::/Topsy Turvy/::
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A/N: Please do not expect ANY kind of logic in this... it's written PURELY for fun! No offense intended to anyone or their fans (*violent coughing fit*). A response to a challenge made in the forum chat (you know what I mean :D).
Heavily inspired by the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone + Chamber of Secrets! ;)
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Sunlight streamed in through the dusty glass of the window, falling on her face. She frowned slightly in her sleep and rolled over onto her side. A faint smile touched her lips as she snuggled closer to the stuffed monkey.
"Get up, you!"
The smile disappeared as quickly as it had come, and Tarika winced and buried her face in her pillow with a muffled groan.
"Hey! Wake up already!"
The banging on her door was increasingly getting on her nerves, and she got up reluctantly, adjusting a strap of the dingy old nightdress she wore. Shuffling over to the wardrobe, she pulled out the first set of clothes she saw, sighing as she pushed her curls out of her face.
The voice was growing fainter, and Tarika realised with relief that she was heading back to her room. "Cinderella! Hurry up!" came a screech from some distance away. It was all Tarika could do to not yell back about how much she hated that nickname. Maya may have gone out of her way to ruin everything else, but she didn't have to add insult to injury.
Making sure to keep her shower as quick as possible, she got dressed, did the best she could with her hair and hurried out to the kitchen. As she began to make tea, she thought wistfully of the dream she'd been having before the usual rude awakening.
"CINDERELLA!" yelled the pleasant, melodious tones of her least favourite voice in the world again, and Tarika banged her fist on the kitchen counter to vent her feelings before replying in as calm a voice as she could manage. "Coming!" she called over her shoulder, and carried the tea cup upstairs, hoping against hope that-
Oh no. Too late.
He was lying down, awake but with his eyes half shut. Maya was curled around him, combing his hair with her fingers and looking for all the world like an octopus playing with its prey. The tomato-pink silk pyjamas she had on only enhanced the effect. Tarika had never seen a more nauseating sight, and she had once been a forensic scientist.
"Give me that, Cinderella, why are you standing there blinking like a fool," Maya snapped. Abhijeet's eyes flew open at once and he hurriedly sat up, taking care to keep his gaze averted. Tarika determinedly returned the favour, as she always did. She handed Maya the teacup, and was about to leave when the sweet, musical voice stopped her. "Where do you think you're going? Iron my blue and green suit, keep my hairdryer out, and once you've done that, go get breakfast ready... and do something about your hair! It's disgusting!" Maya barked.
"At least it isn't cruelly straightened with entire bucketfuls of ammonium thioglycolate, unlike some people's," Tarika muttered under her breath. Abhijeet's mouth twitched as though he was trying hard not to smile, but Maya narrowed her eyes as Tarika pulled out the hairdryer from a drawer. "Did you say something?"
"No," Tarika replied nonchalantly, taking out the blue and green suit and laying it out over the ironing board. Maya looked suspiciously at her for a minute before getting up and going into the bathroom, carrying her towel and robe.
The awkwardness in the room could have been cut with a knife. Tarika valiantly kept her full attention on the ironing, but at the same time she was perfectly aware of the fact that Abhijeet was watching her. Her thoughts strayed to the reason she'd ever gotten into this mess in the first place.
"You want to keep your boss alive and safe, you do exactly as I tell you. Understand?"
Oh, she understood all right. Dr. Salunkhe was the closest thing to a father she had. And if keeping him safe meant she had to watch her worst nightmares come alive in front of her every single day, then by God she'd do it in a heartbeat, as long as she had to.
"Why do you let her do this to you?"
Now that was unexpected. Usually he didn't talk to her if he could help it. She kept her eyes trained on her work, however, and carefully kept her tone neutral. "Do what?"
"Come off it, Tarika." She heard a slight creaking noise, and the next minute he was standing beside her. "You know perfectly well what I mean. She tries to torture you in every possible way she can think of, and you just take it silently." He reached over and caught her free hand. "That's not the Tarika I know."
She snatched her hand away as though she had been scalded. "Too bad, then, 'cause the Tarika you know is gone. Long gone. I'm just Cinderella now, remember?" She said the name in a chipmunk-like voice, and let out a snort. "Every girl's dream, to be a Disney princess."
"When did you become like this?" he asked quietly. She didn't have to look at him to know that he was giving her the kitty-eyes. Normally this expression was known as puppy-dog eyes, but somehow she'd always felt kitty-eyes were more like him. Though, of course, she wasn't even allowed to feel anything anymore, was she? At least, not when it came to him. She had seen to that.
Her mind briefly wandered back to several weeks ago, when Daya had come to visit. Poor Daya, who of course didn't know the real story, had watched with his eyes wide and his mouth agape as she was ordered around by Maya. She remembered how utterly confused he had been by the end of that evening. So confused, in fact, that he'd even ended up asking if someone had slipped some kind of mind-scrambling drug into his coffee.
"Tarika, I'm talking to you."
She briskly proceeded to fold the freshly ironed clothes. "But I'm not talking to you, so I think you'll find it pretty boring having a one-way conversation."
"What's going on out there?" shouted Maya's voice from the bathroom, and Tarika rolled her eyes and made a see-I-told-you-so gesture. "Nothing, I'm just going down to make breakfast," she replied, raising her voice a little, and wasted no time in escaping from the room. God, she really couldn't stand that room- and the tacky mint-green walls had nothing to do with it, though they certainly were a contributing factor.
It wasn't like she didn't try. On the contrary, she tried, with every ounce of willpower she had, to ignore it when Maya draped herself over Abhijeet at all possible opportunities just to rub it in her face. Be strong, be strong, she chanted repeatedly in her head, though it was becoming harder and harder to resist the temptation to knock out the woman's teeth. She often had to force herself to keep her mind focused on Dr. Salunkhe whenever something like this happened. It was for him that she was putting up with all of it, and his safety was her first concern.
Even she couldn't deny, however, that it was rather difficult to keep her mind focused on what was important when Maya was sitting in front of her, playing with Abhijeet's hair.
Damn, why did that revolting scene have to show up in her mind now? It really wasn't a good idea to throw up so early in the morning. Besides, she had the whole day's housework to do...
Tarika let a wry smile stretch her mouth as she imagined what Dr. Salunkhe would say if he saw her now. No doubt he'd practically have an embolism. She also doubted very much if either Maya or Abhijeet would escape with their lives after that. Certainly not if the good doctor could help it.
After breakfast, when Abhijeet and Maya had left, Tarika sat down heavily on the front step, her shoulders slumping as she sighed. She'd never let her know it, but Maya's constant efforts to drive her up the wall were working. In fact, she was quite sure she'd soon end up having to check herself into a mental asylum. Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad either, considering the fact that there wasn't really anything left to live for...
No sooner had this thought crossed her mind than a noise reached her ears. She looked up, and instantly noticed a shadow moving through a nearby bush. "Rocky?" she said, and the shadow quickened its pace. "Rocky," she called, straightening up. There was a scuffling sound, and the next second, a dark outline burst through the bush, scattering leaves over the ground. The newcomer ran up to Tarika, who smiled- really smiled- for the first time that day. She hugged him, giggling as he covered her face with sloppy kisses. "Stop it, you," she chided, moving back and looking into his shining brown eyes. "How are you doing?"
Rocky woofed happily, his tail wagging like crazy, and pushed his nose against her cheek.
"How am I?" she asked, and he barked in affirmation. Tarika sighed again as she patted his scruffy dark head. "I'm the same. But you love me, no?" Rocky nuzzled her neck and licked her cheek in reply, whimpering a little as he did so. He always seemed to know when she needed comforting.
Suddenly, Rocky's ears perked up, and he scrambled off Tarika's lap. Catching the hem of her pale yellow and green skirt between his teeth, he tugged gently on it. She looked curiously at him. "What is it?"
He tugged more insistently at her skirt, this time pulling in a particular direction, and Tarika caught on at once. "You want me to come with you?"
"Woof," Rocky affirmed, wagging his tail, and Tarika got to her feet, wondering what this was all about. "Whenever you're ready," she said, and he led her into the house. Bending his head to the floor, he sniffed around intently for a few minutes before heading purposefully towards Abhijeet and Maya's room.
"Uh-oh," Tarika muttered, her expression wary as she followed her canine comrade. "Rocky, darling, please don't tell me you have a plan that's gonna get me in trouble with Maya the malicious."
Rocky growled slightly at the name as he nudged the door open with his muzzle. His black fur rippled in the sunlight as he leaped up onto the window ledge and started attempting to open the window. Tarika watched him in confusion for several minutes before it finally dawned on her what he was trying to do. She couldn't help smiling in spite of herself as she shook her head exasperatedly at him. "Oh, you." She felt tired all of a sudden, and sank down to the floor, leaning against the wall. "Come here," she said, holding out her hand, and Rocky jumped down from the window ledge and crossed the room to her, his tail and ears drooping forlornly. He licked her outstretched hand sadly before climbing into her lap.
"I can't leave, Rocky," Tarika told him softly as she cuddled him. "I could have left long ago if I wanted to. But I can't..." her breath caught. "If I try to get out of here, Salunkhe sir..." A lump rose in her throat, and Rocky whimpered painfully as a tear slid down her cheek. He licked it away before it could fall, and nudged her nose with his own. She buried her face in his shaggy fur, drawing comfort from his warmth.
The next second, both of them nearly jumped out of their skins as the doorbell rang loudly.
"Damn!" Tarika cursed, scrambling hurriedly to her feet. "Rocky, hide!" she hissed at him, and he quickly dived under the bed, the end of his tail whipping out of sight just as Tarika rushed out of the room to open the door. A scowling Maya sauntered into the house, followed by Abhijeet, who scurried after her as though he was being chased by a mountain lion. To Tarika's horror, Maya caught Abhijeet by the wrist and steered him firmly towards their room.
Oh no! she thought frantically, biting her nails in worry. Rocky, sweetie, please, PLEASE for the love of God stay where you are! And don't make any noise, or we're both deader than doornails before you can say CID!
Rocky, meanwhile, froze as he saw the room door open and two people enter. He sniffed lightly and recognised the scent at once- it was them. His first instinct, of course, was to leap out and attack them, but then another bright idea entered his sharp mind as Maya started whispering sweet nothings in what she obviously thought was a seductive voice. In reality, however, it just ended up sounding as though she had a dreadful sore throat.
Slowly, with incredible stealth, Rocky stretched out one of his hind paws, feeling around the floor until he found what he was seeking.
"Why don't you just relax and let me- yeouw!" Maya yelped in horror, jumping about a foot off the bed and staring wildly at the nightlamp. Abhijeet, who had been concentrating all his efforts into trying to evade her advances, blinked at her in confusion. "What?"
"I swear, Abhijeet..." Maya's voice dropped to a dramatically frightened whisper. "I swear I saw the nightlamp moving. Moving all by itself."
Abhijeet merely gave her a bemused look. "Um, what?" He stared apprehensively at her. "Uh, Maya, don't mind, but are you sure you haven't been, um, hitting the bottle lately?" He tentatively made a drinky-drinky gesture.
"What the- of course I bloody well haven't been hitting the bottle!" Maya sputtered, turning a violent shade of purplish-crimson that, ironically enough, greatly resembled the colour of wine. "What do you take me for, some kind of-"
The nightlamp rattled again, harder this time, and she promptly forgot what she had been about to say as she let out a terrified howl. Abhijeet looked completely befuddled now, and stared warily at Maya as though afraid she might start hyperventilating and smashing up the room any minute.
Suddenly, there was a ripping noise, and Abhijeet and Maya spun around to see the curtain hanging down to the floor, a huge rip almost splitting it in half. That was the last straw for Maya, and she leaped to her feet and ran headlong out of the room, screaming bloody murder. "Hey, Maya!" Abhijeet yelled after her, and threw a confused look at the torn curtain before following her out. Safely under the bed, Rocky was grinning his head off, his eyes twinkling with mirth and his tongue hanging out gleefully. He was just getting started- Maya hadn't seen anything yet.
"Cinderella!" Maya screeched, running through the house and almost falling over several times thanks to the high-heeled sandals she wore. Some women, dear readers, will never understand the usefulness of that wonderful invention known as flat shoes. "CINDERELLA! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
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A/N: How'd you all like it so far? Chill, it's OK even if you hate it. I only wrote it for a challenge (though I doubt I actually lived up to it :D). The second part will be up based on the reviews! ;)