Chapter 44: chapter 44

Chapter Forty FourYash stepped aside to let Maya walk into the house. She was limping more than normal, he noted. This trip over to Il Cuore must have taken a toll on her. Everybody sat down uncomfortably in the spacious living room not making eye contact with each other. Aakash stood in a corner looking like a serial killer about to go on a rampage. Yash had barely had time to reach and settle into his room before the others had arrived. He could have stayed in his room and avoided this wonderfully awkward scene but knowing Maya was around and not wanting to be near her was like asking him to go a day without breathing. Yash noticed that none of the elders were in attendance, at least today. A fact that he was grateful for since it meant his mother wasn’t going to appear suddenly and corner him into a reconciliation. He tuned back into the conversation swirling around him. “We’re not doing any traditional rituals this time,” Aayushi was saying. “We’re just going to spend time getting to know each other.”“Why?” Karam asked baldly. “What’s the point of it?” “The point is that Vikram loved us all. Each one of us in this room. And to honour his memory, his loved ones are going to get along and put all our past animosity behind us,” Aayushi said with a fierce glare that Karam returned in full measure. “Have you told Shrek here that?” Kanak asked, jabbing a thumb towards Aakash whose frown got even more ferocious at the barb.Yash hid a smile wondering what he was doing here again. He hadn’t known Vikram. His relationship with Aakash had grown in the last few years after Vikram had passed in that tragic accident. And yet, when Aayushi had asked him to come, he hadn’t been able to refuse. His gaze went to Maya’s tired but smiling face and down to the foot she was trying to massage unobtrusively. “Maybe we should all go to our rooms and unwind for now?” Yash suggested. “We can meet again in the evening for drinks and dinner.” Maya dropped her hand from her foot and shot him a grateful look that he pretended not to see. The others wandered off with Aayushi who was showing them to their rooms leaving Aakash and Yash behind.Yash watched Maya and her floor length green dress disappear from sight, the now familiar sense of loss enveloping him again.  “You’re going to spend the rest of your life like Devdas or actually tell her how you feel?” Aakash asked, sardonically.“I did tell her,” Yash replied. “Damn. Good for you.” Aakash slapped him on his back with enough force to send him flying face first. Yash stumbled forward a step before catching himself.“No,” he corrected. “Not good for me.”“What do you mean?” Aakash was back to frowning. “She walked away without saying anything.” This time even the formidable Aakash Thakkar couldn’t think of a thing to say. Yash smiled humourlessly. Because really, there was nothing to say. “I’m going to go get some work done in my room,” he told Aakash now. He didn’t have work to do but he’d manufacture some if it meant not having to look at the sympathy on his friend’s face. Yash wandered off in the direction of the front garden wanting some space and fresh air to clear his head. He was halfway to the gazebo when he saw her. She was leaning against a pillar and staring out at the spectacular view of the vineyards.And yet, there was something intrinsically sad and lonely in every line of her body. And he being the stupid sap he was couldn’t stay away from her…not when she looked like that. “Why aren’t you resting in your room?” he asked, wincing internally at the brusqueness in his own voice.Maya started, turning slowly to face him. “I was too restless to deal with Kanak chattering in my ear about Aakash’s many, many wrinkles that are bound to appear from incessant frowning.” Yash pinched his lips together to keep from smiling. He looked out at the grapevines that stretched out as far as the eye could see. What must it be like to have that kind of a legacy handed to you? To have that kind of backing, of support so no matter how hard you fall, you’re still okay? And yet, for all that backing, the Thakkar family had certainly faced more than their share of grief and pain. “I owe you an explanation,” Maya said, drawing his gaze back to her. “No.” Yash stiffened up. He didn’t need her reasons or her pity. He needed to be left alone to deal with his feelings and hopefully, one day, squash them into nothingness. “Yash, please…”“No,” he repeated, backing up. “We are not talking about this.”She stopped talking, her stormy eyes clashing with his own annoyed ones.“Is your foot okay?” he asked her. “What?” she replied, looking confused by the change in subject.“Is your foot okay?” he repeated. “Do you need help getting back to the house?” Maya stiffened. “No, I don’t need help.” “Then, I’ll see you later with the gang.” And with another stiff nod in her direction, he walked or almost ran towards the safety of the house and his room. To hell with space and fresh air if it meant also listening to her detail all the reasons why she could never be with him. He’d lock himself in his room until the rest of the horde emerged. Whoever said there was safety in numbers knew exactly what they were talking about.