Prithvi... [Vol 3]

Chapter 73

Bile rose to choke Nandini. She turned instantly, and caught the scandalised look on Mr Chawla's face.

"Nandini, go home," he commanded, evidently seeking to protect her from seeing any more lewdness. "I'm going back myself. I'll invite them later. "

She gave an unintelligible reply and spun from the discomfited man to walk towards her house.

In a nauseated haze, she opened the gate and walked up to the doors, focusing on the entrance to Vrindavan with fanatical determination.

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Anika's lips had hardly touched the mouth of the man she loved when hands bit into her shoulders and roughly shoved her away.

Maintaining balance with difficulty, she looked at Prithvi dismally as he swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. Then unexpectedly, the revulsion on his stunning features altered into alarm, and his gaze moved quickly to something on his right.

Anika automatically turned her head, and saw a girl entering the yard of the neighbouring house. The female didn't return their stares and coolly proceeded to the doors.

On an instinct, Anika looked at the others. Rohit appeared to be as nonplussed as her at the pall that had fallen over them. The elderly man, however, looked like he'd just learnt that doomsday was round the corner.

Aggravated, Anika looked back at Prithvi. The definite wariness in his expression as he regarded the girl was hard to stomach. In all the time that she'd known Prithvi, this was the first time she'd seen an emotion remotely close to nervousness on his face.

In sudden turmoil, Anika huskily said, "I missed you so much."

She felt jubilant as the loud statement drew Prithvi's attention to her, and then wished she hadn't spoken.

She had forgotten his ability to char a person's skin with a single look.

Prithvi glanced at a guiltily squirming Rohit, and irritably asked, "You brought this freak along because your other friends proved to be imaginary?"

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Sarojini bemusedly watched her daughter drinking the second cup of tea.

The last 10 minutes had been quite strange.

She'd felt anxious when a sick-looking Nandini had stepped into the house, but her daughter had explained feebly that it was merely a headache. Sarojini had quickly pressed a cup of tea into her hands. After guzzling down the piping hot brew, Nandini had atypically asked for more tea.

"How is the headache?" Sarojini enquired once her daughter placed the empty mug on the table.