Page 8 of Driven By Desire
“ I t says cook on medium flame for twelve minutes.”
“It is on medium flame.” The growled answer was followed by the sound of onions being butchered.
“No, it’s not,” Chirag insisted. “It’s on simmer.” Glancing at the alarm clock placed on the kitchen counter, he added, “And five out of those twelve minutes are already over.”
Wisely swallowing the laughter bubbling up in her throat, Max watched as the eldest two brothers stared at the open flame like it held the secrets to the universe.
They had an iPad with the recipe open leaning against an empty pressure cooker.
That doubled up as the Holy Grail. Amusement had her smiling even as a slight shifting had her glancing down at Pooja who was parked next to her, ostensibly giving her company. Sullen company.
Heart softening at the misery in the little face, she leaned closer to whisper, “Do you think it’s safe?”
Curiosity lightening her face, Pooja looked up at her. “Is what safe?”
“Whatever it is that’s boiling in that pot over there.”
An unwilling grin tugging at her lips, she stared at her two oldest brothers. “If it’s anything like last night, we’re having pizza for dinner.”
The giggling that erupted had Krish looking up from his massacred onions. Face softening, he took in the two heads close together as they whispered to each other.
“Been a while.” Chirag’s soft murmur had him nodding in agreement just as the front door slammed.
“Guess what!!!” Breezing into the kitchen, Aditya came to an abrupt halt when he saw Max at the kitchen table. Caution crept through his previous excitement as his eyes moved between Krish and Max.
“Is everything okay?”
“It was until you walked through the door.” Chirag smirked as he skirted him on his way to the refrigerator.
“That’s a bit rich coming from a guy in a flowered apron,” Adi shot back even as he shoved his hands into his pockets and fought the urge to shuffle his feet.
His eldest brother tended to have that effect on him when he screwed up.
Especially when that still healing wound on his brother’s forehead reminded him of how badly he had screwed up.
“What’s your big news?”
Krish’s mild question had him relaxing. Still perplexed at Max’s presence in their kitchen, he smiled at her and ruffled his sister’s hair in greeting.
“I got in. I got into IIM - Ahmedabad.”
The kitchen erupted in a cacophony of noise that had Max pushing her chair back and trying to melt into a corner.
Chirag and Pooja attacked Aditya in what she hoped was joy and affection.
She watched as laughing, Adi scooped Pooja up and settled her on his hip like he would a two year old and for once she saw her respond like the child she still was.
Curving into him, she plastered a kiss on his cheek.
Chirag gave him one last congratulatory thump on his back that almost toppled him before grabbing his sister for an impromptu jig around the kitchen.
Aditya joined in and the three of them capered around the kitchen like maniacs.
It would have been easy to miss in the infectious excitement swirling around the room but as always Max found her eyes drawn to the man standing quietly near the kitchen counter.
The betraying tremor of his fingers and the suspicious glaze in his eyes were gone in the few seconds it took him to step forward and grab his brother.
However, even the satisfactorily macho hug couldn’t conceal the depth of emotion in the eyes he closed as his brother held on with equal affection.
“Congratulations. Mom and dad must be celebrating up there.” The low murmur had Max blinking suddenly wet eyes.
“I bet they had a lot to do with my getting in. I can just see mom haunting the Dean into approving my application.”
Laughing, they broke apart just as Chirag let out a yell that had Max’s ears ringing. “It’s burning!!!”
Belatedly registering the smell of dinner charring, she watched Chirag and Krish prod at the dish with equally chagrined expressions. Ripping his faded apron from him, Krish dumped the ruined dish in the kitchen sink. “So, we’re definitely not eating that. What do you guys think we should order?”
“Not pizza!!” Pooja’s groan had her brothers grinning even as other suggestions were yelled out.
“I should go.” Awkward now that the evening had taken such a personal turn, Max reached for her purse.
“Nooooo.” The howl was unanimous from three different sources. Only one looked at her with shuttered eyes.
Staggering a little as Pooja ran over to throw her thin hands around her waist, Max wrenched her gaze away from him and looked down at the defiant, upturned face.
“Stay.” The insistent whisper had Max looking helplessly up at the men who looked as startled as she felt. Instinctively tightening her arms around the child, Max found herself nodding. Seeking to break the moment, she asked, “So if not pizza, what are we having?”
“Nan King Chinese.” This time the whisper was for her ears only.
Smiling slightly, she ran her fingers through Pooja’s hair and asked, “As the guest, can I choose?”
“Of course.” Aditya grinned at her, “as long as we’re not having pani puri for dinner.”
Resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, Max said, “How does Nan King Chinese sound? I’ve been craving their chilly chicken for a while now.”
Blissfully clueless as usual to the undercurrents swirling through the room, Aditya booed her choice. “Nan King!!! Plebeian.”
“Someone’s been learning some big words thanks to all that studying for GMAT and CAT.
” Smacking his brother on the back of his head and hoping it would knock some sense into him, Chirag added, “I could do with some Nan King food too. I’ll go pick it up if everyone could tell me what they want.
Delivery will take forever during peak hours. ”
Acutely aware that neither Max nor Krish looked away from each other to answer him, he took down Aditya and Pooja’s requests.
The intensity of the eyes that bored into her own had Max having a hitherto never experienced before breathless moment.
A silent thank you dampened those previously unfathomable eyes even as Krish pushed away from the kitchen counter.
“I’ll get it.” Grabbing the scribbled list from Chirag’s hand, he checked that her chilly chicken was on it before asking, “Anything else you’re craving? ”
Yes, you! Not trusting her voice, Max shook her head and turned away before her devilish subconscious came up with anything else.
Krish was almost to the door when he heard Pooja ask, “What does plebeian mean?”
“Someone with exceptionally good taste.” The burst of laughter that followed the husky answer warmed his heart. Even the thought of the hellish traffic he now had to navigate to get dinner from Nan King couldn’t dim his smile.
---***---
War was declared over the last chicken drumstick.
After a particularly feral fight, Pooja emerged the uncontested winner.
As she did a victory lap around the living room to Max’s enthusiastic applause and hooting, Krish pushed back from the table to start clearing up.
Not in the least bit surprised when both Chirag and Aditya raced each other to the door to avoid clean up duty, he threw a hand towel at them which caught Adi on the back of his head.
Chuckling, he turned and started piling dishes in the sink only to stop when two slender hands joined in the task. Looking down at the glossy hair cascading down her back, he fought the urge to reach out and tangle his fingers in it.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.” Opening the tap, she picked up one of the plates and started to rinse and scrub. “We never got a chance to talk about the car.”
Automatically taking the plate she handed him, he started to dry it before placing it on the draining rack positioned by the sink.
“Are you sure you don’t want to call the contacts I mentioned?”
“Yes.” He followed up the unequivocal reply with the one point left to be discussed. “If you could let me know your charges and the payment schedule you normally operate on, I’ll have the money wired to your account.”
“I thought you were a businessman.” Shaking a lock of hair out of her face, she continued, “Not going to negotiate before we seal the deal?”
“No,” Exquisitely gentle fingers tucked the errant lock of hair behind her ear before he said, “I have a feeling this deal would be worth any price.”
Struggling to speak around her heart which had taken up residence in her throat, Max held a soapy plate between them as a barrier.
In a bid to keep things professional, she said, “I can email you an estimate tomorrow. If that suits you, we can work up a schedule and timeline that works for both of us.”
Forcing himself to step back and find the same professional tone she was striving for, Krish nodded. “That sounds good.”
Rinsing out the plate in her hand, Max focused on the pile of dirty dishes like it held the key to her sanity. At the moment, it seemed like it did. Reaching for normalcy, she murmured, “Pooja’s in the drawing room doing her homework and-“
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.
Chirag had 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 the accelerator. 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.
Uneasy at the confusing mix of emotions blazing through him, Krish’s next words were harsher than he intended. “I won’t let anyone hurt them. Not even you.”
Unreasonable hurt speared through her at his words and had her lashing out, “Because you’re doing such a fine job of it yourself?”