Chapter 25

The old yet strong bolero raced along the highway spewing the air with dust and dirt in its wake. Inside the car, the mood was somber with the occupants displaying varying expressions. Bhim, his lips pressed into a straight line was contemplating on how to broach the subject of the prince in a subtle way so as not to make it more complicated or dramatic. Roopa on the other hand was chewing the inside of her cheek worried about what was going to happen at the palace.

When last night she had asked Leela to relay the message about wanting to speak to the prince after he returned, she had expected him to come seeking to hear what she wanted to say, to find out who the assailants were and to comfort her. She had waited to hear the sound of the car and when she heard it at last, kept looking at the doorway waiting to see the handsome face of Abhimanyu. Five minutes had passed. Then ten. Fifteen. Half an hour. Not only did the prince not come to meet her but he had left along with the burly man. She couldn't sleep most of the night partly due to the mosquitoes that bit her and partly due to her anxiety.

Even Leela was behaving strangely that morning, making her wonder if the old woman had noticed the earlier slip up about the name.

Bhim peeked at her from the corner of his eyes and cleared his throat, "I hope you are feeling okay Roopa ji," he said.

Roopa turned in his direction and gave a small smile. "Yes, I am much better. Thank you," she said adjusting the salwar to cover her bare feet. Leela had offered her spare slippers but she had refused owing to the fact that it was uncomfortable to wear anything on her feet at that moment. Back at the house she realized that she had lost more than just slippers. Her bag and phone had fallen somewhere in the way and she was quite sure that she would never see them again.

The bolero stopped. Either side of the road was deserted with only thorn plants growing in patches here and there. It was getting hotter by the minute and the dry desert air picked up the sand swiftly transporting it to places further. She looked at Bhim questioningly as the latter calmly got out of the car and walked to where she remained seated. He stood opposite to her, maintaining a considerable distance and crossed his hands positioning himself such that he was facing the barren desert. An unknown fear gnawed inside her as she regarded his grim profile.

"Let me get straight to the point," he spoke at last. "Yesterday was utterly childish but that wouldn't have bothered me if Yuvraj Abhimanyu's life was not in danger."

Roopa sucked in a breath at his words. She hadn't considered that possibility, as a matter of fact she hadn't considered any.

He turned to face her and continued. "If you are trying to catch his attention for selfish motives or hoping that you will somehow be a part of his life, then you are mistaken. As long as I am with him I will not allow anything or anyone to even touch a hair on his head."

This time heat coursed though her making her face red with embarrassment. She hadn't expected this kind of talk from the man. How the hell did he know?  she wondered scrambling to save herself.  "Are you threatening me?" she asked quietly.

'So she doesn't disagree,'  he noted. "No . . . this is an advice for you. Stop whatever you are doing or going to do. If I have to threaten then you will probably not recover from it." Bhim climbed into the car soon after and without another word turned the key, pressing the accelerator in irritation.

Roopa did not reply to Bhim but kept looking straight at the long road ahead. This was bound to happen, she realized. When was the path of love smooth? His words however seemed to loom in her head. Her heart started beating wildly when she considered the fact that if Bhim knew about her feelings for the prince, what about the man in question. Did he know too?

This filled her with more determination and her resolve firmed to prove him wrong, prove the world wrong and somewhere inside she wanted to even prove herself wrong.

Roopa was glad to see the familiar bend of the road appear. She just wanted to be out of the car. Bhim dropped her off at the staff quarters with the instruction that the prince would see her at sharp eleven at the palace. She hurried inside her room as fast as her injured feet could take her so that she could make herself presentable. Once inside she sat on a chair and lifted up her feet gently to peel off the dirty bandage. She was surprised to see that the wound on her feet was not as bad as she thought it would be though it hurt when she walked. Satisfied, she hurried to the washroom to take a bath. The cold water from the shower fell on her head making her let out a deep sigh. As the water washed the dirt and grime from her body, many questions that she had ignored or kept for later popped up one by one in her head.

Out of all, the most important one was why did Suraj tell her to wait at that place? Why didn't he come to pick her up or send a vehicle? Didn't he know how dangerous it was? Or did he do it knowingly?

She shook her head. No! That is not possible. No man can be that horrible. The only explanation she could come up with was that he was caught up with some urgent work. She couldn't call him either to find out the reason now could she? But she wanted answers and she would get them, she promised herself.

She came out of the bathroom quickly and spent almost five minutes hunting for a band-aid to nurse her feet. Not finding any she decided to get her feet dressed at the palace. She hurriedly donned a floral designed ankle length dress and plugged in the hair dryer to make sure her hair was somewhat dry and presentable.

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"Well, what do you think?" asked Virendra Singh to his daughter as she took in the huge two storied house in front of her. It was a chic building complete with a garden.

"Not bad," she replied immediately noticing that the house boasted of a balcony and a terrace. But nothing could beat the palace and its beauty and the quiet that it provided. Nandini knit her brows as an old image of another bungalow came to her mind. "Is this the same house that we used to come to when we were children?"

"No that was in Bandra. This is Juhu; can't you smell the sea?  We disposed the Bandra bungalow long ago but kept the one in Malabar Hill . . . I did not have the heart to dispose that. . . there are lot of memories associated with your mother at that place," he added as an afterthought.

"Let's go in?" said Nandini trying to sound enthusiastic and not wanting to go down that memory lane. The staff were gathered outside the door in attention. On seeing the maharaj and the princess, they bowed respectfully. Nandini was amused to see her maid along with the staff. She had failed to notice that her maid had been missing all these days back at the palace. Then her focus shifted to the guards.

"Father, do we need so many guards?" she inquired eyeing the ten muscular men.

"Of course, two are going to be with you at all times. The rest are for your security here." There was a finality in his voice and Nandini did not argue thinking she could deal with all that later.

As she shifted her focus to the other staff, her eyes fell on a lovely young woman standing in the far end of the line. Nandini's forehead scrunched as she scanned her from head to toe. She was wearing a grey skirt that came to just below her knee and a white shirt with a mandarin collar. Her hair was pulled up behind her in a tight pony tail. Her hands were demurely placed in front of her and her back was ramrod straight. What was surprising was the way the woman was looking at Nandini. There was a sharpness in her gaze and a proud tilt to her head that was unusual in young women.

"Who is that?" asked Nandini pointing to her.

Virendra Singh smiled and beckoned the woman forward. "This is Vrushali, your companion."

"Good afternoon Princess."

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Roopa was in the hall anticipating for the prince to make an appearance. It was twelve – thirty and she had been waiting for one and a half hour already and her patience was wearing out. Every now and then her eyes strayed toward the stairs and finding no one there, looked away dejectedly. Sighing, she carefully moved her feet into a more comfortable position on the carpeted floor. She was grateful that Bhim had come back with the car with ten minutes to eleven, to take her to the palace. When they reached the palace, a maid was called by Keshav Satara to help her climb the stairs. Then she was offered drinks and breakfast which she declined. She couldn't eat or drink anything till she knew what the verdict was. Keshav looked at her with sympathy and censure. The story that was being spread amongst the staff was that she had gone for a walk and had strayed to a place which she did not know was dangerous. Thankfully no one had thought about why she went there in the first place when there were parks and gardens all around the palace.

The sound of shoes descending down the stairs was heard at the moment. Roopa's heart started beating at a faster rate. Abhimanyu climbed down the stairs and proceeded toward a door near the office room - which was an official meeting room of sorts - ignoring her. Bhim followed close behind and went inside the room with the prince. After few seconds he came out and stood in front of her.

"Hukum will meet you now," he said.

Roopa started walking slowly not wanting to irritate her feet any further. But in reality she wanted to take time to form answers to the possible questions that he might pose.

"Do you need help? Shall I call a maid?" asked Bhim.

Roopa simply shook her head still upset with his earlier talk. When she reached the door she knocked on it.

"Come in," his voice sounded from inside and she gulped.

She pushed the door tentatively and closed it behind her. The sight in front of her took her breath away. The dark blue button down shirt, light blue jeans and messy hair made him look sexier than ever. Her step faltered but she recovered soon enough.

"Sit," he pointed to a chair in front of him. The large table in between then did not seem like a obstacle at all for her. In fact, she felt this moment was the closest she had ever been with him.

"What were you doing in that place?" The sudden question jolted her. She racked her brains for an apt reply.

"I-I just went for a w-walk sir," she replied

He tilted his head to a side. "You are telling me Ms. Sharma that you walked for two hours? . . ."

"N-no sir," she quickly interrupted. "I-I was in the town b-but then I-I just took a rickshaw to that p-place."

He watched her in silence. "Do you want to tell me anything else?"

Roopa considered the question for quite some time. "N-no sir," she finally replied feeling her hands go cold.

Abhimanyu leaned forward placing his strong arms on the table. She followed the motion with her eyes greedily taking in the way the muscles of his arms flexed and the material of his shirt stretched tightly across his shoulders giving her a glimpse of dark mass of hair on his chest. Her body swayed and she covered it up by coughing violently.

He quietly reached for the bottle of water on the table and pushed it toward her. She grabbed it and took a swig hastily and placed it back on the table again.

After a minute he began, "Your services at Vilaspore are no longer necessary."

The single sentence drained all colour from her face. When she was about to interrupt he held up his hand. "Let me finish," he said.

"There isn't enough work at Vilaspore for someone of your caliber . . . however if you are ready to shift to Mumbai, I can put you up at my office. I am leaving for Mumbai in few hours, so before that I need a response -----"

She could not believe it and she did not need time. "Yes . . ." she said hurriedly the dejection turning to jubilation. "I-I am ready sir. I can shift to Mumbai. Thank you . . . thank you sir!"

"Alright, then I will see you on Monday. Bhim will accompany you to Mumbai."

Roopa's head was going dizzy with happiness. She did not understand anything except for the fact that she would be starting work in Mumbai much closer to her prince. Abhimanyu had left immediately after that and as she was walking out of the door Bhim appeared with her hand bag and phone. Today was a day of miracles she told herself. She took her things from his hands and walked toward the office to clear her stuff.

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Abhimanyu gazed at the garden from his office on the first floor. Beside him Bhim was intently looking at some papers and putting them away into folders.

"You want to say something Bhim!" said Abhimanyu not shifting his gaze.

"No hukum, I have nothing to say."

Abhimanyu smiled and took his seat on the leather chair and leaned backward. "The world is full of untrustworthy people Bhim. All have ulterior motives, agendas, greed, violence . . . what do you have to say about that?"

Bhim stopped stapling and looked at the prince. "That is how the world works hukum. But then we learn from our mistakes and sometimes we don't. We are ever evolving and that is life!"

The prince raised his brows in surprise. "I am amazed that you can speak such Bhim. However, with me it's the opposite . . ." his eyes blazed, "I don't make mistakes and I don't let others make mistakes in my life."

Bhim stood straight placing his right hand on his heart. "Hukum, I have been with you ever since you have saved my life. I owe my life to you and hence I will be with you and will follow you till my last breath. If I find any situation that can cause a problem for you, be sure hukum that I would eliminate it."

"Thank you . . . but, I can take care of myself." Bhim continued with his work while Abhimanyu closed his eyes for a second. "Ms. Sharma is starting her job at Taurus from Monday. You know what to do."

"Hukum."

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"What is the need of a companion?" asked Nandini as she sat sipping a cup of her favourite coffee. She had refused lunch as she was feeling queasy from the travel. Her father was sitting beside her on the sofa making calls.

On hearing the question he looked at his daughter incredulously. "How can I let you live here all by yourself? If Vikram were here then it would have been a different thing altogether. Anyways, he is coming soon so let her be here till then at least."

The second part of the sentence caught her attention. "Bhai sa called?" she asked.

Her father smiled widely. "Yes just before we left from Jaypore. He promised he will come back as soon as possible." Nandini smiled back thanking her brother from the bottom of her heart. One small problem ended, but there were bigger problems, getting her brother back depended on the mercy of Abhimanyu.

She picked up her phone casually to see if Uday had sent the address of the doctor. Just then her phone rang and seeing the name on the screen she clenched her teeth. Placing the half empty coffee cup on the table she excused herself and went into the first room she came across.

"Yes?"

"Where are you?"

"Mumbai"

"Are you at the accommodation?"

"No! I am at Jaypore House"

"What the hell are you doing there? "

"What do you mean what I am doing here?"

"Just what I asked"

Nandini breathed in. "We just landed hukum. My father is here with me, how do you think I can leave from here?"

"I don't care."

"I did not expect you to!"

"Do you want me to come there and teach you manners?"

Nandini sighed. "I am sorry hukum."

Abhimanyu laughed. "Heavens! the princess is sorry! That is a first."

Nandini ignored the jibe. "Look, I just wanted to ask you about Vikram."

"What about him?"

"When are you getting him back . . ."

"Let me think about it."

"Please! I am doing everything you are asking me to. I have the right to know,"

"When you start your work and if  I am pleased with it I will think of it. Oh and by the way welcome to Mumbai, Princess Nandini."

"But . . ." before she could say anything else the line went dead.

After Abhimanyu hung up Nandini found a chair and sat on it before she could crumple to the ground. From his words she could make out that he was in the city. The realization that he could walk in anytime he wanted made her stomach turn.

Did she want to see him?

Monday!

She dreaded the day especially now that she was in Mumbai. When she was at Jaypore she did not think much of it maybe because of the physical distance between Vilaspore and Jaypore, but now she was going to see him, face to face in a day's time scared her. She said a silent prayer to the gods to give her strength to endure whatever was going to happen in her life from now onwards.

When she left the room, a shadow emerged from inside, watching her retreating figure with derision then Vrushali dialed a number.

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Dusk fell rapidly and Nandini retreated to her room on the top floor. After freshening up, she sauntered to the balcony to be greeted by the cool, salty breeze from the ocean. She had never been a fan of crowded places but this was something else altogether. Vrushali stood outside the door to the princess's room. She breathed in and out and plastered a fake smile on her face. Then she knocked once on the door and not receiving a reply quietly turned the door knob and entered.

"Good evening princess," said Vrushali with the fake smile. Nandini turned to face her leaning against the railing.

"Vrushali is it?"

"Yes ma'am," she answered boldly maintaining the proud tilt.

Nandini crossed her arms watching her closely. There was something wrong with her but she couldn't point out what. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get this job?"

There was no emotion of any sort on Vrushali's face when she answered. "His highness had inquired in his circles for a companion for the princess. I happened to be at the right place at the right time."

"Hmm . . . where did you work before this?"

"With the royals of Devnagar. I took care of their young children." Which was partly true, Vrushali told herself.

Nandini pushed herself off the railing and walked back to the room. "Come Vrushali sit, I need to speak to you."

Normally Nandini would have done whatever she wanted to do without giving any explanations but here it wasn't the case. She had to answer to her father and Nandini was sure that the whole companion business was so that he could know every minute detail of his daughter's life in a new place. All this could have been avoided if Abhimanyu would have just let her stay at Jaypore House but as she would be shifting places, she had no choice but to take Vrushali onto her side.

Vrushali left the princess's room after half an hour thoroughly confused and exhausted. Why on earth would Nandini want to leave the comfort of Jaypore House and stay at a cheap accommodation somewhere in Andheri. How was she to follow her if she did not stay here? She immediately fished out her cell phone from the pocket of her skirt.

"You just wouldn't believe what happened."

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Roopa hummed a tune as she packed her clothes into a suitcase. The pain in her leg had thankfully subsided. She couldn't wait to call her parents and her uncle. They would be over the moon at her achievement. In an hour the cupboards were all emptied and everything was packed. She went to take the phone kept on charge as the battery had completely drained off when she had dropped it. Switching it on with a smile, she was greeted by the familiar logo of the company. Immediately she dialed her parents told them the news. They were pretty excited for her but it was her uncle who was the most excited.

"So you are on the way to achieve your goal Roopa," he said pleased with his niece.

"Yes uncle! I will call you again with good news."

She spoke for some more time with her uncle asking after her aunt and the kids before hanging up. Then she casually glanced at her phone hoping to see the familiar face on the background. On not finding it she hurriedly clicked the gallery and started searching for his picture amongst other photos. After almost twenty minutes of wild searching she came to the grave conclusion - someone had deleted the picture from her phone and she knew exactly who the person was.