The Wrong Woman

51. Mouna

When I had said I wanted him to be happy, I had truly meant it.

Only, I wanted him to be happy with me. I had gone ahead, not thinking rationally, and said I wanted to fix things. I shouldn't have said that. Now he would be expecting things that could not be our realities. The sad thing about this was that Rani didn't even know this was happening.

Would she want to be with Dhruv again when it was clear he was wanting to fix their relationship? I needed to speak to her after visiting his family. I had become too deeply involved a long time ago.

I should have stopped when Rani told me to, I thought. Who would have thought things would come to this? And by that, I mean my feelings? The plan was to unite them so I knew that Rani would be convinced later on but I didn't mind leaving Dhruv to deal with the aftermath because I did not know him.

Now I did.

Now I loved him.

Everything was different. I was lying to him.

"When are we going to go see your parents?" I asked him. The sooner we visited, the sooner this would all be done. The beggar had mentioned love. This was it.

"When are you free?" Dhruv asked.

I absentmindedly rubbed Cookie's black silky coat as he laid across my lap, snoring away. "Soon enough," I whispered. I didn't know what I was thinking by going ahead with such a horrid plan, but I hoped true love or whatever it was that I had thought I demonstrated with Rani was enough to switch back to my own body.

"Once you know the exact dates, let me know so I can compare it with the dates I'm free. Sound good?" I would have responded but the way he was looking at me through half-lidded eyes, head resting against his hand and the sheer intensity of it made me choke. I shyly looked back down at Cookie. I couldn't take it. One of these days he will ask for more, he'll expect more, and I won't be able to accept it.

What was I going to do?

***

I had gone to see Rani again.

She needed to know what was going on...not of my feelings, but what had happened as a result of my plan.

"You were right," I told her, sitting on my bed. I made sure Mohi wasn't listening; she hadn't so much as looked up at me when I walked in for the first time in months! Okay, she did look up at me, and there was a gleam in her eyes. She tried to hide a smile that curled up her lips but she didn't say anything. Not that I was expecting her to, after all, to her, I was a stranger.

But why didn't she say hi? She was usually so friendly.

"Her and I got into a little tiff," Rani had whispered to me before adding at the panicked look on my face, "but nothing serious! Just about my cooking."

As I took a sip of the chai she had made me, I nodded. It was decent—I didn't understand why people were saying she didn't know how to cook. She gave me a frown. "I'm not so terrible that I can't even make a cup of tea, Mouna," she had said. Which I supposed was true.

"So." She crossed her arms and leaned against the head post of the bed. "What's going on?" Her laser focus made me squirm.

"You were right," I mumbled.

"What was that?"

"You were right. I should have stopped."

"You should have. That night at the restaurant told me things were going to go to shit," she hissed, getting up to close the door. The hinges squeaked in protest but she proceeded to slam it before sitting right in front of me.

"Dhruv...Dhruv wants to fix things with you again."

"Oh." Her shoulders relaxed. "That's nothing new. He's the only one that's tried to fix things for as long as I can remember."

"No, no, I mean...he has feelings for you again."

Her eyes widened this time. "What?" She snapped the word off between her teeth and I jolted.

"I didn't mean for it to happen this way. The beggar said love had to conquer so I thought this was what he meant. To reunite two lovers."

"And did it work?" she deadpanned. "Because I'm still in your body and you're still in mine."

"We're going to meet his parents," I said, and added in before she looked like she was about to burst with that vein throbbing in the side of her forehead, "after that, I'm sure we will switch back! The love of his parents, of Dhruv, that is all we need." Rani didn't say anything for a long second. I decided to say one last thing before I would have to leave, or be chased out from my very own home. "Dhruv loves you a lot. You have no idea how lucky you are to have him in your life. I'm not saying you're in the wrong, but I am saying he is an amazing man. A lot's happened since we've switched and it's only fair that you give him another chance when we switch back. Please?"

She didn't answer. She stared straight ahead, unblinkingly for a long time before blinking. Her face was as hard as stone when she said, "I think you should leave."