Nandana passes through the clustered guests who are enjoying the evening. Aditya has tried to keep it simple and cosy with limited invites, however, it is not a less than hundred people affair. Waiters and butlers are giving full attention to their job to serve and please the guests. Nandana roams his eyes around in search of Aditya and locates him with some business partners. Aryan’s words are still boring in her head but somehow, they touched her consciousness. Is she really a trophy for Aditya? Did he marry her because he wanted to own her? Suddenly she urges some alone and silent time. Aditya is not around. She can easily go upstairs and take some rest. Her temples are throbbing. Mini is with Rishi. She also has to check on them. Nandana gallops the stairs and comes to the first-floor landing but an unusual sight makes her pace halt. She saunters to the room door where a girl is standing. It seems that she is peeping through the ajar door and something interesting has grabbed her attention. Nandana clears her voice and softly utters while nearing the girl’s shoulder.

“Ahem…the party is downstairs. Are you looking for anything?”

The girl gets startled and flips in haste. Surprise and fright are palpable in her wide-open eyes.

“Ohhh…I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

Nandana tries to calm her down. For the first time, she notices her face. Navya Mehta. Aabir Dhawan’s PA. Works in Dhawan industry. Aditya has already introduced her. However, it was just a brief greeting and smile exchange.

“Yeah…yeah…I am fine. Actually, I should have apologised. I needed to use the washroom and I came here wandering. I…I am sorry.”

Navya sounds sheepish. Nandana smiles at her hard gesture over a trivial matter.

“No issues. Come. You can use my washroom. Come!”

She grabs her wrist and almost pulls her inside the bedroom. Navya follows her with a hesitant pace. Stepping inside, Nandana shows her the bathroom door. Navya smiles softly and approaches that direction in a slow gait. But before that, she glances at something on the wall on the top of the settee. Nandana observes her look. It’s a black and white photograph of Aditya and hers. She was 8th months pregnant with Mini and Aditya was cuddling her from behind. An adorable and beautiful moment no doubt.

“Was Navya looking at this through the ajar door?”

Nandana’s mind questions her. They just met today. Maybe she is just curious about them. Nandana shrugs the thought. In fact, she likes the girl. A perfect combination of elegance and simplicity. Click…the bathroom door opens and Navya steps out.

“We couldn’t talk much that time. Would you mind sitting here? Let’s have some coffee.”

Nandana suggests. Navya smiles at her softly and slouches on the settee with an approval shrug. Nandana orders two cups of coffee through the intercom. In the past 1 and a half years, she has become habitual with all these luxuries and rules. Sometimes this house seems like a hotel to her. Luxurious but lacking affinity.

“This photograph is beautiful. By the way, where is your daughter?”

Navya asks with eagerness. Nandana perches beside her and replies with affection,

“She is with my brother. Like me, she also doesn’t like parties. If she had been downstairs, the party would have definitely been under the storm. Ha..ha…”

“Ohh…that’s why you came here? You don’t like the crowd?”

Navya places her query. Nandana’s forehead furrows for a second. Aryan’s pinching words freshly resonate in her ears.

“Not really! Ummm…I wanted to avoid some people who are very close to Aditya. You know sometimes we can’t go with our choice.”

The bitterness catches Navya’s attention. She noticed Nandana sitting with Aarav, Aliya and Aryan. Is she indicating to them? But before she can say something, Nandana mouths in a razor-sharp tone,

“I wanted to avoid Aryan Khurana. He is nothing but a rude, arrogant and insolent person according to me. But as I said, sometimes you can’t go with your choice. He is Aditya’s best friend and I am the unlucky host of this party.”

Nandana’s straight-away revelation imposes a different impact on Navya. Till now, she considered Nandana a sweet, delicate and simple person whose world revolves around her husband Aditya Oberoi. However, this girl has a hidden fire. She instantly feels an urge to know more about Nandana. Navya replies carefully,

“We can go with our choice if we actually have any.”

Her voice had something which makes Nandana look into Navya’s eyes instantly. They are shining with eyeliner and mascara but if we notice minutely, they have shadows of sadness. Suddenly Nandana shoots out of context,

“Why were you staring at this photograph?”

She observes the shadow of sadness becoming deeper in Navya’s eyes. She parts her lips when a soft knock breaks the silence of the moment.

“Come in please.”

Nandana cries and sits squarely on the couch. One of the servants enters with a trolly.

“Rishi baba was asking for you, Ma’am. Mini baby is crying.”

The servant informs. Nandana gets up like a torn bow and without addressing anybody, bails out of the room. Being flabbergasted, Navya keeps sitting for a while and then heads downstairs.

.....................................

“Ohhh…no…no…you are feeling hungry, Baby? Wants Mamma? No…baby….don’t cry.”

Nandana tries to cajole her daughter. Mini slows down her pitch and nestles to her mother’s chest. She needs her milk. Nandana looks at Rishi who is now looking at both of them with guilty eyes. Maybe he is blaming himself for Mini’s discomfort. Nandana settles on the bed and starts feeding Mini.

“Rishi…Dr Smith is downstairs. You wanna meet?”

Nandana asks her brother. Rishi wobbles in denial and bends his head. Nandana observes her brother. Rishi has improved a lot but still, he avoids the crowd. He beckons him to come closer. Rishi nears her and settles beside her. Nandana shackles him with his shoulder and asks in a tender voice,

“Rishu…You miss Papa and Maa, right? You are not happy here?”

Rishi doesn’t lift his face and replies in a staccato,

“Maa…Papa…Nick…I won’t go…”

Still, he can’t construct a full line with proper meaning. However, he converses with separate individual words. Only Aditya and Nandana can decode them. Nandana’s forehead lines with doubt.

“Why don’t you want to go? You love Maa, Papa, right?”

She again enquires. Rishi looks at her. His eyes have pain.

“Love…Nick…won’t go.”

He mouths in a shaky voice. Lines on Nandana’s forehead become deeper. A doubt peeks in her mind. She asks in a suspicious tone. Maybe she wants a no from Rishi this time.

“Did Aditya ask you not go to there? Rishi, did he forbid you?”

This time Rishi doesn’t gesture any yes or no. He utters with a choked voice,

“Nick…won’t go. Love…Nick.”

Fire flickers in Nandana’s eyes. That means her doubt is right. Aditya has convinced Rishi to not go to India. And he may be emotionally blackmailed him in the name of his love. Enough! He can’t do this. She has to confront him. Nandana looks at Mini. She has fallen asleep after getting satisfied with her mother’s warmth and food. Nandana lies down Mini gently on the mattress and gets up. She looks at the clock. It’s about to strike nine.

“Rishu, have your dinner and go to sleep. I will take Mini when the party is over. If she again gets up then inform Ramu as you did earlier. Okay?”

She instructs and tenderly caresses Rishi’s cheeks. It’s quite late. Aditya must be looking for her. She heads downstairs.

.........................................

As she covers the entire staircase and steps on the ground floor, the whole building sinks into pitch-black darkness. Power cut is rare here. It may be some in-house problem. Nandana tries to switch on the mobile torch when a strong hand pulls her to a corner.

“Aditya…he won’t change.”

Her mind whispers. But in the next second, her conjecture turns wrong when the person palms her mouth and whispers against her ear in a raspy tone,

“You are beautiful, Nandana. I can die for you and even kill for you.”

Nandana’s every pore becomes alert. This is not her Aditya. It’s neither his touch nor his voice. She struggles under his tight grip. He again murmurs,

“You will be mine, Nandana. Very soon.”

Saying this, he trails his lips along her earlobe. She flinches in disgust and starts sweating helplessly. Her nape gets stiff in fear. Suddenly the pressure on her mouth and hand gets released. The chaotic sound coming from the party hall invades her ears. All of a sudden, the entire house dazzles with lights. The electricity has come. Nandana looks around with scared eyes. Nobody is there. She licks her dried lips and rubs her wrist where he gripped.

“Aditya….where are you?”

She lets out a crying voice.