“He just went towards your office.”
“And the rest?”
“They are in the conference room.”
She turned and strode down the corridor to the small office that she had chosen months ago. She didn’t visit here often. She didn’t need much space here. Amaal pushed the door open and found Atharva there, on a call. His eyes met hers, and he held one finger up. She could not stop glaring at him now.
“Yes,” he was smiling into the call. “Thank you. It’s because of your faith in me… I’ll see you tonight.”
He ended the call, and she pounced — “What the…” she stopped in time. “And you are talking to her here also?”
“Who?” He glanced from her to his mobile. Then his confusion cleared and he slipped it inside his pocket — “Not that it is any of your business, but that was Mohan Dhar from London.”
Amaal lost her gumption. These soldiers always did that. Or rather, Atharva always did that.
“Sit, we need to talk.” He tipped his chin to her chair.
“I am listening.”
Atharva looked at her, she stared back.No, you are not turning this on me, mate.
He went and sat down on one of her visitor’s chairs. Relaxed. And Amaal jerked with a realisation that she was standing in front of Atharva, not Samar. She could not deal with him like she did with Samar.
She quietly slipped into the second visitor’s chair beside him and turned towards him.
He did not stare, or try to intimidate her. He started talking in true Atharva-fashion, pre-empting the scandal that she could foresee blowing their way just as clearly as he did.
“Iram and I are together now,” he announced.
Thanks for the information,she wanted to retort, but kept her mouth shut out of respect for them both.
“It’s very new, but it is serious. I did not violate any lines as the Party President or her boss. We tried to hold back, but we came to a point where it was inevitable. I understand what happened today was out of line. I should not have done that. I apologise that you had to see that.”
All the wind fizzled out of her sail in front of that. Amaal sighed. How did she forget that this was Atharva, the man who could bring wilted flowers back to life? He had done it once by throwing them into sugar water.
“What’s next?” She asked, their SOP in difficult situations. Always solution-oriented. But he blinked, falling silent, for the first time looking unsure in front of her. She had never seen him so… human. He was the most humane leader out there, since Day 1. But today he looked like… just a man behind the President.
“Ideally,” he started. "I would prefer to hide her and keep her safe from everybody around me right now. I have enemies, so does she.”
“Iram has enemies?”
“When she joined KDP, her papers were classified.” Atharva’s eyes met hers. “Nobody asked what H stood for in Iram H. It is Iram Haider. She is Aamir Haider’s daughter.”
Her eyes widened.
“I suspected it once,” Amaal murmured. “When you and Samar were fighting… but… then it seemed fantastical to even imagine. Wow.” She rolled her eyes and let out a breath — “Atharva, you are making my life difficult with every new revelation.”
“There’s more.”
“No!”
“Until there is guaranteed security for her in Kashmir again, her identity cannot surface.Will notsurface.”
“You mean she is under threat?”
“Of sorts. But what happened today, if somebody saw it, from our own party…”
“Nobody was there,” Amaal reassured him. “Just me. And Begumjaan.”
