Shattered Relations | Aru Shah AU |

XXVIII

a/n: if you look very closely, boo makes a reappearance (in a new form!)

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ARU
"Well, my dad may have friends who are divorce attorneys, but I don't know," Aiden sighed. 

Aru groaned, and threw an Oreo to the pigeons. They had met up at the park, the perfect place for an inconspicuous rendezvous, since parents were too distracted by their screaming children running around. 

A pigeon with beady eyes hopped up and stole a giant Oreo, before finally unloading on her head. 

"Ugh," she groaned, not daring to look at her braid. 

Aiden winced. "It's lucky to have a bird poop on you? At least that's what I've read," 

"It really isn't," she grumbled.

Aiden sighed, before saying, tentatively, "Did you talk to Kara? She must've said something."

Aru stiffened. Aiden didn't know about her argument with Kara that had occurred two days ago, but he must have sensed that tensions were high. He was perceptive that way.

"We... we fought," she muttered. 

Aiden cringed, but didn't ask any further. "Uh... doesn't your dad have, like, a team of lawyers working for him?"

Aru buried her face in her hands, before saying, her voice muffled, "He'd know. They'd have to tell him, and this entire thing would be shut down," 

"One sec," he said, frowning slightly. 

"Hm?" she asked, looking up at him. 

"Do you have the divorce papers with you?" 

"They're at home." 

"Okay, when you reach home, go to the signatures. You said your mother signed it, didn't she?" 

"Yeah...?" She said, still unsure where this was going. 

"I'm pretty sure there'll be the attorney's name—or even the notary who legalized the divorce papers," 

"That's... actually, that's super smart. I wouldn't know. I'm in a mental block." 

"What's troubling you?" he asked, gently. Pity. 

"Nothing, Dr. Freud," she said, sarcastically, leaning back, and focusing her glare on an unlucky kid on the see-saw. 

"Listen, I know that sarcastic tone—Brynne's used it many times with me—and I know something's up with you." His kind tone didn't waver, and she felt something inside her melt.

She felt her glare soften, before sighing out, "Just the crushing disappointment that my sister's a felon and wants me dead," 

"Wait—what?" Aiden's eyes were wide. 

"When I said we fought? That's what we fought about." 

Silence seeped in between the both of them, before Aru continued. 

"She couldn't believe Mom wanted to leave Dad. She kept on doubting me, and I just... lost it," Aru stared at her empty palms, before clenching them into fists. 

"I'm on the fence whether I should apologize or not," 

Aiden's face was a mask of subtly disguised fury. 

"Why should you apologize?" he said, angrily.

Momentarily, Aru was startled by his tone. 

"You have every right to be angry with her, Aru. She's the one who's hurt you, not the other way around. And even if she is trying to help you, now, that doesn't erase what she's done." Aiden paused to take a deep breath, before continuing, the anger in his voice fading to concern. 

"And, nothing you tell her can justify whatever she said to you about wishing you dead." 

"I know," she said, her voice cracking. 

"But... the scary part is, I believed her. That I deserved to die. The only reason Mini's hurt, and that Leslie's dead is because I insisted that we carry on searching for the Dormitator. And look how we've ended up," her voice broke. 

Aiden put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you have to go through that, Shah," 

"It's just crappy. Life is so crappy. And it hurts more that before she died, my mom didn't want to tell me she wanted to divorce my father." 

"I know. It isn't fair, but maybe your mother would've been happier without your dad?" 

She threw him a sharp look. He said, hurriedly, "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure your dad's a great person, but... some people aren't compatible." 

He took a deep breath, a faraway, pained look entering his eyes. 

"Are you okay?" she asked, anxiously. She felt stupid. She wasn't the only one suffering, others were in pain, too. 

He gave her a weak smile. "I'm fine... somewhat." 

Her phone rang, with an incoming call from her father. 

"Think I'll have to go," she said, apologetically. "But..." she took a deep breath, and said, quietly, "Thank you, Aiden." 

He gave her the ghost of a smile. "No problem, troll." 

And she didn't know why, but she felt a faint fluttering in her stomach. 

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She shuffled the sheets of paper in her hands, frowning. Her eyes flitted to the bottom of the page, as she frowned at the law firm handling the divorce: Naga Firm and Associates.

She scratched her head, the name sounding awfully familiar...

She dragged herself to her desk, starting up her laptop, before typing out the law firm name.

Links popped up, and she scrolled to their LinkedIn page, with a list of their team.

The CEO, a woman named Uloopi, had a severe stare, and scowled at the camera.

She sighed, and scrolled down, rubbing her eyes, before checking the time. 9:21.

She'd been getting tired earlier and earlier, but couldn't bear to try to go to sleep.

The screams of the dead haunted her dreams.

She massaged her temples, before draining the last few drops of soda from her glass, and scrolled down go the end of the page, before freezing.

The 'Head of Family Law' was a familiar looking man with a familiar looking surname.

Frowning, she picked up her phone to call Rudy if he knew a Takshaka Sarpa.

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"Holy crap," Rudy said, his voice slightly muffled.

"I'm assuming you know him?" Aru asked, sitting up straighter.

"Know him?" Her friend's voice held a definite note of bitterness.

"Aru, he's my grandfather."

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