Chapter 6: Three by the Sea

Because I’d claimed I was going out to play, I still forced myself to pack. Trying to decide where to go. At first, I thought I’d run home and demand a breakup, but after last night’s strange dream and getting caught, I had to keep up the lie about a trip.

I kept folding and unfolding the same kurta, stuffing and un-stuffing the tiffin Dadi had packed for the journey.

“So, where are you going?”

Arjun showed up at the worst moment. The little black snake hissed and crawled over. He picked it up, letting it coil around his hand.

He looked at me. “Or did your friend bail on you?”

A perfect excuse. I nodded.

“Want me to go with you then?” he asked.

I was about to reply—

When a clear female voice cut in.

“Arjun.”

Priya, in her white dress, smiling like a flower, entered. Her payal tinkled, and the scent of mogra oil filled the room. “And Meera, packing up? Where are you two off to?”

My expression froze. I lowered my head and said nothing.

“I don’t know, her friend stood her up, so I said I’d go with her,” Arjun replied. “I was just asking where she wanted to go.”

Priya smiled. “Didn’t you say Meera’s never seen the ocean? Let’s go to the seaside—there’s a villa there too.”

“That works,” Arjun said. My head dropped even lower.

“Meera.”

Priya crouched down, poking my shoulder. “Come on, I’ll take pretty pictures of you. He’s a straight guy, what does he know?”

I looked up. There was no malice in Priya’s smile. The refusal caught in my throat.

“Pack your things,” Arjun had already decided. “I’ll book the tickets.”

So strange. An engaged ‘friend’ couple. A Priya who seemed to get along perfectly with my fiancé. The three of us, going to the seaside for a holiday—what kind of odd combination is this? Like the start of some TV serial Amma would shake her head at, muttering, “Yeh logon ko aur kuch kaam nahi hai kya?”

[No way, what’s going on here? Three people? Author, come out, we need to talk.]

Three of us, together by the sea? I couldn’t help wondering—would I finally find my courage, or just lose Arjun to Priya under the salty sky?