Chapter 26 Tanisha
TANISHA
She wrapped her jacket around herself tighter, hunching in the corner of the damp, dimly lit room they’d made her wait in. Ignoring the lecherous gaze of the constable in the corner, Tani forced herself to take deep breaths and stay calm.
Outside the room, she could hear Vikram’s raised voice and she winced at the stress in it. Yelling wasn’t going to help. She knew that from experience. She’d learned it from watching her dad. The angrier he got, the quieter he got, the frost of his fury silencing the person instigating it.
She shivered, a sliver of fear working its way through. There was nothing to worry about, she told herself. Her dad would come and everything would get sorted. They’d be on their way home in no time.
There was a loud noise somewhere outside, a commotion that was building, a bundle of noise approaching the corridor leading to the room and then the door flew open, hitting the wall with a bang that startled her.
Vikram walked in, a senior officer and another strange man at his side. Tani got to her feet, slowly, wondering what was coming next.
“Let’s go,” Vikram said quietly, looking drained and exhausted. “It’s sorted.”
“S-sorted?” Tani asked, looking at the others.
The officer nodded. “Next time Madam, please use some common sense.”
It stung, the reprimand needling at the base of her pride but she swallowed it and nodded. “Thank you,” she said meekly.
Vikram stood back to let her precede him and she scurried out of the small, smelly room and into the long, smelly corridor. Vikram put a hand to her back and hurried her along, clearly as desperate to be out of here as she was.
“Who’s the other guy?” she murmured.
“Lawyer.” His answers were getting terser and terser.
Lawyer? She’d needed a lawyer? But they hadn’t done anything illegal, had they? They’d been riding bikes on the highway. Isn’t that what a highway was for? Okay, they were racing but then that was technically just riding fast. Her tired thoughts spun in endless circles.
“Enough,” she whispered to herself. “Where are the others?” she asked Vikram now.
“Outside.” Vik looked like he was unravelling at the seams, his very soul seeming to come unstitched.
Had something worse than her being detained in that room happened? But what? She couldn’t think of a thing.
“Are you okay?” she asked, as she spied the door to the outside world, the sky lightening in the early hours of dawn.
“Am I okay?” Vikram turned his head to glare at her like he was offended by the question. “Am I okay? No Tani, I’m not. Are you??”
His voice raised in disbelief as they walked out into the open, the crisp, fresh air striking her in the face. Tani was about to answer Vik, say something calm and soothing when she caught sight of the welcoming committee waiting for her.
Rehan, still wearing her sash and tiara, sat glumly on the pavement, Vedu and Kimi huddled beside him, Advik to their right.
But it was the person standing beside them, leaning against a cherry red Porsche, who caught her eye.
The icy glare he levelled at her had her pausing mid stride. Oh no, she was definitely not okay.
“Vik,” she whispered out of the side of her mouth.
“Hmm?”
“Kabir’s here.”
Vikram shot her an irritated glare. “I know,” he gritted out. “I called him.”
“You did?” She couldn’t look away from Kabir, her gaze snared in his, a rabbit sighting a predator, one that was on the prowl. “Why?”
“Why?” Vikram’s voice rose again. “Because I needed help to get you out of that fucking mess. Who do you think organised the lawyer and talked the cops into dropping this shit?”
“I thought you,” she said in a small voice. “Or maybe the parents, yours or mine?”
“The parents? I didn’t want to die tonight,” he said, his voice annoyed. “For fuck’s sake, Tani, let’s just go home, please?”
He marched down the few stairs that led to the road.
Kimi and Vedu ran up to hug her and Tani opened her arms wide, allowing them to huddle closer, allowing relief to take the place of the anxiety that had flooded them all over the past few hours.
Advik walked over to hug her too and she patted his cheek gently in comfort.
She could feel Kabir’s gaze burning into the side of her face, a laser of anger and hurt.
Tani looked over to where an embarrassed Rehan met her eyes and mouthed an apology.
She smiled a little, forgiving him. Her brother had a big heart, a big personality, and only a smidgen of common sense. But she loved him to pieces anyway.
And he’d certainly given her a memorable bachelorette party, tailored perfectly to her love for superbikes.
Bachelorette party…shit, she was getting married in two days. Today was meant to be the mehndi. Her rebellious gaze shot back to Kabir, no matter how hard she tried to stop it. He didn’t look away, holding her gaze with enough heat to melt her flesh off her bones.
Fatigue had her swaying on her feet. She wasn’t sure when she’d eaten last, her head feeling fuzzy and foggy.
Vedu wrapped an arm around her supporting her. “Let’s go,” she whispered. “I’m ready to be done with this horrible night.”
The lawyer walked up to Kabir, talking to him, and showing him some papers to sign.
Kabir didn’t even bother reading through them before scribbling his signature down on it.
Vikram’s car beeped open, and he held the rear door out, gesturing to Vedu and Kimi to get in.
Rehan had already slipped into the front passenger seat.
The girls hurried to get in at the back and Tani moved to follow them.
“Vik.” Kabir’s voice sliced through the early morning silence. Tani froze, her back to him, her hand reaching for the sanctuary of the car. “Tani will ride with me.”
Vikram nodded, not seeing anything unusual in the request. He slammed the door shut behind the girls and straightened.
“See you at home,” he said briefly, before getting into the car and driving off.
Leaving Tani still standing there, her back to Kabir and her desperate, frantic gaze on the car driving away from her and taking any hope of escape with it.
She heard a car door open behind her and she slowly turned, facing him. Kabir stepped back silently, holding his car door open, watching her.
“Shall we?” he asked, his voice deathly quiet.