Prithvi...(Vol. 6)

Chapter 152

Aruna vacillated outside Nandini's room, restlessly fiddling with her mobile phone. 

She was very eager to talk to Nandini to find out more about her experience of going on the drive with Prithvi, but she didn't want to come across as being crassly inquisitive or suspiciously enthusiastic. It was way too early for Nandini to find out about her wedding dreams.

Aruna looked distractedly at the phone when it started to vibrate, and then smiled gleefully on seeing that the call was from Prithvi.

"Prithvi, thank you for taking Nandini on the drive," she said warmly, walking away from Nandini's room. "She had a really nice time."

"It was my pleasure, Mrs Garewal" Prithvi murmured, resisting the urge to ask if it was her imagination that Nandini had had a nice time. There was no chance in hell that she would have had the guts to tell the Garewals anything like that, he thought with a flare of irritation. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop by," he continued, sidestepping his juvenile mental rants. "Had to attend to some work commitments."

"That's absolutely fine, we understand," Aruna assured. "But I do hope you'll be able to visit us soon," she asked eagerly.

"I hope so too," Prithvi said lightly. With all that had been happening in his life, he couldn't be certain about anything he would or would not be doing over the next few days...

A scary thought struck Aruna out of the blue. Why hadn't she thought about it until now!

"Prithvi, does anyone at the house know you had gone on this drive?" she asked with a forced casualness.

Amused, Prithvi replied, "No, Mrs Garewal." 

"Oh okay, I hope we could let it remain a secret then," Aruna laughed weakly, vastly relieved. "I wouldn't want your family to think we pulled you away from your work." And she definitely didn't want the news to reach the queen. A woman of Priyamvada's age and experience would immediately know what she was up to, and she wanted her plans to be under wraps for as long as possible.

"Sure, no problem. It will remain a secret," Prithvi said solemnly. He could virtually see his mother hovering around the poor woman's head like a ghastly spectre...

When the call had ended moments later, he realised he was very close to the mansion. His friends and family would be in the midst of dinner now. 

At the moment, the thought of engaging in meaningless talk felt as appealing as Indrajit's obsession with the family sword. He was not in any mood for conversation. Not even with himself...

Prithvi continued driving on the main road for a minute, then he took a turn to the right and began heading to one of his favourite spots in the area.

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Nandini glanced frequently at the clock as she changed into her nightdress, quickly put on a sweater, and combed her hair. 

She had been in her room for about half an hour now. After returning to the room, she had unconsciously spent a quarter of an hour simply sitting on the bed, not thinking about anything in particular but just happily savouring an indescribable sense of wellbeing and joy and warmth.

And then she'd happened to look at herself in the mirror. Her lips had looked redder than usual. But that she could thankfully blame on the tinted lip balm that Aruna had given her. Her hair had looked dishevelled. Oddly, it had disappointed her to see that it had remained in a plait...

She had come to her senses only when she'd heard the balcony door being shut, and realised the Garewals would be waiting for her to go downstairs and have dinner.