Mandar Deshmukh got home looking like he had just fallen down a cliff in the most shameful way possible. His quest to find Pallavi led him to walk into a disastrous and embarrassing encounter and to make it worse, he didn't find Raghav or Pallavi together in that damned ladies washroom. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, wondering how a ladies washroom could be so pristine, almost looking as clean as kitchen. He looked down and noted that his trousers were dirtier than the floor there. It's not a wonder why he fantasized about going into the ladies as a small boy. Finally, the dream was fulfilled and what he saw did not disappoint!
"Mandar, where did you go?" asked Pallavi, breaking him out of his reverie, "And what the hell happened to your face??"
Mandar's face was slightly bruised and it looked like his hair was tousled by an angry mob, more like a birds nest fighting to keep up with the raging storm. His cheeks reddened at the question and he could barely make eye contact with Pallavi. However, Pallavi insisted on it and soon enough, the entire family was out at him with a parade of questions. Mandar had no option but to disclose embarrassing details about his recent shenanigans'.
"A group of women attached me outside the ladies washroom at Jubilees Hill", he spoke at a neck breaking speed, hoping that the speed would disperse other questions, but to his dismay, everyone looked at him inquisitively, apart from one person. Pallavi. Her eyes bore into his soul and he could not stand her anger. Mandar would not admit to anyone, but he feared Pallavi's anger, right from their courting days.
"Ladies toilet?? What were you doing IN a ladies toilet, Mandar?' she asked, almost accusing him of perversion.
"I....I got lost, it was like blackness around my eyes and I found myself in the ladies toilet and then I heard some noises from one of the washrooms and I decided to check, just in case someone was in trouble", he lied through his teeth.
"LIAR", she muttered in her mind, while trying to keep a straight face.
"LIAR", muttered Raghav. Well, the Don of Hyderabad surely has access to the best of technology available in present times. If Mandar thought that he could outdo the master of this game, he was never more wrong. Raghav gave Pallavi listening devices, which she inserted in her blouse and was meant to keep it on her at all times so that Raghav could follow the incidences at Deshmukh Nivas.
"You should have left immediately, you shouldn't bother about noises from a washroom Mandar! And what kind of noises?" she edged him.
"Just noises, Pallavi. Don't ask me silly questions. A stupid couple was making out in the washroom and I got beaten by crazy women, end of story!" and with that, Mandar stormed away, locking himself in his room, hoping to die with embarrassment.
Pallavi played the innocent sheep until everyone resigned to their rooms, not giving much thought to the incidence. She then ran to her room and laughed her heart out at his predicament. What a fool he was to think that he could outdo Mr. and Mrs. Don! Pallavi's laughter felt like music to Raghav's ears. Initially, he was reluctant to take her up on her brilliant idea of making "sounds" in the washroom, but he now knows that his wife is one quick cookie.
"Your voice is beautiful", popped a message on the screen of her phone, which she carefully hid in her secret petticoat pocket. Who said girls cannot have pockets?! Along with the listening device, Raghav gave her a phone and a new number, strictly for communication between themselves. The phone was meant to be switched off in Mandar's presence and to be used when they were both alone, preferably, video call.
"Thank you Ghamandi Rao, I cannot stop laughing. I wish you were here to see his face!!", she typed away.
Raghav smiled at her excitement, all the tiredness shaking off him with the thought of her smiling child like happy face.
"Call me, if you can, and you know the deal, whispering only, doors and windows closed", messaged Raghav and almost immediately, she called him.
"Pallavi... I miss you Saree Ka Dukan", he spoke earnestly, with a small pout.
"I miss you too....did you have your dinner? Eat well, I don't want to see hollow cheeks, okay?" she whisper-scolded him, after knowing that he'd been skipping his meals and surviving on his first love, alcohol. How she hated her "Sauten"!
"I ate.......by the way, that idea wasn't so bad after all, right," and with that Raghav's flirting button was triggered.
"Shame on you.....", blushed Pallavi, knowing very well what he meant.
"Shame on me, after you made all those sounds? Really, Saree Ka Dukaan!", laughed Raghav, refusing to drop the topic. It was too tempting to imagine her all flustered and hot.
"Yes, we were in deep trouble, I just what I could think of back then", she tried justifying her act, albeit blushing away, smiling away.
"Speaking of deep....",
"Raghav, shup up....",
"You have a dirty mind Pallavi", he chided her. "I was talking about the fact that Mandar is in deep trouble",
"Oh...yes he is. We will fix it, together", she said, almost as if chanting a war cry.
"Together. You remember what we're doing tomorrow, right?", he smiled at her at which she nodded a quick yes.
They looked at each other for a few minutes, for words fail lovers who have conquered the impossible.
Raghav broke the spell with one of his brilliant lines, at which, Pallavi thought of smacking his face with the pillow she was currently sleeping on.
"By the way, Saree ka Dukan", and he emphasized on the word Dukan as he loved doing that when he intended to irk her, "You don't make such elaborate sounds when we are together, what got into you today?", winking at her unabashedly.
And with that, Pallavi blushed a profuse red, cursed Raghav an angry goodnight, leaving Raghav laughing, almost rolling on his bed, well, their bed, content with life; the love of his life may not be beside him right now, but she surely lives in him at all times. Pallavi on the other end was still red with shame, but content with life, for she had a lover with whom she could be herself, completely unabashedly.
While the lovebirds slept in a peaceful slumber, knowing that they are now together, Mandar tossed in his bed, unable to catch a wink of sleep, for each time he closed his eyes, the sounds annoyed his ears. How do people make out in a washroom, is all he could think of, and his brain could not stop ticking at this question. His obsessive nature often got the better of him! Damn you, Raghav Rao, I will find you!!
Tick. tick. tick. tick...Mandar's brain ticked away, sleep evading him. This was just the beginning of an obsessive man's blunder.
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Hello everyone,
This is the quickest story I've penned down.
it will be a two or three shot.
Drop in your comments!!
Forgive my spelling mistakes, it's quite late as I write this.
Good night,
Kiara.
Tags - those who wanted the Mandar - Kirti - Sunny ship sinking. Watch out.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4 (last)
Arjun
Cricket
