He had to admit she had done a good job at covering up her tracks. He had spent the last few days researching irritably, but coming across dead ends. However, the girl would spill some time. He could torture her , he knew she lived through his torture once .. but what about twice ? ten times ? twenty times straight ? However, his first plan, which was the easiest to do, was to corner her. She was a girl, and he was a handsome boy. He would be surprised if she didn't start babbling to him all her dirtiest, darkest secrets.
If his deduction was correct, Parth would have yelled at her now and threw her out. Shekhwat knew him well enough to know that the boy hated being lied to.All according to plan. He had needed to test her out before he asked her the important question. If she broke now, he was going to stop all investigations on her. He wasn't going to take some wussy girl on a trip with him. However, he was more curious about her than he had been about anyone else for years. It took more than a normal girl, even more so a servant at that, to break down Parth's walls.
"randhir," the girl next to him breathed. He had completely forgotten about her, and he quickly arranged a perfect smile. Not that it mattered; she couldn't see him much in the darkness anyways. He leaned closer to her, his fingers dancing up and down her arms, and she whimpered softly with excitement.
Pathetic.
"Hey," he said, feigning breathlessness as well. They were so close their noses were almost touching. The sigh she gave told him his acting was still as convincing as always. "We finally have some time together." His hand found hers and he squeezed it gently. He smirked when her breath caught. "I've been watching you."
"Have you, randhir?" she sounded flattered. Little did she know that he hadn't cast a single glance towards her direction in public. He had been too busy examining Sanyukta."And I'm glad we can finally be together. I swear Vidushi wouldn't stop looking at me," she giggled, and leaned in for a kiss. Through her excitement, she didn't realize that Shekhwat barely responded.
Shekhwat allowed the girl to pleasure herself with his lips for a while, and then pulled away. "Should you be talking about your Mistress like that?" he asked, rather amused. Not that he disagreed with her; Vidushi was insane and was rather annoying.
The girl seemed to make a face. "What Vidushi doesn't won't hurt her." She grabbed the front of his clothes and pulled him towards her again. Shekhwat fought the urge to get her hands off of his shirt. He had just gotten them cleaned, and didn't need some pitiless servant touching them and soiling them.
"Wait," he stopped her before their lips could touch again. He could smell her breath on his nose, and fought the urge to pull away. He needed her cooperation on this. Even though she was a servant, he had to be careful. "Remember that girl we were talking about?
"Oh." The girl seemed stunned for a moment, and Shekhwat feared that he might've just wasted his time on nothing. However, the girl's face lighted up and she said, "Yes, yes. Of course. Would you like to know more now, randhir?"
"Yes, please." He tried to put on his best innocent face, while inside, he was smirking triumphantly. Victory. "If it wouldn't trouble you too much."
"Oh, no, it's my pleasure." She giggled again, and Shekhwat tried not to retch at the horrid sound.She . He was beginning to get sick of her strong perfume and the way her hair kept brushing against his eyes. Never had he ever met a girl as clumsy as her. For a girl who was happy on jumping on whichever guy came by, he would've expected that she had more experience.
Shekhwat decided to indulge her one more time before he left. He did have an act to keep up, and it wouldn't do for her to get angry and start blabbing about him. He did not need any story to be conjured about him.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't have enough money for lodging, and he was not staying at FITE for the summer. With even less people during summer break, Vardhaan was sure to keep an even closer eye on him. He couldn't accomplish anything at FITE without him knowing about it. He would have to come to the kashyap Mansion again, and it wouldn't do to get on anyone's bad side. He didn't want any spiders or anything of that sort to be on his bed the next time he visited the Mansion.
He pulled her towards her again, and she was happy to oblige. His lips sought hers, and he was irritated to find her arms wrapping around his body. It would be harder for him to get away like that. Just as he was starting to make his move, he was saved as the door flung open and the two of them broke apart.
The nehra girl was leaning on the door frame, her hands crossed and her face blank. He sat up and straightened himself out, but not before smirking at her. She rolled her eyes before looking at the girl he had been snogging just a few moments ago. Her lips were parted, her eyes full of lust, and her cheeks tinged with red.
Disgusting.
"Oh, sorry." nehra said, not sounding particularly apologetic. Her cold eyes flicked between the two of them. "You alright there, Kaustu?"
"Yes, yes." kaustuki glared at her. "Now if you will just leave, Sanyukta, I would appreciate it. Oh, and also, close the door."
"Actually," Shekhwat said, standing up smoothly. kaustuki pouted, and Sanyukta simply raised her eyebrows at him. "I have something I need to talk about with nehra here." He ignored kaustuki's protesting, and cocked his head towards nehra. "Right, nehra?"
She gave him a look like she was trying to figure him out. He just gave her a sideways smirk, giving nothing else away. She glanced at kaustuki, who was glaring wholeheartedly at her. She sighed. "Fine." she said nonchalantly. "I'll see you later,Kaustu." She mock waved.
The girl was fuming angrily, so before she could blow up and cause a racket, he bent down and pecked her on the cheek. He could see out of the corner of his eyes nehra rolling her eyes at his antics, and he repressed a smirk. kaustuki's eyes wandered to his lips, and then went downwards, before coming back to his eyes. "I'll see you later," he said, and winked. He watched, thoroughly amused, as the girl melted into a puddle.
nehra muttered something that sounded strangely like 'insufferable showoff.' She then cleared her throat, but Shekhwat didn't miss her smirk. "You coming, Shekhwat?"
"Yes." He tore his eyes away from kaustuki, who had fallen back against her bed happily. "Come on, nehra. Let's get things sorted out."
"Yes," she looked him in the eyes as he exited kaustuki's room. "We have a lot of sorting out to do."
The two of them quickly walked out of the kitchen and into the hallways. Shekhwat leaned casually against the wall, while Sanyukta lingered near the stairs. If he tried anything fishy on her, she'd at least have an escape route to turn to. She also didn't want to talk to him in the hallways, as one of the kashyaps could come and catch them, but she didn't want to be in a room alone with Shekhwat either.
"So, Shekhwat," Sanyukta mimicked his posture, crossing her arms and meeting his gaze head on. "You wanted to talk to me about something? Or maybe," she smiled at him innocently. "You just wanted an excuse to ditch kaustuki, didn't you?"
Shekhwat raised his eyebrows and displayed a look of mock hurt. "Now, why would I do that?" He asked earnestly. "We both know kaustuki is a well likeable figure." He almost snorted, but refrained himself. "Why would I not enjoy her company?"
Sanyukta rolled her eyes. "Because, you were only snogging her to get what you wanted. While kaustuki may not see it, it's quite obvious."
"Oh, is it really?" Shekhwat smirked. "I seem to be an open book to you. Then, nehra, what exactly do I want from kaustuki?"
"An open book," Sanyukta scoffed. "You are far from that, Shekhwat. And I'm guessing you wanted some kind of Information." Sanyukta shrugged.
"No," Shekhwat snapped at her, suddenly defensive.
"Alright, alright." Sanyukta held her hands up, but not before she rolled her eyes and muttered 'over-reacting prick' under her breath. Your business is your own."
"Speaking of business," Shekhwat countered, immediately changing the subject into one where he was not under pressure. "How is your business going?" He smirked as Sanyukta scowled at him. "How did the lover's spat go?"
"For the last time, Parth and I are not dating, nor will we ever go out." She glared at him.
Shekhwat responded in a voice that was sickening sweet. "But I was right, wasn't I?" He watched in satisfaction as Sanyukta stiffened. He leaned in closer. "Who are your parents? Why are you impersonating as a servant?" He was so close to her now that she could feel his cold breath on her skin. "Who are you really?"
"Like I would tell you," Sanyukta shoved him off of her, his close proximity making her uncomfortable. He sighed. "Nice try, Shekhwat."
"You didn't deny that you weren't a servant, though. Not before, in Parth's room, and not now." He smirked when Sanyukta realized that he was, in fact, correct.
Sanyukta took a deep breath and pushed herself away from the wall. "Well, if that's all you wanted from me, I'm going to sleep." She had known, before she said anything, that he wouldn't let her go that easily. He wouldn't have made such a huge effort to corner her if that was the case.
"Actually, nehra, there is something I want from you. Something you have been very reluctant to give me." He said smoothly. "I want answers."
"Well, Shekhwat," Sanyukta cocked her head to the side. She should not be engaging him in a conversation. She should just walk away. He was dangerous, and he already knew more than he should. However, Sanyukta found her mouth moving on its own accord. "Looks like you're not getting them."
"No?" Shekhwat quirked an eyebrow and leaned in, effectively trapping her against the wall. This time, Sanyukta found that she couldn't find the strength to lift her arms and push him away. His breath landed on the neck, and goose bumps formed along her arms. She quickly hid them behind her body, but judging at the smirk that had appeared on his face, he had seen them. She glanced down at her arms, thoroughly disgusted. "You sure about that, nehra?"
"What are you doing, Shekhwat?" She regarded him coolly. Sanyukta was proud that her voice didn't shake, even though she was sure her heart was pounding so loud that even Shekhwat could hear it. "You know I'm not affected by whatever you're doing."
"I don't believe you," Shekhwat leaned down so their noses were almost touching. It was the sheer thought that those same lips had touched kaustuki's just moments ago that made her find the strength to push against his chest. He let out a chuckle at her sigh of frustration when he didn't budge. She contemplating whether or not to kick him in the groin, but decided to save that strategy for later.
He pressed his mouth against her ear. "You're an interesting creature, nehra." he purred into her ear. "I will have fun digging out all your secrets and breaking you."
"You'll never win, Shekhwat," Sanyukta shot back, giving up at attempting to push him off of her. He was strong, and while she was most certain she could push him off of her if she really wanted to, she didn't want to make a racket in the middle of the hallway. She, however, turned her face so he got a face full of her hair. Shekhwat retracted himself and grimaced, and Sanyukta smirked back. "Why don't you just give up?"
His lips curled up slightly, and leaned in again, and she felt rather than saw him smile against her ear. "Now, where is the fun in that?" She did her best to make sure her body was as responsive as a rock. "You're an exceptional person, Miss nehra, for being able to put up your act for this long. Let's see how long you'll last."
"Shekhwat," she snarled at him. While the act had been amusing at first, it was starting to get really annoying. Not to mention, she did not enjoy getting pinned to a wall. "You should""
"Hey, Sanyukta!" Parth came bustling into the hallway. "I should apologize for what I did earlier. It was immoral, and you were right. You are entitled to have your own secrets, and..." he trailed off, finally noticing the compromising position that they were in. His eyebrows shot up so high, they disappeared under hishair. His face crinkled in confusion, but, to Sanyukta's relief, he didn't look angry.
"Hi, Parth." Sanyukta said as Shekhwat straightened himself up "Shekhwat here was just leaving."
"On the contrary," Shekhwat replied smoothly. "I think I'll stay. I wouldn't want to miss your heartfelt apology for the world, Parth." He smirked, and Sanyukta glared at him.
Parth stared at the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. "Erm, okay." He still looked very confused, though of what, Sanyukta didn't know. "Like I was saying before, you know," he cleared his throat. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I let my emotions get ahead of me. I hope you can forgive me." He bowed his head, though he never took his eyes off of Sanyukta. I was thinking about it after you left," Parth admitted easily. "I replayed the conversation in my mind a couple of times, and realized how stupid I sounded. I'm really sorry. I let some stupid thing interfere with our friendship."
Shekhwat, who was trying not to roll his eyes the whole time, said smoothly, "Oh, so I'm just a stupid thing, am I?"
Parth paled considerably, seemingly having forgotten that Shekhwat was also there. Sanyukta just rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, you are, Shekhwat."
Shekhwat glared at her.
"But anyways," Sanyukta turned back to Parth and beamed. The action, though foreign, felt nice. "I forgive you."
Sanyukta smiled at him, and he smiled back, relieved that she had forgiven him relatively quickly, and the two of them just stood there, smiling at each other, until Shekhwat cleared his throat irritably. "If you two are done here," he said off handedly, "I would like to move on with my life."
"No one asked you to stay," Sanyukta replied cheekily. Parth's apology had done wonders to her mood, though she figured that Shekhwat must've made it drop pretty low for her to feel so much better at a simple apology. "You wanted to stay, so now you have to put up with our cheesiness."
Parth frowned. "We're not cheesy."
Sanyukta reached over and messed up his hair, just because she could. Parth scowled at her, but she could see amusement glinting in his eyes. "Sure we aren't." she cast a sideways glance at Shekhwat, who had edged farther and farther away from them. "Leaving already, Shekhwat?"
"Yes, the two of you are positively disgusting," he made a face, and headed down the hall to his room. Sanyukta watched, amused, as his back disappear around the corner, only to have it reappear moments later.
"nehra?" He called out, locking his eyes with hers.
"Yes, Shekhwat?"
"I want you to come with us to Shimla tomorrow."
____________________________________________
"And what did you say?"
"I said yes, of course," Sanyukta muttered, leaning back against her chair. She had approximately half an hour to pack everything she needed for the trip. "What else would I say, jignesh? He's the boss. I need to listen to him." She nearly snorted, but refrained from doing so. The only reason she accepted was because she wanted to get out of this house.
Why would Shekhwat want her to go with him? She would only be an extra weight that he'd have to carry around. Shekhwat probably had something planned, and Sanyukta had no idea what it was. His element of surprise was his biggest weapon, and Sanyukta realized, frustrated, that there was nothing she could do about it.
The two of them were in Sanyukta's room, jignesh watching as Sanyukta packed. She had retrieved her never ending bag, or the bottomless pit, as she liked to call it, and was now stuffing everything she knew in it. She couldn't take everything, of course, but she was going to take as much as she could. Books, paper, her research.
jignesh sighed. "I know that, of course. It's just"" he trailed off, staring at the clock above Sanyukta's head. "Shekhwat's dangerous, Sanyukta. I don't like him."
"Don't worry, I don't like him either," she reassured him. That was the understatement of the year. She despised him for wanting to know more than he should, even though that was exactly what she would've done. "He knows more than he should and he always sticks his nose where he belongs."
His frown only intensified. "Look, Sanyukta. I know you have your secrets, and I have mine. I respect that, and you respect it as well. However, Shekhwat...I see the way he looks at you. You're a mystery to him, Sanyukta. And he'll stop at nothing to find out your secrets. "
"I know," Sanyukta stuffed her clothes in her never ending bag. She wasn't sure how long they would be staying in Shimla, but she had to be prepared. "He straight out told me, jignesh."
jignesh's jaw dropped. "He told you?" he asked incredulously. "Why are you still going with him then?"
"Are you deaf?" she asked, irritated that she couldn't find her deck of cards she had stashed under her bed. She was sure they had been there when she had last looked. "I just told you why I had to go."
"Go tell your Prince Charming to call it off," jignesh said simply. "You belong to the kashyap family, not the Shekhwat family. If any of the kashyaps don't want you to go, Shekhwat can't make you."
"You're wrong about that." Sanyukta's hand skimmed across the deck, and she retrieved it happily. "Shekhwat has absolute authority over here. And besides, I'm not the only one with the secrets." Sanyukta smirked to herself, a look of menace appearing on her face. "I'll have fun finding out his as well."
"You're kind of scary sometimes," jignesh said, causing Sanyukta to grin. jignesh sighed again. "Just be careful, alright? I don't want you getting hurt or anything..." he trailed off, staring at Sanyukta, who was on all fours, looking under her cabinet. "What are you looking for?"
Sanyukta made a muffled sound that sounded strangely like 'bouncy ball.'
jignesh shook his head. "I don't want to know what other types of things you're packing." Sanyukta stifled a laugh. "Don't get too carried away, though," jignesh continued quietly, searching through the box of belongings she had next to her bed. "Shekhwat's suspicious enough as it is. Don't give him more of a reason to doubt that there's more to you."
"Yes, jignesh, I know," she caught the pink ball he threw at her and stashed it away. That seemed to be all her belongings. "I'll be careful. You don't need to worry about me. I'm a big girl."
"Why would jignesh worry about you?"
Sanyukta stifled a sigh and turned around, kaustuki standing near the door, looking at the scene in front of her curiously. Sanyukta had planned to just leave a note for the girl and not face her before she left, but that plan just flew out the window. Every time she looked at her, she saw the girl with her lips plastered to Shekhwat's. It thoroughly disgusted her when people showed public displays of affection, though it had been her who had barged in without knocking.
"Uh, hey, Sanyukta said. Without her hand there to support the bag, it tumbled out of her lap and onto the floor with a thud. kaustuki's gaze shifted to it, and Sanyukta could almost see the gears turning in her head. "What's up?"
"Nothing," kaustuki said slowly, and then scanned around the room. Sanyukta had emptied out almost all the contents, so it was pretty much completely empty. "The better question would be what's up with you."
"Sanyukta just has a death wish and she's going on a trip with Shekhwat and Prince Charming," jignesh said gruffly. "No big deal."
Crap. She had forgotten to tell jignesh about the position she had found kaustuki and Shekhwat in earlier, and by looking at kaustuki's face, the girl was far from happy. She gave Sanyukta a glare that could've made Shekhwat himself cringe and actually growled.
"What the hell?" kaustuki asked her angrily, advancing on her. Sanyukta stared back at her, unflinching. "First, you go and disrupt my private moment with randhir, and now you have the nerve to run away with him? Who do you think you are?"
jignesh shot her a surprised look, but Sanyukta couldn't deal with him right now. "I am not running away with him. Calm down. And for your information, Shekhwat was the person who asked me." She snapped. "So why don't you go yell at him instead of me?"
"You're lying," kaustuki shook her head. "Why would randhir ask you? You probably threw yourself at him, didn't you? You annoyed him so much that he had to ask you, and yet now you're blaming it on him? You must be more desperate than I thought."
Sanyukta raised an eyebrow at her. "And why would you think that? Do I look like the type of girl who throws herself at random people?"
"Yes," kaustuki told her matter-of-factly. Sanyukta scowled. This was like her fight with Parth all over again. She really was not in the mood. "Why else would randhir take you and not me? I'm the person he likes, not you. You don't even like him, Sanyukta, so why don't you just give up and give the spot to me?"
"Hold on," Sanyukta held her hands up, trying not to lash out at the girl for being so stupid. "According to your logic, I don't like him, but I'm still willing to throw myself at him? Is that what you're saying?"
"Alright, you two," jignesh cut in, still clueless. "Break it up." He was met by two furious glares, and he shrunk back, wisely deciding not to say anything more.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," kaustuki hissed at her. "I don't know what you're doing, but stop it right now. It's not your place to engage in romantic activities with him."
Romantic activities? With Shekhwat? Is he even capable of performing such acts?"Oh, and you are?" Sanyukta raised her eyebrows, and kaustuki's face flushed red with anger. "Have you forgotten, kaustuki? You and I are the same. We're both servants. Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?"
"I'm different!" kaustuki screeched. "I'm unique! randhir chose me! He didn't choose you! This is not fair!"
"You know what, kaustuki? I don't care. You can have him. Like I said, I never wanted him anyways." The angry look on kaustuki's face melted away into a triumphant, proud grin. Sanyukta never wanted to smack anyone more. How the two of them could've gotten along for the past week was beyond her. "This trip is the one and only time I will ever come in contact with Shekhwat, so you don't need to worry."
"Why don't you just cancel the trip?" kaustuki asked. Just call in sick, and I'll offer to take your place. That way, everyone is happy."
"I'm not going to lie just for your sake, kaustuki," Sanyukta narrowed her eyes. "I'm in enough trouble as it is. Listen closely, kaustuki. You may believe yourself to be in love with Shekhwat, but I hope that one day, you'll see him for what he really is. He's a manipulative, conceited prick who-"
"If you finish that sentence, nehra, I may have to hurt you."
There, standing near the door, was the subject himself. And judging from the smug look on his face, he heard their whole argument.
"randhir!" kaustuki squealed happily, a huge smile stretched out on her face. She looked nothing like the girl who had wanted to de-head Sanyukta moments ago. Sanyukta simply sneered at the girl's back, wondering what was wrong with her.
"kaustuki." Shekhwat responded coolly, but barely glanced at her. His eyes were staring into Sanyukta's hazel ones, and he wore a smirk. kaustuki's smile quickly died down, and she glared at Sanyukta furiously.
"Shekhwat," Sanyukta sighed tiredly. She was not in the mood to deal with him, nor his smugness right now, especially with kaustuki watching right there. "Is there something you needed?"
"Can't you believe I'm here to enjoy your company?" Shekhwat smirked, causing Sanyukta to roll her eyes. kaustuki seemed to take it literally, and her face grew even redder. Sanyukta quickly moved away from her in case the girl decided to slap her.
"Yeah, sure," Sanyukta snorted. "Because we enjoy each other's presence so much." kaustuki didn't seem to understand sarcasm, as her eyes were still shooting daggers.
"That certainly isn't what you thought when we were talking, earlier," he wore a pleasant smile, but Sanyukta could see a smirk under it. "I'm positive you weren't enjoying my presence at all. That was why you were obviously melting into a puddle when I talked to you."
That was aimed at kaustuki, and it worked. The girl's anger flared up even more that it already was. jignesh's eyebrows shot up so high, they disappeared under his shaggy hair. He had a look of disbelief on his face.
Sanyukta was unfazed. "You forced yourself on me, Shekhwat. Don't try to blame this on me."
"Keep telling that to yourself, nehra." Shekhwat said loftily, but there was an amused tone in his voice. He was definitely enjoying this way too much. "We both know what you really feel about me."
Sanyukta didn't dignify herself to respond, and instead just glared with the ferocity her father used had taught her.
Shekhwat narrowed his eyes for a fraction of a second and sighed again. "Sarcasm aside, I'm here to escort you upstairs. You were supposed to come up five minutes ago."
Her argument with kaustuki had caused the time to fly by rather fast. "Okay, okay," she gathered up her never ending bag. "I'm coming."
"Why?" kaustuki suddenly found her voice, and Sanyukta was surprised at how strong it was. "Why her, and not me, randhir?" Sanyukta didn't admit it, but she was rather curious about that as well. She listened carefully.
A sadistic sneer spread across his face, but Sanyukta knew that it was as fake as her 'supposed feelings for Shekhwat' were, and Sanyukta knew that whatever was going to come out of his mouth wasn't going to be good. "That's because," he said, grabbing Sanyukta's arm as she walked near him. She winced slightly as his finger nails pressed into her skin, an action that was not unnoticed by jignesh. He frowned, and stared concernedly at Sanyukta. "I wanted a person with brains to accompany me."
Whatever was left of kaustuki's happiness deflated immediately, and Sanyukta momentarily directed her anger at Shekhwat. There was nothing left in her. "What the hell?" She asked furiously, ripping her arm out of his grasp. "You didn't have to be so rude."
"Shut it, nehra." His eyes locked into hers, but Sanyukta saw no trace of remorse, not trace of anything. Not that she expected to find anything; she knew Shekhwat had the perfect poker face, and even if he did feel remorse, he would certainly not show it. "You've kept Parth waiting for long enough as it is with your stupid banter. We have to leave now."
Yeah, like you care if Parth has been waiting.However, she allowed Shekhwat to drag herself out of the room, and she cast one last look into it. kaustuki was sobbing pitilessly on her bed. Sanyukta herself was still appalled by kaustuki's words. The girl actually had the nerve to accuse her of it all.First Parth, and now even kaustuki was taken away from her because of Shekhwat. Sanyukta glared at him, and he returned with a smirk, seeming to know exactly what she was thinking. He was insufferable, and she began planning a thousand ways she could kill him, just because he annoyed her.
jignesh was still in the same position he had been when kaustuki had burst into her room. His eyes flicked between Shekhwat and Sanyukta, and his forehead creased slightly. His face was still a mixture of confusion and disbelief, but there was also a little bit of concern. 'Be careful,' he mouthed at her. 'Stay safe.'
If only it was that easy.
To Be Continued...
Itti Si Khushi Sab TV
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
46