Chapter 9: chapter 9

Chapter Nine“You’ve already taken one family member from them. Let’s not ruin another.” Was it bad form to stab someone with your fork during breakfast? Maya pondered that and other such deep questions as she glowered at Yash across the breakfast table. They were joined by Aakash and Ved. Everybody else seemed to be still asleep. “Maya,” Ved muttered under his breath.“What?” she asked, chewing on a crispy sliver of dosa and thinking of how she could add some tabasco to Yash’s Pongal without anyone noticing. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a bad idea.” Maya batted her eyelashes at him, trying to look innocent and failing miserably. Across the table, Yash’s spoon clattered to his plate. She glanced over to see him glowering at him. She raised an eyebrow, popped another piece of dosa in and chewed noisily. Aakash looked up frowning at her bad manners. Ved elbowed her, hard enough to make her stop chewing and reach for a glass of water. “There is a tour of the vineyard planned for this afternoon if you all would like to join?” Aakash said, sounding like the words were being forced out of him at knifepoint. She was about to decline politely when Aayushi swept into the room all bright smiles and sweet words. In the ensuing melee, Maya focused on finishing the dosa she had left on her plate before excusing herself from the table to wash her hands. She was just turning from the pretty pink and white sink when she bumped into someone. She looked up and into Yash’s judgmental eyes.Maya sighed. “Yes? How can I help you?” “It was a mistake,” he ground out.“What was? The tasteless Pongal? That awful green shirt you’re wearing? Your existence?” she guessed. If it had been possible for his head to explode, Maya was sure this was the moment it would have. “The kiss,” he ground out. “It won’t happen again.”“So, you won’t be joining our orgy then?” she pouted. “Karam will be so disappointed. He was wondering if you were a top or bottom.” “Stop it,” he hissed. “Do you have no sense of decorum? We are here for a memorial service. To honour your friend!” “The one I killed,” she reminded him of his accusation the previous night. To her complete surprise, Yash flushed at her bitter statement. “I owe you an apology for that,” he muttered. “That was out of line.” Out of line? An apology? Had she stepped into an alternate dimension? Maya blinked at him, words failing her. “Look,” he said, gruffly. “We have some history that obviously makes it hard to be around each other but surely, we can manage to be civil for the duration of this weekend. It’s not like we’ll see each other again after this.” And in that second, she got a glimpse of the man she’d thought she’d known. The one she’d assumed she’d be marrying. The one who’d abandoned her at her weakest, she reminded herself. “The kiss was a mistake,” she acknowledged, the urge to taunt him disappearing. “I’ll keep my lips to myself if you would be kind enough to do the same.” He smiled, the tight lines of his face easing up. “Sounds good. Will you be joining the vineyard tour?” Maya shook her head. “It might be a little too much walking for my leg.”His smile vanished. “It still hurts? Even after all these years?” His fake concern was like an itch under her skin. “Don’t do that,” she snapped. “Don’t pretend to care.” His face closed up again. “I don’t pretend, Maya. That is more your skillset than mine.”What the fuck? What did he just say to her? Maya was about to eviscerate him with her words when his mother walked into the corner of the hall they were huddled in. “Yash,” she snapped. “Come here. I want to talk to you.”“Go on, boy,” Maya said, softly, the words only reaching his ears. “Heel.” If looks could kill, she would be bleeding out on the floor right about now. “I just spoke to Aayushi’s mother and we’ve organized a romantic lunch for both of you at one of the gazebos in the vineyard.” She fluttered around him, patting his ugly green shirt down and smoothening non-existent wrinkles. “It will give you both some privacy and time to get to know each other and see how perfect you are together.” BB shot Maya a vicious look with that last statement. Maya grinned at her even though a flutter of disquiet moved through her at the thought of Yash and Aayushi together. What did she care? Yash was a part of her distant past. An arranged match gone wrong. “Perfect,” BB repeated again. “The two of you will be perfect together.”“Oh I don’t know about that,” Maya drawled, just to be difficult. “Personally, I think Aayushi deserves better.”“Nobody asked for your filthy opinion,” BB hissed. “What are you doing here anyway?” Maya held her hands up, palms out. “I was just washing my hands post breakfast. Your son and you followed me in.”“As if we would,” BB sniffed. “Come on Yash. Let’s go.” She was dragging him along, practically towing him. Maya giggled, the sound seeming to infuriate the woman. “Yash, I’ll see you later in my room,” she called out. “Post your romantic lunch.”BB came to an abrupt halt. “For what? Why are you going to her room?” she snarled, her arm still clenching on her son’s bicep. Yash closed his eyes in defeat. “We were planning an intimate get together with my friends,” Maya said. “Yash was going to join us. We figured he was more of a bottom.” “No, I was not,” Yash said, finally entering the ridiculous conversation. “Stop it, Maya.” “A bottom what?” his mother demanded. “My son is never at the bottom of anything!” He ground his thumbs into the corners of his eyes. “Ma, forget it. Let’s go.” “A bottom what??” his mother shrieked. “I want to know what this woman is talking about.” Maya decided to be helpful. “So when you have a-““MAYAAAA,” Yash roared, the sound silencing both the women.  “Enough,” he said, his voice milder but slicing through the room like a sword. “Both of you.” Maya subsided. It was always wise to retire from the battlefield before you pushed your opponent into a mental breakdown.