I was back in my bedroom by the time Kunj and his wife stormed out of Sanjana's room. I heard them calling her name.
I sat on the bed and crossed my legs, decided that looked too casual, and got back up. I tried to clean up my cosmetics sitting on the dresser, but felt I looked too busy and stopped. Kunj's voice could be heard downstairs, then outside, as he announced that the brides entrance would be delayed. After that, I heard his pounding footsteps come back upstairs.
Heat surged through me. By the time Kunj threw my door opened, I had shut myself in the bathroom.
"Aditi!"
I shook my hands out to stop their trembling, then stepped out of the bathroom. I managed to look surprised as his appearance.
"Where is she?" he demanded, eyes pinning me place.
"I'm sorry?"
"Where is Sanjana?"
You don't know anything. You don't know anything.
"What do you mean?" I shook my head. "She's not in her room?"
"Don't play dumb with me!"
"What's going on?" Darshan was at the door. Behind him, I could see Jayanti and Vivaan.
Kunj pointed at me accusingly as he looked back at them. "She did something. I know she did."
"You told me to stay in my room. I've been here the whole week," I replied.
"She's telling the truth," I heard Vivaan say.
"No. She is lying." Kunj shook his head.
I met his eyes calmly. "You are only accusing me because of what happened on the first night. You aren't thinking with a clear head."
"Don't speak to me like that. Her clothes are gone, her lehenga is lying on the bed. She wouldn't run away like that unless you convinced her to!"
I heard Jayanti whisper to Darshan to do something. The man hesitated, then stepped forward. "Bhaiyya, whether she did it or not, we should be out looking for Sanjana. She can't have gone too far. We should go."
Kunj nodded, his eyes on me. "We'll go. I'll hunt her down and drag her back by her hair if I have to."
I shuddered. Kunj strode out of the room and Darshan followed closely behind. Jayanti walked up to me and cupped my face in her hands.
"Did you do something?" she asked so quietly I had barely heard her.
I tried to calm my racing heart down. "No."
She seemed to accept this and nodded before leaving the room. Vivaan walked in after her and closed the door behind himself. He quietly studied me from across the room and I found I couldn't meet his gaze.
"Tell me that's true," he said, his voice held a warning note to it. "Tell me you didn't do this."
My hands clenched the end of my shirt tightly. "She turned eighteen today and she's pregnant. They were getting her married to a divorced forty-year-old to hide what she did."
"So you had her run away?"
"Tell me what other choice there was."
Vivaan shook his head. "Are you-are you even thinking straight? Do you know what will happen to her if he finds her?"
"I had to give her a chance at freedom. She couldn't-."
"You didn't do this for her, you did this for yourself," Vivaan snarled.
I paused, feeling my gaze darken. "What the hell does that mean?"
"You did this because you needed to act out. Because of what happened to you."
"She needed help! I couldn't just let her-."
"No," Vivaan cut me off. "No. This was about you. You did this without thinking."
"Vivaan," I walked up to him, "don't you see how repressive all of this is?"
"This is our life now!" he shouted. I flinched and stepped back, never having seen such an outburst from him. Vivaan's eyes were wide, his mouth turned upside down. "We have to live it carefully, do you understand? We have to think about consequences, so we learn to act carefully, to understand what is was right and what is wrong- and-and even if it is wrong we pretend it's right! Because when we don't, things like this happen. If Sanjana isn't found soon, she'll be running for her life. And you enabled that." In the brief silence, he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up. His eyes darted across the floor as if he was unsure where to look anymore.
I took a deep breath, willing myself not to tear up. "She knew the consequences," I said softly. "She knew them better than I did." When Vivaan looked back at me, I nodded. "She chose this, because she'd rather be on the run than be caged. To have... some kind of say over her life. I gave her that chance to be brave."
Vivaan looked away, and he suddenly looked tired, older. When I hoped he would say something, he gave a deep sigh instead, and left the room.
*
They didn't find Sanjana.
The wedding had to be called off. Her mother wept, crying over how embarrassed she was, rather than weeping in concern for her daughter. Kunj was a silent predator, and I knew he was waiting for his moment to attack. He didn't call off the search, and I realized just how much power he had when more than a dozen men were gathered and set to comb the city for her.
I told myself I'd done the right thing, even when my heart stuttered in response. Vivaan and I didn't speak again after that. Darshan had everyone go back home despite the search. His business needed his attention.
We all went home solemn and quiet. Tension had built a wall between us. I would feel Farhan's attention drift to me every now and then during the journey back. He wanted to comfort me, but couldn't.
I knew Darshan's next step would be to send Farhan away, then call my parents and tell them about me. There was silence when we got home at night. All of us went straight to our rooms. Instead of going to the one I shared with Vivaan, I broke away and headed to one of the guest bedrooms. I saw Vivaan look at me from the corner of my eye, felt him watch me as I walked away.
I tossed and turned all night. Sleep was an elusive shadow. I waited until I heard birds calling outside, and realized it was now morning. What do I do now? Do I go downstairs and resume daily chores? Was I expected to do so, or did they not want to look at my face anymore?
I decided to stay in bed until Jayanti came looking for me- or until Darshan came to kick me out. I dozed off a couple of times, and when I woke up, the room was warm with afternoon heat. The morning song of the birds had changed to the cawing of crows. Somebody was mowing their lawn somewhere. My ears picked up the sound of voices, and I couldn't hear the rest of the world anymore.
I sat up. It sounded like Darshan's voice, and he was... angry. I swallowed, rooted in my spot.
It's time.
I untangled myself from the blanket. When I stood, a paper slipped out from underneath the blanket. I picked it up and opened it, immediately recognizing Farhan's handwriting. When had he come into the room? It had to have been in the morning after I'd finally fallen asleep.
Adi, I'll see you soon. Don't worry.
I love you.
-Farhan
What did this mean? Where did he go? Still wearing my sweater and pyjama pants, I walked out of the room. My bare feet barely made a sound as I walked out.
Farhan's bedroom was empty of all his belongings. My heart fell. He left. Farhan left. Was this his goodbye? A way of saying it wasn't over yet?
Darshan's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I walked over and looked downstairs. Jayanti stood at the back of the living room, her face grim. Darshan and Vivaan were head-to-head in an argument. Before I could figure out what was going on, Darshan looked up at me. He pointed an accusing finger at me.
"Her. You're going to do this for her? After everything?"
Vivaan's eyes traveled to me. "She is my wife," he said in a firm voice I'd never heard. "Aditi, let's go."
What the hell was going on? I was already in enough trouble, what was Vivaan doing now? I then noticed the packed bags sitting by the front door. At a loss for words, I looked back at Vivaan. He raised his eyebrows.
"We're moving out. Let's go."
I jumped into action, racing down the stairs to join his side as he walked to the door.
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
I met Jayanti's eyes as I came down. She looked scared, but not angry. Maybe I was imagining the little nod she gave me when I looked at her. Darshan chased after us.
"Vivaan, think about this," he said. "You won't make it out there on your own. We'll find another girl for you!"
I almost bumped into Vivaan when he whirled around to glare at his father. "You can call her parents. You can tell them about the tattoos she has. But you don't decide whether my wife stays or not. And if her parents want to take her back, tell them they'll have to ask both of us first." His voice softened. "I hope you'll be able to see the good in this."
Vivaan grabbed my hand and walked to the door. At first I thought he was being a little forceful by grabbing me until I realized his hand was shaking and he needed something to hold on to. We gathered all the bags at the door and headed outside. My heart was leaping with joy and anxiety. We stuffed the bags in the car, got in, and drove off. Darshan was the only one standing at the door, watching us leave, and I wondered what was going through Jayanti's mind at all this. As I watched Darshan, I knew news of this was going to travel to Kunj, and I knew this wasn't over yet.
Beside me, Vivaan's shock radiated off of him. I watched him silently in surprise and admiration.
After a few minutes, he murmured, "You were right. What you did, what you said.... you should have control over your own life."
He didn't speak again for the rest of the ride.
*
"Ah! Cactus-girl!" Khan was sitting at his desk when we arrived at the apartment complex. He grinned at me and nodded a greeting to Vivaan. "Lovely to see the two of you again. Your friend is already upstairs waiting."
"Thank you," Vivaan said.
"Friend?" I asked as we walked up. Then, I gasped. "Farhan."
I picked up my pace. Vivaan tried to keep up with me. We went in the creaky elevator that opened up to the familiar hallway. The door to 13F was slighty ajar when we came to it. I pushed it the rest of the way. Farhan had opened all the curtains and windows in the apartment, casting a bright light on everything inside. A sweet air freshener scent filled the place. All the rotten fruits on the table had been thrown out, and everything looked a little tidier.
Farhan stood by the sofa, and his face immediately brightened at the sight of me.
"I told you I'll see you soon."
I ran to him and jumped into his arms, followed by a brief kiss. We let each other go, and the three of us looked around.
"Did we really do it?" I asked, still unable to believe it.
Vivaan smiled. "We did. We really did it."