It Happened On One Monsoon

17: Faiza Roy

[ Darshan's POV ]

'The Annual Roy Barbecue Dinner'.

It is one of those crazy rich Asians moment that the Roys have been upholding for ages now. It has been a part of their family tradition that has been running for exactly twenty-five years now. The entire family - and friends-like-family - gather under one roof for a celebration...and I honestly don't know what it marks. But it always used to be so much fun. Only until my family felt like we belonged amongst them.

But once our lives changed, Ma quit coming, even though Chinmay's mom tirelessly continued to send us fancy invitations every year with a small hamper. Ma thought that we were too 'low-class' to be there, and most importantly - she was afraid about what other people would say. She was running away from the questions. She was running away because she was afraid of facing the embarrassment.

But I won't blame her, nor would I judge her. She was one of the most well-dressed ladies during the event and to suddenly lose all of that - it must be painful.

But today, she's coming. Chinmay's mom called her up and insisted that our family should be there since it was the twenty-fifth year. She was reluctant in the beginning, but I think she realised that cannot be running away from the reality for too long.

My family's coming over and I'm sort of nervous. I made up my mind to break the years of silence with my dad and talk to him. I don't know how to do it and I honestly don't know what to say, but I'm just going to leave it to the moment. I'll figure something out.

"Darshan. Sweetheart, can you keep an eye on the garden decor? They're too slow", Aunty orders breathlessly, sprinting around the kitchen.

On my way to the garden, I find Kavya in the living room, pacing around with a baby in her arms. It's been three days since I last saw her. She has been avoiding me ever since we shared that kiss.

I stand to my ground and stare at her walking around with a worried, tired look on her face. "God. Stop crying, Arnav! Shush!", she rocks the wailing baby back and forth, rubbing his back with her palm.

"Do you need some help with the baby?", I raise my voice and notice how her eyes almost widen. But she simply purses her lips together and looks down. "Thanks, Darshan. I'll manage", she utters softly with her gaze fixed on the floor and just then - little badass Arnav grasps her hair in his fist and pulls it forcefully, making her wince in pain.

"Calm down, young man", I walk over to them and gently pull her hair out of his hold. "Are you avoiding me?", I ask her right away, towering right over her as I tuck the strands of hair behind her ear. "No, I'm not! I've just been busy", she sounds evidently defensive. "So busy that you couldn't even have dinner with us for three whole days?", I prompt. "University", she shrugs, avoiding my eyes. "Okay", I smile; stepping away from her.

"If whatever happened that day made you uncomfortable, I'm extremely sorry. And you know, we can always call it a mistake and move on. You don't have to act so weird around me, or hide in your own house", I tell her with a smile and walk away.

Not that it was a mistake, though. I could tell with ease that she was a part of that moment just as much as I was. But playing around with my words, making it look like a mistake and of course, flirting with other women around would make all that awkwardness and avoidance go away. And that's exactly what I'm going to do - pretend as though that kiss meant nothing to me, "move on" and watch what it does to her.

As I instruct the people decorating the garden, I bump into Faiza - Kavya's cousin from the US. We've been somewhat on good terms, oddly, probably because we're the same age, or something. And once the greetings and formalities come to an end, I lay out a plan with her. She's certainly someone I can trust with secrets.