PROLOGUE
A long, deep-black creature moves beside him as he dives deeper into the ocean, vast and silent around him. The oxygen cylinder sits heavy on his back, its weight a constant reminder of how small and fragile he is beneath all that water. His breath comes loud in his ears, steady but strained, while the cold presses against his skin like a warning that he cannot ignore.
He turns as the creature glides toward him, slow and immense, and something tightens in his chest—not quite fear, not quite wonder, but a trembling mix of both. Instinct tells him to pull away, yet he dives deeper instead, drawn by something he cannot name. His hand slips out almost on its own, trembling slightly as his fingers graze the creature’s skin.
A whale.
The touch sends a strange calm through him, quiet and overwhelming. For a moment, the terror of the deep loosens its grip, replaced by a feeling so intimate it almost aches. He touches it as if he knows it, as if some hidden part of him understands its silence, its power, its grace. Or maybe he only wants to believe he does. Or maybe, somehow, he really does.
It’s the last scuba dive while he has freedom in his life. In his life, he was sent abroad for studies. But now his father is calling him back to join something he never liked but never hated either. Politics. The game is to play, which he has been playing here for a long time. Lying on the face, being nice to everyone and hiding your emotions.
But now, he has to lie to lakhs of people instead of some hundreds.
After a few minutes, he came back to his room, all fresh and ready. Wearing nothing but a black shirt with black pants, with a Versace in his left hand, he heads towards his private jet.
“Well, Kevin. Why is Dad so excited for me to come to India?” His voice breaks the silence as he asks his Bodyguard about the situation of the country.
“Sir, as we have information, that your brother is getting married and Mr Ahuja wants to be there.” His words draw Aarish’s attention to him.
“Wow,” he let out a deep breath, “I think that we should go to India as soon as possible.”
The jet lands in India, and a sense of relief rushes inside him. A tall body, nothing but six feet with five inches, broad shoulders and a little bit of moustache adds charm to his looks. Aarish Ahuja is finally in India, and maybe everyone already knows about his appearance.
Aarish covers his face with a black mask, as he wears the black goggles with it, setting his messed-up hair, and he gets inside the car. A fond of relief is settling inside him, but his guts are saying something devastating is going to happen to him.
“Kevin, stop at the flower shop, I want some tulips for Ira.” He orders,
Kevin smiles slowly, sitting at the front seat, he muffles something to the driver, as he changes the route to the flower shop.
The famous flower shop in the whole of Bhopal. Petal & Promises. The only shop that combines a book shop, a flower shop and a bakery. Even living in Australia, he knows what his niece loves, and which shop she mentions during their video call sessions.
“Sir, I am bringing the tulips and some cheesecakes. You must stay inside. It’s a protocol.” Kevin insists as he finds Aarish is about to open the door.
Aarish rolls his eyes, “Sure,” he mutters. Taking a look back at his car, a XUV standing behind, but it’s just one he knows about, there are almost six more cars like that behind his car, standing to protect their upcoming leader.
It takes a long time for Kevin to come with cheesecake and flowers; it’s just a matter of a few minutes, so why does he take this long? A yawn leaves Aarish’s mouth as he takes off his goggles and mask, and finally takes a deep and real breath. Leaning back on his car’s seat, he looks at the window. A dark, black-filmed window, the one outside the car will never know what’s going on inside.
As another yawn left his throat, his vision went blurry. But something from outside the car grabs the attention of his blurry vision– a girl. A random girl, with tulips in her hand, and a small tod-bag on her shoulders, from which her white coat is peaking out.
She looks at her surroundings, probably looking for something, or someone, and before Aarish can process everything, that girl takes a long step towards his car. His breath hitches inside his throat, as if she will come inside and will find him looking at her.
But before this all can happen, she looks at his window and smiles. As if she were unaware of him sitting inside. She corrects her messed-up hair, takes out a gloss from her bag, and starts applying it, while looking at the mirror.
While she is so busy with herself, Aarish’s eyes are stuck on her. Her face isn’t clear properly, but he can tell that her lips must be worth looking at. She looks like the life, a person full of everything he ever needed. Maybe an energy he was always looking for.
“Squirrel.” Words left from his throat before he can understand what he is speaking.
