Chapter 1:
I ran.
I was scared. I could hear the shady whispers chasing me, whispers from my past. It wasn't the first time that my past was bearing its shadows on me. Something told me it wasn't the last time either. I heard the voices closing in on me; a few minutes at the maximum and then I would be dragged back into the murkier waters.
So I ran.
The darkness made it difficult to find my bearings. I could tell that the streets were narrow and had tall houses on either side as the sky became a narrow strip overhead. It was a pitch black night for even the moonlight refused to shine through. Luckily, I hadn't made a wrong turn and ended up colliding with something on my way. Not yet, that is. I had no clue how long my luck was going to last given the circumstances.
I heard a couple of gunshots in the distance. I couldn't risk being caught. I tried looking for an alleyway which would make the escape easier but it wasn't easy in the dark. I had my cell-phone in my pocket, but using it as a source of light would mean giving my location away. I shouldn't have gone there; it had been a bad decision. My breath was giving way to fatigue. I knew I couldn't run much longer. I needed a resting place. The voices had now receded to a safer distance. Maybe, darkness was proving as much a hindrance to them as it was to me. Considering it safe, I paused for a moment to see if an escape route was nearby. I knew it was a grave mistake when my knee buckled under my weight.
And then, bright light flooded my vision.
"O! Get up, bro! You broke even my records today!"
Sunlight peered in through the large bay windows by the sea. It was way past noon. I hardly, if ever, slept till this late. Today was an exception which explained the lines of worry on his carefree face.
"Rudra! The curtains!"
"Yeah. I opened them. I couldn't see you otherwise."
For a brief second, I wanted to get up and smack him on his head. The searing headache and the blurred vision put rest to my wishes. If I made any attempt to get up from my bed now, chances were I might give away my condition. I couldn't let him know. He wasn't Shivaay which meant that he wouldn't notice the other telltale signs like the beads of sweat which covered my face in spite of the temperature of the room being at a considerable low or the slight muddling of my speech which he would pass off as a hangover. I did the only thing I could without increasing the pain which was far away from subsiding. I raised my eyebrows.
"How else am I supposed to wake you up?" he shot.
His eyes scanned the room searching for a cause of my delay. Finding nothing of his interest, he fixed me in a questioning gaze.
"There's no girl," I stated.
"I can see that O. My question is why you are late then?"
"I said there is no girl. I didn't say there was no girl."
For a moment, I thought I had fooled him.
"You wouldn't do that to Riddhima. She's going to be heartbroken."
I threw a pillow at him which only made him more amused.
"RUDRA, leave right now or else the deal stands cancelled!"
He made the nastiest face it was possible for a man to make and grudgingly left, only to peep back in.
"Mum is calling you downstairs. She and Dadi have something important to discuss with you."
I nodded and asked him to tell them that I would be there in half an hour or so. Confirming that the deal still remained, he made his way out of the room. I checked the phone only to find three calls from Riddhima which I had clearly missed. I knew she would make a fuss about me not calling her later on but as of now, she was hardly the one I wanted to talk to.
To the people outside the walls of the Oberoi mansion, Riddhima Kapoor was my girlfriend. To the ones inside, we were best friends who were secretly in love and were scared to admit it to ourselves. In truth, she was my friend. I wouldn't say best as I didn't have many friends to compare her to. I, however, knew for sure that I wasn't in love with her. Once you have your heart broken, it isn't so easy to start loving again.
As I made my way downstairs, I noticed the whole family sitting around the hall; almost, almost the whole family sitting there. Dad, as usual, was absent. Mum beckoned to me impatiently. I spotted Shivaay in the centre of the gathering looking all too flustered and bored. It had to be something important for Shivaay to be at home at this hour.
"Shivaay found himself a bride," Rudra enlightened me.
Shivaay found himself a bride. In fourteen hours and thirty-six minutes, Shivaay Singh Oberoi found himself a wife!
"It's a joke, right?" How I hoped it to be true!
"No, Om. I am sure that you remember the Rahejas. We met them at a party last year. We had a proposal from them for Shivaay's alliance and thankfully, he has said yes. The wedding is not going to take place anytime soon though."
Daadi had the glow of a happy grandmother who was about to see her eldest grandson get married. She couldn't be lying. Yet, this was a hard news to take. It wasn't that I didn't feel happy for him. I did. I just hoped that it wasn't a right decision which was taken for all the wrong reasons. People generally mixed pleasure with business. Not Shivaay. He was someone who mixed life with business. And that scared me.
"It's a nice weather. What do you two think about having a barbeque party on the terrace?" Shivaay asked, engulfing Rudra in a bear hug.
"Brilliant idea!" I heard Rudra shout.
"Make the preparations then. Find a mat and fine sample of wine and carry them to the terrace. Om and I will join you there."
I saw Rudra make a face at the elder one as he went off to do as he was told.
I must have failed to control my smirk for Shivaay rolled his eyes at my expression.
"All fine, Om? You woke up pretty late today; quite unusual of you."
I nodded in affirmative.
"I just happened to have a long day at the studio. By the time I got back, it was already quite late. The work must have got to me."
Shivaay stared at me a bit longer than usual before he looked away.
A fleeting second longer.
And I knew he didn't believe my story.
Edited by WanderingBeauty - 8 years ago
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