"Anika!!!!"
Shivaay's scream pierced through the dinky hallway and the cup of tea almost fell from Anika's hands. Horrified, she glanced at Sahil who was sitting beside her. He mirrored his elder sister's expressions. The piece of toast that he was holding fell down in his teacup and disintegrated into the hot beverage.
Anika's heart thudded as she dashed off to the bedroom where she had just sent Shivaay. Sahil hastily grabbed his crutch and followed Anika.
She was slightly out of breath by the time she jogged to the bedroom. Anika abruptly stopped in her tracks when she saw Shivaay standing at the door of the washroom and grouchily staring at it.
"What? Why did you scream?" Anika screeched as she forcefully turned him towards her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," agreed Sahil. He slowly hopped towards them. "We both thought that you slipped in the washroom."
"Clearly not!" shrugged Shivaay. Then he scowled in annoyance. "You need to enter the washroom for that which I absolutely CANNOT do."
Anika was befuddled. She questioned, "Why?"
Shivaay was and looked frustrated. He placed his hands on his hips and glared at Anika. Pointing at the washroom, he asked, "Anika. What is this?"
"Kya?" she made a face in response. She did a double-take at the small space behind him. She couldn't spot a lizard or a cockroach in there either. The washroom was spotless too. So what had got her husband so worked up? Giving up, she replied, "It's a washroom."
"No!" Shivaay shrieked. He wagged a finger at the Indian-style toilet and bit out, "It's a hole in the ground."
Sahil burst out laughing and Anika looked away to conceal her laughter. She cleared her throat and said, "Ugh, Shivaay! I can't help it. That's how it has been since the start. Now go and do your business."
"I am not using this!" Shivaay crossed his arms and looked away.
"You look like a four-year-old tantrum-throwing child right now!" chuckled Anika and pinched his cheek.
"Excuse me?" he removed her hand from his face. "I had no issues in using that weird stove thing you have in the kitchen. I still cooked food on it. I slept on that lumpy mattress. I am okay with no air conditioning. You made me drink tea...TEA! But this...no!"
"Glare at it SSO, it might just morph into whatever shape you want it to be..." offered Sahil solemnly.
Anika mock-glared at him and chastised, "Shut up, Sahil! We are having a very serious discussion here."
She tried to keep up the serious tone but failed spectacularly. Both Anika and Sahil dissolved into a puddle of laughter and they collapsed on the bed nearby, their bodies reverberating with mirth.
"Guys yaar!" sighed Shivaay. "Come on. Help me out."
Holding her stomach, Anika sat cross-legged on the bed. "Shivaay, you are gonna embarrass yourself if you stand here like this. And if you do it here then mind you, I am not cleaning any of it. This isn't Oberoi Mansion. Everyone is responsible for their own shit in this house."
Shivaay took a long, hard look at her. Surely it wasn't Oberoi Mansion. This wasn't his home. He had left it all behind. In a strange game, his own family had asked him to go away from the Mansion. And when had he ever refused his family? So he agreed to his Badi Maa and left the Mansion. Anika, of course, was not someone to stay behind without him. She had remained adamant and insisted that they take refuge at her old house for the time being. Shivaay smiled at the irony of it all. He was welcome in a house that he had looked down upon and was thrown out of the house that he thought was his own. It all seemed like a nightmare only it wasn't.
