Prithvi... [Vol 3]

Chapter 72

The large window opened to a wonderfully blue sky, and the forested land was a beautiful sheet of green.

The beauty of the scene was lost on Nandini, however, as her eyes were closed. Locked in an embrace that was filling her with an exquisite lethargy, she was even unconscious of the smile on her lips. It was strange how everything faded into insignificance whenever he held her close, though concern about his chest wound continued to nag her.

“You’re sure it’s not hurting?” she asked again, worried.

“There’s no pain at all,” Prithvi answered quietly. And there really wasn’t, he recognised absently. Neither physical, nor emotional. The shock of seeing that last photograph had brought back a few suppressed memories, but the sting had receded. He no longer had an excuse to keep holding her, apart from the plain fact that he simply couldn’t let go.

It was strange to think about how the hours would have panned out if he’d seen the photos before he came to Shamli. He wouldn’t have indicated by word or action that they had impacted him in any way. And no one would have dared to discuss it with him. He would have been given the space to deal with his thoughts and emotions in private….all by himself…alone… 

Nandini opened her eyes slowly as he raised his head from the curve of her neck. She smiled warmly up at him, her hands resting on his shoulders.

Prithvi didn’t smile back, and continued to look at her with a piercing deliberation. Then he seriously said, “You’ve messed up my life.”

Nandini stared at him in confusion. The words were upsetting…and yet, his gaze and tone were saying something else entirely…

A moment later, she grinned. “You’re most welcome,” she accepted graciously, and felt more offended than delighted at his astonishment.  

 “How did you figure that out?” he enquired disbelievingly.

“If you live with a caveman long enough, you start understanding his mysterious language,” she said brightly, and giggled at the frown that knit Prithvi’s brows.

He was about to retort, when Sankatmochan’s voice drilled through the doors, making her head turn.

“Nandini, a woman who looks like your mother is coming towards the house!” he warned.

She hadn’t responded yet when the hands around her waist withdrew. So he’d assumed she was going to run off as usual…

“If it is her, could you tell her you saw me going towards the market?” Nandini requested, without detaching her hands from his torso.

“Okay, no problem! You both carry on,” Sankatmochan sniggered. “But don’t get carried away,” he added hurriedly.

Turning pink, she twisted back to see Prithvi studying her with a touch of genuine incredulity and relief.

“I told you. You’ve taken up the whole page,” she reminded him impishly.

His features softened, making her heart forget its function. But he had barely bent his head when she hastily kept a hand over the lower half of his face and took a step backwards.  

“No,” she said firmly.

Irritation sparked in his eyes. He gripped her wrist and removed it from his face.

“Your loss,” he said coolly. He straightened and turning to pick up a pile of correspondences from the table.

Nandini felt nonplussed, and shamefully disappointed, by the easy victory. She hadn’t expected him to react so peacefully…