#varunsdvns

“Does baba know?” Ahaana looks at her younger sister from the computer screen where PinkVilla has been opened, pictures of Ahaana glaring back at her.

“Do you really think baba is going to check PinkVilla?” Drishti’s voice filtered through the room as she stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door to her elder sister’s bedroom shut so that their parents didn’t walk in on them. She remembered a time when there had been a ‘no closed doors’ policy in the house because of how Pakhi had walked in on their parents kissing in the bedroom. To this day, the middle daughter was glad that the youngest had walked in when she did, any later - and all three of them would have been scarred.

Pakhi, not one to be left out of the famous Roy daughters’ discussions, moved to where her sisters were crowded over the small Macbook. It was the latest one, a gift from their dadu, one that she remembered her father had protested against before her mother had placed a hand on his shoulder and her father had calmed down. Pakhi wanted a love like that, like the one she saw between her parents - almost as if her mother was her father’s anchor. “Didi, you look so pretty.” Pakhi leaned in further, until her nose was almost pressed up against the screen. “Is that Amma’s top? Did you borrow Amma’s clothes again?”

“Yes,” Ahaana hissed, pushing her sister away. “Don’t tell Amma, Pakhi. You remember how angry she got when I dropped ketchup on her white dress! She’s never let me borrow anything after that.”

“I don’t think that’s who you should worry about Pakhi telling,” Drishti drawled from where she was seated on the bed, filing her nails. Both sister met eyes before Ahaana slowly shut the lid to her laptop, moving to where Pakhi was.

“Forget that, you can tell Amma if you want but Pakhi I swear Baba ko mat batana.”

“Why?”

How could Ahaana answer that question? How could she tell Daddy’s favorite daughter what the implications of this picture was?

“Wait, why are you on PinkVilla? Hum famous toh nahin hain… And you weren’t at dinner yesterday either – Amma ne bola that you were at Karishma’s house but you snuck home after midnight. If you were at Karishma’s then you wouldn’t have come home till this morning.”

“Oh look, it’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshi.” Ahaana laughed at Drishti’s jibe and ruffled Pakhi’s hair, tugging her in for a hug.

“It’s nothing you have to worry about Pakhi, just don’t– don’t mention it to baba.”

Tanya bit down on her bottom lip, staring at her husband who had been pacing the kitchen floor for the past hour. She worried that he would wear the hardwood thin, and then they would receive another complaint from the grouchy old uncle downstairs. It’s not right to live in an apartment when you have three daughters, her own mother had told her but how could Tanya tell her - it wasn’t an apartment. They called it a maisonette these days, an apartment with two floors.

“Is this who she’s been seeing?” Aarav finally spat, nodding to the open laptop screen in front of them. Their daughter was splashed all over the news sites with Mumbai’s favorite star son, Aryan Malhotra. It was impossible to live in Mumbai and not hear about the Malhotra family, headed by superstar Krish Malhotra and his gorgeous designer wife, Radha Malhotra. Except, her husband wouldn’t see it the same way, Tanya could already tell he was annoyed. Tanya however, squinted at the (surprisingly) HQ pictures of her daughter before pausing.

“Is that my top she’s wearing?” A closer glance and Tanya pulled back. “It is!”

“That’s not what’s important here shona! Our little girl is seeing— seeing this boy behind our backs. How does she even know him?” Aarav was grasping at straws, mostly surprised that his daughter had managed to show up on one of the most notorious gossip sites. Especially considering that this family had no relation to anything so famous. He knew Tanya’s parents were rich - but that was no cause for her to be on this site.

Tanya looked away from her husband then, not wanting to tell him that she knew. She had known about Aryan and Ahaana for a while now; except they’d told her that they were keeping it quiet, not wanting to be seen by the hounds who were desperate for some blood. And yet, here her daughter was on the front page, wearing Tanya’s shirt and a tight skirt as she clutched at Aryan’s arm. “She knows him from school. They’re friends roshogulla.”

The wrong choice of words to use. She also knew that the term of endearment she saved for special occasions would do nothing for his anger either and so Tanya rested her hand on his before he could scroll even further. Too late.

“Friends?” Aarav echoed, glancing at the next picture and back at his wife. “Is this how you see friends behave? She’s kissing his cheek. In public. His arms are around her waist Tanya, I’m sure that if they weren’t in public - his lips would be on hers!” Aarav’s voice had grown progressively louder and Tanya glanced upstairs to where their daughters’ rooms were.

“Dheere se. The girls are sleeping.”

It seemed as if Aarav was three steps ahead. “Ahaana! Drishti! Pakhi! Down here, now. Your mother has made breakfast.”

Tanya raised an eyebrow at her husband, at the blatant lie he was telling because she had entered the kitchen to make breakfast yes, but had been ambushed by her husband and PinkVilla. “But I haven’t–”

“You’ve said enough, Tanya. I want to talk to my daughter.”

“Aarav she– It was going to happen anyway. This isn’t just about you!”

“She’s my daughter Tanya, I have a right to know who she’s seeing! And if I want to talk to her, I will.”

The words echoed in the room as the girls appeared, both of them looking between their parents with wide eyes, not having expected to catch them in a fight. Ahaana’s gaze of course fell to the site that was open on her mother’s laptop and she shut her eyes. She knew what this was about, and since the table was very obviously empty, and even the kettle for her parents’ morning tea was not on the stove - she knew this had been a set up.

Aarav glared at Tanya before nodding at Ahaana. “Sit.” His gaze softened as he looked at his younger daughters. “You two go into the living room, watch some TV. I’m sure there’s homework to be done. Amma and Baba just have to talk to your Di about some school trip.” Aarav didn’t even know why he lied; it was futile. The three girls shared everything, it was a possibility they already knew about this boy.

“Kya hua Amma?”

Tanya glanced at Aarav, before she swallowed, taking a seat next to Ahaana and placing her hand on her daughter’s. “Your Baba has some things… Some things he wants to discuss with you.” The look in Tanya’s eyes was evident that she didn’t agree with her husband, not on this matter.

“This boy. Who is he?”

“He’s very nice baba, I like him very much. We’ve– we’ve been seeing each other for a few months now. Amma– Amma knows about him. She’s met him once.”

The woman in question shut her eyes, knowing that this would come back to bite her in the ass when she least expected it. She just never expected it to be now, never expected for her husband’s questioning gaze to wheel onto her.

“You knew about this, Tanya?”

A nod.

“I–” He exhaled. “We’ll talk about this later but for now– Ahaana, I want you to stop seeing this boy. Immediately.”

“Baba, that’s unfair!”

“Not just that. You have a curfew now. I want you home by 10pm sharp every night. You will tell your mother and me wherever you are going, who you are seeing - everything.”

Ahaana stood up to leave, her hand reaching into her pocket for her phone when she saw her father’s hand held out. “What?”

“Your phone Ahaana. I don’t trust you with it.”

“I need my phone Baba. Amma please explain to–” She went silent at the way her mother avoided her eyes, knowing that she wouldn’t stand up to her father, not this time.

“It’s either your phone, or you get homeschooled. Your choice.”

Ahaana huffed and handed the phone over, but not before muttering a soft I hate you under her breath as she stomped out of the kitchen.

“She knows I’m doing it for her right?”

The whisper was so soft Tanya might have missed it if she hadn’t been nestled in his arms, her head resting against his chest. She looked up at Aarav then, at the worry in his eyes and sighed before pulling away from the embrace, tugging him up into a sitting position with her.

“God shona, she must hate me. She probably thinks– thinks I’m the worst father ever.”

Tanya shook her head, fingers hooking under his chin so that he looked up, so that he was looking at hers. “She’s just angry right now, I promise. She’s a teenager Aarav, just because she says she hates you– doesn’t mean that she does. She’s a teenage girl, and one who has a boyfriend. A boyfriend you banned her from seeing.”

Aarav refused to look up, not giving any acknowledgement that he’d heard Tanya’s words. Only a soft sniffle and that was how she knew that this was really affecting him.

“Look into my eyes, what do you see?” Tanya whispered, waiting for his gaze to meet hers. “Would I ever lie to you? She’s your baby girl Aarav, she could never hate you. She just doesn’t understand.”

“I just don’t want to see her hurt– I know boys, I know teenage boys and he’s going to break her heart.”

“She will understand Aarav, maybe not today. Maybe not soon but one day she will. I promise she will,  roshogulla.” Tanya leaned in then, her hands cupping his cheeks as she pressed her lips to his nose. “I love you.”