Her eyes moved to his torso. Carefully toned, proportioned just right. A few scars scattered across his chest, each one with its own silent history. Then just beneath his chest, tattooed in clean letters, a name.
Little Cosmos.
She could not explain it but the name felt familiar. Like something heard in a dream, close enough to touch but not close enough to hold. She reached out slowly to trace it.
And fell directly onto him.
Ravi's emerald eyes opened immediately, sharp and piercing, finding her face before anything else.
"Were you falling from the bed?" he asked.
For a moment Aine forgot how to speak entirely.
"N… no. I was getting up," she said.
Ravi looked at her carefully. "You sound clearer. You are not stammering."
Aine paused. "I am imp… roving bec… ause I am heal… ing," she said, the words coming steadier than before.
Ravi helped her back onto the bed and placed hangover pills in her hand with a glass of water.
"Th… ank you," she said.
She watched him settle back and then looked at him. "You could have sl… ept on the bed. I do not bite."
"I did not ask for permission," he said simply. "I do not have the right to do that."
"But you said I am your wife," she said.
"You are. But you do not see me as a husband." He held her gaze steadily. "I do not blame you. I just do not want you to feel uncomfortable. I respect your boundaries."
Aine looked at him for a moment. "How was I like in my past?"
"I do not want to burden you with things you cannot yet remember. I want you to find them at your own pace," he said.
"But you are not making any effort for that to happen." Her voice was steadier now, the words coming cleaner. "Whenever I look at you I see pain in your eyes. You do not share a room with me. What if I never remember any of our past. Then I choose another person."
Ravi was quiet for a moment.
"That is yours to choose. If you do not want me you can go your separate way and I will respect that." He rose from the floor. "I have to prepare for work. Elora will come after she closes. I will be going overseas."
He stood. And left the room.
Aine sat on the bed alone, listening to his footsteps fade down the corridor.
"Has he always been this cold?" she asked the empty room.
The empty room said nothing back.
Tesni sat quietly, turning the small picture frame over in her hands. The photograph inside was small and worn at the edges. The two of them. She and Aine. She looked at it for a long moment before setting it gently on the bedside table.
Knock knock.
She opened the door.
"You have received an invitation to walk the runway for Celine today," the attendant said, holding out an envelope.
Tesni took it. "Thank you. I will be glad to walk."
On the Phone
"How is Paris?" Hayland asked.
"Good. Everything is good," she answered.
"Would you like to meet your sister? I could speak to Ravi and arrange something," Hayland said.
"No need to involve him. He is also having a difficult time with her. She still has very few memories of him." She paused. "The last time he wrote to me he updated me on her health."
"You have put your entire social life on hold because of her. Laying completely low."
Tesni looked at the picture frame on the table.
"She is worth it," she said simply.
"Your fan base is decreasing day by day," Hayland said.
"I know what I am doing Hayland. I want to be bigger than I am now," she said.
Her car pulled up in front of the Celine showroom. Tesni stepped out and accepted the bouquet of flowers waiting for her without breaking stride.
"Welcome Miss Tesni. It is an honour to have you here," the designer said, stepping forward.
"Thank you very much. You have made a dream come true," Tesni replied warmly.
"I know you will be extraordinary. These are your fellow runway models. Your instructor will arrive shortly," he said and moved away.
Tesni turned to face the room.
Every eye was already on her. Taking in the clothes. The bag. The quiet confidence she wore like a third layer.
Then one voice cut through the silence, low enough to be dismissed but loud enough to be heard.
"I doubt she even knows how to walk in heels."
Tesni did not turn toward the voice. She did not blink. She simply stood exactly where she was and let the room decide what it thought of her.
It would not take long.
"She is only here because of her father's money," another added.
Tesni turned and looked at them. Then she walked calmly to a seat and sat down.
"She thinks this is her father's house," one said.
The instructor arrived, sweeping his eyes across the room. He took in the group of girls clustered together and Tesni sitting alone on the opposite side, eyes on her phone, entirely unbothered.
He smiled slowly.
"I see the Cinderella and stepsisters coming alive on my set," he said.
He crossed the room directly to Tesni.
She looked up.
"New lady. I am Papa Emilios, your runway instructor. I hope you are ready for today," he said.
"I am," she replied, standing and taking his hand firmly.
Meanwhile across the city Aine sat at the breakfast table, her plate untouched.
"Aine you are not eating. What is the matter?" Elora asked, watching her carefully.
"I qu… arrelled with Ravi. We exc… hanged some words." She looked down at her plate. "I do not und… erstand why he will not just tell me what I was like in the past."
Elora sat down beside her quietly.
"He is not hiding it to hurt you," she said gently. "He is hiding it because he is afraid of losing you all over again."