On the Run

Chapter 15 : Truths and Lies

8:00 pm, Srivastav house, Karwar.

Within the next fifteen minutes, the food was ready. However, I couldn't relieve myself of the guilt that I felt. I had shouted at Manik, when he had been kind enough to care about my wound! Well, my anger was definitely justified! But, maybe I shouldn't have screamed at him in that manner.

I couldn't help but wonder why he cut the vegetables, when he had flatly refused to do so earlier! It had to have been him since the door to aunty's room had been closed ever since he and I had entered the kitchen. Did he do it just because he didn't want me to hurt myself further? And he probably hurt himself in the process! Aiyappa, what's wrong with him? Isn't one wound enough to deal with, that he's got another one now? He's so reckless! On top of that, he's disappeared from the kitchen! Ugh! This guy drives me insane!

I was setting the table as all this went through my mind. Finally, when everything looked presentable, I went and knocked on aunty's door. She opened the door in a few seconds.

"Aunty, khaana ready hain."I said in a cheerful voice.

She smiled in return and made her way to the dining table.

As both of us sat down, she asked. "Beta, Manik kahan hain?"

I wanted to know the answer to this question as well!

"Aunty, mujhe nahin..." I was about to answer when Manik entered the dining room. My eyes instinctively flitted to his hands to see whether he had indeed hurt himself, but Manik had cleverly folded his hands behind his back.

"Aunty, I'm here!" He said as he sat down on one of the chairs.

"Toh beta, what did you both make?" Aunty, asked smiling at me.

"Aunty, I made appam and vegetable stew. I hope you don't mind South Indian food. I didn't know how to make any North Indian dishes so..." I said, hesitantly.

"Beta, how can I not like it? You've made it with so much care..." She said, as she helped herself to the limited variety of food available on the table.

I looked at Manik's face, and he seemed disappointed. Of course! He didn't like South Indian food! How could I forget?

However, when he placed the first morsel in his mouth, his expression changed instantly. He seemed happy with the taste!

"It's very tasty, beta..." Aunty said, as she ate it eagerly.

"Seriously, I didn't know that South Indian food could taste so good!" Manik said, as he chomped on his food rapidly.

I was pleasantly surprised by his compliment and took a bite of the food myself.

Aiyappa, thank you! It tasted decent enough. I hadn't cooked in months. It was a miracle that the dishes had turned out well.

"Wow Manik! Looks like you've never eaten this dish made by Nandini before! I guess you still have to get to know many things about her!" Aunty said, in a cheeky voice.

Manik just smiled subtly and continued to eat.

"Waise...how did you both meet? Ek Tamilian aur ek Punjabi...it can't be an arranged marriage..." She asked, her eyebrows raised.

I nearly choked on my food as she spoke. Shit! What would we tell her now? I was terrible at making up stories.

"Aunty, actually it's a funny story! If it wasn't for Nandini's arranged marriage, we wouldn't have met in the first place!" He said, with a slight laugh.

What the hell was he saying? Aunty looked just as confused as me!

"Aunty, Nandini's marriage was originally fixed with someone else, whom she had never met before. When she finally decided to meet up with her fiancée, she mistook me for him!" He said.