In a short amount of time, Ravon, Rajani, and Mr. Archarya gathered their belongings and made their way out of the hospital.
εїз︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶ʕ◕ᴥ◕ʔ ♡❀❁❀ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮 ❀❁❀♡ ʕ◕ᴥ◕ʔ︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶εїз
"Thank you, Ravon," Rajani said as her boyfriend's expensive car parked in the driveway. Her heartbeat slowed down as relief washed over her.
"Yes, thank you so much," Mr. Archarya added, "I don't think we would've gotten home without you."
"Hah, it's nothing, really. I enjoy helping you guys out."
Rajani pursed her lips. She hated feeling vulnerable and dependable, and she was feeling just that. Ravon and Mr. Archarya had made her feel like she was a poor child receiving donations of rice.
Rajani crossed her arms. "Dad, can we go home now?"
"Of course, let's go," Mr. Archarya replied.
Rajani opened the car door and stepped out of the car while her father did the same.
"Thank you, Ravon, bye!"
She quickly walked over to her father and placed his hand in hers before they both walked to their house.
It was a warm, beautiful morning with birds chirping, squirrels scurrying across the sidewalk, and pretty butterflies perching onto even prettier flowers. The sky was a perfect shade of blue while the trees were a perfect shade of green. This morning was supposed to be peaceful, but because of Rajani's careless actions, it was everything but peaceful.
Rajani opened the door to their quiet home that had just housed an unfortunate series of events and she and her father stepped inside.
Mr. Archarya sat down on his favorite couch and Rajani decided to go to her room to post the promiscuous video she had secretly recorded until her father called her name.
"Rajani!"
She assumed the worst - her father had somehow figured out why she had sneaked out and what she was doing while sneaking out - and slowly turned around to see a rather angry-looking man staring at her.
"Yes, Dad?" Rajani muttered.
"Where did you go when I was passed out? What were you doing? What were you thinking?!"
"I- I'm sorry, Dad! It's just that-"
"No! I do not want to hear your excuses! Not today! Answer my questions!"
Rajani mouth remained sealed as if someone super-glued her lips together. She stood frozen in her spot. Rajani hated lying to her father but she hated telling the truth just as much.
What do I say? she thought. What do I do? There's no way that Dad knows the truth, so that's good. I don't want to lie to Dad, I'll just feel guilty and he'll probably just know I'm lying. But if I tell the truth... only God knows what will happen from there. Dad will drag me to hell! I guess I'll tell the truth but not all of it, like a limited truth.
"Um, I was at someone's house," Rajani finally managed to say.
Mr. Archarya's eyebrows furrowed in fury. "Ravon's, right?"
His daughter nodded slowly and shamefully as she started to fidget with her fingers. Fidgeting with her fingers always made her feel less anxious, and it was definitely helping with her nervousness.
"But I told you not to go to his house!"
"I know, I'm sorry-"
"And I can't believe you were there for a whole night! What were you doing for a whole night at Ravon's house while I was over here dying?" Mr. Archarya bellowed.
His loud, thunderous voice was louder than elephant sex, and it was frightening Rajani.
Her brain was blank. It felt like she forgot the entire English language in just a second and needed to be retaught how to move her lips in order to form a sound that sounded rational.
"Um," Rajani muttered.
For once, she didn't know what to say.
Mr. Archarya sighed. "Rajani... I know what you both did."
Rajani's heart plummeted at his words. Mr. Archarya's eyes bored into his daughters with an intensity that made her want to shrink away.
She thought that she had been careful, meticulous even, while keeping her secret hidden from her father. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like all her efforts had gone in vain. If what her father had just said was true, she knew she would be yelled at mercilessly and grounded in her room until she died of boredom. Thinking about this, a huge lump started to form inside Rajani's throat. She tried to swallow it but couldn't.
"You... you did the deed with him, right?"
Rajani swallowed hard as her mouth started to dry up. She had no way of defending herself against her father's accusations which made her even more nervous. Rajani started to pray for a small, chubby man wearing rainbow-colored clothing to teleport inside of her house and start dancing. She assumed that would be enough distraction for her father so she could bolt away from the rather awkward conversation faster than a cheetah. The festering lump in Rajani's throat got bigger, and it was even harder to swallow.
Mr. Archarya's eyebrows raised in surprise after seeing his daughter nod her head slowly.
"Rajani, but why?" he frowned. "I told you to do that business after marriage."
Rajani remained silent, fearful of saying the wrong thing.
Her father's voice softened slightly as he continued. "I'm not angry, Rajani, I'm just disappointed."
Rajani finally was able to swallow the annoying lump in her throat and opened her mouth to say something sensible.
"I'm sorry for making you disappointed, Dad, I never meant for that to happen," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Mr. Archarya sighed heavily, his disappointment palpable in the air. "I don't care about what you were doing with Ravon. I just wish you had waited until I gave you the okay to go to his house instead of carelessly sneaking out."
Rajani nodded as her guilt threatened to overwhelm her. "I wish so, too. I'm so sorry, Dad."
"I could've died," Mr. Archarya grunted.
Rajani could hear his voice becoming venomous, which made her pray that their conversation would end as soon as possible.
"I- I know and I'm so sorry. I should've never done that and I will never do it again."
She opened her arms, silently asking her father for a hug. Unexpectedly, he just nodded at her. Mr. Archarya turned away from Rajani and decided to give his attention to a small ant that was crawling on the floor instead.
Seeing that sight, Rajani's heart broke, and she walked into her room knowing that her father was probably thinking of her as an incompetent, irresponsible caretaker that should never attempt to take care of anyone again.