The Arrangement

Chapter Ten: The Cage and The Key

"Are you sure? Vivaan says I make excellent tea." I smiled at my husband. "I'm sure you are eager to catch up with him."

Kunj titled his head and finally looked at his nephew. "Yes, I am. How are you doing, Vivaan?"

"Good," Vivaan murmured.

"Have you found a job yet?"

"I'm looking."

"You look better then the last time I saw you. No more of those silly jewelries on your face. Your landlord finally kicked you out after all, huh?" Vivaan didn't reply. "Now you've learned that painting pictures doesn't get you far in life," his uncle added.

"I kept telling him," Darshan said, shaking his head. "I told him to learn about the business, but he always brushed it off. He never listened to me."

"He will now," Kunj said.

Neither of us spoke after that. Two hours passed before the man finally left. We put on our smiles again and said goodbye to him, then excused ourselves and went up to our room. As soon as the door closed behind us, we both sighed deeply and fell onto the bed next to each other.

We stared up at the ceiling in silence for a moment.

"Your uncle's a dick," I spat.

The bed shook a little as Vivaan chuckled. "Yeah. He is."

*

I spent the rest of the day shut away in our room, drained from my meeting with Kunj. Around dinnertime, I went downstairs to help Jayanti with dinner. Once it was done, she call Farhan down to eat with everyone else.

I ate the meal in tense silence, sitting right across from him. All my movements were stiff, and I was scared to look at him, afraid a single glance would give away everything we had.

After the meal, I escaped back to my room gratefully, but I was intercepted by Farhan, who seemed to have chased after me.

"What are you doing?" I hissed when he stepped in my path to block me from going into the room. I could hear Jayanti and Darshan watching TV downstairs. Vivaan had gone to throw the garbage out. Still, I looked around to make sure no one had seen.

"I can't stay here," Farhan said. "I'm leaving."

This made me look up at him. The sight of his face stole my breath away. He had dimples when he smiled. His lashed were outrageously long and thick, and I remembered what his mouth felt like to kiss.

Farhan's face was pained. "I can't- seeing you with him... I can't stand it. I... I should go."

I took a deep breath. "You're right. You should."

Neither of us moved. Farhan looked down at me as if waiting for something.

I was being torn apart on the inside. I turned my face away. "Leave here tomorrow morning. Go back home and... and move on. Forget about me."

"Is it really that easy for you?" Farhan whispered. "Did I... did I not mean anything to you?"

"No," I said quickly, then regretted it.

"Then admit the truth." He stepped closer to me. "Tell me you miss me just as much as I miss you. Tell me you wish nothing had changed. That you still love me."

"I don't love you," I said through clenched teeth.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Give me something, Aditi," he growled, his eyes darkening to the color of smoke. He stepped closer. "Tell me those years we spent together wasn't pointless, that we didn't get seated together on that Ferris Wheel just because it was a coincidence."

I lifted my eyes. I didn't know he actually remembered the first time we met.

Seeing the surprise on my face, he nodded. "I remember. I remember seeing you with your friends. The way your threw your head back when you laughed. Your hair was red then, and you were wearing a top that showed a bit of your stomach. I could see your tattoos and I remembered wondering what it would be like to run my fingers over them. I thought a fiery girl like you would never notice someone like me." With each sentence, he stepped closer until I had to look up at him. His voice was soft now. "I gave up before I even tried. But when we got a seat together on the ride, I thought, surely God was on my side. I tried my best, but I was awkward." Farhan chuckled, and his face brightened. "I still managed to make you laugh though. And I thought, I'd make a fool of myself everyday if I had to just so I could keep hearing that laugh."

He leaned close, his face just a few inches away from mine. "You were everything I wasn't. You were loud, brave, temperamental, stubborn- you were everything passionate. And you still chose me." Farhan's voice dropped even lower, until it was a low rumble that reverberated through me. I had stopped breathing, my brain had stopped working. "Tell me," he whispered, "where is that girl now? Why did you let the world cage you?"

"I'm still here," I whispered back, but my voice cracked, because even I wasn't sure about that anymore. Who was I now? Where did I go? The questions bubbled to the surface, frightening me. I had lost myself, but looking at Farhan now, I could see it. Like a rope dangling to the bottom of a dark well, I wanted to grab on and pull myself up. I was still here. I could still be me if Farhan was by my side, the key to my cage. I could be free.

I reached up on my toes and kissed him. A sound came out of me as our lips pressed together. Farhan grabbed onto me with urgency. Suddenly, everything felt normal, felt right. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling the gaping hole within me fill.

But the cautious part of me, the one who'd second-guessed everything she did after she got married, grew bigger again, overtaking me. I became aware that we were standing in the hallway, in the house of my husband and in-laws.

I pulled away from Farhan and shoved him back.

Farhan stumbled back, a broken look on his face.

"No." I stepped back when he tried to reach for me again. We were both breathless, the sound filling the hallway. "I am married," I said firmly, trying to remind both of us. I straightened my clothes, trying to compose myself. "Just leave, Farhan. I never want to see you again."

I couldn't look at him anymore. I was ashamed. I could feel Farhan hesitate, his eyes on me, before he walked towards his room. I wiped my cheeks, surprised to find them wet with tears.

I turned to go into my room, only to see a figure standing at the end of the hallway. My heart stopped beating for a moment.

Vivaan didn't say anything as he watched me. From the look on his face, I knew he had just seen what took place between Farhan and I.

I let out a shaky breath. What do I say? I'd forgotten how to even speak.

Without a word, Vivaan turned and left.