Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Sinking Hearts

"Do you love him?"

Payal glanced at Khushi, who was standing in her doorway, fully dressed. "I don't know what love is," she answered as she slipped on her shoes. She grabbed her dupatta and bag and brushed past Khushi to their dining room.

"But you like him," insisted Khushi, taking a seat across from her.

Payal poured herself a cup of tea and reached for some toast. "Where's Buaji?"

"At the neighbors. Their daughter's in-laws are coming over and she went over to help."

"You made breakfast?"

"Yes and stop changing the subject."

"What subject?"

"Akash Singh Raizada. How deep are your feelings for him?"

"Why does it matter? You saw how his brother's behavior firsthand yesterday. His family will never accept me."

"That's not what I'm asking. If you and your Akash Sir like each other--"

"I don't know."

"You don't know if you like him?"

"I don't know if he likes me. And frankly, I don't want to know. We can't be together. Even if Arnav Sir agreed to our relationship, it wouldn't matter. All of our office knows about Akash Sir's mother and how class conscience she is. So if he actually liked me back, that would just make things worse."

"So that's it then," Khushi tried to control her rising temper. "I saw you during the Diwali party, Payal. I've never seen you happier. And you're just going to give that up."

WIth a sigh, Payal got up. "Eat something, Khushi. You're getting late." With that Payal took her dishes to the kitchen before grabbing her bag and going out to catch a Rickshaw.

***

Payal couldn't find the designs that she had been working on yesterday. She had left them in a neat pile on her desk the night before but now the whole pile was missing. She'd turned her little cubicle inside out but there was no sign of them. Currently, she was on her knees, head underneath her desk trying to see if they had somehow fallen there.

"Ms. Payal?"

Oh no. Payal shut her eyes tightly for a moment but when she opened them again, she was still there under the desk. So this wasn't a nightmare. Perfect.

Slowly, she backed out from under the desk and lifted her head up to meet Akash's bemused gaze.

"Yes Sir?"

"Is everything okay?"

She cleared her throat. "Everything's fine. Um...I left some designs on my desk yesterday and I think they fell or something so I was just--"

"We have them."

"Sorry?"

"Yesterday, after you left, Di and Bhai and I had a look at them. I'll let Di know that you want them back. But first, I wanted to return this." He held out a crumpled sheet and Payal's heart sank as she took the sketch she'd made of him. "I'll see you later," he said, as if he hadn't just handed her solid proof of her feelings for him.

Payal watched Akash walk out of view before sinking into her chair. He crumpled the sketch. Did that mean he was mad? But why hadn't he said anything? She shook her head. What did any of this mean?

Desperate, she sent Khushi a text. Can you talk right now?

The reply came within seconds. I'm in court all morning--jury selection. I'll call you during lunch break.