Chapter 15- Uncomfortable chat

By the time Darpan awoke from his sweet nap , it was already morning. He had trouble sleeping last night after seeing that mysterious person....or thing ...or..? Darpan wasn't sure what it was but it was weird.

He didn't know how he felt exactly at that moment but couldn't decipher anything either .It's like he should have been scared of whatever that was....but for some reason , he was not. All the weird emotions that he instead felt blending inside him was what drove him insane. He had a terrible headache and felt uneasy all night. Even though it maybe his fault that he couldn't stop thinking about that brief eye contact but well.... let's blame it on the unknown enigma for now.

Sighing to himself, he forced his body to get out of the bed. Even though this seemed nothing out of ordinary, weird things kept happening to him ..... and his suspicions were on his possession of that cursed book.

He threw one glance towards the brown package sitting neatly inside the bigger bag leaning against the wall and mentally face palmed himself.

' Well that's what you get for being too nosy Darpan '.

Soon, Darpan was freshened up and ready for the day. He contemplated on leaving the bag in the room for a bit but decided against it. As much as he currently hated it, he couldn't risk losing it. It was very important, no matter however bad or cursed or vile that book's content was. He just had to keep it safe til they reached home.Thats it, he just had to hang in there till then.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder and another one( for safety reasons) he grabbed the room key and scurried out the door. If he had been sleeping until this late, he was sure the two little gremlins would still be snoring the morning away. To his shock, he found the room door locked. Darpan quietly put his ear to the door to hear if there was any activity inside. When all he was met with was sheer silence, panic creeped into his heart. What if they killed each other? He knew he shouldn't have put them together. Even though the possibility of that happening was low, it was not impossible. How does he know? Living with Aryan does things to you. You just know. If you piss off Aryan enough or starve Ashmit enough who's to say they won't be clawing at each other's necks?

Immediately pushing those thoughts away, he hurried down the staircase towards the eatery. Hoping to see them with each other - preferably in a calm and collected manner. As his eyes roamed around the eatery seats, he found one person smiling brightly in his direction. Almost as if he was expecting to see him there.

Darpan returned a rather awkward smile and slowly waddled towards the table where Shashi was sitting.

" Good Morning, Darpan Ji !. How was your night? Were you able to sleep properly? No issues right?"

Shashi looked at him expectantly while pushing a glass of water towards the now seated Darpan.

" Oh Good Morning to you too! And one question at a time please." he chuckled as he took a sip of the water. He very much needed it now. It didn't occur to him before because he thought Shashi was just doing his duties and being friendly. Sure, he did so much for them too, but he just felt a bit odd about it all.

Was it okay for an officer to not only spend an entire day with some random men, help them by going out of his way but also be present the next day the first thing in the morning too?

Well, he could also live here for all he knew. He quickly pushed away those thoughts. He shouldn't be so quick to make a judgement on someone. Afterall they had only known him for a day at most.

" So, I take it you slept well?" Shashi's question brought Darpan back to the conversation.

" Oh, yes of course. With this level of hospitality and care how could we not? The facilities and the overall atmosphere here is really soothing. I'm sure my brother and my friend too are very comfortable here."

He lied. He barely managed to get a proper wink of sleep due to ....yeah not going back to that. But well, Shashi doesn't need to know.

Shashi only chuckled in response wehn the server suddenly came in with the dishes.

He glanced over the dishes once before suddenly turning to Darpan.

" Darpan ji , do you like seafood?"

Darpan was a bit flustered with the sudden question but responded in time.

" Well I haven't eaten it much but with the amount of handful times I did, guess I can say I do. "

" Very well then, here you go"

Shashi said as he slid two plates towards Darpan's end of the table.

Darpan only eyed the plates for a few seconds before looking up at Shashi staring at him expectantly.

" Shashi ji, ... This... This is crab meat and Salmon. These ... Wait a minute. Aren't these crazy expensive? How can I possibly..."

" Oh shush please. I already ordered it and it seems like you like it too. I already told you- you three are my guests so don't worry about the cost of anything. It's all good!"

Shashi urged Darpan to dig in by pointing his chin towards the food.

Darpan slowly reached for the spoon and pulled apart a piece of the crab meat.As soon as he put it in his mouth, his eyes widened.He couldn't help but let out a small moan at the heavenly taste of it. It was delicious, smelled fantastic and soft but so hot too. He gasped at the unexpected heat and grabbed the glass of water in front of him. Downing whatever liquid was left in it he placed the glass down with a contented sigh.

" Waah! It's so good. The meat is so soft and the masala is thoroughly absorbed in it. It's freshly made too - Ah! It's too good. "

Darpan remarked while throwing another piece of crab meat in his mouth. He felt like he missed whatever was happening in the world right now. Truly, food made him forget everything else. And to be honest,who even pays attention to anything else when you've got such good food laid out in front of you- ( best part is you didn't even pay for it!)

However what he didn't miss was the way Shashi was looking at him. Darpan didn't know how to describe it. He didn't feel grossed out but he wasn't exactly comfortable with the way Shashi looked at him. It just felt bad. Even though he knew there's probably no ill intention behind it he just couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with this man.

Trying to get away from the unwanted attention, he quickly changed the topic.

" Uhm, Shashi ji. Why aren't you eating yet?"

He asked as politely as possible while gesturing to the formers untouched plates.

Shashi seemed to break out of a deep trance. It's like his eyes and ears were on alert as soon as his name was mentioned.

He let out a deep breath. "Oh! I wasn't eating? Sorry. I just wanted to see if you liked it. "

He hurriedly tore a piece of roti and rolled it in his crab curry before throwing it into his mouth. All the while glancing at Darpan again and again. It was starting to get a little stuffy for Darpan. So he did what he could best do in this situation. Try to run away from the matter.

" I'm sorry to ask you this so late. I might seem like a careless dude ...but did you happen to see Aryan and Ashmit? I mean their door was locked and I don't see them here ...."

Darpan quickly looked around the eatery once again before finally resting his eyes on Shashi who had his mouth full of his food. Almost as if he was trying to eat in a hurry.

" Oh! I'm sorry." Shashi gulped his last bite down before answering.

" Actually, they were already awake when I went to invite them for breakfast. I don't know what exactly they were doing but it seemed like .... I don't know if I should be saying this but seemed like Aryan ji was physically overpowering Ashmit ji or sorts..

I mean I just thought I had to intervene so we then came down for breakfast.

As soon as they finished their breakfast they said they wanted to look around the Saray's grounds a bit so they left to explore. They should be coming back any minute now!"

He smiled at Darpan before continuing to pick at the food on the plate.

" Why didn't they wake me up too then? I mean I'm not the type to stay asleep for this late so... "

Darpan was horrified. The fact that the two humans he least expected to have done so had woken up, freshened up and even eaten before and without him! And they didn't even wake him up !!?? Now Shashi ji would think he was some sore loser who spent his mornings lazing around in the bed. He nervously gobbled up the crumbs left on his plate.

" Oh no! Actually I told them to not wake you up. You see, the thing is.... you looked really pale and tired yesterday. And when I was checking the hallways at night I heard some rustling in your room till late. So I was worried thinking you hadn't gotten a good night's sleep. Hence I just felt like letting you sleep a little longer would be more..... Plus I felt like you would be lonely eating here alone so I stayed back. I hope I make sense."

Shashi said before chuckling nervously and scraping the leftovers on his plate.

Darpan was taken aback for a bit. He hadn't stayed awake till late night. Though he had problems sleeping he was sure he wasn't walking around the room that late. Unless he sleep walked and had no clue , it was just not possible. And why did Shashi stay back and wait for him? Could he not also have had breakfast with Aryan and Ashmit? It suddenly felt very uncomfortable for Darpan. Questions swirling in his head.

" Oh! Oh... I see. Thank you." was all he could manage to speak before his mind went back to the rustling and for some strange reason, an image of the last night's person flashed in his mind.

Before he could open his mouth to ask another question, Aryan and Ashmit's voices could be heard through the entry way for the eatery. He whipped his head back to take a good look at the traitors who abandoned him. They smiled at Shashi on seeing him but visibly quivered under Darpan's pointed stare.

" Oh. Good morning Bhaiyya! You done eating? " Ashmit asked sheepishly still weak from Darpan's gaze on him and Aryan.

" Yes. Thankfully, Shashi-ji was here to give me company for this nice breakfast....Unlike some people I know..."

Darpan said dragging the last part while anger shined in his otherwise pale green eyes.

Aryan simply gave an apologetic look to his elder brother while making a mental note of never leaving Darpan alone again. EVER

" Oh, you guys are back? You came earlier than I thought. Did you take a good look around? "

Shashi asked getting up from his seat and gesturing to the server to take away the cleaned plates. Darpan gently wiped his lips before following Shashi and his acquaintances.

As they walked out of the eatery, Darpan glared at Ashmit , still angry about the morning incident while Shashi engaged in a small chat with Aryan.

" As expected of you, you truly are a man of culture, Mr.Shashi. A true officer. Everyone around here knows you and kept asking us if we were related to you. Nothing but praises for you!"

Aryan recalled the people stopping him to ask him about their relationship with the officer.

" Oh is that so? I wouldn't say that I'm a man of culture or whatever. I'm simply doing my job. It's really the people who are so kind hearted. So please stop with the misdirected praise!"

He laughed as he jokingly bowed to Aryan who returned a smile back.

Darpan who had been hearing bits of the conversation narrowed his eyes at his brother. Wasn't this the same man who said he was suspicious of Shashi-ji? What kind of ghost took over him today? Today had simply been weird and he couldn't get anything right or point out why.

Well at least he was right about one thing- Aryan and Ashmit fought in the morning! Yeah- not something so incredible.

Letting out a defeated sigh, he quickly walked past the chattering duo while staring at the ground. A large shadow appeared right in front of him and before he could stop himself or process anything he had slammed right into a huge barrier dressed in black.

" I'm sorr-"

Darpan looked up immediately to apologize to this person that if he hadn't been shorter than he might have given a concussion.

But as soon as his eyes met with the person in front of him- something flashed in his head.

A strong ray of light and the stranger's void like eyes were the last thing he saw before his world was enveloped in darkness.