Chapter 16
1
The green bottle tumbled infinite times as it sped downwards, only to crash into several fragments the very moment it impacted the white marble floor.
Sharon liked to destroy beautiful things. She leaned in to see it shatter- the admirably shaped bottle that she had held in her grip a few moments earlier. As precariously she had posited herself at the very edge of a slanting plane, she lost her balance.
"Sharon...!!!" a shrill cry pervaded the silence of the night.
Rey held Sharon as she was about to slip and fall from a height of 40 feet.
"There are less painful ways to kill yourself." said Rey as he helped Sharon on her feet, struggling to keep his calm. Sharon although still heady, tiptoed to the terrace from the attic roof, taking no heed of his agitation. "And may I know what are you doing here?" he spoke again, "I had gone to your apartment."
"I... I don't know..." sighed Sharon. "After I pulled up in the driveway I realized its Mr. RaiPrakash's house. My old prison... and also... I didn't wanna be alone tonight so I chose the old devil's company," laughed Sharon.
Rey and Sharon came down the spiralling stairways into the great hall. Gautam RaiPrakash sat in the middle of the room on a couch and smoked his pipe while reading a newspaper. He didn't look up. Rey helped Sharon into her room and she fell on her bed. He had come to talk to her, but this was neither the right time nor the right place to have a conversation. He decided to leave.
Rey came out into the grand living room again and this time Gautam RaiPrakash looked up. He removed the pipe from his mouth and spoke to Rey.
"What's... what's going on? What's all this?" he asked Rey is his usual demanding manner.
Rey was expecting this. He didn't like this house anymore, and he understood Sharon's reasons for detesting it too. He looked up at the fifty something, lean man in front of him and shrugged. "You know... usual... Sharon getting drunk, making a mess."
"Oh dammit Rey! You know that's not what I'm talking about. I want to know why she is being this drama queen again. And what's with the fling with that Shergill boy?"
Rey took a deep breath. "Will all due respect uncle, she's a grown woman, and she can handle things on her own. Let's leave it at that..."
Before Mr. RaiPrakash could say another word, he heard his daughter speak.
"Stop spying on me, will you!" yelled Sharon from her door.
"You're my daughter. I don't need to spy on you. And I can't afford to have you disgrace me more than you already have," said an angry Mr. RaiPrakash, who was growing pink each passing second.
"Believe me daddy, I haven't disgraced you in public, not yet," said Sharon cheekily balancing herself against the wooden frame of the door, a mischievous smile played on her lips.
Old RaiPrakash didn't blink once as he stared at the exotic monstrous creation that he had for a daughter. Sharon stared back with dishevelled hair and the same smile. Rey glanced at the duelling RaiPrakashes for a while and walked away.
He was right, this house made him sick!
2
As much as Kriya did not want to see daylight, the harsh rays of the sun compelled her to open her eyes. She had some faint recollection of the previous night, but as soon as she sat up and saw the puke bucket it all came back to her like a bad horror film. The bucket being empty was the only saving grace, but it didn't stop her from cringing in her own bed.
"Swayaaamm..." she wailed. Swayam was anticipating this. He hurried to his friend's room. She was lying in a foetal position crushing a pillow against her chest. He went and sat next to her, prepared for madness. She stared at him for two seconds with her puppy face and hid her face in his lap.
"Okay... easy... easy..." he consoled her. "It's no biggie."
"Shut up. It's a biggie and you know it, so stop pretending like it's not." She looked up at him.
Swayam didn't know what else to say so he decided to shut up, like she said.
"Did I throw up?" she asked.
"You did not, not in here. And I don't think you threw up before cuz you were all clean."
"Thank god! I don't know why I had to drink so much! I feel like such a fool."
"Yeah, exactly, why would you drink so much?"
"I don't know! I was... being an idiot, trying to keep up with Rey Singhania I guess, and obviously... I mean who was I kidding! That man drinks like a pro... his mamma raised him on whisky, not milk! Definitely nothing non-alcoholic."
"Whoa! You were having a drinking competition with Reyaansh? El-Oh-El! Totally sounds like you." Swayam laughed.
"Don't say 'LOL'... You sound like a moron!" She paused awhile before speaking again. "I made such a fool out of myself. Got nothing for the story, and now I'm so embarrassed that I cannot see him in like a zillion years now. And I don't think he would wanna see me either." She sighed.
"It's okay... I don't think he judged you," said Swayam, "I mean he carried you, all the way up here."
"He... what?" Kriya's was aghast. And before Swayam could react she dropped on the bed and hid her face in the pillow. "I can never ever see him again..."
"Dude, he took care of you... isn't that good?" asked Swayam.
"You don't understand! I'm supposed to be this responsible journalist, not someone who can't even stand on her own feet when she's on an assignment. Just go away. And get me coffee. My self-esteem needs some caffeine right now."
"And what's it that you're trying to tell me? Spit it out," instructed Kriya Ghai before Swayam Shekhawat left to get coffee.
3
Kriya sat legs sprawled across the floor, with the coffee mug in her hand. She looked at Swayam maliciously, like most young women would look at cockroaches. Swayam stared at his own coffee mug.
She finally spoke as she subdued the revolting thoughts on her mind.
"You... you should be behind the bars! If I was her, I'd call the cops!" She said determinedly.
"What!" Swayam was unsettled. "You speak of me like I'm some habitual offender! I told you it was unintentional."
"You assaulted her. Doesn't matter if it was unintentional. And you yourself said that you enjoyed it."
"That was only that one moment. I regretted it immediately!"
"You assaulted her. Period. This is unacceptable! Don't make excuses now."
"Can you stop saying 'assault' please? I feel like a sexual offender or a rapist!" cried Swayam.
"I'm sure this is how they all begin!" said Kriya making a face.
"Kriya please, please. Right now, I need you to be my friend, not this blazing icon of women's rights."
"Being your friend I'm telling you, you should be prosecuted. And don't you dare mock my ideologies. I'm disappointed in you Shekhawat!"
"I couldn't sleep the whole night! I'm going crazy thinking about it." Swayam's face fell. Pain was written all over his face.
"You couldn't sleep because you are worried about your job," Kriya cut him short. "Jeez Swayam, what were you thinking? Apprehending a woman when she's alone, forcing yourself on her is the least sexy thing a man can do. I know our television makes it seem extremely sensuous but it isn't so. Romancing a woman and bullying her are not the same things!"
"I know. And I was not trying to romance her, not at all. I don't know what the hell was I doing. I was so mad and she can be so infuriating at times... I... I just lost it."
"So, you decided to teach her a lesson, because somehow she has managed to hurt your big male ego a lot. Gosh... you are such a man!" uttered Kriya in distaste as she sipped her coffee. It was bitter, just how she preferred.
"It's not like that..." Swayam mildly protested shaking his head, but he wasn't sure what exactly it was and left it there. He checked his watch. It was 10.30. Kriya had an offday, but he still had to go for work. He stood up with his coffee mug mentally readying himself for the noose.
"Ghai, I don't know if I'll have a job tomorrow so I maybe late with my rent this time. Just saying..." he tried to smile at his best friend but it didn't really take shape.
"Hey... it's okay man. We all f**k up at times. Even if you lose the job, just apologise to her okay? You don't want her to think you're like the rest of them. Be good." Kriya smiled at her best friend gently pressing his palm, who badly needed it. She felt sad for being mean with him earlier. Swayam was a good guy, she knew it.
Edited by -bLEu98- - 11 years ago
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