Before You

39 | A Lie to Yourself

She appeared to be in her forties and her features were fairly similar to those of Sumi.

So, she was probably her sister.

"Now this house is going to be on fire." Dhruv informs.

"Binita, why didn't you tell me you had arrived?" I would've sent one of my boys to pick you up from the airport.

"Oh, no," she shakes her hand. "It's not like it's my first time here. I've been here like seventy million times. I know your place front and back." The lady, apparently named Binita, had luggage double of what Vedika has carried. And that's saying a lot.

"How is everybody? How are my munchkins? and how is my Sandy?" She asks, looking around in excitement. Dhruv scoots a little behind me in an attempt to not be visible in her peripheral vision.

But when her eyes spot him, she beams and rushes towards us. She almost throws herself on Dhruv, gobbling him into a hug and plants a big kiss on his cheeks.

"Aw, my munchkin is still handsome."

"And exactly how many times have I told you not to call me that?" Dhruv complains irritatedly.

She simply just pats his hair and smiles. "You will always be my little munchkin, no matter what."

"Binita, ignore him, will you?" Sumi says, taking the bags, one by one, from her hand. "You must be all jet-lagged. Come on, let's get you settled in the guest bedroom.

"Yeah, that we will," Binita states, glancing around in search for someone. "But where is Sandy?"

Who Sandy?

Sumi is smiling frantically. "Are you serious about seeing him? I mean, it's no secret you're not his favourite person. He'll probably flip when he finds out you're here despite all his endless warnings."

"Ugh, since when did we start acknowledging his likes and dislikes?" She says, and they both chuckle collectively.

"The fuck, who's Sandy?" I mutter under my breath.

"She's talking about my dad," Dhruv replies from my side. "Sandy is short for Sandeep. A highly unusual name my maasi came up with."

Before I could comment about the name, a loud muffled thump echoes behind me and a piercing scream cuts through the air.

Dhruv and I immediately spin on our heels to see Vedika fallen to the ground with a heavy wooden table, somehow, over her left limb.

She lets out a loud gasp from the pain.

"Fuck," Dhruv curses loudly as he rushes to lift the hard table off her leg. I rush to her right away as she grits her teeth and shuts her eyes tightly, panting.

"Hey, shh. Calm down," I grab her shoulders and rub her back as Dhruv gently lifts up the table off her with his strong arms. 

"You, alright?" he asks frantically inspecting the lower half of her leg where the table had collapsed on her.

She shakes her head helplessly as another cry of pain escapes from her mouth and she looses all her calm and falls back against my chest.

My reflex grabs her before her back touches the floor and Dhruv immediately moves forward to steady her.

"I'll get some water." I hear Sumi's uncertain rushed voice as she drops Binita's luggage on the floor.

My eyes go back to Vedika holding on to her leg as she tries to stabilize her breathing.

"Dhruv, do something." I ramble at him.

He gives Vedika a once-over before getting up on his feet and pulling out his phone from his back pocket. He starts to dial a few numbers.