Dawn

Chapter 06 - Propinquity

Propinquity

[noun]

a feeling of closeness, kinship

The theory of propinquity states that the greater the degree of propinquity, the higher the likelihood of two people getting attracted to each other or becoming friends. Spatial and geographical proximity plays a part in.... Imlie yawned, trying to continue reading. 

She had picked up a random book in the library in the hopes of finding something decent to spend time with. Instead, it felt like she was studying for an exam. Not the book for me, she thought, putting the fat volume back in its shelf.

She exited the room and looked around to see which way she had to head. She ambled along the long hallway towards the stairs to head down. Rathore mansion was unnecessarily large, and she was still trying to get accustomed to being there.

She'd had a few days to explore the place but more often than not, she still found herself farther away from where she wanted to go, only to then turn around and keep walking until she found help. 

It was a blessing that she had time to while away, or else she'd be getting no work done at all.

Unlike Mr. Khadoos, she thought, who seemed to have done nothing except work since they had returned from the hospital. 

He seemed to be all shades of grey. Distant, polite and entirely boring, as far as Imlie was concerned, refusing to acknowledge that she'd thought him handsome when she'd first awoken. 

I was definitely out of it, she told herself. Aryan Singh Rathore? No way. Not her cup of chai.

They'd bumped into each other thrice this whole period. Each time, he asked the most cursory questions.

"How are you?"

"Better now, thanks."

"Are you settling in well?"

"Yes, I am."

"Did you take your medications?"

"I did."

An awkward silence would then follow, and he'd leave in a hurry, claiming to have work. 

Every. Single. Time.

So weird, she sighed, shaking her head. Almost as weird as their apparent marriage.

She'd woken up in the hospital in a daze, thinking she'd seen the craziest dream. Nope. No such luck. Meethi had accepted that she was indeed married to Aryan, refusing to divulge any details unless Imlie remained calm. And quiet.

So quiet she kept, as her mother slowly revealed how she'd gotten married.

She'd met Aryan while working for Bhaskar Times and during a jaunt together to Pagdandiya to cover Satyakaam's take on the political unrest in the region, rumours had flown around about them. Unfounded though they had been, in an orthodox village such as theirs, rumours often lead to whispers which lead to pointed fingers and eventually, in the best scenario, life as an outcast. In their case, it was near riotous conditions brought on by Satyakaam's enemies trying to make use of Imlie to defame him. 

Imlie was the daughter of his heart. Everyone knew that.

 If she was proven to be immoral, it would reflect badly on him. Satyakaam would have been forced to take a stand against Imlie, which he would have refused to, thereby causing him to lose support as well.