Chapter 29
Wednesday evening, 24 hours later
Madhu trembled as the door to the suite opened.
"Ah, sweetheart, you look gorgeous." He said with charm as he walked in closer to her. She was standing in front of the mirror and her eyes shook with fear as he walked behind her and stood close, his chest brushing against his back. Madhu's heart beat frantically and she closed her eyes to muster up enough strength to face reality, but her eyes shot open as she felt his touch on her back. She was wearing the black off-shoulder gown he had sent earlier in the day, and the touch of his fingers on her bare shoulders made her squirm and want to run away. But that wasn't an option, and she knew that when she had walked out of RK's house the previous morning without as much as a word of goodbye.
"Trust me. It's better this way. It's be easier for him. " She had convinced Patil kaka, but what she hadn't said was that she didn't have the courage to see him letting her go and watch the guilt consume his soul. He hadn't said it, but she knew he wouldn't let her go if he had a choice. She also knew he didn't have one.
Hence, she had made the only choice she could, the only choice that didn't harm Rishabh's life any further. And even though that choice had led her here in this fancy suite with a new client only hours after she'd left Rishabh's house, even though the consequences of her choice were excruciatingly painful for herself, she drew solace in the fact that at least, after a long time, she had made a decision about her destiny herself. Irrespective of the fact that it was a tiny decision with no real options. Irrespective of the fact that it hadn't affected her pre-ordained destiny by more than a few hours. She drew solace in the fact that thanks to her choice her last memory of Rishabh wasn't painful and guilt-ridden and was instead the most beautiful moment of her life.
As for her life, there didn't seem to be an escape from pain, at least in the near term.
"Exquisite" he said as he finished tying the emerald pendant around Madhu's neck and pulled her thoughts away from the forbidden territory called Rishabh. She looked up and their eyes met through the mirror as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Hope you got enough rest in the day time and are feeling up to it tonight darling because the way you look right now, I won't be able to keep my hands off you all night." he whispered in her ear as he kissed her neck.
Madhu cringed but avoided showing it on her face. She needs to get through this, she reminded herself internally as she fisted her palm. She needs to buy enough time.
"Uh, Mr Mathur...your phone." Madhu blurted, hoping that the phone will keep him away just a few more minutes.
"Call me Karan, darling." he winked and stepped away to take his call. Madhu took a deep breath and tried to focus on her plan to escape. Her earlier plan was based off an assumption that after getting out of RK's house, Tony would take her to the same place she used to live and shepherd her around to clients as needed. But yesterday, he had told her that she was going to be with Karan Mathur, the CEO of a US based firm who was here in India for the next five days and that he had personally asked for her. Madhu was actually relieved when she heard that, to her own surprise. She had a much better chance of running away from this hotel than from that place guarded by Tony's men. She just had to give enough time to Manav to do what she had told him and pray that he was successful.
Four more nights, she told herself, hoping fervently that Sunday morning came soon enough.
"Mitisha. Let's go darling. They're waiting for us in the party." Karan came back from his phone call and entwined her arm with his elbow. Four more nights of playing the high-end escort and the arm candy that playboy Karan Mathur was paying Tony so highly for.
********************
It was a big party announcing a big deal Zest International has just signed to enter the India market, and CEO Karan Mathur, who had inherited the business from his super-rich father a few years ago was the hero of the night.
"Look pretty" he had murmured to Madhu as they had walked in to the party. That was her job for the next few hours anyway. Look pretty and hang on to Karan's arm as he made his way around. That was the way he had always liked it - having the prettiest woman in any party by his side. He could normally woo them using his charm and money alone, especially for public appearance. Paid company was mostly for regular nights, in between flings, when he wanted to have someone warm his bed after he got back from work and was too busy to pick up someone at a bar. His phone had a long list of Manhattan 8th Avenue hookers he would call in to blow off some steam, but in many ways, having Madhu by his side tonight was an exception. But the day he had seen her picture ten days ago in his office at New York, he knew he wanted her at any cost. He had asked for some high-end hookers to keep his new partners in India - powerful, well-connected men in the dirty world of real estate - happy and entertained during this five day retreat to kick off his projects and cement his relationship with them. After seeing Madhu though, he decided he'd reserve her to keep himself happy and entertained those five nights.
Madhu looked at the man on her left as someone offered them both two glasses of champagne. He urged her to pick up the glass and she reluctantly complied, not wanting to attract attention or his ire. Attention was one thing she was already getting too much of, she noticed, as scores of piercing lecherous gazes were on her everywhere in the room. There were a few jealous ones too, some from men who were jealous that Karan had her and not them, and some from their wives and girlfriends who noticed how their men eyed Madhu. Of course not all the other women in the party were wives and girlfriends.
Madhu recognized quite a few of the girls walking around with some of the men Karan was talking with. They weren't jealous. They just had empathy as just like her, they also clung on to their client of the evening and tried to look pretty. Unlike her though, most of them had flattering smiles pasted to their face. In a distance, she saw Roma, walking with a 70 year old ex-minister who was on board of the new company that Roma had told Madhu she was with for the duration of the retreat, possibly more. All on Karan Mathur's dime.
Glitter and glamour were all around the party. Madhu and all of those girls were here to add sparkle, just like the music, just like the chandeliers. Look good and make others feel good about themselves - it is crazy how many ways we can buy means to feel good about ourselves - alcohol, drugs, sex - artificial highs all available to serve those who could afford to buy. Madhu tightly held on to the champagne glass in her hand without sipping.
There was some kind of announcement being made and Karan was on stage. Madhu stood by a corner, her mind barely on the words being said and the applause around her. She felt suffocated in the fake drunken revelry the hall seemed to be quickly devolving to. What kind of people were these, she wondered.
"You're the boss's girl for the night, right?" a man walked up to her and whispered in her right ear.
She turned around to face him. He was a 50 year old general manager holding a scotch in one hand and grinning shamelessly at Madhu's cleavage. Madhu recognized him as one of those who had stared at her lecherously while his wife on the right stared at her in anger some time back. She looked around, the wife was nowhere to be seen.
"You are a hottie. I am getting hard just looking at you. Wanna feel it?" He said and held Madhu's hand. Madhu instinctively took a couple of steps back, but that only backed her further in the corner. She was petrified with the look of lust in the man's eyes, but what was she going to do, scream that a man was hitting on a call girl.
Realizing he was drunk, she tried to pull her hand away "I am with Karan Mathur tonight"
"Oh I know. But how about we sneak out for just five minutes? I will give you 5000 cash if you'd suck me off." He propositioned even as Madhu stepped away from him with disgust. Suddenly she saw Karan off the stage a few feet away and walked as fast away from the man as she could without a response.
Back next to Karan, Madhu struggled to control her tears. It wasn't enough that men sold her and bought her to do as they please on their bed, walking around here tonight had made her feel like a piece of meat on public auction that every man was trying to submit a bid for. Waves of nausea hit Madhu, fueled by disgust as her pain threatened to overtake her bounds of control. Howmuchever she tried to not feel, howmuchever she tried to block out whatever was happening to her in the present and focus on the hope of an escape, the pain was too great.
Duniya chhoona chaahe mujh ko yoon
Jaise un ki saari ki saari main
Duniya dekhe roop mera
Koi na jaane bechaari main
She felt Karan's hands graze her thigh from the slit of the dress she was wearing and her inner anguish spilled out in a violent reaction as she pushed his hand away. Immediately, he glared at her and Madhu realized her folly. She had seen his anger and heard his threat once earlier in the day. She knew provoking him would only make the situation worse for her and possibly make her escape impossible. In this butcher-shop, she was relatively safe as long as the boss kept her on his side and was happy. However, keeping him happy meant letting him have his way with her body, which meant she had to block out the physical act from her emotions.
That's exactly what she had steeled herself to do when she had realized she needed to leave Rishabh's house. She had resolved to not let physical abuse reach her soul. She had resolved to protect her spirit and identity from being raped, if she couldn't prevent her body. Yet, each lecherous look and the slightest of touches from Karan made her feel violated. Her body, it seemed had a mind of its own, protesting against its abuse. If not a mind, at least a memory of its own, because Karan's touch had immediately reminded her of Rishabh's touch and her involuntary violent reaction was as much self-defensiveness as it was protectiveness over something that belonged only to Rishabh.
Rishabh...God, why was he still invading her thoughts? She blocked her mind and tried to put on a smile to diffuse Karan's anger.
"I...I am sorry...I need some water." she struggled with an excuse and immediately turned back to walk towards the bar as tears threatened to fall and Rishabh's face refused to go away from her mind. She felt angry at how weak she was feeling and how badly she wanted to run away from here into the protective embrace of Rishabh.
Rishabh Kundra, a man she would probably never see again in her life. Rishabh Kundra, a man who had taken a lot more than just her body that he had paid for.
Yes, that's what he was - a client. RK was a client. A past client. Karan was the present client. There was no difference between them, Madhu told herself. She turned her neck and saw Karan walking towards her with an irate expression on her face. She quickly wiped her tears and turned back to face Karan. She needed Karan to be happy for the next five days because if she didn't, her alternatives were just more beating, a number of different men and a much lower chance of escape.
"Let's go. I am sorry about that, I was thirsty and distracted." she told Karan, hastily stepping next to him and gently put her hand on his cheek. She had the best fake smile she could muster on her face and she was doing her job perfectly. The frown on Karan's face relaxed a bit.
"Let's go back to the room now, the party is boring and I need to punish you appropriately for your little stunt, sweetheart" Karan murmured as he bent down to nuzzle Madhu lightly on her ear.
Irrespective of what was going on inside her, Madhu was doing a perfect job of self-control until her eyes landed at the man ten feet away, walking towards them.
"Rishabh" she whispered almost inaudibly as the champagne glass she was holding in her hand fell on the ground.
Edited by teekay - 10 years ago
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
