Prithvi... [Vol 1] (Ongoing) (Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2019)

Chapter 28

Nandini lifted the plate into her hands, and then kept it down again. She couldn't go back into the drawing room and face him coolly, she just couldn't.  She wished she had the courage to go back and confront him, and tell him that he couldn't order her around after - after ? 

  

 But all she actually wanted to do was evaporate through the back door and curl up in her room and never come out and face him again. She sighed, and for the umpteenth time she wondered how one person could have the ability to make her feel safe and happy in one moment, and so vulnerable and confused in the next.

  

 "Are you actually baking bread in there?" a grumpy male voice asked loudly.

  

 "I'm coming," she answered quickly, all thoughts of confrontations driven out of her mind by the impatience in his tone. She picked up the plate, praying fervently that she be able to meet his eyes without blushing like an idiot. 

  

 Just before she stepped into the room, she heard Prithvi's cell phone ring. Thanking god for the intervention, she entered the room to see him abruptly sit up straight on the sofa.

  

 "She's here?" he asked enthusiastically. "You've brought her finally!"

  

 Nandini stared at him as he rose to his feet. Who had come? Which 'she' was he talking about? And why was he looking so pleased, she wondered uncomfortably.

  

 He walked to the door, opened it impatiently and strode to the gate. Feeling curious, Nandini kept the plate on the table and followed him outside without thinking. 

  

 "Where are you right now? Alright, take a right and then a left. You'll reach a lifeless locality which has a temple in the middle. Then look at the extreme right corner in front of the temple," he instructed, "and you'll see two houses that look like they were built in the last century and might fall down anytime. The one on the right is mine."

  

 "If this place and this house are so terrible, then you should go ahead with your plan to move elsewhere," Nandini said crossly as he switched off the phone and looked into the distance. 

  

 "Why haven't you gone home as yet?" he asked absentmindedly, not taking his eyes from the spot where the mysterious visitor was going to materialise.

  

 "You said you wanted to eat something and I made a sandwich for you," she said indignantly, aggravated at his preoccupation.

  

 "I did? Well, I'm not hungry anymore so you can eat it yourself if you want to take the risk," he said distantly.

  

 "I don't want to have it," 

  

 "Good decision," 

  

 "Who are you waiting for," she asked on an angry impulse, getting more annoyed by the minute at the way his eyes seemed to be fixed on the road. 

  

 "That's none of your business," he retorted indifferently, glancing around at her. Of course, she thought angrily. She was still slightly shaken by what had taken place just a short while ago, but it had only been another bit of fun for him to lighten the day.