Rohit rang the doorbell and waited.
A servant opened the door within seconds.
What greeted him was the living room in full social mode — Tanuj's group spread across the sofas, wine glasses in hand, laughter filling the space while the household staff moved between them with dishes and snacks. The scene had comfortable excess of people entirely at home in someone else's house.
Every head turned when Rohit stepped in.
A beat of silence. Then the laughter resumed, slightly louder than before , the specific kind that wants to be heard.
Tanuj raised his glass with easy magnanimity. "Cousin. Come sit with us. Have a drink."
Rohit took one sweep of the room.
Asim and Pankaj on the far sofa, open hostility wearing the thin mask of casual posture.
Sheela beside Tanuj, arms folded around his, smirking at Rohit with the satisfaction of someone who had already decided how this interaction would go.
She was wearing a matching two-piece co-ord sets with alcohol swirling in her glass.
