18-06-2025, 02:05 AM
The Confrontation
“I was waiting for you to bring it up,” she added, her voice even.
Meghana blinked. “Bring what up?”
Varnika raised her eyes. Calm. Sharp. “Friday night.”
The air changed.
Meghana tried to smile it off. “Oh, that? I just thought it’d be nice to have dinner with someone who’s helped me a few times."
"He lives downstairs… I told you that.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Meghana shifted, visibly uncomfortable.
Varnika stood up slowly, walked to the window, then turned around and faced her sister. “You kissed him, Didi.”
Silence dropped like a pebble in a still pond.
Meghana’s lips parted, but no words came.
“I saw it,” Varnika said softly. “After dinner. You thought I was in my room, but I came out to turn off the water filter.”
Meghana closed her eyes briefly, as if exhaling a secret that had been pressing too long on her ribs.
“I… didn’t mean for it to happen that way,” she said quietly. “It was just on impulse. I thought you didn’t notice.”
“I notice everything,” Varnika said, half-smiling. “Especially when my big sister suddenly starts behaving like a nervous college girl around a cute neighbor.”
Meghana sat down at the edge of the bed.
Her shoulders sagging a little. “It’s not just that he’s good-looking. He’s... grounded. Respectful. Shy, even. And I don’t know how it started, but... during yoga, during those small conversations on the terrace—something grew.”
Varnika folded her arms. “And it’s been going on for a few weeks?”
Meghana nodded slowly. “At first, it was innocent. Breathing exercises, posture help changed a few things into, that I cannot name it yet”
“I was waiting for you to bring it up,” she added, her voice even.
Meghana blinked. “Bring what up?”
Varnika raised her eyes. Calm. Sharp. “Friday night.”
The air changed.
Meghana tried to smile it off. “Oh, that? I just thought it’d be nice to have dinner with someone who’s helped me a few times."
"He lives downstairs… I told you that.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Meghana shifted, visibly uncomfortable.
Varnika stood up slowly, walked to the window, then turned around and faced her sister. “You kissed him, Didi.”
Silence dropped like a pebble in a still pond.
Meghana’s lips parted, but no words came.
“I saw it,” Varnika said softly. “After dinner. You thought I was in my room, but I came out to turn off the water filter.”
Meghana closed her eyes briefly, as if exhaling a secret that had been pressing too long on her ribs.
“I… didn’t mean for it to happen that way,” she said quietly. “It was just on impulse. I thought you didn’t notice.”
“I notice everything,” Varnika said, half-smiling. “Especially when my big sister suddenly starts behaving like a nervous college girl around a cute neighbor.”
Meghana sat down at the edge of the bed.
Her shoulders sagging a little. “It’s not just that he’s good-looking. He’s... grounded. Respectful. Shy, even. And I don’t know how it started, but... during yoga, during those small conversations on the terrace—something grew.”
Varnika folded her arms. “And it’s been going on for a few weeks?”
Meghana nodded slowly. “At first, it was innocent. Breathing exercises, posture help changed a few things into, that I cannot name it yet”