Mishti woke with a dull throbbing behind her eyes. Her head felt heavy, and her body ached with fatigue of broken sleep. She sat up on the bed, one hand going instinctively to her temple, trying to recall how she ended up in her bedroom. When had the party ended?
No matter how hard she tried, the answers refused to line up neatly in her head.
A soft knock sounded at the door before it opened, and Maria walked in. Relief crossed her face the moment she saw Mishti awake.
“Good morning, Ma’am,” Maria said gently, crossing the room with a glass of water and a tablet. “Your head must be hurting. Take this.”
She nodded faintly and took the medicine without protest, swallowing it quickly before she asked the question that had been forming since she woke.
“How did I get here?”
“Karan Sir brought you to the room last night. You were hardly conscious. He stayed till you were settled.”
He what?Mishti tried to recall again, and this time images returned in uneven flashes. The champagne glass in her hand. Her feet carrying her away from the party. Komal’s arms around her. And then, hazier still, Karan’s presence. His hands. His voice. She even recalled bits of how she had vented out her hurt and pain to him… and that promise she made to him at the end.
Her breath hitched as she remembered it all. She had no idea where that courage had come from, or how she had found the strength to speak so fearlessly to the very man who had broken her down every day.
Maria’s voice pulled her back.
“He has already left for work,” she informed her. “But Abhimanyu Sir is still here. He asked me to tell you that Dr Komal will be coming to check on you as well.”
Mishti pushed herself off the bed immediately, even though her head protested and the room tilted slightly beneath her feet. Maria steadied her without a word. She thanked her softly and hurried into the bathroom. It was past eight. Far too late for herliking. Her morning had begun all wrong. She had not even done her puja yet, the one thing that she never missed doing on time.
When she finally came downstairs, Komal and Abhimanyu were already there. Abhimanyu held out a cup of coffee for her while she glared at him, but took it anyway.
The moment Komal saw Mishti, she was on her feet in an instant. She crossed the room and held Mishti by the arms, her eyes searching her face.
“How are you feeling now?”
“I am better,” Mishti said quietly. “Just the headache is there.”
Komal exhaled, some of the tension easing from her shoulders. “I was worried about you last night. I did not want to leave you alone at all. But Karan…” She stopped herself, then continued, sounding frustrated. “First, he hurts you, and then he acts as if only he has the right to take care of you. What kind of man does that? What kind of hypocrisy is this?”
“Please, Komal.” Mishti interrupted. “Karan had nothing to do with me drinking last night,” she said firmly. “Yes, he provoked me. But the decision was mine. I regret it. I should have handled it better instead of letting his words affect me.”
Komal shook her head in disbelief. “You always defend him. I truly do not understand how long this will go on.”
She paused, then added bitterly, “If it were up to me, I would never let him torment you. I would have put him behind bars for mentally harassing his wife.”
Mishti was about to defend, but Abhimanyu did before her.
“Come on, Komal. Behind bars? Isn’t that a little too extreme?”
Komal turned on him instantly, irritation flashing across her face. “Of course you would say that. You always take your brother’s side. Have you ever thought about what Mishti is going through?”
He opened his mouth to argue, but Mishti had been watching them, watching the ease with which they fought, the way neither of them hesitated before snapping back. This was not how two people who had met once or twice behaved.
She raised her hand slightly, stopping them both. “You two already know each other, don’t you?” she asked calmly. “You have met before?”
Both of them turned toward her, startled. Mishti looked at Abhimanyu though and asked. “How do you Komal?”
The answer came instantly. “She’s my girlfriend.”
At the very same moment, Komal said, “Friend.”
Abhimanyu stared at Komal. Komal stared back at him, equally shocked, while Mishti stared between the two, noticing their awkward expressions.
They tried again.
