INDEX
Prologue (Below)
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
EPILOGUE
P R O L O G U E
It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit.
The golden tinge formed a subtle halo enveloping the circumference of the exquisite chandelier in its entirety.Golden had always being her favorite color, other than crimson of course. Both the colors close to her humanistic aura that would be somewhat her trademarks since her childhood.
One, for the perennial radiant glow on her face, perfectly embellishing her snow sand white complexion, and two, for the ever so lovable crimson blush that would often adorn her cheeks, sometimes predictably, and sometimes, simply without any forewarning.
Taking a deep breath, she caught the hem of her evening gown and walked towards the grand staircase that would lead her to the grander banquet hall on Cruise Adriana, where the feast was about to start.
She stopped on that trajectory once more, mainly to adjust the path in her mind, think through the path of her life that she was heading toward.
She sighed as the assimilation of the entire line of thoughts led her to an instant brain freeze, and she finally decided to brush it off and let it go. Looking at the crowd and the obvious grandeur in front of her eyes, she searched for a pair of familiar eyes. And as if the almighty had already heard her call, the familiar eyes caught her attention and she smiled instantaneously.
"Khushi! What are you doing up there? Come on, get down!"
The familiar person shouted from the bustling crowd downstairs.
Without deferring any further, she quickly took the steps down, being careful at the same time so that she doesn't trip given how clumsy she had always been...
Winning wasn't always a necessity.
Sometimes it just became a habit, a habit one would readily hold on to in tight clutches and not let go of, even though from the core of their hearts, they would know that after a point, it really didn't matter.
Winning was needful for him though. Nine years ago. Today it was something that he became absolutely part and parcel with. It was just another feather on his cap, a cap which was already decked with infinite set of feathers of achievements from prior years. But in any case, who could deny that victory always brings an indefinable sort of satiety?
For Arnav Singh Raizada, the case was no different.
Another deal cracked.
Another set of billions made.
Another grand cruise party thrown.
Another chain of headlines published.
Another day of same old, same old...
"ASR! Congrats!"
He heard a fellow from the crowd wish him, among the many who did the exact same, and the side of his lips just curved a puny bit into a complacent smile as he opened the bottle of champagne and the crowd around him broke into a huge fit of applause and the bass of the music just echoed in full swing.
It was Arnav Singh Raizada's bash, how could it be confined to the perimeters of Ablaze Lounge on Cruise Adriana? Its impact had to be felt by the whole of the Atlantic Ocean where the cruise was now afloat, and heck, even the seagulls had to sing about it after all.
Because if it didn't speak volumes, it couldn't be ASR's...
She had hurried down the stairs and already blended with the crowd in the grand hall, right after the familiar voice had asked her to mingle with the people.
Her best friend Sehaj.
"Is this important?" Khushi had asked meekly to her friend, who in return just gave her a slight squeeze on her shoulder and asked her to at least smile and keep her crestfallen countenance at bay for a while.
Khushi obliged.
The rounds of hellos and smiles seemed like a vicious cycle, wherein, if a smile was reciprocated, next came the question about her well being, if that was answered next came the question about her thoughts on the sea voyage, if that was answered next came the question of how much excited she was for the upcoming event; and as soon as it reached that point on the road, she gasped, once again being pulled by her own demons to the gates of haze, which she had been trying to circumvent ever since she boarded the ship this morning, 12 hours back.
She excused herself from the crowd and started walking towards the tall mahogany exit doors of the hall, leaving behind the bustling yet sophisticated crowd, a worried looking best friend, and an irked step mother who glared at her as if she was going to watch her like a hawk eye...
The royal blue, never-ending, serene waters under the starry sky was soothing to her soul. The breeze greeted her face ever so fondly, and the crimson essence in her reached its salvation, earnestly showing up on her cheeks and her little nose.
She sat on the trestle near the bow railing of the cruise as she timelessly gazed into the stars twinkling brightly at her and some too shy to show their faces as they hid themselves behind the clouds.
When her neck hurt and she was somewhat coaxed to shift her sight from the sky to reality, her gaze was now settled on the huge rock that braggingly sat on the ring finger of her left hand. While the solitaire twinkled at the reflections of its breathtakingly shiny prisms, her eyes twinkled in the darkness with the tears that were now brimming in them.
If only she could do anything.
If only things were in her hands.
If only life could be a little simple...
Yes, she had her peace of mind in that brief moment of being enveloped in nature's paradise. The answers to her fundamental questions could never be answered though, so pondering over them was redundant. If not anything, she at least learnt this in the span of the last six months of her life.
But wasn't pondering over things not in our hands too human after all?
The waters, the distant islands, the starry night sky, and the cold breezes.
The ring that sat on her finger was anything but her choice. Was she cursed?
Her mind instantly answered, things are never called a curse if there could be a choice. Since she was devoid of the latter, she was no longer alienated to the conclusion. Letting out a sigh, she stood up from the trestle, fixing her hair and dress with both her hands and prepared herself to head towards the course that would once again lead her to the room called reality.
Her reality.
However, perhaps her destiny wanted her reality to wait a little more, because the world away from it was although too good to be real, but too beautiful to be abandoned.
Too beautiful.
The words had echoed in the back of her mind as she saw the chiseled entity standing a good 15 feet away from her, his hands fisting the bow railing of the white cruise.
His muscles flexed as she analyzed his body language, his languid demeanor portraying an abstract design of thoughts that were probably running in his mind at that moment.
It was too dark a night as the stars and the moon kept playing hide and seek with the clouds, notoriously blocking her from having an undisturbed view of what this enigma was, standing in front of her, mere feet away.
As if he had just heard the thoughts of the faint entity looking at him in this scandalously beautiful and clandestine way, he darted his eyes towards his left, his sight immediately being at par with the snow fairy that sat some steps away.
Her throat constricted as her heart skipped a beat and breathing was suddenly something that her body was refusing to be naturally accustomed to, giving her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She kept staring at his direction, which was all of a sudden her favorite one as the other pair of eyeballs looked at her in the same unblinking fashion.
Her lips parted finally, making way for perhaps an incoherent word to phase out from her larynx when suddenly her dare turned into derision, and she spotted a figurine entity clutching on to his shirt, plastering her lips on his; his hand roaming over the back of the woman, an unbridled amount of passion suddenly brimming in the atmosphere.
"Oh, ASR! I've missed you so much."
She heard the faint voice of the woman whispering to him.
**
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