THE STALKER'S DARLING - Chapter 1
Sanskar Maheshwari had always been very fond of his cousin Laksh Maheshwari.
He used to fight with anyone who bothered him in school and he never let him face his troubles alone.
Most importantly, Laksh shared everything with him.
So when Laksh called him very late at night to announce he had a girlfriend, Sanskar wasn't even mad.
"So, who's the unlucky girl?" He joked with a laugh.
"Her name is Swara Gadodia and..."
The conversation went on for almost an hour, and it was mostly Laksh talking about Swara and Sanskar listening.
"So, she's Bengali? You know that will be very problematic."
Sanskar would know that best. He, too, had fallen in love with a Bengali girl named Kavita.
Prejudice against Bengali people was still deeply rooted in some families, and unfortunately, the Maheshwaris were and still are one of the prejudiced families.
They tried to get their love accepted by Sanskar's family, but couldn't get married due to the family refusing. In the end, Kavita got tired of hearing taunts from Sanskar's mother and they broke up.
Six months later, he heard that Kavita had gotten married to a Bengali guy.
"But Sanskar, I am not thinking of telling the family yet."
"So, you just want to date for a while and know each other well first?" Sanskar guessed.
"Haan, Bhai."
"I understand, Lucky. But be very careful. Respect Swara and don't hurt her."
"Bhai, why are you being so serious? Swara and I have only known each other for a few months and I never hurt her."
"I'm just warning you, Laksh." He replied with a yawn. "Listen, it's late now. I'll go to bed and talk to you later. Good night."
After hanging up, Sanskar found it hard to sleep.
Something about what Laksh had just told him kept him thinking.
I am probably just reminded of Kavita.
Kavita had been his college sweetheart, the one he built life plans and dreams with.
When she decided to break up with him, he was heartbroken and felt abandoned.
But he tried to be understanding and wished her the best.
To try and start a new chapter of his life, Sanskar had moved from Kolkata to Mumbai.
I don't know why I'm feeling that something similar might happen between Laksh and Swara. But I hope not, I'd hate to see my brother brokenhearted like I was.
With that thought in mind, Sanskar fell asleep.
Flash forward, six days later, he was up bright and early to get to work.
Sanskar worked as an event planner in one of Mumbai's best companies.
The job could get very stressful but he liked it.
When he was busy calling professionals to schedule catering for an upcoming event, his phone rang.
His uncle, Durgaprasad Maheshwari, was calling him.
Sanskar was alarmed. His uncle only called during his work hours if there was something very important he had to say.
"Hello?"
"Sanskar, Beta...
There is an emergency, your mother got hospitalized and she keeps asking to see you. You must come to Kolkata as soon as you can."
Sanskar was in a state of disbelief.
He had spoken to his mother yesterday after work, and she looked completely fine during the video call.
He didn't ask any questions, only agreeing and dropping his phone on the desk.
After hours of flying with anxiousness about his mother eating away at him, Sanskar was back to Kolkata.
He took another half an hour to reach the city hospital.
He found all his family members in the waiting room.
His younger sister Uttara and Laksh came running to hug him and he took his father and uncle Durgaprasad's blessings. His aunt Annapurna, Laksh's mother, also blessed and hugged him.
"Papa, how is Maa doing?"
The thought of losing his mother made the world seem dark to his eyes.
"Don't worry, Beta. She's fine but she refused to see us. She wants to see you first."
Sanskar entered the hospital room. As soon as his mother Sujata saw him, she tried to get up to hug him but he stopped her, helping her sit up and hugging her tightly.
"Maa, you scared me. What happened to you? Are you okay?"
"Beta Sanskar..." She suddenly started crying.
Sanskar knitted his brows. "Maa, you're worrying me. What's going on? How did you fall ill?"
"I was fine Beta, but then I heard such news about Laksh and kept thinking about them so much that my blood pressure fell." She sobbed.
Sanskar wiped her tears with a tissue and urged her to continue telling him.
"My friend Ratna told me she saw him with a girl in public.
They were doing inappropriate things!"
"Are you sure about this, Maa? Is your friend trustworthy?"
"Of course, Sanskar!"
"Did you ask Laksh or tell anybody?"
"You are the first one I tell, I don't want Laksh to be in trouble with the family. You must talk to him and tell him to get away from that girl!"
Sanskar sighed. This was going to be very difficult.
Swara Gadodia was bold, she was rarely ever afraid to say, do, or dress the way she wanted. But at the same time, she tried to be responsible and not let her boldness be a source of shame or pain to her family of loved ones.
At the moment, anger seemed to be coursing through her veins.
She was in her bedroom with her phone in hand.
She dialled a number and waited for a response, only to hear that the number she was trying to call is currently switched off.
She huffed angrily and decided to leave him a voicemail.
Anger was clear in her voice as she left the message: "Laksh! I don't know why you're not reachable right now, but if you think you can just ignore me after what happened, you're wrong.
Either you confront me and tell me why you did that, or I will come to see you myself."
When her voicemail was sent, she dropped her phone and stood up to leave her room.
Swara regretted ever giving Laksh a chance.
They had met during a mutual friend's birthday party and he had been chasing after her.
So she agreed to date him, and enjoyed her time with him but he had started to become much too daring with his public displays of affection.
Swara was modern but she didn't feel comfortable with Laksh's excessive PDA and his habit of getting drunk at every social event they attended together.
She thought romantic moments were better in private.
But she was handling that patiently.
Until Laksh screwed up.
She thought back to the moment she found out...
She was sitting in her room, strumming away at her electric guitar when her phone lit up.
She had a message notification.
Her friend had sent her a bunch of pictures on Whatsapp captioned: OMG Swara. I'm so sorry...
The pictures were of Laksh kissing a girl by the river near a Shiva Ji temple.
The girl had her hair covered and Laksh was much taller than her so her face wasn't seen at all.
Swara had been cheated on.
And it really hurt.
She sighed as she got back to reality after zoning out into her memories.
Her mother had entered the room.
"Swara, are you okay? I have been calling you to come eat but you didn't answer. I made your favourite food."
"Sorry, Maa. I was a bit distracted."
"Swara, did anything happen between you and the guy you like?"
Swara had admitted to her mother that she had a crush on Laksh previously but didn't tell her they were boyfriend and girlfriend yet.
And she probably never would since she had no intention to give Laksh a chance after this.
She was going to break up with him.
The photos were real and she had them checked by one of her friends who was a professional photographer to make sure they weren't photoshopped.
"I don't like him anymore, Maa. Come, let's go eat."
Hours later, when Swara checked her phone and read Laksh's text, she couldn't believe it : Swara, what are you talking about?
She was infuriated and decided to send him the pictures along with a message: I'm talking about this! You cheated on me, Laksh! I want nothing to do with you, don't call me.
She had no doubt it was him, he wore the personalized bracelet she bought him for his birthday.
He couldn't lie his way out of this!
Ragini Gadodia had always believed the only man that would hold her and kiss her lips would be her husband.
In just a moment, that belief had been disrespected.
By Laksh Maheshwari.
She sat inside the Shiva Ji temple, her hands joined in prayer and her mind remembering what happened to her...
She had gone to the temple early in the morning for pooja (prayer) and stood by the river when she finished.
She felt peaceful as she heard the river's water flow. For a moment, she wished that Swara was there with her.
They were best friends and shared their lives together with the ups and downs.
Recently, they found out they were half sisters.
Ragini was the child of a legal marriage, but Swara was conceived in a relationship their father had years before getting married.
For that reason, Swara had thousands of insults thrown at her by some neighbours.
And Ragini's grandmother had tried to separate the two friends.
Ragini's father had stood up to her by marrying Swara's mother and giving Swara his surname.
Ever since, Ragini and Swara lived with both of their parents under the same roof in a new neighbourhood since her grandmother and grandfather didn't agree to Swara and her mum living with them.
Ragini was very happy, Sharmishta Aunty had been giving her a mother's love since day one.
But when Swara told her about her boyfriend, Ragini got nervous since she had to cover for her sister so her father wouldn't find out she was going on dates.
She had met Laksh only once, when she had gone cycling with Swara and Laksh had joined them.
He was nice, but Ragini felt very uncomfortable whenever she saw him hugging Swara or kissing her on the cheeks or forehead.
Suddenly, Ragini heard footsteps on top of the sound of the river's flow and turned around.
She found Laksh in front of her. Her body tensed when she saw his eyes were bloodshot and he didn't smell normal...He smelled of alcohol!
"L-Laksh Ji...Are you okay?" She knew that was a stupid question but had no idea what else to say.
Laksh laughed at her and she tensed even more.
"You know, Ragini. I like the look on your face when you see me. Your eyes go wide and your whole body tenses up as if you're afraid I'll..."
He put his hand on her shoulder.
"Touch you." He finished his paused sentence.
Ragini flinched and pushed his hand back as gently as possible with her free hand.
Her other hand was holding a pooja thali
She was fearful and upset.
"Laksh Ji. Stay away from me, this is disrespectful."
She walked away but he held her back.
Her pooja thali fell on the floor as he twisted her hands behind her back.
"Ragini...You know what?
I like Swara a lot. But maybe I like you more.
You have something that attracts me."
Before Ragini could say anything, he had pressed his lips to hers in a forceful kiss.
She was terrified. And slightly queasy. The taste of alcohol in Laksh's mouth was unpleasant.
When he pulled back, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she didn't bother picking up the pooja thali before running away.
Once again, Ragini was crying.
But this time, her tears didn't go unnoticed.
Swara had joined her sister at the temple after knowing she was there and was shocked to see her cry.
"Ragini, what's wrong?" She asked her after the prayer ended and they left the temple.
"Nothing, Swara. I just miss my mother." She lied.
Swara hugged her sister and best friend tightly, a few tears falling from her own eyes.
Ragini noticed that and wiped them off as they broke the hug and sat together by the river.
"Swara, why are you crying? Did something happen?"
"Laksh cheated on me." She confessed.
"What's wrong, Laksh? Why did you tell me you have to leave now?"
Sanskar and the whole Maheshwari family were still at the hospital with his mother.
"Bhai, Swara is mad at me. I should go find her and talk to her right now."
"Why is she mad at you?" Sanskar asked but he got no reply, Laksh had already left the hospital without even informing anybody else in the family.
Even though he didn't know any details, Sanskar thought that his brother might have messed up big time.
I hope you liked this first chapter.
As you can see, Laksh Maheshwari is a big trouble maker.
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