It had been 4 days since I had seen or heard from Vijay. For the first couple of days I tried to stay outside my house as long as I could so that I could avoid bumping into him & for the rest of the time I avoided walking down to his house which I so often did before our encounter. Even though I agree that my encounter with him was eye opening, mind boggling experience, but still being a traditionally nurtured girl, I still had an over weighing sense of guilt, shame and lots of confusing emotions about the incident.
There were still 4 days before my parents would arrive & till then I knew it would be difficult to stay away from my dear aunt & uncle who I depended upon to a great extent in the absence of my parents.
On Saturday though I had no where to go and I decided to stay put inside my house for the whole day. After having a shower, I sat in the living room watching TV and chatting with friends on Whatsapp, munching on chips as I usually did while watching a chick flick when the door bell rang. I sat up, a little surprised wondering who it could be. Vijay was still at the back of my mind but Vimal would be home today so he wouldn't dare come along and even if he did he wouldn't wait here for long.
I walked to the door and looked through the peep hole. Aunt Vimal was there at the other side of the door. Quietly thanking god I opened the door to welcome Vimal with a smile.
"Hi Beta..." Vimal greeted me in her usual loud and enthusiastic way.
"Hi Vimal..." I replied letting her into the house.
Vimal entered and spread her arms around me to hug me. I too embraced her tight as we usually did. Our hugs were usually very tight as if we had met after a long time even though we would meet almost every day and at times several times during the day.
"How are you Beta?" She asked me as she let go off me and started walking to the living room.
"I am fine Vimal, just chilling out." I replied. We walked into the living room and made ourselves comfortable on the couch. I muted the TV and we started talking.
"You haven't come to my house all these days?" Vimal asked me.
"Yeaah...aah.." I struggled to reply.
"What...is everything okay?" she asked seeming a little worried.
"Yeah Yeah...I am fine. It's just that I have been busy the whole week with lectures and study." I replied controlling my discomfort.
"Yeah but usually you join us for dinner when your parents are out of town. Then what happened this time?" She asked.
Now what was I supposed to tell her? I did actually go to her place to have dinner not because I was too lazy to cook for myself but because she cooked well and I didn't have to worry about cleaning afterwards.
"Yeahh...this time I had the company of my friends. Some or the other would be there with me during dinner." I gave her a reason.
Ohh...Okay...Well. I had sent your Uncle to check up on you a few days ago." She said as she stood up. 'Shit Shit Shit' I thought as a chill ran down my spine. Was she on to us? Did she know what happened that day? What will she do? What will I say? All such obvious questions came to my mind and I was lost in them. I saw Vimal speak something but couldn't really listen to her as I was so pre occupied with my exit strategy.
"Neha...." Vimal asked as she looked at me with a bewildered experession.
"Yeah..?" I asked as I back to my senses.
"I said that your Uncle told me that you weren't at home that day?" She said.
"Ohhh...Sorry...Yeah...Maybe..." I replied trying to act as normal as I could.
"Hmm...okay then I will go home now. I have a lot of work to do." She said as she started walking to the door.
"Join us for dinner tonight Neha." She said as she stood at the door.
"Ohh...No No...I am going out with my friends." I replied.
"Ohh C'mon Neha...you have been having dinner with your friends for the past 4 nights, you can have one with us tonight. After all we are as good as friends. Aren't We?" She said trying to coax me into joining them for dinner.
"Well...I don't want to impose..." I replied, trying to wriggle my way out of it.
"What...What is the matter with you? Why are you being so formal all of a sudden?" She said loudly. Her reaction was not surprising; after all I had never been even close to being formal or hesitant to go to their place or be with them.
"Hehe...Okay...I will come tonight." I said. I had no way to refuse. It would be too strange to say no like this.
"Alright, we will meet you at 8." She said as she stepped outside my house. I closed the door and slowly walked towards my bedroom.
'Ding Dong...' the bell rang as I stood outside Vijay and Vimal's house. They had invited me over for dinner but I hadn't bothered to dress up properly. I was wearing a simple blue T shirt and a pair of shorts. I had worn a pull over because it was a little chilly.