Prithvi...(Vol. 6)

Chapter 161

In the closed room, with a preoccupied mind, Nandini changed into simple clothes, and combed her hair quickly and then tied it loosely with a black hairband at the nape of her neck. She walked to the door of her room, then vacillated, feeling very reluctant to go downstairs. The reality of Priyamvada being in her house was becoming tougher for her to accept with every passing moment.

The brief distraction caused by her grandfather's entry into the house along with Sumer Singh had given her the chance to hurry upstairs to her room, to get some space to calm her nerves that had been jolted severely by the sight of Priyamvada. She had sat motionless for a brief while in her room, trying to compose herself. But neither space nor silence had been of any help, and she'd continued to feel shaken and disturbed at the scene that had met her eyes when she'd walked in. The way Priyamvada had spoken...her appearance...the things she'd said...

A shiver went through Nandini. The recollection was still sending chills down her spine. And once the initial shock had subsided, other emotions too had started to resurface. Cold dread...anger... hate...

And now it was making her sick to think of Priyamvada being in her house, interacting with her family members. Was the woman pretending? It wouldn't be beyond Priyamvada to put on an act for some terrible reasons, Nandini thought with a sharp spurt of fear and distrust. But no... that was not possible. If she was pretending, Prithvi would have seen through it. She wouldn't have been able to fool him.

Calming down a little, Nandini looked towards the door of her room.

She didn't want to go down. She wanted to stay holed up in here until things had returned to normal and Priyamvada had vanished from her home.

But Prithvi...

She despised Priyamvada but it had still horrified her to see the woman's condition, which, just as Prithvi had said, was almost like the one in which they had found her at the exhibition years ago. And Priyamvada had spoken about him like he was a little child. That would have brought up so many awful memories for him. It was painful for her to just think about it...

She had to go down...to help him if she could - and to watch over her family, though she didn't know how she was going to do either of those things. She didn't know what had made her talk so calmly to Priyamvada before. And as for her family, they would already have taken on the responsibility of Priyamvada's wellbeing, Nandini thought with a helpless frustration. She would have done the same if the person in question was anyone else.

Nandini left her room despondently, and then halted on the topmost step of the stairway. She couldn't hear any conversations below. That was strange. Had Prithvi taken his mother and left, she wondered with a sudden horror.

No, he was nearby...she could sense it...

Nandini hurried down to the ground floor and then stopped, with her eyes drawn to the guest room. Its door was open and the light was on, and she could hear Priyamvada asking something in a frightened voice and Prithvi responding in a comforting, reassuring tone.

She wanted to go to him, but her feet wouldn't stir. After a brief tussle with herself, she gave up and unhappily went towards the kitchen, where her mother was busy opening packets of savouries and sweets from a well-known shop in the area.

Sarojini paused in her activity and looked concernedly at her daughter. "Why did you come down?" she scolded in a low voice, walking over to Nandini. "Take rest until your headache is better. You look terrible. Do you have fever?" she asked worriedly, keeping her hand on Nandini's forehead.

Stumped, Nandini automatically mumbled, "I...err...no, there's no fever. How did you know I had a headache?" she asked warily.

"Prithvi told us," Sarojini answered. "Your grandfather was asking for you, and I was about to come upstairs to call you. But Prithvi said you had a headache and were very tired because of the long road journeys on consecutive days, and that we should let you rest. Is the headache very severe? I'll make ginger tea for you once Prakash brings the milk. Then you'll feel better," she said, caressing her daughter's head.