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Ps. thanks for the edit Lassi😃
NOTE: This OS has been written keeping Sneha as Sharon and Shantanu as Swayam in mind and we would request our readers to please honour that. If doing so seems difficult maybe this write-up is not meant for you so please refrain from reading further.
ANIMAL INSTINCT
" How dare you!!" The tiny lady screamed as the hapless porter visibly flinched. "Snowflake does not ride on top of suitcases." She screamed louder as the porter's eyes started resembling a hunted deer's. " What are you waiting for, GET OUT!!"
She picked up the black sphynx mewling piteously near her feet which had hitherto been shooting malicious glares at the just escaped porter. Yes, this tiny thing resembling a skinned chicken was the reason behind that porter getting a dose of the famous Sharon Rai Prakash temper', this was Snowflake, Sharon's favourite creature in the world, her cat. She cuddled the animal as she strutted down the lobby to the reception. She had just located that poor porter and given the quivering fellow his tip when the cat leapt out of her arms. Before she could react she heard a low growl followed by a man's command "Down Boxer".
She froze.
Swayam saw her the exact moment his whining dog turned around at his command. She had her back turned towards him but he could recognize that petite frame crowned with that glorious wavy hair in his sleep. She was the only woman who had ever gotten under his skin, Sharon Rai Prakash. She turned around and he was lost in her big beautiful hazel eyes. Sharon was just as lost as she stared into those chocolate eyes that had always hinted at the intense emotions swirling beneath that devil-may-care exterior. They were brought out of the trance by the ruckus being created by their pets. Sharon saw her cat being chased around the lobby by that brute of a dog and her blood boiled.
"Get that monster out of here before I have him put down." She yelled at Swayam.
"Woah woah woah...hold it siren. What did my Boxer do? Its your weird chicken-y thing that provoked him." Swayam yelled back.
"Snowflake is a cat and she never provokes anybody. She's the gentlest creature ever" Sharon haughtily replied.
"Snowflake...Snowflake...hahaha ...hahahaha...you named that ugly black thing Snowflake!! That's not Snowflake Sharon that's Snowfluke." Swayam said doubling up with laughter. The vein in Sharon's temple started throbbing dangerously as her mind showed her a rapid slideshow of torturous ways to murder him.
" SHUT UP" she screeched.
The entire lobby froze mid-step as Swayam stood up straight still sniggering.
She stalked over to him, jabbed her razor sharp forenail into his chest and whispered menacingly " Get- your-dog -and-your- good-for-nothing-ass-out-of-here-right-now-or-I'll-chop-you-both-up-and-have-it-served-as-tonight's-special-at-the-restaurant." She turned around and stalked away. Swayam was staring at her retreating back with a dreamy smile when he suddenly felt a sting in his chest. He looked down to find Sharon had drawn blood with her nail. The scratch reminded him of other scratches sustained in another place another time but given by the same person as his blood heated. Along with the memory returned the fury, stronger and sharper than ever and he stormed away to his room.
Swayam jerked his arm out of blanket and slapped the annoying alarm away. That thing just wouldn't stop ringing! He dragged himself out of bed and went into the bathroom hoping a long hot shower would help with the monster headache he'd been nursing since last night. He knew what had brought it on, just didn't want to admit it, didn't want to acknowledge just how much Sharon still affected him, two years after she had made her feelings about him and them pretty clear.
An hour later Swayam was double checking the lock on his rental car when he heard a female shriek and almost suffocated on a mouthful of hair.
"Woah Kri..chill, you are not trying to kill me, are you?" He wheezed as the girl in question continued to squeeze the life out of him.
"Sorry" she said, not sounding sorry at all. "Its been too long, Shekhawat" she continued.
"Yes it has Ghai" Swayam replied looking at his favourite girl, his best friend, Kria Ghai. "Come here, you" he said as he pulled her into a bone crushing hug.
"Swayam?" He pulled away from the hug as he heard an unfamiliar male voice call his name.
"Hi, I'm Rey." The owner of the voice introduced himself as he forwarded his hand to Swayam. Swayam looked the handsome man straight in the eye as he shook his hand and decided Kriya had made the right choice.
"Rey, where are you?" A chill went up Swayam's spine as he heard that voice again. Was she haunting him, she couldn't really be here, could she? A minute later his questions were answered as Sharon walked out to the parking lot.
"You" he shouted, shocked.
"You" she replied, equally loud, equally shocked.
"Do you both know each other?" Kria and Rey asked together.
"Yes Rey, we know each other, in fact pretty well. Wouldn't you agree Sharon?" Swayam asked coldly glaring at her. Sharon was about to reply but the bitterness in his tone held her back. She looked into his eyes and the emptiness there broke her heart a little more. She mutely nodded and walked away. Rey stared at her, confused while Kria glanced sharply at Swayam.
An hour later Swayam was carrying an armload of flowers when he stumbled on something and fell down flat on his face. He glared at Sharon, who was standing nearby guffawing, then turned his glare on the ball that had caused his downfall. Of course, who else..Snowfluke!! He picked her up and was about to fling her out of the window when she dug her claws into his forearm forcing him to drop her. "Bit@h" Swayam cursed as his arm stung.
"Hey, watch it! Don't you dare blame my baby for your blindness!" Sharon yelled.
"Baby? More like demon baby, though of course, its your baby so obviously it is Demon Baby." Swayam taunted.
"How dare you!" Sharon started but was cut off by Swayam. "I dare Sharon, you should know that by now."
"You..You" Sharon stuttered, too mad to form coherent words.
"What happened Sharon, cat got your tongue? No wait, this cat is your alter ego isn't it? Like mistress like pet, equally rude, equally senseless and equally uncaring of other people's feelings."
Sharon lunged, ready to tear him to pieces. How dare he say such nasty things about her! Swayam caught her hands and pinned them behind her back. She tried to kick him but he pulled her closer and trapped her legs between his. His lips were inches away from hers. She looked up with all the hatred she could muster and stared into his cold eyes. He saw her flushed face, her trembling lips and something in him snapped. He bent down and crushed his lips on hers. Sharon stood frozen, too shocked to respond. His lips moved demandingly over hers, caressing and punishing at the same time. Sharon would have rather crawled naked into a boiling tub of piranhas than respond but Swayam was nothing if not persistent. Soon Sharon was kissing him back equally if not more passionately. She had lost all sense of time and space. Swayam didn't realize when the kiss meant as a punishment became a prayer. Every fibre in his body wanted to taste her once again, feel her warmth, her joie de vivre once again. He crushed her soft curves against his hard planes as he buried his hand in her auburn hair and deepened the kiss further. They were no longer kissing, they were devouring each other. Both too starved, both too desperate to make this moment last forever to know what they were doing. Sharon dug her nails into his back as she tried to pull him closer. There was no space for even air to pass through between them but Sharon wasn't satisfied. She wanted to consume him, she wanted to be consumed by him. He was the only man she had ever wanted but had been too ashamed to ask for. Her eyes snapped open as the memories of that night started playing like a maddeningly screechy reel in front of her eyes. She pushed him away hard and stood back, staring at him, shocked. He looked confused and Sharon watched horrified as the confusion gave way to shock then rage and ended on guilt. He opened his mouth to speak but Sharon ran away before he could utter a word.
Swayam was driving back to Mumbai the next day and he was lost in Sharon's thoughts. She was all he had been able to think about since they made out. Even thinking about it made him want her again, she was so hot! Remembering the way she had moaned low in her throat and clung to him while running her tongue over every corner of his mouth had him wishing for a cold shower. Sharon had always been too hot for her own good but that was not why he loved her. He loved her for her innocence, for the softness in her eyes everytime she looked at something she loved even if it was her blasted cat. He loved the shy little girl inside the bold, tough diva. He remembered the first time he had seen her dance at SKI. It had been his first day there and unknowingly he had entered one of the private rehearsal rooms. Sharon had been dancing to a soft piano piece. Her movements were so graceful they were hardly human but what had him transfixed was the emotion. Her dance had been so full of joy, it had been a celebration of life, an affirmation of the romance of first rain, an explosion of the colours of spring. Swayam had fallen in love then and there. But Sharon had been a tough nut to crack. She had had her claws in him since day one almost as if she instinctively knew that if she let him get close, she will lose herself to him. So they continued with the cat and mouse game...until that night.
It had been their graduation night, they were passing out of SKI and a bunch of them had gone to the hippest nightclub to celebrate. Sharon had become tipsy after just a couple of drinks but she hadn't stopped. One thing led to another and SwaRon had woken up in bed together the next day. Well, Swayam had. Sharon had fled long before he opened his eyes. That had been the last time he had seen her until a couple of days ago in the hotel.
Swayam was so lost in his memories that he had driven almost 200mts past a stalled car before he spotted it in his rearview mirror. He cursed under his breath as he backed up and saw who that car belonged to.
Sharon had seen him drive past and had been angry and disappointed in equal measure at his ignorance. So when he came back she didn't know whether to rejoice or throw a tantrum. However having no other option she got into his car. Saying that the atmosphere in the car was tense would be like calling Guantanamo Bay's torture school yard bullying. After their moment yesterday both had too many thoughts swirling in their heads. Swayam knew he should probably apologize about it but the way she had walked out on him two years ago still rankled. Sharon couldn't decide who she was so angry at, Swayam for once again treating her so casually or herself for giving in to him and letting her heart hope again. She kept waiting for him to say something. After 20 mins of silence getting more unbearable with every passing second, she burst out.
"Are you sulking because I wasn't stupid enough to let you use me this time?"
"What!!" Swayam asked shocked.
"Oh so that's how you wanna play it, huh! Trying to cover the wounded ego by pretense, are we?"
"Sharon, are you frigging high or something!" He asked, his mind still refusing to accept what his ears were hearing.
"Yeah right, because I'm the drunk wh*** who gets boozed and wakes up the next morning half naked in some random guy's bed! That's what you think about me, isn't it?" She screamed, looking half mad.
"Sharon, calm down! I can never think such horrible things about you. I .." He said trying to soothe her but she didn't let him continue.
"Of course you can't, because I'm not that person...You are...you are the insensitive, characterless jacka** who saw a drunk girl and took advantage!" She screamed even as the voice in her head bellowed at her to shut up.
Swayam glared at her and her heart sunk. All she wanted was to remind him of that night and see if it had mattered to him as much as it had to her but like always, she had said too much and now the look in his eyes told her that she had well and truly lost him forever. He stopped the car and turned towards her. His movements had a studied deliberation that scared her. His eyes turned steely as he spoke in a voice that chilled her blood.
"Nothing happened that night. You were drunk and you had jumped into the fountain pretending to be a mermaid. I asked Simmi to help you change but she didn't have spare clothes so I gave her my shirt to cover you with. I was in no condition to drive and I didn't want to leave you alone in an unknown room. That's how we ended up in that situation. I would have told you all this the next morning but you never trusted me, did you? You consider me a monster while I love you with all my heart and soul, funny, isn't it?" He finished with a mirthless hollow laughter.
3 days later
Swayam was nursing his fourth glass of bourbon when his doorbell rang. He stumbled to the door cursing whoever was on the other side. He didn't like people anymore. He wanted to be left alone, more so after he opened the door to find a drenched Sharon.
"I love you too." She blurted out. Swayam's eyes widened as Sharon clamped her palm over her mouth, shocked at herself. Yes, that is what she had come to tell him but not like this!
"What?" Swayam asked wondering if the 4th glass had been too much and he had now officially lost it.
"I love you." Sharon repeated, slowly and calmly, looking straight into his eyes. He was still staring at her like she was speaking Martian, so she sighed and pushed her way inside his home. She turned, pulled him away from the door and shut it. "I love you Swayam, always have, always will. Every fight, every look, every dance with you was special because I love you. The only reason I drank that night was to get some Dutch courage so I could confess. When I woke up, I ran not because I despised you but because I was ashamed. I thought you would never love a girl like me. I couldn't bear to see the scorn in your eyes so I fled. I wanted you to track me down and come after me. I wanted you to tell me that I'm the most special person in the world but you didn't and I buried that hurt under anger. I'm sorry Swayam, for running away and for saying all those mean things to you in the car. I didn't mean any of them."
Swayam felt like he was in a dream, he couldn't quite believe what was happening. Sharon saw him unresponsive and her heart broke. The tears that slid down her face cleared Swayam's fog and he rushed over to her.
"Hey don't cry plz, I love you Sharon. You are the most special person in the world and I love you so much. Now plz stop crying. If you keep this up Snowfluke wouldn't recognize you." He said trying to tease her into smiling.
"Its Snowflake, how dare you!" Sharon replied trying to sound stern.
"Aah..much better." Swayam chuckled lowering his head and taking her into a never ending kiss.
"You know, I'm drenched and don't have a change of clothes." Sharon whispered huskily when Swayam had finally freed her lips and turned his attention to her nape.
"Hmm..where have I heard this before." Swayam replied licking and kissing the soft skin near her collar bone.
"Its only fair that you give me your shirt. I'll catch a cold otherwise." She gasped, pulling him into what she hoped was his bedroom.
"You have a point." Swayam replied, playing along. He pulled her top down and sucked the water drops off her shoulders."Let's go in front of the mirror." He suggested once inside the room.
"Mirror! Why in front of the mirror?" Sharon asked, confused.
"Why, do you not like kinky?" Swayam replied smirking as Sharon blushed to her roots. She could feel heat radiate off her body. She looked down as he took her hands in his and pulled her to the mirror. She felt like she would melt into a puddle at his feet. Her heart rate was off the charts and she was burning up. Every atom in her body wanted to be touched and kissed and caressed by him. She wanted to be his in every sense. He kissed her open palms and she felt her body being consumed by a white-hot fire.
Next minute she felt something soft land in her hands. A shirt! She looked up confused and found him laughing. "What? You wanted a shirt, you got one." Swayam explained guffawing. Sharon's eyes narrowed as she demanded, "I want the shirt you are wearing."
"Come and get it." He tempted her moving out of the room.
"I will." She promised as she ran out behind him.
They continued chasing each other, their laughter ringing around the house as Boxer watched them exasperated at seeing humans act like animals again.
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