The Wrong Woman

36. Mouna

After they left, I helped Dhruv clean up a little before he tended to Kippie. He rummaged through the bag he had brought and got out a worn pink-and-purple vest harness. Once he got her in and clipped the leash on top, he stood up. He turned to me just as I tore my eyes away. I hadn't expected him to look at me and I could feel my neck burning. I put the wet paper towel into the bin and washed my hands.

"Want to walk Kippie with me?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Any particular place you want to go?" he asked as we began our walk down the street. It wasn't a Main Street where there were shops and auto rickshaws and people all littered everywhere; the neighbouring houses were all quiet, the only sign of life being from the dim, yellow light that flooded through their windows and the occasional beeps and rumbles of the pavement from auto rickshaws heading past us.

"Not really," I said, trying to pretend I knew the neighbourhood well. I hadn't even explored. All I did was go to work and come back home. "You?"

As Kippie sniffed the ground and trotted alongside us, he said, "Yeah, actually. There's a lake around here, nearby the park we used to have picnics at." I made a noise that I hoped expressed an 'oh yes, I remember!'. We headed in that direction, a comfortable silence settling in between us before he handed me the leash. I looked up at him in question but he only shook the leash.

"Kippie's waiting," he said, softly. I giggled and took it from him, and as if she knew that I would be more lenient, yanked on the leash, pulling me along the narrow pebble path. The park was closer than I had expected. To the left was the lake Dhruv mentioned but it extended from where we began to all the way onto the other side.

To the right, there was a large oval leading up to a hill where the park was. I could see the image of Rani and Dhruv having a picnic back when they were on good terms. Once we got to the top, whereby I was panting heavily, the park that looked tiny was much bigger. It had swing sets and two different types of slides arranged back to back. Since it was dark, there wasn't anyone there making it look quite eerie—a place for predators, almost. I shuddered; the trees that bordered us were dark and tall, towering over like guardians.

There was a bench overlooking the lake and we stopped to sit. "Do you remember?" he asked, voice husky.

I turned. He was staring out at the water, the moonlight shimmering across the top like shiny stars. I could see the vague shadows of the ducks swimming idly by. The awe I felt dissipated when he shifted his body so that he was facing me. The moonlight casted half of his face in shadow and the other glowed. I hadn't answered his question and in an instant, panic hit me in the form of cold sweat.

"Um—"

"It's okay," he said. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, please don't apologise. Whatever's happened between us, I..." I trailed off. I hadn't mentioned the issue at all. Neither of us had, and now it buzzed between us in endless static.

"Then you won't mind if I say I hated even coming to this place for a while."

"Why?" I added just in case, "I still don't fully remember things."

He didn't answer for a long time. Only had a blank expression on his face, gaze a little dazed. Then he said in a low rumble, "I proposed to you here."

Whether it was the cold of the weather in that moment or the recognition of the wind slithering its way through my hair and my body that made me shiver, I didn't know. But those words caused a ripple of shame to settle within me. I didn't know the extent of their love or their hatred and here I was, meddling in it. "But coming here with you now makes me feel like things are changing."