“Hmm.”
He was lying. She grabbed another wafer and stuffed it into his mouth. His head reared back but he crunched on it, eyes wide.
“What? Don’t look at me like I am feeding you trash.”
“Not trash…” his throat worked, his words coming out broken. Something was very wrong. That is why Amaal sat down on the bed in front of him and held the bag of wafers between them, reaching for more.
“I’ll take it,” He reached inside the pack before she could force-feed him. She wasn’t planning to, but it was good that he was terrorised into eating. She sat back, passing the bag to him, and turned her gaze away, letting him eat. She did not see it, but heard the telltale crunching as he ate. Kept eating. On one side, this felt too intimate, hearing him eat; on the other, she couldn’t help but feel… torn at what had made him remain hungry and thirsty all day, maybe all of two days.
“There’s also biscuits…” She leaned to grab the pack resting on his thigh and his stance widened to stop her, just in time for her to stumble. He caught her shoulder and she stilled. Again, their eyes collided. A dangerous game.
“Biscuits…” she mumbled, holding the box up.
“I’m good.”
“You don’t like sweet stuff?”
He shook his head.
“Then you will like this.” She plucked the pack of spicy bhujiya and opened it. “Try.”
“Where did you get all this from?”
“It’s mine.”
Dark eyes lifted from taking a handful. “Yours?”
“Mine.”
A small, almost unconscious smile lit his mouth and was gone just as quickly. He threw the bhujiya mix into his mouth and chewed. This time, she had a front row seat.
“Shiva won’t let us in before lunchtime or I would have brought you whatever is being cooked for lunch.”
He shook his head. She sat silently then, as he grabbed fistfuls of bhujiya and continued eating.
“You don’t have a sweet tooth, no?”
He shook his head.
“But you ate two plates of ice cream in Jammu.”
“Hmm.”
“Samar.”
He glanced up. “You made a statement, I agreed.”
“Why did you eat ice cream in Jammu if you don’t like sweet?”
“I like sweet, not fond of it.”
“Whatareyou fond of?”
His eyes seared into hers.Don’t go there, they said.
“I am asking as a colleague who has to carry her whole stash to you. If I knew what you like, next time I’ll only carry those things.”
His mouth curled again. “I’ll replace your stash.”
