7 Next time, it will be your forehead

"No Daddy!" a girl in a pink frock with long locks pouted at a young man, "I'll eat the pink one."

The man had a packet of gems in his hands as he smiled. Another girl, younger than the one in pink, said, wearing a blue frock with short hair, "I will eat the green one."

They were in a small house & the evening sky was beautiful, as seen from the window of the room. The man smiled, "Let's play a game." saying so, he pulled both of his daughters closer to him.

"We will close our eyes", the man spoke again, "We will then pick up one each from the packet. Okay?"

The girls nodded with enthusiasm as they closed their eyes & put their hands inside the packet. Each of then got a different color than what they wanted. They pouted sadly. Their Daddy smiled & began explaining, "Just as we couldn't predict what colours we will get. Likewise, we can't predict what will happen in the future of our life. Understood?"

Before the girls could speak, a deafening crash sounded & through the window came in a ball of fire. The man panicked as he hurried the two girls outside.

...

Janhvi woke up with a start. The nightmare looked like it happened right before her eyes. Yes, that happened right before her eyes & yet she couldn't save her Daddy. She shuffled in her posture & the warm sunshine illuminated her face. She rubbed her eyes & sat up. Her eyes fell on the exquisite back of Dhruv which was left exposed from the blanket. No, it isn't time to look at him. Moreover, last night, he had left quite a few hickeys on her skin. Even though the marriage was fake, she, unfortunately, did the deed!

She facepalmed herself before she carefully picked up the nightdress, so as not to disturb him. She wore the shirt on her torso & stepped down from the bed & slowly made her way to the bathroom. She was already late when she stepped out of the bathroom because of the impact last night, saree clad. She heard some commotion downstairs. She glanced at Dhruv before she made her way downstairs.

"Politics! Politics! Politics!" The old man yelled at P.K., "I told you to stay away. But you, you never listen to me."

"Dad!" P.K. had his eyes shut, "It's okay! No one can do anything to me."

"It's not that you were ever threatened", Kabir explained.

Janhvi squinted & her eyes fell upon they whit cardboard box left open on the table. Beside it was a wax statue of P.K. Mittal's face with a bullet, studded on its forehead. Underneath was a note saying,'Next time, it will be your forehead.'

Janhvi's lips curled up into a smirk as she tilted her head. Her eyes fell on Kabir grimly as her thoughts wandered back to the events of last night. Had he not saved P.K., he would have been squished to pieces underneath the chandelier.

She approached P.K. with a worried look, "Papa, what will happen if something goes wrong with you?"

P.K. chuckled heartily, "If I was such a coward, I wouldn't be here where I'm today."

Janhvi wanted to snort with ridicule, 'Like I don't understand what you did to get here.'

"I understand, Papa", Janhvi gave a comfortung smile.