Page 40 of No Boss
The old woman spoke. Meera laughed. Quick. Bright. Unguarded. It changed her face.
The sound struck him somewhere near his ribs. He straightened without realizing he had. There was no explanation for that reaction. He did not search for one.
He was staring. He knew he was staring. He didn’t stop.
As if she sensed it, Meera looked up. The warmth vanished.
Her eyes held his. The warmth became something colder. Flatter.
She turned away. On purpose. Making sure he understood.
Abhinav stood there, a plate of food in his hand he did not remember picking up, with the slow, unpleasant realization settling under his skin.
He had been dismissed. In his own Haveli. By a woman who barely reached his shoulder. Who looked as if she weighed nothing. Who, within hours, had made him feel like an outsider.
His jaw set. He placed the plate aside. Turned. Walked out before anyone could stop him.
Behind him, her laughter rose again.
Just not for him.
???
By the time he reached the residential wing, the celebration had come to a close. Voices lowered into the quiet rhythm of a house winding down after a long day.
He shut the door and stood still, letting the silence settle.
He removed his jacket and dropped it onto a chair with more force than needed.
The desk stood prepared. Files arranged with estate records, boundary maps, maintenance reports. Everything he had asked for. Everything he needed to begin with.
He sat. Opened the first file. Read half a page.
Her thumb burned against his forehead.
He turned the page. Forced his focus. Structural concerns in the east wing.
He had bent without thought.
Revenue from temple donations.
Fragments of Marwari formed again in his mind.
Hamare ghar ko. Pareshaan. Aaya hai.
Our home. Trouble. Has come.
He closed the file, stood, and moved to the window.
The courtyard lay in broken patches of light. Two attendants crossed with empty trays. Neem trees stirred in the night breeze.
Somewhere, a woman laughed. Not her. Close enough.
His jaw tightened anyway.
Tomorrow, he would set terms. Restore order. Make it clear that today had been an exception.
Meera Chauhan would address him with professional respect.
