Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

Pihu couldn't sleep. She had been trying for the past 3 hours, but no matter how hard she tried, sleep seemed to elude her. She had managed to get in a few 5-minute periods of rest, only to continually be jerked awake by a door being opened, the servants walking around, or other creaking noises that wandered through the house. Now, sitting up in bed, Pihu took a moment to look around the bedroom gingerly, being careful so as not to wake up her mother, Priya, who was fast asleep next to her.

The room was comfortable, and Pihu liked how big it was, but something about it was still a bit intimidating. I don't know if I like this place, thought Pihu. I didn't really want to come here, anyways. Still, she had arrived at the front door of the Kapoor mansion anyway, to apologize to the blue-eyed man who lived there. The same man she had yelled at when he brought her the pill bottle she had dropped. The same man who caught her mother as she fainted. That man...

His name was Ram Kapoor, as Pihu had found out this afternoon. Before that, Pihu had preferred to call him Mr. Khadoos. He certainly acted that way when she first met him at that bakery in the mall. He was very curt then, and also a little flustered. He didn't even want to give me that cupcake, thought Pihu with mild annoyance. She'd tricked him into giving her that cupcake and that had been the end of that strange meeting. She also managed to make him laugh, a warm, soft laugh that Pihu recalled with a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips.

She had thought about that laugh for a few days after meeting Ram, but eventually thought better of it. It wasn't like she was going to see him again. But, she did meet him again and again. At each meeting they bickered a bit, mostly in jest, and Pihu was left wondering why this man seemed to dislike her a little. Until that fateful night where he saved her from falling into that manhole. He was nice to me then.

They also met today, just as Ram caught Priya in his arms. Pihu was worried at the sight of this. Nothing had happened to her mother before. Still, she watched as Ram lifted her mother into his arms and brought her to a room upstairs. He also said something to that rather mean man with the glasses. The man was a minister apparently. Pihu didn't understand what Ram said to him, but she didn't really care either. She wanted her mother to be okay.

He helped my mama. He also helped me that day. He's nice. Maybe I should tell him thank you. Making a mental note to thank Ram in the morning, Pihu decided to make another attempt at falling asleep.

The sudden sound of tinkling glass startled her, and she sat up again. I can't sleep at all, Pihu mused. Maybe water will help. Reluctantly, Pihu made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

"Damn it," said Ram softly. After seeing Adi and Brinda off, he had returned to the bar to clear things up when his hand brushed up against a whiskey glass, knocking it over with a crash. Ram hastily asked Tarun to clear up the mess and made his way to the stairs, hoping the noise hadn't been loud enough to wake anyone, especially the person currently in his room. Priya...

The thought of her made Ram pause momentarily, only for him to collapse on the black sofa in the living room. He never thought he was going to see Priya again, not after what she'd told him 5 years ago. I cheated on you. This baby isn't yours. Ram didn't believe a word of it then, even now he didn't. Still, he'd been forced to accept the fact that for some reason, Priya didn't want to be with him anymore. After losing Shivina, that made him feel like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. 

He was angry, no, furious, at her, that was for sure. Yet, when he met her again at that mall, he was shocked. A part of him was also a bit pleased. Ram realized then, that he still loved her. He probably always would. And he hated himself for it, hated himself for loving someone who didn't seem to want him anymore. She seemed to have moved on rather quickly, with that investigator...the very thought of him made Ram want to punch something. His face, preferably, thought Ram.