Dil Beparwah | ✔

twenty one

||CHAPTER 21||
《¤》

┊A R V I K A┊

Shifting residence and operations completely from Delhi to Mumbai was not a very well thought out plan on Ritwik's part, but knowing him, I knew it wasn't something that bothered him too much. Ritwik and Tanya's apartment was what you would get when an architect married a Bollywood actress. Chique, voguish, dramatic—except it wasn't Tanya who was the dramatic one in their relationship. Straightforward was the word for her.

Which was why I shouldn't have been surprised when she lowered her voice to speak to me. "Is this going where I think it is?"

Her eyes were on Karan. Animated as always when it came to cars and races, he was lounging in one of the bean bags, barfing at something Ritwik had to comment on the Irish team—his sore point. "He's never not grumpy about Francis Beethoven."

Her eyebrow perked questioningly as she poured more Pinot Noir into my glass. "You think I'm interested in his sob session?"

No one really was. I shrugged. "What are you talking about, then?"

I wasn't so dense as to not understand what she meant when she said, "This friends with benefit cycle you two have going on. Living together,  accompanying each other on work trips..."

...framing each other in garlands of gold to save ourselves. The liquor was hard to swallow, the truth pinching, and only a shade darker than what she was insinuating. We will need a distraction, Vika. A very good, consumable distraction.

It wouldn't come down to that, would it? Thoughts I couldn't risk, yet had to act upon. Forcing the wine down my throat, I willed myself to look at Karan without flinching. The endgame would work in his favor too, this wasn't me using him for my sake solely... was it? "Didn't realize it was that obvious."

Tanya had her arm resting on the headrest of the couch when I looked back at her, her passive aggressive stance tinged with an unusual smirk. I cleared my throat, changing the topic. "So... how's your best friend?"

Tanya was one of the few people who knew her as Arohi Gupta and not Sanaya, the movie star. It was uncanny and yet remarkable how our connections were in the same circle. I didn't know exactly how Ritwik and his wife first met, but it definitely wasn't Ishita's elder sister who introduced them. "Arohi is..." her lips pursed to the side, nose scrunching, "Juggling? Avoiding the media, avoiding calls, avoiding family, panicking. The usual actress dramatics."

Except it wasn't just the usual actress dilemma, and we both knew it. I hadn't seen Arnav since the catastrophic family dinner, and our calls had been brief and limited.

The incessant chiming of my phone, followed by the ringing distracted us from our friendly conversation. The ID belonged to the lesser insufferable cousin of mine, and I was almost grateful for being able to excuse myself.

"It's a school night, Mikhael. And exams chal rahe hai na tumhare? Exams ke beech ek aur birthday party?" Normally he would call me after sun down if he needed a ride home from a party he wasn't supposed to attend, but I wasn't going to shield him from Jolly Bua's wrath this time. I wasn't the quintessential kid growing up either, clearly.

"Naa toh mai kisi party mein hoon, aur naa hi mera koi exam hai kal." His voice sounded different—recently, it had been going through a number of changes and only puberty was to blame. "You really suck at keeping track of schedules."

Definitely did not need that reminder. "If you're trying to ditch another appointment with Dr. Panchal—"

"You took Mia with you, do I have any appealing place to hide now?"