AkYa Drabble: 'The Green-Eyed Monster'

The Green-Eyed Monster

(An AkYa Drabble)

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He grit his teeth as he observed the couple sneakily from the corner of his eyes.

The two of them, standing at one of the tables of a cozy cafe in the airport.

Chatting and smiling over piping hot cups of coffee.

It seemed as if they were lost in their own world, completely oblivious to the hustle and bustle that typified the airport.

His focus, as usual, drifted to her.

She was listening in rapt attention to whatever nonsense that man was spewing.

In spite of him, his eyes softened involuntarily, as they always did, when she was within his sights.

A mere glance towards her could take his breath away.

He basked in the glow of happiness as he took respite in the fact that she was standing within a mere thirty feet of him.

He tore his glance away from her slender, graceful form, to that of her companion's.

He could not even bring himself to take that man's name.

What a silly surname...Mafatlal. Hmph.

Sounded more like a mithaiwala than the owner of a private airliner.

Now...Saluja. That sounds dignified, he thought to himself, with a perverse satisfaction.

For the life of him, he could not figure out what she saw in the fellow.

Grinning all the while like a stupid monkey, hanging all over her, flirting with her, and constantly demanding her attention.

Flirting. Hmmph.

He could probably teach that monkey a lesson or two about flirting, properly.

Only Akash Saluja could flirt like no tomorrow. And remain a gentleman while doing it.

He felt a surge in him as he remembered how she had blushed so prettily, when he had given her his "gentleman's perspective" about her hair.

His thoughts came to an abrupt end as he was startled by whatever he saw next.

That...pipsqueak was casually wrapping his arms around her in a friendly gesture.

He waited for her to swat the idiot's hands away.

But she just smiled and let him hold on to her for a full second, before unwillingly freeing herself from his arms, as if she had liked it!

He clenched his jaw more, if that were possible.

This gesture of hers had... hurt. It was agonizing.

She should just have whipped out a gun and shot him in mercy.

The ugly, green-eyed monster of jealousy that seemed to reside in him permanently nowadays, changed colour.

For now, there was red-hot fury coursing through his veins, painting the entire world red, filling him with the urge to do something violent and destructive with his hands.

He got a grip on himself with great effort, trying hard to retain his sanity.

All this while, he had not been able to fathom why this was happening to him. This sense of futility that pervaded everything when he saw her with another man.

But as the full weight of his epiphany sunk in, sense finally dawned on him.

His fate was linked inextricably to this woman.

And he had to do something about it before it was too late.

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