Cigarettes & Peonies

04

"I LOVE SUNDAYS......." Kush cried bouncing on his bed like a five year old. Luv rolled his eyes at him.
"You need to stop ok. We have so much to do today so stay calm." Luv said bluntly. Kush pouted and leapt down his bed. Luv handed him a broom and a dust pan which he recieved with a frown. In her room, Maahi had planned to do some extra cleaning for today was Sunday. The weather was pleasant and mildly windy. She changed the bed linen with a fresh new one and the dirty one was tossed inside the laundry room. The laundry room was a part of store room for they had no additional space in the house for any such laundry room. Following that she changed the water in the vase so to prevent the lilies from dying. She also sponged the closet doors and windows of the room leaving them sparklingly clean. After that she stacked her books deftly in a neat pile inside her bookcase. Then followed with some usual dusting of the doors, brooming and mopping. When she was satisfied with everything she'd so far done, she huffed and looked around. Her room looked extremely cleaned and organised. A smile appeared on her lips.
"Done and Dusted!!!!" she chuckled and moved to the mirror. She was dressed in her brother's T-shirt which hung so loosely around her little frame that it looked as if she had donned a rag instead of a garment. It was so big that it reached her knees. Confound it but her brothers weren't so tall, they were under 6 ft in tallness yet still their shirts were big enough to cover more than half of her body, she wondered how big were the shirts of boys over 6ft. Her thoughts immediately wandered to the man like boy, he was also scarily tall considering the fact that he was the tallest guy in the entire university, she was curious to know how much of her body could his shirt cover. She quickly shook her head. It was better to not even think about him, everything of him speaks danger even his thoughts feel precarious. She undid her bun and hung the rubber band on the peg in the small stand.
"Time for a shower...." she whispered and stepped into the bathroom.

The Khandelwals sat together around the dining table for lunch. The lunch was simple consisting of rice, lentils, sambhar and chapattis because Maahi didn't liked rice. They ate peacefully. Mr. Khandelwal's office was 5 minutes away from the house which is why he used to come for lunch.
"So, I believe you both brats must've cleaned your rooms by now." Mr. Khandewal asked, helping himself with some sambhar. By the way, the family was very traditional when it came to eating and they used hands instead of spoon for eating rice, barring Maahi who mostly never ate rice but whenever she did she used a spoon. The twins grumbled inwardly.
"Why only us???? Maahi also was cleaning her room!!!" kush muttered irked. Mr. Khandewal looked at him blankly.
"Because I know that my daughter is way more responsible than you two irresponsible fools. Now eat, fools!!!" Mr. Khandewal frowned. The twins grumbled once again. Mrs. Khandewal smiled.
"Maahi dear, why don't you go out with your brothers this evening. It will be nice outside, see the weather is so good and this is the best thing about mountains. Hm!!!" her mother suggested. She looked up and smiled, creating those dimples into her slightly chubby cheeks.
"Yes mom!!!!" she said, chewing on her food.
"You two, you better keep her safe. Am I clear!!!!" said her father. The twins were worked up now.
"MOM!!!" They cried loudly, on the verge of pulling on their hairs. Mrs. Khandewal sighed and looked at her husband.
"Dear....." she whispered tiredly. He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah.....yeah!!! I'm out!!!!" he muttered and gulped down some water. Maahi giggled inwardly.

The evening came out more windier than the morning. The retreating sun painted the horizon red, flocks of birds dotted the crimson sky while returning to their comfy nests. Maahi and his brothers strolled up the street lit by subtle lights of the street lamps. They weren't alone, quite a few people had came out on the streets for a random stroll along the mountains in the evening. Maahi wrapped her arms around herself and looked around. The hills soar up into the red sky with their cliffs wreathed by evening haze. A thick fog hung upon the town which was slowly drifting down and by the late evening would closely invade the entire locality. A sweet flowery fragrance was hanging over the town, the wild flowers had bloomed somewhere around and had enshrouded the entire hillock with its sweet summery fragrance. The subtle lights from the shops and houses lit the town majestically as Maahi strolled along with her brothers. On the right was an ice cream parlor where they decided to head into. It was a cute place to be honest, with a small space, adorable lightings and bewitching greenery flanking the parlor. Maahi was already liking it. Kush opened the door and in they went. The walkway was pretty decent and carpeted with an Oriental rug, the walkway lead to a small counter in the front. Now maahi casually looked around but once she looked left she gasped. On her left sat her biggest nightmare, the man like boy. His colossal frame dominated the seatings around him and superiored over the blokes circling him. His hawk stare lay fixed on her quivering frame as his fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. She shudders under his creepy stare and turned to her brothers. She could hear his friends chuckling lowly and whispering stuff in his ears.
"Brother can we go to some other place. Please!!!" she whispered to kush. Kush raised his brow.
"This is the nearest place, all other ice cream parlors are far off from home and it's already growing dark, I don't think dad's gonna be happy knowing we travelled far just for an ice cream.......but do you have any problem here????" asked kush with concern. Maahi furtively peeked at her left and found the man like boy still gawking at her hungrily. She gulped and lightly shook her head. Kush smiled.