Chapter 23
Sameer opened the door to his home and walked straight into his mom, dad and sisters at the dining table, eating breakfast. There was a sudden hush in their conversation as they saw him.
He looked at his watch and groaned. It was eleven in the morning on a Sunday.
Obviously, his family would be at the breakfast table and here he was in last night’s clothes, his jacket swung over his arm and Raashi’s soft scent draped over him.
His sisters assessed him from top to bottom before they exchanged a very meaningful look with one another.
Bloody Hell! He never did stuff like this in front of them.
He had never stayed the whole night with any woman prior to this.
He would always return home no matter how late in the night it was.
But now he wanted to spend all his days and nights with Raashi.
Leaving her this morning had been so hard.
In the end, he had stayed for breakfast with a promise to meet her after an hour.
During breakfast they had discussed how to tackle their friends and family.
Raashi had missed calls from both Keya and Sheena, but she hadn’t returned their calls.
Both Sameer and Raashi wanted to keep themselves a secret for a while.
They had found each other after so long that they wanted to simply be alone without the need to answer questions posed by anyone.
Sameer brought his mind back to the present where four pairs of eyes were watching him carefully.
He walked up to his sisters and kissed the tops of their heads before grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl.
“Are you just returning home?” his mom finally asked him.
He nodded taking a bite of the apple.
His father raised his eyebrows and gave him a knowing smile, no doubt understanding the situation for what it was. He then picked up the newspaper in front of him and got busy reading it.
“You partying so late these days?” His mom asked him looking up at the clock.
“Where were you last night?” Shauna probed before he could reply to his mother.
“Yeah,” Rhea piped in. “You came late to Sheena’s party. We saw you. And then you disappeared and no one knew...”
Shauna interrupted her twin. “Correction! Kabier and Rishi obviously knew but they spoke over and around the topic as usual when we asked them.”
Sameer remained silent, biting into the apple again, refusing to reply.
“See,” Shauna said, “they only answer us with silence when they don’t want to tell us something.”
“Exactly,” Rhea continued, “I so hate it when they behave like that. ”
Sameer waved at them nonchalantly and turned to leave.
“Breakfast?” his mom asked.
“Already eaten,” he replied, bouncing the apple in the air as he went to his room. It took him less than fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed before he left home once again.
As the door shut behind him, Rita Sehgal turned to her husband, Jai, shocked. “Did he just leave again?”
“Looks that way,” Jai Sehgal replied, continuing to read his paper.
“What is going on with him?”
“Really, Mom? You are a mother of two sons and you don’t understand what’s going on?” Shauna threw her hands in the air dramatically.
“Duh, mom! He obviously spent the night with...” Rhea flicked a hand out, “you know...someone.”
Okay, Rita Sehgal thought. She knew both her sons were good looking and had a string of girls following them.
But Sameer was not the type to flaunt his relationships.
He always came home, even if it was very late at night.
This was the first time he was walking in home at eleven in the morning.
Did that mean he was serious about some girl now? She had to find out.
“I thought he called it off with Natasha. Is he seeing someone else now?” Rita asked, puzzled.
“Only one way to find out, mom,” Shauna pointed her finger upwards, her eyes dancing in mischief.
“You girls should really leave those boys alone. You are forever stepping in where it’s not needed,” Jai Sehgal said, folding his paper.
“Duh! No dad. They’re always meddling in our business, so the one time we get to interfere in theirs, we are not going to let it go,” Rhea said cheekily.
“Come on, mom!” Shauna insisted. “Let’s go get answers from the one person who will surely know.”
Jai Sehgal sighed. If the women thought they would get answers from his younger son about the older one, they were utterly mistaken.
His boys were close and they were thick as thieves.
Neither would tell on the other. It had been the same way since they were kids and now wouldn’t be any different.
He reluctantly followed the women of his house as they headed upstairs.
Rishi woke up to loud banging on his door.
“Go away! I need more sleep,” he yelled.
The knocking on his door increased. He groaned loudly, putting a pillow on his head.
He heard one of his sisters say, “Come on! Let us in. We need to talk.”
“I hate you two. Go back to London and let me sleep in peace. I returned home at six in the morning.”
He heard his sisters giggling. And then he heard his mother speak, “Well, at least one of my sons had the decency to return home.”
That woke him up. If Sameer didn’t come home last night, then it meant only one thing.
“Come on, Rishi, we need to talk,” his mother said.
Rishi sat up immediately and ran a tired hand across his face.
“Alright, wait,” he grumbled, getting off the bed to open the door.
His mom walked in, followed by his sisters and his father. He saw them settle comfortably in his room. His dad sat on the couch, Rhea on the dresser and Shauna on the edge of his bed. His mom, he noted, chose to stand.
“Are we having a family meeting in my room, now?” he asked them sarcastically.
“Yes,” his sisters said in unison, sounding very chirpy.
Rishi narrowed his eyes at them. “You two seem too happy right now, which means either Sameer is in trouble or I am. And since I am here and he’s not, I am presuming it’s him. So what is going on?””
His mom glared at him. “Sameer didn’t come home last night.”
A small smile played on his lips. About time his big brother got his life in order. Raashi was great for Sameer and he was happy that they were finally together. He saw his sisters eyeing him and he quickly straightened his face.
With a bored look, he remarked, “That’s strange, isn’t it?”
His sisters scowled at him.
“And he left again in fifteen minutes,” his mom said.
Rishi stretched his arms above his head, yawning.
“Something must have come up. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Who is she?” Shauna asked.
Rishi turned to her. “Am I supposed to understand that question?”
“Don’t play dumb with us. We know you know what’s going on with Sameer, so, who’s the girl he’s with?” Rhea asked from behind him.
“I am not saying anything to you at all.”
“See, he does know who Sameer is seeing,” Rhea stated.
Rishi folded his arms across his chest refusing to reply.
His father put a hand on his shoulder. “Do we need to be worried?”
“Not at all,” he told his father in all seriousness.
“Is she...” his mom started to ask a question but Rishi raised his hand interrupting her.
“Please, mom. I can’t. He will tell you when he is ready.”
“Well, ladies! I think you got what you came for. So, let’s leave the boy alone now,” Jai Sehgal said and ushered his women out of his younger son’s room.
Rita Sehgal turned to Rishi, her face etched with concern. But Rishi gave her an apologetic look and remained silent. Rhea and Shauna left the room giving him a sideward glance.
“We will find out,” Shauna told him on her way out.
Rishi shut his door and locked it. He was happy and excited about Sameer and Raashi.
But, knowing his mother and sisters, Sameer would have to tell them soon.
They were inquisitive and interfering. And once they suspected a woman was involved in Sameer’s life, they wouldn’t rest till they found out who it was.
He yawned and fell back on his bed falling asleep in seconds.