Greyscale ~ AnuPre FF P6 PG8 - Page 5

Prerna shoved her bedroom door open, huffing at how stiff it was only to let out a shrill scream when she faced the tall figure now sitting up in her bed. "Oh, I am so sorry, I nearly gave myself a heart attack I didn't realise you'd be awake, I need to sit down" perching on the bed she rested her hand on his shoulder, she swallowed uncomfortably when he scowled down at her hand then looked up at her with one of those stern teacher expressions. "Uh, so how did you sleep"

"Fine" he bit out "Thank you for allowing me to have your bed, I will be going now" Anurag stood up and walked towards the door

"Wait" Prerna jumped up, wringing her hands "Actually there is an art exhibition tomorrow and I was thinking maybe you'd like to-"

"No" Anurag's voice was rough, he turned back on his heel to face her "Understand one thing Miss Sharma, you and I are not friends or anything more"

Prerna stepped back at the emptiness that had once again returned to his eyes, his gaze was far from friendly as he looked her up and down "Everybody needs a friend Anurag"

"Oh" he laughed "I see what this is, a pity invite, I don't need your pity, I am perfectly fine alone" he pulled at the lapels of his blazer "Now I will be going"

Prerna screwed up her nose and threw a pillow at the now shut door "Fine, don't be my friend, see if I care" she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest "Try to be nice and this is what you get, be cruel Prerna, be cruel"

The door swung back open making her jump "Do you always talk to yourself Prerna"

"Oh Tapur, hey, it's you"

Tapur's brows furrowed "Well who else would it be"?

"Uh no-one" Prerna giggled "Maybe my neighbour"

"You don't have a neighbour" her brow raised

"Well what I meant was, oh shut up, what brings you here anyway" Prerna caught the pillow that came flying her way and placed it on her lap "Other than blatantly invading my privacy and not knocking on the door"

"Oh come on, we've known eachother for years, I wanted to know if you wanted to get breakfast"

"Actually I can't, I really need to finish this piece i'm working on, but we can reschedule okay" she stood up, tying her hair up in a messy bun and stuffing a paintbrush through it "Good holding place" she waved at her best friend of many years and wondered just how many more lies she would tell to protect her older brother. Wandering over to the canvas she pulled off the cloth and smiled at the two eyes staring back at her, they told a story of pain and hardship, her breath hitched slightly at the memory of the vulnerability shadowed in his russet brown eyes.

~'~'~

Anurag typed a message on his phone, grumbled something under his breath then deleted it. Deciding that the only way to get over his pain was to make bonds he inhaled then typed it again, this time pressing the send button.

Prerna balanced on one foot, her tounge stuck out to the side as she leant towards the phone "Huh, now they decide to message again, a masquerade party, oh wait i'm already going to that, oh no I told Anurag it was tomorrow, oh well who cares about him, you got a date girl, wait" spinning on her foot she stumbled forward hitting the floor with a loud thud "If they invited me to the masquearde party then they must be an artist because it's a gallery exhibition, ow my chin hurts" grabbing her phone from the counter top she replied quickly, sighed and rested against the floor "Well ice skater as a second choice career is out of the question, I have no balance whatsoever"

"She's already going and wants to know if i'm male or female, hm, I wonder who she might be" his thoughts ran to Prerna then he shook his head "Her art exhibition is tomorrow not tonight"

"Ah, so it is a he, well nice speaking to you Mr Random Stranger, I will reply and ask what he will be wearing, it sure would be nice to make more friends in New York other than Tapur" sitting up she waited for a reply "Really, just grey, how boring"

"Boring" Anurag spat "Grey is boring, like she's going to be wearing some nice colour" he rolled his eyes, blowing his hair away from his forehead

Prerna smiled "Someone is very protective over their clothing preferences, I will be wearing a shade of black with some red on my dress, in some way we're kind of matching" she paused from typing "I'll add a winky, he might be fit"

"Did she just wink at me" his tone was laced with disbelief "I'll just tell her i'll see her there, that will do, no point getting too close she might be another Prerna" throwing the phone on his bed he jumped up and pulled out his grey blazer "Nothing wrong with grey, it's professional, like she'd know anyway"

~'~'~

Prerna lifted her hand to the back of her head and tightened the soft black strap then pushed up the eye mask, the red glitter made her fingers sticky when she pulled her hand back, looking into the glass of the building she sighed and smiled "Now go, stop being nervous and rock it or something like that, break a leg, wait no, don't do that, you're too clumsy"

Anurag raised his head from the drink in his hand that he swirled around the glass, the black mask with silver glitter swirls on the edge covered his face upto his long nose and left his chin feeling cold under the chilly breeze floating around him, his eyes ran over the crowd until a woman walked in, standing up automatically he looked over at her. Her hair was in soft waves that framed her face, a caramel colour that matched her eyes, the red of her mask ran into the black making her eyes even more captivating. Her dress was long at the back, but stopped above her knees at the front, the upper part of it was a dark black covered in red lace with small silver gemstones lying just above her cleavage from the necklace. She was beautiful, endearingly so but yet somewhat familiar.

The Lift - https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/5037894 and His Salvation- https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/5039970 have been updated:)

Thank you love 

Again, beautiful beautiful writing, R.  

Awww thank you! That is such a nice thing to say!

Thank you love

This is such a beautiful story. I love the way you've portrayed Anurag and Prerna. I look forward to reading this story. Continue soon.

PS: I am not sure if you send PM's. But if you do, please add me to the list. 

Looking forward to read about the party and how it will change things between Anu and prerna. 

Thank you love, so sorry for the wait! The update will be up at the end of the week:)

Hey! 

Aw thank you so much love! Updates will be up by the end of the week:)

I have currently stopped sending PM's because my small brain finds it too hard to memorize which people are from which fandom, for that i'm really sorry!

Thank you love!

Prerna walked toward the bar, hiking her dress up as she did "Gin and tonic please" settling on a bar stool she looked around, raised a hand and waved at the man just two seats away "Artist or buyer" she shouted over the music

Anurag smirked "Buyer, you"? Moving closer to her he perched on the stool beside her "If you haven't had a chance to look around yet i'd be happy to accompany you"

"Oh that would be great, thank you and artist" jumping down she rested a hand on his wrist to steady herself, upon lifting her head to look at him her breath hitched "Your eyes, they're so" gulping she shook her head and pulled her hand back. Anurag had refused to come with her but had come himself, how very rude.

Holding out his arm he waited for her to wrap her hand around his bicep and walk with him "So artist what kind of art do you indulge in"? The husky baritone of his voice beside her ear made a shudder run down her spine

"Fresco or oil painting" clearing her throat she looked around at the small group of people who had left the dance hall and moved to the art gallery, distantly she wondered if maybe Anurag just had an issue with her since he seemed to be very nice to her when he didn't know who she was. "What kind of art do you prefer"?

"I just want something that takes me somewhere else, transport me to another place, that's what makes good art" stepping forward he glanced at an abstract painting and tipped his head "Thoughts on this"

Prerna smiled "If I wanted a dry wall that was cracked i'd remove the posters above my bed"

Anurag moved behind her, hands on her upper arms "Really look at it, does it tell you a story"?

Her eyes lit up as they wandered over the frame "Yes, the right hand corner reminds me of tree bark and maybe there's a horse, but it's all wiped out, kind of like memories are fading, soon to be forgotten" she exhaled loudly, slightly taken back by how differently she now looked at the image

"It's called about traces of time, personally I would buy it, buyer's eye you see" he tapped his mask "Any that really catch your eye"

She walked towards the brightest painting, reaching up she ran her fingers over the hand that covered the woman's lips "This one, the detail is so intricate"

"But does it tell a story"?

"Hm, maybe that's the point, maybe she isn't the woman who tells the story, she is the story, empowered but unspoken of because no-one has enough words to define her" she didn't notice Anurag raise his hand and beckon someone forward and write a cheque out for the piece. "Sometimes it's so easy to fall into the backdrop of such a busy city, but I think we all wish to be seen as the centre piece" turning her head she blushed "Sorry, didn't mean to bore you"

"No, your perspective is endearing, artist's eye you see, the ability to see beauty in the broken, I wish I had that ability myself" a comforting silence took over as soon as he crossed his arms, brows furrowing as he looked around, maybe now was the time to ask if she was the woman he had messaged "Are you the um" he waved his hand

"The um" Prerna raised a brow, her face contorted into confusion until it finally hit her "The one who messaged my number, it's you" her jaw dropped and her face warmed, if Anurag found out her name he wouldn't be happy, maybe she wanted to have this joy for a little while before losing it, so she remained thankful for the loud music which made it difficult for him to pick up on her voice.

The smile that took over him made him feel uneasy, it wasn't normal for him to bond with anyone so quickly, especially a woman he hadn't met before "Yes, my sister claimed I should find more friends so-"

"Oh i'm so sorry" she held the phone to her ear and walked towards the corner "Hello, Marco what's wrong"? As soon as the news met her ears she was running out of the room, stopping by Anurag she turned to face him "I'm so sorry, I uh completley forgot the time and have to be at a dinner, thank you for a lovely night, i'll uh text you" then she was skidding across the floor as she raced past, hoping to reach home as soon as possible

~'~'~

Marco looked up from the floor, blonde hair drooping onto his forehead "I came to pick up the files when I found it like this, i'm so sorry to have disturbed you"

Prerna shook her head "Please tell me the paintings weren't ruined" tears filled her eyes "Marco" she shouted

His blue eyes darkened to a steely grey "The one's over there were destroyed with graffiti, I don't know who did it but they left you a message that isn't too hard to work out" he stood up and walked with her to the back "See"

Lifting her fingers to her lips she gasped "The world you paint is the world I will taint, I cannot wait for us to be reacquainted so that you can be attainted"

"I didn't quite understand the last word so I-"

"To bring disgrace" she shook her head "Have you called the police, if you haven't do so now please, i'm just going to change" her legs wobbled as she moved forward trying to ignore her friend's questions. Arriving at the top of the stairs she removed her dress and grabbed a hoodie, pulled it over her body and slipped on leggings while removing her make-up, sitting down she buried her face in her hands, all her hard work had been ruined in minutes, pieces she had spent months working on had been destroyed and she didn't have the money to fix the glass, everything suddenly felt like it was spiralling out of control and crashing before her eyes.

Hey! I am so so sorry for how late this is but as i'm finally free now as uni is over till Feb, updates should be atleast every other week as I don't want to make any promises I can't keep! The Lift is also up, His Salvation will be updated soon!