(Shiv-Gauri): The Oldest Story... - 2 - Page 20

Chapter 53: A Dark and Terrible Beauty – Part 1

As soon as she opened the door for him, he knew that something terrible was in the making for tonight.

"Do you have to dress so provocatively?" He asked, although why he even bothered, he wasn't sure anymore.

"It's a party, Shashank! You may not be aware of the usual dress code for these things, but let me assure you, they do not involve khakis and a plaid shirt. What look are you going for exactly? It's looks half choir boy, half ranch hand." She pulled on his button-down shirt to emphasize her point.

"Don't worry about my clothes." He pulled her hand away from his shirt.

"Then don't worry about mine either." She said flippantly as she closed the door behind her and stepped out. There was a moment when her high heels caught in a groove in the doormat and she stumbled, which ruined the ferocity of her flippancy, but just as he caught her arms to steady her, she pushed him away, and she felt that some of the ferocity was regained.

"I will drive." He said as he pulled out his keys.

"Of course you will. But we are not taking your rickety Civic. We will take my convertible." She grabbed the keys out of her purse to pass it to him.

He stopped walking then. "Thalia, some of these people know who I am. They are going to be wondering at my nerve to show my face at this gathering to begin with. You want to throw grease on fire and make this entrance as flamboyant as possible?"

"Let me teach you something about life, Shashank. It's all about Entrances and Exits. No one cares or remembers what happens in between." She stopped to say as much before starting to walk ahead of him.

"If that's all these is to life, much of it is wasted, don't you think?" He said blithely as his long strides caught up with her.

"Ah… now you're catching on. Much of life is wasted and useless indeed." She declared without missing a beat and he rolled his eyes at that fact that she had missed his sarcasm entirely.

"Don't roll your eyes at me. I know that was your way of teaching me something valuable, I am sure. But, I am choosing to enlighten you about the truths of life myself, and therefore ignoring your patronizing pearls of wisdom." She said all of this without looking back at him and he thought that maybe his responses to her were becoming predictable.

"Thalia, Gauri doesn't even know that you and I know each other. I want to keep it that way. It's not going to help the cause if we blaze in there in a neon yellow Lamborghini and expect people to not notice."

"The Porsche, then?" She paused to look back.

"Why does your dad buy up these cars when he never uses them?" He mumbled, almost to himself.

"I guilt him into it… He hates luxury cars. All the more reason for me to drive them, don't you think?"

"The Civic will do." He said as he pulled out his own keys and passed hers back to her as he passed her.

"I wouldn't be caught dead in that car!" She stomped her heeled foot.

"Then you can drive there yourself, Thalia. I think I will skip this party."

He walked to his car as he prayed that she would let him off the hook and decide to drive herself rather than insisting that he come along. But no, such luck never favored him, because even though she was huffing and puffing the whole time, she did make her way to his car and slid into the passenger seat just as he started the car.

"You owe me." She said then.

"No Thalia. I don't owe you anything. I am only forced to go to this thing because I am about 99% sure that you intend to create a great deal of havoc tonight. And when the smoke clears, I want to make sure that Gauri is not harmed by your misplaced sentiments of… whatever this is…"

She stared ahead without answering him for a few moments and he looked over at her to see why she was so quiet. She tilted her face to him then and said, "See, you do love her. I am sure that Shiv doesn't love her like that. I am not even sure that Shiv is capable of loving a woman like that. And while I have no love lost for Gauri, she has become inadvertently embroiled in this whole thing, so it can't be helped. But, I assure you, that girl is an uber-bitch when it comes to making people feel small! God help me, but the next time she opens her mouth to do what she did last time, I won't hold back."

"Are you really expecting to match wits with her, Thalia? I can assure you, she will never fail."

"Are you calling me dumb?" She asked in a low growl.

"No, I am just saying that she is smarter." He said matter-of-factly.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"No, I am not. But it doesn't stop you from repeating it like a mantra to yourself. So, be my guest. If juvenile name-calling is what gets you off, don't let me stop you."

"You should have never come to Goa." She said quietly after a few moments.

His expression changed then and he looked ahead towards the road without saying anything. The silence remained as an open wound between them all through their ride to Dhruv's house.

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Originally posted by: kellz

can't shahshank distract her
from going to teh party ?

Originally posted by: -pixie-

Too much of all kinds of unresolved tension between these two!

Devi/Tammie: I went shopping today...and wildstone is nowhere to be found in Mumbai stores...whats the use of making the adverts if the product is not available 🤣.

I have had to bear my husbands mocking ever since!

I still cant believe I have never seen these ads on TV....I seriously need to up my TV viewing...