“Vik, I’ve got to go. Ash is calling.”
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Vikram teased. “Dump the brother the minute hubby dearest calls.”
“Shut up,” Vedika laughed. “I’ll talk to you again soon.”
By the time she got off the call with Vikram, Ashish had rung off and it had ended up a missed call. She called back only to find Ashish’s line busy. She shrugged, tossing the phone on to the bed and going to clear up the debris of their uneaten dinner. Her anyway pitiful appetite had disappeared along with Daksh’s sudden departure.
Her hand hovered over the plate of lobster for a second before she piled it up with everything else and set it out in the corridor. She’d just finished calling housekeeping and asking for clearance when Ashish called back.
“Hey,” she said.
“Flights aren’t resuming tomorrow,” he said without preamble. “You’re stuck there for another day at the minimum.”
Vedika sighed. “Yeah. Vik just called and said the same thing. If it wasn’t for work, it wouldn’t be such an issue. But Banlay needs to close and –“
“Banlay isn’t an issue,” Ashish interrupted, sounding a little more curt than normal.
A little taken aback, Vedika was about to respond when Ashish muttered something under his breath before saying, “I’ll call you back.”
The line went dead. Vedika shrugged and got into bed, snuggling under the comforter and dimming the lights. She shut her eyes and allowed the peace of the moment to wash over her.
The phone rang again shattering the illusion of peace. She cursed as she picked it up.
“Hello,” she murmured sleepily.
“Daksh has lost his bloody mind,” Ashish said angrily. “I don’t know what bee flew up his arse.”
Ignoring the mixed metaphors, Vedika sat up in the bed, her heart pounding. “What happened?”
“He’s hiring a car to get back to Mumbai. He doesn’t want to wait for the flights to resume.”
Vedika’s stomach pitched, a dangerous tumble. She pressed a hand to it. “Why? He has work to get back to?”
“Work.” Ashish gave a derisive snort. “Taking pictures of animals barely qualifies as work, Vedika. And he certainly isn’t going to find a lot of wild animals in Mumbai just waiting to pose for him.”
She bit her tongue to avoid saying something caustic back, instinctively slipping into her peacekeeper role. Her stomach was still doing a swan dive into regret and humiliation. That bloody lobster.
“Did he say why he wants to get back in a hurry?” she asked, quietly, dreading the answer.
“No. Just that he does. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on the flights as and when I hear something. Get some sleep, Vedu.”
Ashish was about to ring off when Vedika called out, “Ash, wait.”
“Yeah?” Ashish still sounded irritated, but whether with her or his brother, she didn’t know.
“When is he leaving for Mumbai?” she asked, chewing on her lip. “In the morning?”
Ashish exhaled hard, a gusty, exasperated sound. “He plans to leave within the next half an hour.”
CHAPTER 20
DAKSH
He was just tossingthe last of his few belongings into his haversack when the pounding on his door began. Daksh ran a distracted hand through his hair as he went over to yank the door open before the person on the other side took it off its hinges.
“I didn’t ask for luggage pickup…“
His words trailed off when he saw Vedika standing on the other side, feet bare, hair dishevelled, her angry glare trained on his face. He let go off the door and turned to stalk back into the room. She caught the door as it was about to close and pushed it open, following him.
