Epilogue
“Vedika!”
The hissed whisper had her jolting out of sleep.
“Wha-“ she mumbled, looking around their darkened bedroom. “What’s happening?”
“Can you hear it?” Daksh asked, sitting up wild eyed on their newly acquired mattress that lay on the floor of their even more newly acquired home.
“What?” she asked, her brain foggy with sleep.
“That!” He scrambled up on the mattress, bouncing a little on his toes.
Vedika gaped up at him. “What is going on with you?”
And then she heard it. A tiny squeak.
“That!” Daksh yelped again. He launched himself at the switchboard and turned on the lights.
Vedika blinked as light flooded their new flat in Bandra, the one they’d moved into just the previous day. All they’d managed to unpack were their bedsheets, draping it over the mattress on the floor and falling asleep in the middle of their unboxed cartons of luggage. Which were now squeaking…
Another loud squeak, followed by a scuffling noise had Vedika getting to her feet, Daksh following behind her. She moved some boxes aside but she couldn’t see anything suspicious.
Daksh peeped over her shoulder. “Check that one,” he told her, pointing to a box in the corner, the one with her books.
“Why don’t you check it?” she argued, looking up at him. “And what the hell are you hiding behind me for?”
And then she felt it…something soft and furry, with tiny feet ran over her own tiny feet. Vedika screamed but it was nothing compared to the screaming that came from her ridiculously tall, muscled, hulk of a boyfriend.
She stopped screaming, gaping at the sight of him clambering up a still packed chair and standing on top of it, leaving her to her fate with whatever creature had just run over her foot.
“It’s a mouse!” he screeched, brandishing a packed lamp that he’d managed to snag on his upward climb of the chair.
The mouse, if that was what it was, had disappeared into the boxes again. Vedika put her hands on her hips and looked at the man on top of the chair, holding a lamp.
“You do know mice can climb chairs, right?” she asked, conversationally.
He shot her a dark look.
“And that you left me, the supposed love of your life, unprotected? Abandoned to the rodent?”
“You’re a woman of the twenty first century,” he muttered, slowly climbing off the stool, casting furtive looks around. She noticed he didn’t let go of the lamp. “I’m sure you can take care of a little rat.”
A giggle bubbled up inside her. “You’re scared of mice?” she asked, her lips tipping up in a grin.
“No,” he said, defensively, still wielding the lamp like a weapon.
“Call me Mouse again,” she teased. “I dare you.”
“Do I make fun of the stuff that frightens you?” he demanded.
She made squeaking noises at him, struggling to control her laughter. “Are you scared of me? Your Mouse?”
He gave her one last, dark look before smiling reluctantly. “I was terrified of you in Goa,” he admitted, “which is where the nickname originated. Feral rodent.”
She chuckled, leaning in to kiss him. Their lips had barely touched when the mouse made a break for freedom. Daksh yelled and flung the lamp at it. He missed and it shattered all over the floor, making Vedika groan.
The doorbell rang in the midst of the cacophony and Vedika left Daksh to clamber up his chair again and went to open the door.
“Advik?” She looked at her cousin in surprise. He opened his mouth to say something but their resident mouse decided that it was done with them and ran through the open space, dodging Advik’s legs and disappearing into the night.
“Was that a mouse?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
Vedika sighed. “Long story! What’s going on? Are you okay?” She pulled him in, shutting the door behind him without waiting for his answer. He followed her into the living room before coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of Daksh on top of the chair.
“You can get down,” Vedika told Daksh dryly. “The mouse is gone. You’re safe.”
Advik’s lips twitched as Daksh got down gingerly. “You can stare down lions for a photograph but you’re scared of a mouse?”
“Don’t judge,” Daksh grumbled at him before walking over for a bro hug.
“Advik?” Vedika asked gently. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I was going to ask,” Advik exhaled hard, “if I could stay with you guys for a while.”
“Of course,” Vedika said, exchanging a glance with Daksh who nodded, even though he looked a little surprised. “You’re always welcome.”
“I won’t get in your way, I promise,” Advik said. “It’s only until I find a place of my own.”
Vedika’s eyebrows shot up. “A place of your own?”
“Oh yeah!” Advik shot her a speaking look. “Did I forget to tell you? I’m never speaking to my mom again.”