2.11 MASK II - B (Dress Rehearsals)
The moonlight threw flickers of light and shadows on to the three figures who stood huddled on the seventh floor of a construction site, which itself stood isolated on the completely brazen land - probably miles from the nearest hint of civilisation.
The mood was one of hushed aggression between them as the three continued arguing incoherently in barely hushed voices.
"It's getting too dangerous - we never talked about murders -"
"When are we seeing the money?"
"Do you realize the gravity of the repercussions if Shivaay Singh Oberoi even gets a whiff of this plan or worse - my brother-?"
"I am starting to feel that we won't be seeing the actual money at all - or worse we will have to keep looking over our backs for the rest of our lives if -"
"And killing another person -?"
"I am not sure I want to conti-"
"Have you forgotten exactly how far I am willing to go for this?"
The barely masked threat from the woman in the checkered blouse and chiffon-silk sari seemed to have brought an eerie silence as the two others turned to look at her fully for the first time.
The woman in the checkered blouse and the chiffon-silk sari looked almost demonic as she turned her back towards them - eyes narrowed, a hint of a smirk playing on her lips.
She knew exactly how to get her work done - always.
The other woman who had only seconds ago been frustrated with the issue of money visibly gulped.
As she took a small step back - the moonlight suddenly fell on her.
She was plumper than the woman in the checkered blouse and the most striking part of her own identity seemed to be the large gold choker that donned her neck.
However it was the man that really struck out. He was younger than the women - both his face as well as his body testified to it. And his heavy shoulders and built suggested that he was either military-trained or he was a gym freak.
So while he did slightly flinch at the implication of the words - his careful mask revealed nothing. However, it was the slight shift in his stance that gave him away - it was all clearly too much for him.
"Roop -"
The woman in the checkered woman turned to address her counterpart in one swift motion -
"Don't worry... We are going to get paid... It's a matter of days..."
Not completely assured, Roop Oberoi tried to continue - much softer this time -
"Are you sure about this? Is this necessary...Can't we just get the Oberoi's to throw that girl out? How much are they really attached to her anyway?"
The man on the corner shifted again - he was obviously uncomfortable.
"Tia says that its impossible to get anything done through Shivaay with her around -" The other woman replied, very obviously impatient now.
"And worse - I had noticed this months ago... there is something about the two - I don't understand... but anyway... it is absolutely certain...we need to get Anika out of the way... permanently."
And as she finally moved away from the shadows - Mrs. Kapoors full face shone in the night.
"Why not get her seriously injured -?" The man finally spoke up again.
Mrs. Kapoor smiled, almost ironically as she turned to consider the man in front of her.
She had met him only about four months ago - another one of the victims that was left as collateral damage by the Oberoi's'. But it wasn't his own personality that had actually caught her interest (in spite of the fact that he was a trained security personnel -), it was his connections that had spiked her interest.
"Aaah - I forgot that you have a familial connection to the law..."
The man seemed un-intimidated as he continued to look at the woman who stood directly in front of him.
While there was no love lost between him and the Oberoi's, especially those three brothers' - and he did want them to feel every second of the pain - he had never imagined murders' to be a part of the plan.
Much worse innocent blood -
"R-A-N-D-H-A-W-A"
The sound of his family name suddenly pulled him from his thoughts.
"Have you forgotten what this family has done to your family?"
"Yes, but-"
"We tried going the easy way - the lawful way... didn't we?"
The man shifted once more.
They had tried - when Gayatri had to be killed because she was completely out of control - to put that blame on Shivaay - it would have been easy - justice - however - Anika had saved him -
Yet - this - this - felt uncomfortable.
"... Anyway, you wouldn't want your brother to know what you have been up to in the last two years - now - would you?"
Another hardly concealed threat... he felt a chill in his spine.
Having without a doubt got her message across the other two - Mrs. Kapoor turned around one final time to walk away.
"I will let you know when its done for one last dress rehearsal before showdown"
Her last words echoed long after as the two stood completely silent contemplating her words and the coming storm.
----------xx------------
