Page 196 of No Boss
Her breath turned uneven. She watched the blinking cursor until a battery warning appeared at the top. Five percent.
She ignored it. The screen dimmed. Her thumb remained over the keypad, useless, her heart caught between wanting him and not knowing how to reach him after yesterday.
By the time the sun began to set, the screen went black.
Battery dead. Message unsent. Which felt, honestly, extremely consistent with the emotional state of her life.
???
Evening settled slowly across Anand Mahal.
Relatives drifted toward the main dining hall inside the Haveli, leaving Meera’s home quiet for the first time since morning.
Open trunks covered half the floor.
Meera sat beside one, folding dupattas. Gauri sorted blouse pieces into neat piles nearby. Devendra studied the guest list, his glasses slipping low on his nose.
“You missed the Sharma family here,” Gauri pointed out.
Devendra frowned at the paper. “No, I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“There are three Sharmas already.”
“There are never only three Sharmas at a Rajasthani wedding.”
Meera almost smiled. Almost. She reached for another dupatta just as the front door opened. Her fingers froze.
Abhinav stood at the entrance.
The room fell into a sudden halt.
Sarita stepped in behind him. Two servants followed with steel trays from the Haveli kitchen. Naina appeared last and collapsed dramatically across the sofa with the exhaustion of a woman personally attacked by wedding logistics.
“Water,” she declared to the ceiling. “If I die before this wedding, tell people I fought bravely.”
Gauri blinked. “Thakurain Sa… you all should have told us you were coming.”
Sarita smiled. “And miss everyone’s expressions?”
Devendra rose. “Thakur Sa…”
Abhinav moved toward him without hesitation and bent to touch his feet.
Devendra’s hand came to his head. “You honour us.”
“The honour is mine.”
He turned to Gauri and repeated the gesture.
“You brought dinner?” she asked, caught off guard.
“I was missing my wife,” Abhinav replied calmly. “Apparently I am banned from meeting her alone before the wedding.”
The room fell into catastrophic silence.
Devendra cleared his throat so abruptly he choked on air. Sarita laughed outright.
