Posted:
Howdie! 😃
I hope the upcoming weekend keeps you in the best of spirits.
To my great pleasure I found some time to write today.
Read it and let me know if you like it.
Love you all!
Chapter 6 - Drums of destiny
She slept most of her way to the resort. Because she didn't want to think about it. She was mostly a creature of habit and it gave her nightmares to think about hotels and their 'complimentary' breakfasts. Hotels tended to forget that there is nothing like a free meal.
But there were other reasons too why she refused to slow down and take a vacation. If she was not working what was she doing then? Meaning to say if there was no work what was there? Lazing around the house and watching TV was something Khushi was incapable of doing. She could only think fruitfully if she was already thinking about something else. Get it? If not don't worry. Not everybody understood what drove Khushi's maniacal drive. It was something to be written about and admired from afar. Living it was not everybody's cup of coffee.
She reached the resort without much incident. As soon as they reached the gates the driver got down and opened the unlocked gates revealing a cobbled car pathway. They drove on it for about five full minutes before reaching a modest looking cottage. Hmm interesting. This place was BIG. The fresh air would definitely attract all the burnt out techies in Bangalore for a weekend getaway. Hence it would be a prime piece of real estate. She had to enquire with the manager or owner or whoever was in charge of the place. How much did they make in a year. If the going rate was good she didn't mind owning one of these charming little places herself.
The driver stopped at the foyer and she got down stretching her body. The cottage looked really decent. She waited for somebody to come and receive them but nobody did. It looked really empty and creepy. Except for that fact that it was evidently well maintained. And the lawn by the side of the cottage was freshly watered.
She decided to call Payal. Payal being Payal of course didn't receive the call. She didn't go for such things as being reachable, handling emergencies etc. Khushi sometimes wondered how it was possible that they both came from the same womb. If Khushi was not biologically programmed to love Payal, there was no way in hell she could have tolerated such a person for even five minutes.
She began walking around the cottage looking for some signs of life. Apparently there weren't any. The only noise she could possibly hear was that of crickets. Did they make noises in day time too? So long story short. After half an hour, the driver made an urgent excuse to leave and Khushi was left stranded next to the cottage in the middle of bloody nowhere and her cellphone discharging. Bloody hell!
"HELLO! Anybody home?"
Silence.
She banged on the door and on the windows a few times for good measure. Finally it was clear that she was pretty much alone. No point in losing sleep over it now was there. She set her handbag down by the suitcase and sat on it. The silence continued except the odd chirping of birds. And now her stomach started making rumbling noises. Her phone too switched off. Where the hell was everybody?
Finally she lost sense of time. She began humming an old song. A melodious song from her youth:
Ek garam chai ki pyaali ho. Aur usko pilaane waali ho.
Chahe gori ho ya kaali ho, Seene se lagaane wali ho.
She had forgotten the rest of the lines. So she stood up, brought out some good old dorky moves and mouthed some drum rolls as well.
Dig dig dash. Dig dig dash!
Just like Sallu.
Suddenly she could feel eyes on her back and she turned. She was shocked at what she saw.
It was a man. Seeing him brought back memories of an old poem she had read about Karna.
He, who was so handsome stood up in the Swayamvaram and walked till the dais.
Befitting was his shoulders to rule the length of the Bharatvarsa.
Befitting was his shoulders to rule the length of the Bharatvarsa.
So handsome was he that:
He who first saw his hands just saw his hands.
He who first saw his feet just saw his feet.
He who first saw his jaw just saw his jaw.
He who first saw his smile did not see anything else
because they were all bedazzled.
Bedazzled by the one with as much as virtuosity and brilliance as the Sun himself.
Armored by a golden vest that seemed part of his brilliant skin.
Standing before her was the most dazzlingly handsome man she had ever laid eyes on.
He gazed at her lazily and snitched an eyebrow up as if trying to enquire who she was.
Her breathing stopped.
When she didn't respond he began to float towards her with a fluid grace and swagger.
Her heart began hammering in her chest.
Even in the thick breeze she began sweating. Her hands began shaking.
Her words deeply uncertain "Name?"
A deep manly voice that promised so much came out just a whisper "Arnav".
Shiv Shakti
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