Midlife Crisis

But Shaurya was curious to know why was Bela in such a hurry to know about his physical condition. He had figured out that there was more to her than what met the eye but hadn't come close to solving the mystery yet.

After sometime, Shaurya walked back to the residence, having bid farewell to the fiery Bela.

"Sha… ahem, Veer, you are back. What did the Vaidya say? All well?" Mriga started chattering the minute he entered through the door.

"Why wouldn't he be ok? Eating good food, sleeping peacefully, relaxing through the day… what more could a guy want," Raghu muttered under his breath as he picked up the tub of dirty utensils.

Shaurya walked upto him and told him with a smile that he would take the utensils for washing instead.

Raghu contemplated between holding onto a grudge or making his life easier before letting the boy take the heavy tub from his hands.

"I will show him the way, dad. Why don't you go and check on the newly germinated sprouts which you have been working on?" she told him tactfully.

She didn't wait for her father's response and said, "Let's go, Veer. We need to be back in time for cleaning the house and other chores."

The minute they stepped out of the house, Mriga immediately turned towards Shaurya with a contrite expression on her face.

"Let me take that from you. I am really sorry for my father's behavior. I guess he is suffering from midlife crisis," she said with a sigh.

Shaurya was startled.

"Uh, what is this midlife crisis?" he couldn't help but ask.

Scrunching her nose, she searched for the right words to explain the concept to him.

"Well, I am not very clear on it. My mother was the one who explained it to me, recently. According to her, it is a phase where a man or a woman feels a need to prove his capabilities or his usefulness to himself and to people around him, more than ever before. Mood swings and out of character behaviour are some of the symptoms of this," she explained with a smug expression.

It was a rare occurrence that she seemed to know something which her mentor didn't. She couldn't help but feel proud about it.

Shaurya could sense that she was reciting what her mother had probably told her without properly understanding it. This was because what she described was something that he was feeling as well, currently. He wanted to put his best foot forward in front of her and her parents and his mood was also unpredictable.

Sometimes, he felt as if he wanted to conquer the entire world and show Mriga that he was no less than that snotty batchmate of hers but other times he found himself totally depressed and low in spirit, as if he had already lost the battle before it began. Did that mean that he was experiencing midlife crisis too? Wasn't he a bit young for it, though?

While he had been lost in his thoughts, they reached the place where the community washed their utensils. A small water body had been created which had two arteries, one where the water flowed in from the nearest river, and second from where the dirty, soapy water flowed towards the sewage system. Mriga squatted down on the wet, soft ground carefully and started offloading the dishes from the tub. In a hurry to help her, he didn't pay attention to the slippery surface and lost his footing.

"Ouchhhhhh!"

Facing her, his head banged against hers, making her butt land on the ground with a thump and his body almost crashed into hers. Thankfully, he managed to place his hands on the soft mud, on either side of her body. He didn't fall on her but from a third person's view, her body was trapped under his.

Mriga was still in a daze post the head bang when she heard titters around her. Swinging her gaze, she looked at a couple of women who had paused in their action of washing clothes and were laughing at her and Shaurya. She scowled at them so fiercely that they shrank back, involuntarily.

He immediately removed himself from above her and sat down on the ground.

"Are you ok? I am so sorry. I didn't realise that the…" Shaurya's ears were burning hot with embarrassment.

He couldn't believe that he was the same guy who had the entire capital city under his surveillance till few days ago. Had the poison affected his brain as well?

"I am fine. Don't worry. Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked him in concern.

His face was right next to hers and she could see it turning red. Was he running a fever?

He refused to meet her eyes in mortification and shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

"You go back. I will clean these and bring them with me," he said the next second.

"No no, you go back. You are not looking great to me at this moment. We can't afford to have you falling ill again," she argued back.

Shaurya raised his eyes suddenly and stared into hers. Sitting next to each other, he could see the brown flecks mixed with gold in her eyes.

"I know that you are worried about me but I am absolutely fine and want to help with the chores. Sitting idle makes me fidgety. So, please let me do this," he spoke in a low voice.

Because of the close proximity, his voice sounded as if it was bouncing off her skin. Mriga felt goosebumps break out on her arms and quickly got up in confusion. She didn't know why was she feeling so flustered suddenly. Maybe she had been hit hard on the forehead.