The Beloved

Lake house entry

Arohi was thankful to be invited to the Lake house. She was longing for a break. She was tired of running from work to home and home to work. She was tired of the sleepless nights and nightmares although she had been sleeping better since her sessions with SK but she needed a change and she loved spending time with Aman and Aisha. The lake house wasn't new to her but she had never spent a night there. It had always been a day trip. Arohi packed something comfortable for the weekend. She left her house by 11am and was wondering who else would be there and if there would be any familiar face there.

The traffic wasn't too heavy and, in an hour, she was driving on the not so paved roads. Construction was still going on and she had to take the back roads to get to the house. It would have been a scary drive at night but since it was the day time, she was ok. In a few yards she got a glimpse of the house. The familiar SUV owned by Aisha and Aman made her sigh in relief. Thank God she wasn't the first to arrive even before the host. As she came closer, she noticed another car that was hiding from her view as it was parked beside the SUV. Arohi parked next to it and got off. She opened the trunk to pull out her weekend bag. As she walked towards the entrance, she was invited by laughters from within. The door was wide open so Arohi stepped in with a "Hello hello." Aisha's eyes widened at the sight of Arohi and she squealed happily, "Aroooohhhhiiiiii, oh my goodness! What's going on? One surprise guest after another. Come on in." Aman quickly grabbed the bag from Arohi smiling, "Come on in dear." Arohi walked in to the living area. Her face turned white at the sight of the couple in front of her. She felt like she had seen a ghost. The guy stared at her in shock too but, in a few seconds, gathered himself and said, "Hello Arohi, what a surprise. Never thought we would cross paths like this. By the way, this is my girlfriend  Nisha." Arohi stretched her arm for a handshake with Nisha and muttered, "ohhh hiiii Nisha. I am Arohi. Hello Sameer. How are you? I am sorry I reacted that way. I...actually... wasn't expecting to see you here." Nisha immediately answered, "Actually Aman and I are colleagues. Since Aman is a golfer I introduced Sameer to him and they became golf buddies. Hmmm... how do you two know each other" she asked. Sameer quickly answered, "Oh Arohi and I were classmates in college" and then he changed the topic right away. Aisha walked up to Arohi and asked, "Are you ok dear, you look like you just saw a ghost?" Arohi smiled awkwardly and answered, "Yeahhh I am ok Aisha. It is just that...just that it was a long drive. Let me go get some water" and she walked to the kitchen. As she was walking away she heard the sound of another car and the front door being shut. Arohi heard a familiar voice saying, "Aisha, never leave the front door wide open. You never know who might just walk in. Don't take chances. Anyway, naan close panitten."  Arohi bolted out of the kitchen and was delighted to see Amisha there. Amisha was Aisha's sister. The moment Amisha saw Arohi, she squealed and ran towards her for a tight hug, "Arohiiiii kutty it has been sooooooo long chellam. Eppidi irukke." Arohi hugged her back, "nalla irukken akka. Neenga eppidi irukeenga. I thought you lived in the US. Neenga vandhirukara vishayam Aisha enkitta sollave illai." Amisha's face dropped, "Adhu oru periya kadhai, not for today. I just want to enjoy the weekend. Innoru naalikki sollaren but I am back to India". Arohi did not fail to notice the tinge of sadness and disappointment in Amisha's response but she respected her way too much to poke into it any further. It was a relief from the awkwardness that happened a few minutes ago.

As people started settling in Sameer and Aman stepped out to the porch and the four woman sat down to chat about random things. Amisha excused herself for a drink and returned with a glass of vodka. Aisha glared at her and whispered to her, "Akka please don't start already. We are here to have a good time. I beg you to please not ruin it." Amisha promised to just have this one drink to keep her calm. Nisha's attention went towards Arohi and she suddenly popped the question, "So you and Sameer were classmates han? Were you close?" Arohi looked away trying to figure out the best way to answer that. Sameer had clearly kept his past away from Nisha but what had he told and how much. Just then they heard a door bell.

Arohi jumped up saying, "I'll get it" and ran towards the door mumbling "saved by the bell". At the door there was yet another surprise except this time there were two surprised faces, Arohi and SK. He gasped at her in shock, "Hi good to see you here Arohi." Arohi blurted out, "What are you doing here?" SK looked into her eyes and asked, "Modhalla ulla varalaama?" She opened the door wide for him to enter. He waved a quick Hi to everyone and whispered to Arohi, "Neenga Aisha ku friend na naan Aman ku friend. I think we are going to have a fabulous weekend." His words, for some reason, made her stomach flutter. She nodded saying, "Ya sure. I hope so."

Brinda Subramanian