Guys... Shweta is Neil's birth mother, but she's heavily disapproves of her son because of his career choice! No mystery here. Unfortunately.
I have updated the cast and characters on page 8. Please check it out if you haven't already! I want to make this story as immersive an experience as is possible.
Chapter 6: Wild Animals
Les Fauves was a two storey property in central Sheherpur that had been converted to a restaurant-cum-pub. While the lower floor of Les Fauves was a club that was open to the general public and was a hot favourite for the city's young adult population, the upper floor was the complete opposite. A restaurant cum bar with all the tables separated from each other with teak dividers (obviously antique and incredibly beautiful). Bronze lamps artfully placed, giving the room a sensuous glow. Low hanging lights, strategically hidden to enhance the sensual beauty of the place. The unique selling point of the restaurant, however, was not it's beautiful decor or incredible food - it was the promise of absolute and unflinching privacy. Discrete and luxurious, Les Fauves was a hot favourite of the city's elite.
Neil was the first to arrive at the restaurant. With no one to keep him from stewing in his turbulent emotions after his encounter with his mother, Neil absently downs whiskey after whiskey after whiskey. The servers, trained to spot a woeful heart from a mile away, encourage this behaviour by discretely filling up his glass without cue. In his melancholy, Neil has forgotten the cardinal rule of sinning. Don't drink with a heavy heart.
Mitali entered first, her curly hair bouncing all around. Les Fauves was elitist as they came, and demanded a certain dress code. Neil himself, was dressed in a dinner jacket and a crisp, white shirt. Neil grins as his friend approaches his table, obviously uncomfortable in the white dress she was wearing. "Man, I miss the days we could kick back with beer and day-old sweats she grouses. Neil snorts as their server looks at her with undisguised alarm. "What was so urgent that you made me come all the way here anyway?
"I'll explain, Mitu he says warmly. "Have some wine, no? he offers, and his friend gets distracted as she peruses the restaurant's selection. For all her lack of airs, Mitali was a veritable snob when it came to wine and the server was understandably dazzled by the time she'd finished interrogating him about his selection. The two friends drank as he briefed her on why he had demanded they meet today. Her eyes had widened, then softened. Neil was her oldest friend. Of course, she'd help him. Neil promises to tell her more when Ananya was with them. "Where is she anyway? asks Mitali petulantly, halfway through her glass of red, when a flash of plum catches his eyes.
Ananya walks through the doors of Les Fauves and the breath gets knocked out of his lungs. Too busy brooding over his mother, he'd totally forgotten that Ananya meeting them at Les Fauves meant he would have to look at her, foolish as it sounded. His treacherous mind flashes back to his morning, and then their encounter in the kitchen. She was oozing edgy sensuality. Sinful! He stops himself from audibly groaning. Her hair was up in a top knot, with strands of hair artfully framing her face. From where he was sitting, he could see her throat move as she talked to the maitre d'hotel and for him, the innocuous act was unflinchingly sensuous. She positively glowed. Her tall, lithe body was encased in a form fitting, lacy number that finished three inches above her knees. The dress was beautiful - a V neckline that gave him a tantalising peek of her cleavage and sleeveless. He faintly noted that her body was shimmering under the dim lights of the restaurant. Her lips were a dark shade of plum, as was her dress - the colour of a hickey really. Would her skin stain similarly if he were to place his mouth on it and suck? He shakes his head, and continues his perusal of her form. Her arms were bare, save for a gold watch on one hand and her eyes were lined with kohl. Her cheeks were pink, with exertion. Wickedly so. He holds back a groan. She was truly an incarnation of his personal torture, his Bathsheba. His blood sings for her. He smiles darkly. She was set to be his death. But what a way to go.
Ananya walks up to their table, obviously unaffected by his presence. Behave yourself, he warns himself sternly. "Sorry I'm late. It was an executive's birthday, so I couldn't skip it. You guys waited long? she rushes out, as she sits down across Neil, who shakes his head in negative and offers her a warm smile. Through the corner of his eyes, he sees a drop of sweat meander its way into the dark shadows of her dress. What he wants, more than anything, is to chase that droplet of sweat and suck on her peachy skin. Dammit, Neil! He scolds himself. "I'll have a sex on the beach says Ananya, and Neil groans mentally. Why did alcohol have to be so damn suggestive? "I'll have some wine - the best red you have, please he says. He deserved a sainthood for his iron self-control dammit! This moment called for a drink.
Mitali seems to notice his discomfort, and turns to Ananya with a gleam in her eyes. "You look beautiful, by the way. Ananya smiles at Mitali, obviously pleased. What woman didn't like being called beautiful? "Thank you, Mitali! May I call you Mitali? Mitali nods happily and the two women chat easily. Neil, meanwhile, gulps down his wine in one go to stop himself from saying or doing something foolish.
"Let's get to work, shall we? he says gruffly, after downing his second glass of wine. The two women turn to him, Ananya looking unsure at his gruff tone, but nod anyway. As Ananya looks through her clutch for something, Mitali flashes Neil another knowing smile.
With occasional inputs from an unusually taciturn Neil, she explains what Mitali's role would be. "How will you ensure I will be abducted? asks Mitali curiously. Ananya shakes her head. "I'm working on it, I should have an answer by tomorrow. The other woman looks unsure, but nods anyway. "About how to track you once you do get lifted. I'm sure they check the women thoroughly so as to not let their secrets out so we can't do the standard methods. However, I wouldn't lose hope yet. Give me a day Mitali nods again.
It's close to midnight when they wrap up the business and call for the bill. Neil's mind is pleasantly buzzing with all the wine he's consumed. It's the stage of drinking where everything is beautiful and glowy, but not to the point of incoherency. Tipsy. As Ananya stands up and turns away from Neil to talk to the server, he has to physically clench his wrists to stop himself from gasping. If the front of the dress was stimulating, the back was positively erotic. The dress was completely backless, only a tight scrap of material covering her pert derriere. Under the warm lighting of the restaurant, her back glows in bronze hues. Practically calling out to him. Golden. Dewy. Like the champagne bubbles dancing in his veins. Irresistible. With his eye, he can trace her spine and shoulder blades. Would she shiver if he were to lightly trace along them with his finger? What if he replaced his fingers with his mouth? Would she arch? Would she moan?
Mitali gets up, murmuring something about the restroom, but Neil doesn't pay attention. That neck!He wants to pepper kisses along it. "God help me he whispers, shaking his head to pull it back from the positively delinquent tangent it seemed bent upon. Ananya turns to him with a quirked eyebrow, but he just smiles at her. She stands up to bid Mitali goodbye and turns to him. "See you tomorrow she says, and walks out sedately. So sure of herself, always. That ass swaying to a beat of its own. Such beautiful legs. His Bathsheba, his Menaka. What a woman.
"You're f**ked remarks Mitali, infinitely amused at her friend's predicament, passing him a glass of water. Yes, he agrees internally, echoing his thoughts from before. But what a way to go...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next morning, Neil decides he needs to finally pay a visit to Ananya's home. The way someone lived revealed a lot about the people themselves. If anyone asked, he'd just say he was investigating the gas bomb incident, which was partially true. Besides, Neil was curious to see how Ananya lived.
The night before, with his wild and out of control thoughts were an exception, not a general rule. He'd been tipsy. A little buzzed. Upset about his interaction with his mother. And Ananya had looked beautiful. He swallows. She really had looked beautiful. Sensual. Glowing. His personal sin. Nevertheless, she'd been a way for his mind to distract itself from his simmering misery. There was nothing more to read into it. His behaviour thus justified, Neil set out to distract himself. By entering Ananya's home. There was irony in there somewhere, but Neil was determined not to look for it.
Her home, he notes, is practically bare. A large painting greets him as he entered through the front door and this seemed to be the only decorative feature in the house. He takes a photo of the painting to analyse it later and lifts it to check if there was anything behind the painting. There isn't. The ground floor consists of a large living room with an open kitchen. The kitchen had a bar, with barstools which seemed to double as a dining table. The sofa in the living room faced a wall made entirely of glass, which overlooked the city's skyline. Since her house was on the twentieth floor, the view was absolutely beautiful. He lumbers to the two bedrooms. One room had a large TV on its wall and a thin mattress, no bed frame and a single pillow. The bedroom leads to an open area with a swimming pool. An ostentatious indulgence in a house so seemingly bare... why?
He opens the second room - and stops short. The room had no furniture, nothing - just white walls, books stacked from the floor to the ceiling and no book cases. His eyes rove over the titles - she seemed to have no specific genre in mind. He could see books on philosophy, medieval history, politics, art, astrophysics... An avid reader himself, he recognizes quite a few titles and itches to borrow the rest. This room contains at least 500 books, Neil thinks, and wrinkles his nose. She really needs a bookcase. Why no bookcases? It wasn't as if she could afford it... Why was her house so austere?
His sharp eyes begin inspecting the house in detail - no personal photographs or effects except the books in the second room. In the kitchen, he notes that she grows cilantro and lemongrass on the window sill, and that she has a well-stocked bar. His eyes scan the bar, and he notes that she keeps a lot of whiskey and white wine. The house, except this, was perfectly bare, with white walls. Such little personal detail, even in her own home, creeped Neil out a little. Good, maybe this will stop you from lusting after her - his mind supplies slyly.
The rest of the house not much disturbed, but this didn't really surprise Neil. According to the statement Ananya had given, she'd been in her bedroom when she'd heard some disturbance. The motion sensors had noted that someone had entered through the front door and an alarm began blaring through her house when the smoke began billowing through everywhere. She'd grabbed her phone, her wallet and her car keys and beaten a hasty escape outside - where she'd called the police. The condition of the house corroborated her story.
Feeling infinitely dirty while doing so, Neil decides that he would have to snoop through her personal belongings. Snapping on a pair of gloves, he begins by opening and closing the cupboards, trying to find something - and failing. It is only in her bedroom where he strikes gold. The drawer in her cupboard has a false bottom. He tugs at it until it gives way to reveal a key with 2301 carved into the base. Bank locker? Neil muses, and takes a photograph.
Putting everything back in its place, Neil walks out of her home and sits in his car. Her home, like the rest of her, was frustratingly lacking in leads, except the key he'd found. But where would it lead? Dialling DD's number, he peers thoughtfully into the rear-view mirror. It was clear to him, now more so than ever, that Ananya had quite a few skeletons in her closet as well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"It's no coincidence that these women disappear around the same time Ketan Mehta decides to have a poker party. I matched the dates from ten years ago. They fit in. And I'm certain there's no place safer than this poker party for the cartel heads. Everyone will be too drugged to remember and an exchange could easily happen in the chaos. If there is one person who can be counted on to reveal for sure if Ketan Mehta's party is somehow related to the women disappearing and ergo the cartel meeting, it will have to be someone from within the family. But who? muses Neil, after filling in DD with what his mother had said. Thrumming and tapping his fingers against the table, Neil tries to come up with a solution. Frustratingly, nothing appears. Irritating him.
"I think it's time to bring Ananya in for good, DD. She may be seeing something we aren't Neil says. DD shrugs in response, and busies himself within a file lying nearby. It was no secret he didn't like Ananya very much. But then, DD did not like anyone very much unless they had successfully proven they were worthy of his admiration.
The phone conversation with Ananya is brief. He tells her all about Dayawanti Mehta being a possible party to the case. Ananya hums absently after he is done and then abruptly says, "let's meet today and discuss this in detail. Chamko, 2:30. before hanging up the phone. Neil stares at his phone in dismay. He'd wanted to avoid her until he could sort his head out and stop lusting after her like some hormonal virgin - and now he couldn't. When had his life become so problematic?
"Did you find out about 2301? he asks DD petulantly, and his man-Friday shakes his head ruefully. "No bank, no property, nothing he says. "I'm sifting through the unconventional choices now - hotel rooms etc
Neil nods absently, and lays his head down on the desk tiredly. It wasn't even noon, but he knew today was going to be tiresome.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Neil is already seated and waiting when Ananya enters the cafe. The moment he sees her, he automatically stiffens. Shivers. Clenches his hands unconsciously. The reaction is Pavlovian, almost. No, he thinks sternly. Today, she was wearing a champagne coloured shift dress, with a loose braid - a stark change from yesterday's edgy sexuality - but beautiful nonetheless. She was just so... striking. Neil shakes his head to clear the fuzz and rebukes himself sternly. Seemingly unaware of his internal turmoil, she sits down without preamble and begins speaking.
"I checked out the CCTV angle and no one is tampering with them. Essentially, we don't know how the vigilante has eyes and ears on all drug dealings within the city says Ananya. Neil groans in frustration. "As for the pimps, I reached out to my network of informants and did some serious sleuthing last night - you were correct in saying we should check out the pimp - all the girls who had gone missing last year, belonged to one pimp. This time too, he seems to be targeted. Unfortunately, the pimp in question is Raghu Sahai and no one can touch him. Rumour has it that the chief minister himself is on Raghu Sahai's client list. However, he has a man-Friday. Bhavesh Kumar...
"I know Bhavesh Kumar. Leave him to me Neil says grimly, cracking his knuckles. Bhavesh Kumar was a slippery f**ker, difficult to get hands on. But not for nothing was Neil one of the best the police force had to offer. "I'll get Bhavesh to talk by tonight. Have your questions ready.
"Now about, Dayawanti Mehta says Ananya. "The weakest link in the family is Diksha. And it's difficult to get to her, because Dayawanti Mehta does not even breathe without permission, but not impossible. What Diksha craves, more than anything in the world, is approval from her mother. And the only way she will ever get approval from her mother, if she can somehow save Amol Mehta from trouble. Give her an easy win, she'll blab all you want Ananya says casually.
Neil eyes her cautiously. "How do you know so much about Diksha? Ananya smiles at him mysteriously and shrugs loosely. "Trade secret
"Of course Neil echoes, looking at Ananya curiously. There had to be more to this story than she was letting on, but Neil decides to let it rest for now. "I may have an idea as to how we can get to Diksha. Our investigation revealed that your house was attacked by none other than Amol Mehta. I wanted to bring him in after having an iron clad case in his name, but it seems once again Amol Mehta will get away. Because his darling aunt rescued him from the clutches of the big bad policemen he says with a hint of irony. Ananya smirks, and then bites her lip. Neil's mind, already on tenterhooks, snaps into attention and hones in on the act.
"Call Ketan Mehta's extension when you deliver the news. He's hardly ever home, his wife will pick up. Hetal Mehta will panic and Diksha will find out. Leave the rest to her. Diksha is wilful and cunning when she wants to be. Ananya supplies, dragging Neil from his thoughts. Neil looks at her curiously again and she smiles enigmatically at him, when she spots his look. "Perks of working in the industry, Neil. You know everything about everyone she says. He smiles at her easily to allay any suspicion she may have as to his misgivings, and turns the discussion to other things. They fine tune their plan and generally declare the meeting to be a success. "I'll arrest him tomorrow night. It's when Dayawanti Mehta will be at the Chief Minister's house - there's the dinner that is happening with the major industrialists in the city. Most of us have to be present in the station anyway says Neil, as Ananya is getting up from her seat. She shrugs and asks him to text her before he does. "I'll go to Neela Pareekh's office now - brief her on what we're doing. See you at the police station tonight with Bhavesh Kumar she says, by way of goodbye.
Neil watches her walk away and absently thrums his fingers against the table. There was definitely something that was wrong with Ananya Verma. It bothered him, because he didn't know what it was.
-------------------------------------------
End Notes -
1. I updated the cast on page 8! Have a look if you haven't already! They're beautiful people. Once I've introduced all the characters properly, I'm thinking I want to do a massive post where I explain why I chose a certain face for the character. What do you think? Would you all be interested? Let me know please.
2. Introducing Mitali! So pleased about her, I love thinking about her in general. Even in the show, her character always brings a smile to my face. She's my favourite person to think about so far, mostly because, as you saw in the snippet today, she's really chilled out.
3. Bathsheba and Menaka were women famed for their beauty. It was said that Bathsheba was so beautiful, that David killed her first husband just so he could marry her. And we all know Menaka, an Apsara so beautiful that even the gods stumbled and stuttered.
4. Thank you for your comments on the last chapter! What did you think of this one? Comments and likes please! I'd love to hear from you people! Photogallery for today's chapter in post below. Check it out, please! I worked pretty hard on it.
Edited by vfordonkey - 8 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
