Dil Jaanta Hai | ✔

sixty-three

"Tune Papa se baath kee?" I asked, sitting straight on the bed. He knew I was talking about us moving back into the flat.

"Not yet, dude. He hasn't been in a good mood after Ratan Kaka left. Let's wait a little."

I pursed my lips, and yawned. "I'm hungry."

His eyes lit up, and that did not give me a very good feeling. "Pehele kyu nahi bola? Let's go neeche! I've got something for you," He didn't wait for me to say something, he dragged me downstairs into the kitchen instead.

And then it clicked, the cake. The cake he baked last night while talking to me, the cake that had a truck load of raisins in it.

"Arnav, no!" I tried freeing my hand from his grasp, "Bilkul nahi, don't even think about it!"

"Aise kaise nahi?" He shrugged, opening the refrigerator. "Itne pyaar se banaya hai maine, I fucking watched videos on how to bake a cake-"

"Videos mei ye bhi kaha gaya tha kya ki kishmish daalna zaruri hai? Mai nahi khaane wali, jo ukhadna hai ukhad le," I stood my ground, folding my hands.

But the way Arnav grabbed two dishes from the larder and started cutting the cake- which looked disastrous to begin with- it seemed as if he did not care about what I had said.

"Arnav," I started backing out, "Dude, no-"

Ding Dong

The calling bell here, was weird. Arnav and I stared at each other, pausing midway. "That felt like we're in the prehistoric era," I commented.

Thankfully giving up on the cake, he passed me to get the door. "Dad isn't supposed to be back before ten, you wait here. Mai dekhke aata hoon."

Once he was out of the confines of the kitchen, I tip-toed over to the cake, bringing it to my nose. It looked unappetising, yeah, but it smelled chocolate to me. Glancing again at the door, I broke off a small piece, and brought it to my mouth.

Bad idea.

There was a reason I did not like raisins, and covering it with chocolate definitely did not solve the problem. Grabbing a bottle of water I tried swallowing it. Not only was the cake full of raisins, it wasn't sweet at all. The only thing other than raisins, that I could taste, was the baking soda and cocoa powder and eggs. But no sugar. Did he even microwave this or did he simply put it into the deep freezer?

"Yuck," I muttered. I was definitely going to puke, this cake batter had juggled my hunger into food poisoning.

"Why the sour expression?" I heard Ishita's voice, and when I looked up, I saw her entering the kitchen.

"Ask Arnav," I replied, swallowing, gulping water at record speed. "What a goddamn welcome treat."

"It looks chocolate to me," she pressed her index finger on the crust, "You like chocolate."

"Oh, you care about what she likes?" Arnav's statement was anything but a sarcastic dig. The way it changed the expression on Ishita's face... Something was weird.