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Bemused, Raashi looked around her before realising that yes, these girls were, in fact, talking to her. Or rather, cursing at her.
“Who do you think you are to talk to him like that? You don’t even deserve to be in the same room as him.”
Before Raashi could wrap her mind around the whole befuddling conversation, her mother walked up with a gold tissue saree.
“I am buying this for you, Chinna,” she said, oblivious to all the drama playing out around her as she draped the saree over Raashi’s sweatshirt. “It will look very nice.”
“Amma.” Raashi pushed the saree aside and pulled her mother to one side, slightly behind her. Those girls looked a tad unhinged and the Gaddes didn’t wander around with intimidating looking security guards like the Kodelas. “Let’s go.”
“Go? Why?” Her mother frowned. “I haven’t even paid for all this.”
A loud crack sounded in the showroom as pain exploded across Raashi’s right cheekbone. She stared disbelievingly at the crystal studded gold slipper that had hit her in the face. It slipped down her body and landed on her foot. Slowly, she looked from the slipper to the girls. Most of them looked scared now except for one who stared back at her defiantly.
“Security! Manager!” her mother shrieked even as Raashi’s hearing took on a tinny sound.
“You deserved it,” the defiant one said, though she was looking a lot less sure of herself as the seconds ticked by. Staff were rushing in from all sides, taking the girls to one corner as the manager tried to calm Raashi’s mother down.
Something trickled down Raashi’s cheek. She touched her fingertips to it, and it came away red. Blood, she thought numbly, she was bleeding.
“Ram. Ram!”
It took her a moment to realise her mother had dialed her brother. “Amma no,” she whispered. Her brother was in court. She didn’t want to disturb him. Raashi hated being a nuisance. And this…she still didn’t know what the hell had just happened.
But it brought back memories, so many memories. Her mind shied away from it, protecting her, stuffing it all back into the box she’d left it in.
One of the store’s staff came up to her with a first aid kit and guided her to a stool near the sales counter. She went numbly, sitting quietly as the girl cleaned out the wound and applied some disinfectant before sticking on a band aid. Raashi caught sight of her white face in the mirror her mother had been draping a saree on herself just seconds before.
What was happening? What was –
Before she could finish the thought, the cavalry swept in. Veda arrived with enough safari suited men to terrorise a small country. Her sister had brought an army. A sudden sob caught in Raashi’s throat, but she forced it down. She wouldn’t cry, she reminded herself. Never again.
“We’re going to file charges,” Veda told the manager who nodded tight lipped. “I want the details of those girls handed over to my people.”
Raashi looked over to where Defiant Girl was crying now, looking lost and more than a little scared. No tears, she wanted to tell her. Never show weakness. But her words wouldn’t come. They were stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t force them out.
Veda wrapped an arm around Raashi and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go,” her sister said, ferocity darkening the words.
“Akka,” Raashi managed to say, a broken whisper. “No charges.”
“We’ll see,” Veda answered grimly, in full warrior mode. “Let’s go.”
And with that they swept out of the store, leaving complete chaos behind.
“I want to know how the hell this happened?” Veda was snapping at someone on the phone. “Anna, we’re going to sue the damn store and everyone in it.”
No. No. No. Raashi wanted to curl up into a little ball and disappear. Too many people were looking at her, too many people were talking about her. Too many, too much.
“Where are we going?” Her mother’s confused voice reached her through the noise in her head.
“Kodela House,” Veda said grimly. “We’re going to fix this mess tonight.”
Nine
HARSH
“So, you need a fake girlfriend?” Aarush grinned.
“Ugh.” Harsh groaned. “Could you please not mock my problems?”
