Malika stepped into the room and immediately locked eyes with Avi.
She didn't need more than a second.
He was off.
Too quiet. Too still. Arms crossed tight. Eyes refusing to meet hers. His whole body carried a tension he was trying (and failing) to hide.
Something had happened.
She didn't ask directly.
Instead she walked in with a light smile, kicked off her sandals, and kept her voice soft.
"Don't tell me you're already tired before the fair even starts."
Avi gave a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Just thinking."
"Dangerous hobby," Malika replied, dropping into the armchair across from him. "Today's for food, music, and watching strangers make fools of themselves on carnival rides."
That earned a small, real smirk from him. She kept talking—harmless stories about the fair, childhood memories, snack stalls that only the locals knew, the fortune-teller who always guessed wrong. Slowly the tightness in Avi's shoulders eased, just enough.
Then the bedroom door creaked open.
Shalini stepped out dressed for the day in a deep rust-colored kurti that moved softly around her body and sheer black leggings that caught the light with every step. Her earrings shimmered. Her hair was still slightly damp, tied loosely, framing a face that still carried a faint flush.
Avi looked away the moment she appeared.
Malika noticed.
Shalini's expression stayed calm, unreadable. "All set?"
"Let's go," Malika said, standing quickly. "First the fair. Then my place—you'll meet my sisters, cousins, whoever else is around. We eat, we gossip, we come back and collapse. Sound good?"
Avi nodded. "Yeah."
The three of them left the room and walked down the corridor.
Near the hotel's back exit a door opened quietly. Ravi and Prayush stepped out in plain clothes, fabric masks covering the lower half of their faces. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them looked at the women. They simply turned the opposite direction and walked toward the road.
Heading home.
Shalini's eyes lingered on Prayush for half a second. Nothing showed on her face. Malika didn't react either.
A taxi pulled up. Malika and Shalini slid into the back seat. Avi took the front, next to the driver. The door shut and the cab rolled forward.
For a moment there was only the sound of the engine and the road.
Then Shalini leaned slightly toward Malika and lowered her voice.
"He's suspicious."
Malika's eyes sharpened. "Avi?"
Shalini nodded once. "This morning. While I was showering… he went into the bedroom."
"And?"
"I saw him through the crack in the bathroom door. He picked up my clothes—especially the leggings—and brought them to his face. He smelled them."
Malika blinked, then a slow smile curved her lips. "Interesting."
Shalini kept her tone even, though something darker moved behind her eyes.
"I told myself it was just travel smell. I hadn't changed since last night. I left everything on the floor while I showered."
The lie sat between them, thin and deliberate.
The truth was heavier. Those leggings had been soaked with sweat and more. They had been peeled off her body after hours of being used. The scent Avi had breathed in wasn't from any train.
But she couldn't say that.
Malika glanced toward the front seat. Avi was staring out the window, expression calm, completely unaware of the conversation happening two feet behind him.
"I'll keep an eye on him," Malika murmured. "You just enjoy the fair."
Shalini leaned back and watched the road roll past, the rest of the truth locked tightly inside her.
---
The cab moved into heavier traffic. Horns sounded in the distance. The driver glanced in the rear-view mirror when Malika asked how long the journey would take.
"Normally thirty minutes, ma'am. Today with the festival… one and a half, maybe two hours."
Malika nodded. The sun was already sharp through the glass. She asked permission to pull the black sunscreens down. The driver agreed.
She slid the dark screens into place on both sides. The outside world disappeared. Only vague silhouettes remained. Then she closed the small glass partition between the front and back seats and hung her large purse and Avi's backpack on the shelf behind the driver's headrest, blocking the last possible view.
The back seat became more private.
Malika turned toward Shalini and studied her for a moment. Shalini was staring out at the dark screen, but her shoulders were still tight. Her fingers kept twisting the edge of her kurti. The usual calm she wore like a second skin was missing.
Malika's voice softened.
"You're still thinking about this morning, aren't you?"
Shalini didn't answer right away. Then she gave a small, tired nod.
"He smelled them… and I saw the way his hand moved while he did it. I can't get it out of my head."
Malika reached over and gently took Shalini's hand.
"Shalu…" she said quietly. "You're wound too tight. Let me take care of you for a while."
Shalini turned her head. Their eyes met.
Malika's smile was warm, but there was clear intent behind it.
"Just relax. Let me handle it."
She shifted closer on the seat. One hand rested on Shalini's thigh, the other slowly slid up to cup her cheek. Then Malika leaned in and kissed her—soft at first, then deeper, unhurried, the kind of kiss meant to pull someone out of their own head.
Shalini's breath caught. After a second she kissed back, the tension in her shoulders beginning to melt.
Malika's hand moved higher under the kurti, fingers tracing warm skin, while her mouth stayed gentle but insistent. She was no longer asking. She was taking care of her sister the way she knew best—by giving her body something else to feel.
In the front seat, Avi remained turned toward the window, one earbud in, completely unaware of what was beginning behind the closed partition.
Malika broke the kiss just long enough to whisper against Shalini's lips:
"I've got you. Just feel."
Then she kissed her again, deeper this time, and her hand continued its slow, deliberate path—beginning to serve Shalini exactly the way she needed.