Intertwined - Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Relax, baby girl

Alisha

I was home in a few minutes, and those minutes were the worst. I called Arbaaz, and just by the hello he knew something was off. I narrated the entire incident to him. Normally I would wait until someone was home, but this was like a volcano inside of me and I needed to tell him.

I was still on the phone when we got inside the house, and I collapsed on the couch. The butler saw my tears and took Tyson to a corner to ask what was up, but Tyson said nothing. He respected my privacy. He simply asked him to fetch me some ice cream and came to sit beside me again.

"I know his face and it's going to remain and I will have to die knowing he got away with everything he did." I told Arbaaz, wiping away my tears. I was beginning to cope with what had happened, and I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that I saw my father - if he deserved to be called my father.

"Baby, I know. I know. I'm so sorry." he had no other words. What could one say anyway? He wasn't the kind of person who would make false statements to console anyone, and there was nothing that could be said that was true yet comforting. There was absolutely no silver lining to this cloud, so he simply tried to make the storm bearable.

"Can you guys stop by for dinner tonight?" I asked him and he hesitated before replying,

"We left for Cape Town early morning, for this event. Even if I leave now and get to the airport I'll reach only after 10 pm there. So it can be a late dinner."

"Oh no, don't cancel anything. I'll be fine." I told him. They had cancelled dozens of things for me, and this was not the time to cancel more things. I was going to be fine without Arbaaz and Malaika and their little one, simply because I had to be independent.

"You sure?"

"Positive." I saw the ice cream coming and said my goodbyes to Arbaaz, and he told me he was right there incase I needed him. I nodded and cut the call, because it was almost criminal to keep ice cream waiting. Tyson looked at me and I assured him that I was fine, that I just needed some time alone in my room. He respected that and escorted me to my room, made sure there was no lurking assassin who would murder me while I was alone, and then left me alone.

I went into my closet and removed a box that was so precious to me. I opened it to remove a pendant, my mother's pendant. I had some of her belongings, her jewellery, one sari. Nothing out of the ordinary, but they were priceless to me. Putting the pendant around my neck I ate my ice cream, remembering how she hated me eating ice cream because it would give me headaches as a child. I smiled at the memory of my mother taking care of me one day, a day after I had thrown a tantrum for ice cream after getting my numbers right till 20 or something like that. She had been with me all day and made sure I was okay. My father had simply tossed my medicines and mumbled about the medical expenses. I remembered.

Shaking my head, I focused on my mother. I knew she would want me to be happy. She would want me to move on and continue to make her proud. She would want me to think about the present and the future, and she would want me to make it into the Olympics.

But then, the world didn't revolve around what my mother wanted.

I wanted that man to pay. I wanted him to pay for every single blow he gave my mother. I wanted him to cry just as much as my mother did. I wanted him to feel the emotional trauma of being lied to and of being cheated by the only person you loved. I wanted him to burn, I wanted him to burn in the fire he set.

Just as I was trying to block these negative thought and block the tears, I heard some commotion outside the house. Gathering myself, I went into the balcony to see what was happening.