Page 14 of Driven By Desire
The crash from the plate Krish dropped on to the counter was deafening and cut off anything more she was planning to say. Mouth open, she watched as he strode to the kitchen door and out to the living room. Perplexed, Max wiped her hands on a hand towel and followed. She found him standing at the drawing room threshold and staring at the sight of the small head bent industriously over her notebook.
“Look at that. She’s actually doing her homework and none of us are bleeding.” Alarmed, he turned and grabbed Max. “Are you?”
Amused, she shook her head and gestured for him to follow her back to the kitchen. She didn’t want Pooja to catch them spying on her. Going back to the dishes, she picked up a bowl and started scrubbing.
“You’re a magician.” Taking the bowl she held out to him, he dried obediently.
“No, she just sees something in me that she’s been looking for. We just need to figure out what.” They worked together in companionable silence for several minutes before Max asked, “How long has it been since your parents died?”
“Close to ten years.” Heart clenching with remembered pain, Krish concentrated on the spoon in his hand. His mind took him back to the day he’d stood with a three year old Pooja on his hip and a twelve year old Adi’s hand tightly grasped in his. Chiraghad stood by his side and together they’d formed a wall against the sea of so called relatives who’d clamored to take over their lives. They’d fought for their right to stay together as a family and refused all offers of help. Till today, he didn’t know if he’d done the right thing but he knew that if he had a second chance, he would do it all over again. No one was going to tear his family apart. No one.
“There isn’t much age difference between you and Chirag, is there?” Max’s voice broke into his thoughts and dragged him back to the present.
“Two years.” Wiping the last spoon, he made sure it was stacked straight in the tray and turned.
“How come the large age gap between you guys and Aditya and Pooja then?”
Grabbing a cloth and wiping down the table, he answered, “My parents believed that every child was a gift from God. When nothing happened for years after Chirag, they assumed they were done. Mom used to laugh saying that God gave her time to bring the first two up before the other two arrived. Adi’s arrival startled them but Pooja was the surprise that almost gave them a heart attack.” Smiling now at the memory of the day they’d found out there was going to be another baby, Krish added, “An absolutely gorgeous surprise. Although, after that I think my parents were more proactive about avoiding gifts from God.”
“Your mother must have had her hands full with the lot of you.”
“Mom was a rockstar. I have new found respect for everything she did for us. In the middle of all the madness, she even found time to teach me to drive.” Smiling, he continued, “The first time we took the car out, I let go of the clutch too fast and hit theaccelerator. She screeched so loudly that for a while I thought she’d punctured my eardrums. After the car slammed to a stop, I had to listen to a forty five minute lecture on my singular flaw of over confidence.”
Grinning, Max watched as his face softened in recollection of what was obviously a fond memory. Kitchen set to rights, she knew she should leave but somehow the companionable warmth of the moment kept her rooted to the spot.
“She made all this look so easy. Some days I look at the manic chaos that is our lives and I wonder how she managed to keep our lives ticking along like clockwork.”
A small noise at the door had them both glancing over to see Pooja standing there.
“Hi baby girl. You need something?”
“I’m not your baby girl!”
The violent rejection in the statement had him taking a deep breath. “Alright. Did you want something, Pooja?”
“I came to say goodnight to Max.” Marching over, she gave Max a stiff hug and mumbled goodnight.
Eyes troubled, Max patted her on her back even as she met Krish’s inscrutable gaze over her head.
“When will I see you again?”
Unsure of what exactly was going on, Max managed a cautious answer, “I should be able to start work on the car by Saturday. If you’re home from school, we can spend some time together.”
Nodding against her midriff, Pooja said, “I have holidays on the weekend.”
“Great. Then I’ll see you soon.”
With a final nod, Pooja stepped back and walked out of the room without acknowledging the brother who watched her so intently.
Uncomfortable at the strange intimacy of the evening and how enmeshed in their lives she suddenly found herself, Max pushed away from the counter. “I should leave now. I’ll email you the details we discussed and if everything works out, I’ll see you Saturday. Could you say bye to the other two for me?”
She made it to the front door before his quiet voice stopped her. “Max?”
Turning reluctantly, she faced him.
“Pooja is getting very attached to you.” Stopping to collect his thoughts, he tried to find the right words, “My family is my world. Nothing and no one comes before them.”
“Why does that sound like a warning?” Spine stiffening, she shoved her hands into her pockets and faced him.
