for Naina to register who 'she' was. Naina's eyes briefly met Shiv's. For her, his reassuring nod was anything but. Naina prepared herself for the pain to hit her eventually as her mother-in-law continued to reminisce about the times Yashvi had spent at the Rathod Mansion.

"Ma...I don't really...." She bit her lip, caught between her duty to her mother-in-law and her acute sense of self preservation. She rather not hear about the 'daughter-in-law that could have been'.

"I've upset you," her mother-in-law noted, frowning. "Yashvi is like a daughter to me. So, seeing her after all these years..." She wiped a tear from her right cheek. "I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away."

"Ma, it's alright."

Her mother-in-law nodded, squeezed her hand again, and looked out of the window. And so it was till they stopped for a break.

******

"You going to eat that?" asked Shiv, nudging the plate of crispy samosas towards Naina.

She wasn't even aware that she had slowly pushed it further and further away from her as she surveyed the little dhaba they had stopped at to grab a bite.

"Naina...." He clanged the plate with an empty steel tumbler. The noise broke her out of her thoughts with a jolt. Her eyes widened as they tried to focus on the tanned face of her friend.

"Shiv..." her voice broke a bit on his name. She quickly cleared her throat, straightened on the rickety stool, and eyed the savories with distaste. The somosas glistened with oil and her stomach protested loudly at the sight. "Sorry, I can't...." She pushed the plate away and grabbed her glass of hot tea.

Shiv chuckled. He pulled out a crisp one-rupee note from his wallet and placed it in front of her. Naina, who was gingerly sipping tea from the glass trying not to scald her fingers or her tongue, paused and raised an eyebrow. Her lips twitched at the corners.

"Just a rupee?" she teased.

"How many thoughts are in there?" enquired Shiv, beaming that she had caught on so quick to their little game of long ago.