The Wrong Woman

73. Mouna

What did he mean by that?

He continued through gritted teeth. "Do you even want me to be here or do you want me to leave?"

Stay! My mind screamed. I tightened my grip on the collar of the jacket that provided me warmth. I only felt cold all over, now. "I...I don't understand. What do you mean? Why did Rani encourage you? And what was she wrong about?"

"Does it matter?"

"Then why bring it up?" I felt like my heart was going to burst with having to hide how I felt. "It was with Rani that you started and Rani that you ended with. It was always about her because she is your wife. That's what's right, so you had no reason to come here and there was no reason for her to encourage you." My voice cracked at the end.

Dhruv surveyed me and shook his head. "Always about Rani? Is that why...so you were looking out for her." I didn't say anything. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't believe you were Rani the entire time. But is that so shocking? Things are different now."

I looked away. How would they be different if they were still together? Why was he saying this? "She said you love it here. This place was where you proposed to her."

He gave me a look that told me he thought I was silly. "That's not why I love it here. Not anymore. I love it here because of the moments we shared."

My heart thudded in my ears but I shook my head. I didn't understand. I didn't know why he was saying this and doing...whatever this was. He was playing with my mind. "I want to go home."

"You don't get it, do you?" When I said nothing, he took my arm at the wrist and headed out, half-naked, across the oval.

I tagged along after Dhruv but with simple resistance. "Where are you taking me? Dhruv, what are you doing?!"

When he didn't respond to those two questions, I stopped asking them. Truly, I liked the way his warm, large hand felt clasped around mine. I didn't want him to stop, and I didn't care about the ogles that we were getting from the other kids and parents around. He took me to a shiny-looking black car parked right outside the fence that surrounded the area. It showed me my reflection, completely soaked through and disastrous.

"You have a car?" I asked. "You can drive now?"

It had been two months since we had seen each other. Of course, a lot of things had passed between then and now. Dhruv was watching me over his shoulder and I continued, "Congratulations. Rani must be relieved that she isn't the only one driving now."

Instead of smiling or thanking me as I had thought, he raised an eyebrow and then sighed. He opened the passenger door and gestured with his head for me to get in. I did but swivelled my body around.

"Why?"

"I want to take you somewhere."

"Where?" I asked.!

"Will you come with me if I tell you?" Dhruv rested his arm above the roof of the car, the other one holding onto the top of the passenger door as he bent. I thought he was going to kiss me and lifted my shoulders to my ears, wondering what had happened for the quick change. He wasn't looking at me, though, but at something above me.

He then pulled at a strand of my hair and showed me the stem of a leaf that had got stuck in my mop of hair.

Our eyes met, just like before. And like then, something crackled and shimmered between us, as clear as the hot heatwaves visible in the humid air.

"I'm going to take you to Rani," he said, finally. "She's probably at home by now." He leaned back. "She'll be more successful at clearing up the misconceptions than I am."

What did that mean?

***

"This isn't your house," was the first thing I said when he stopped outside an apartment building a few minutes later. It was only a two minute drive which meant that walking to and from her house and the park was an easy feat.

The place was very urban with tall windows on each floor and a smooth, clean finish without any frames jutting out.

But still.

It wasn't Dhruv's home.

"Come on," he said softly, getting out of his car. I followed behind, confused.

"Is Rani living here?" When had she even left? I had not noticed. I was more busy trying to get rid of the dizziness that overcame me and the fear that threatened to drown me just at the thought of sinking further and further into the water. It was only a lake to some people, but I had never experienced that in my life. Other than being Rani but that was different.

That wasn't me.

"Why else would we be here?" Dhruv took me up an elevator that dinged when we got to the fourth floor. The hall was brightly lit, with cream walls and white, unbroken ceramic tiles that tapped underneath my feet. He stopped at a black door with a silver remote-like thing attached to it, numerous amounts of buttons and a small screen at the top.

He rang a buzzer attached to the wall and we waited, side by side, me with bated breath and him, with a calm disposition as usual.

It was Rani. But why was she here and not with Dhruv? Those words didn't break free from my windpipe. She rested against the doorframe, arms crossed. "You guys finally came. I was wondering how long it would take." She then clicked her tongue at me. "So you don't believe him?" I glanced between the two. What was going on? Did they plan this somehow?

"I don't understand..."

"Come in."

She opened the door wider and stepped to the side. The bag with the supplies from before was sprawled on the floor, and there was Cookie, barking and nipping at our feet. I allowed myself to pat him before looking up. Dhruv swept his hand in front of him, gesturing for me to go first. The place was smaller than Dhruv's house but still very much bigger than my own apartment.

The corridor was wide, the walls white, the pillars a marble grey and the floor a dark grey wood. The open space led to a larger, open space; the right consisted of a long black couch near the balcony that was closed off by blinds and three carved timber stools, and a TV was situated up on the white wall right opposite it.

An English ivy plant hung down, its leaves curling all the way down one half of the TV. The kitchen was in an upside-down U, the island smaller and shorter than Dhruv's. The chairs were white half-moon-shaped counter stools. To the left was the round, wooden dining table with small, oak chairs with blue padding.

Rani opened the top half of the dark maple stool, almost like a treasure box, and handed me some papers. Neither Dhruv nor Rani said a word as I took it hesitantly. Flicking through it, my brain buzzed.

The words divorce and two signatures caught my eye.

They got divorced?

"It's official," Rani stated, snapping me out of my reverie. "We'd technically been separated for more than a year even if we were living together. So the court granted us the divorce."

"It was two months ago," Dhruv clarified. "We haven't even spoken to each other much since then. Except for matters related to this and planning how to get you to talk to me."

I shook my head, clutching the papers in my hand, letting the sharp sides tear into my skin. "I don't understand. But why? I thought everything had been..."

"You fixed things," Rani said. "Not me."

"You said everything was about Rani," Dhruv clarified. "I brought you here to prove it isn't. If it was, I'd still be with her." He stepped closer to me, unwavering in his firm intentions. "It just so happened that you were in her body, so I thought I was falling for her again. But you're the woman I want to be with. You're the woman I love." 

A tingle danced its way through my body, my hair standing on end at the very thought.

He loved me.

Me.